Hacks for Minecrafters: Command Blocks: The Unofficial Guide to Tips and Tricks That Other Guides Won't Teach You

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the slightly crazy world of commands and command blocks. With commands, you can do all kinds of things that aren’t possible in a regular Survival world. You can create a super-powerful zombie or a villager that will trade diamonds for dirt, build towers of emerald blocks, and instantly teleport to any location.

This book will show you how commands work, and it will look at the most popular commands for creating fun creatures and effects, whether playing by yourself or creating a map for others to play. You’ll also see how you can use command blocks to create commands that anyone in your multiplayer world can use.

There’s no undo button in Minecraft.

Commands are very powerful, and some can change your world significantly. Remember that there’s no undo button in Minecraft. As you are starting to use and understand commands and how they work, use a test world that you won’t mind losing if disaster strikes. I’ve included instructions for creating a test world in the first chapter.

Lastly, some commands are a little different in varying versions of Minecraft. This book covers the command system for Java Edition 1.13. It doesn’t cover commands used for managing users on a server. Commands used in the scoreboard system used to create complicated, custom gameplay are listed, but not explained, as this mechanic is out of the reach of this title.

CHAPTER 1

WHAT IS A COMMAND?

A command, in Minecraft and many other computer programs, is a string of very specific words that the software is programmed to react to. Some commands in Minecraft give you items you wouldn’t normally get playing a game in Survival mode, so these are sometimes called cheats.

For example, you can use the /experience (/xp in BE) command to give a player any amount of experience points (XP). That’s pretty cheaty, but in a special mini-game, giving XP can be a great reward to players who have accomplished some specific feat.

There are commands for doing all different types of things in Minecraft. Some commands are used only by an operator, or op, for managing, allowing, and banning players on the server. These commands aren’t available to use in command blocks. Other commands can only be used on players (like giving them XP) or on blocks (like putting a block at a specific location). There are also commands that affect the whole world, like changing it to nighttime or daytime. We’ll look at these different types of commands (except for the server management commands) and how to use them in the following chapters.

NOTE: To use commands in a single-player world, you must either be playing in Creative mode or have created your world with cheats on. If you are playing on multiplayer, you must be a server administrator or operator (op).

You use commands in Minecraft in the chat window. For example, to give yourself 30 XP levels, you open the chat window by pressing T. (You can also open the chat window by pressing /, and this will enter the first / of the command for you.) Then type:

/experience add [yourIGN] 30 levels

As you type, you’ll notice that the game makes suggestions to complete your command. You can press Tab to accept and enter a suggestion.

When you type a command, the chat interface will suggest the correct spelling of the command and variables. It will also show you (in red) where you made an error if you enter a command incorrectly.

Other commands are more complicated, and you must include ID numbers or names and codes that reference specific traits or other variables. For example, to create a tame black horse with white spots, a couple blocks away from you and wearing a saddle, you would type:

/summon minecraft:horse ~ ~1 ~ {Variant:772,

ArmorItem:{id:diamond_horse_armor},

SaddleItem:{id:saddle,Count:1},Age:0,Tame:1}