Minecraft commands cheat sheet: the 30 commands you will actually use

Commands turn Minecraft into a sandbox you control: teleport across the map, find any structure, give yourself items, freeze time for building. This is the short list of commands most players actually use, with syntax that works in Java Edition 26.3. Copy them as they are and change the parts in angle brackets.

Before you start: turn cheats on

• Single player: create the world with Allow Cheats on, or open the pause menu, choose Open to LAN, switch Allow Cheats on and start the LAN world. That last trick works on any world, but only until you quit.
• Servers: you need operator permission. See our guide to ops, whitelists and permissions.
• Press T or / to open chat. Tab completes command names, items and players, which saves a lot of typing.

Target selectors and coordinates

Selector	Means
@s	yourself
@p	the nearest player
@a	all players
@r	a random player
@e	all entities
@n	the nearest entity

Filter them in square brackets: @e[type=minecraft:zombie,distance=..20] is every zombie within 20 blocks.

Coordinates can be absolute (100 64 -200), relative to you with ~ (~ ~10 ~ is ten blocks above you), or local to where you are looking with ^ (^ ^ ^5 is five blocks in front of your face).

The essentials

Command	What it does
/gamemode creative	Switch game mode: survival, creative, adventure or spectator
/difficulty hard	peaceful, easy, normal or hard
/time set day	Also night, noon, midnight, or a number of ticks
/weather clear	Also rain or thunder, optionally with a duration
/tp @s 100 80 -200	Teleport yourself to coordinates
/tp @s Steve	Teleport to another player
/seed	Show the world seed
/kill @e[type=minecraft:item]	Remove every dropped item (great for lag)

Items and enchantments

Command	What it does
/give @s minecraft:diamond 64	Give an item; the number is the amount
/give @s minecraft:elytra	The minecraft: prefix is optional
/clear @s minecraft:dirt	Remove an item from your inventory; leave the item off to clear everything
/enchant @s minecraft:sharpness 5	Enchant the held item, up to the enchantment's normal maximum
/xp add @s 30 levels	Add experience levels (leave off levels to add points)

Finding things

Command	What it does
/locate structure minecraft:village_plains	Nearest structure and its coordinates
/locate biome minecraft:cherry_grove	Nearest biome
/locate poi minecraft:nether_portal	Nearest point of interest, like a portal or job block

The result is clickable: click the coordinates in chat to fill in a teleport command. Structure names include minecraft:ancient_city, minecraft:trial_chambers, minecraft:stronghold, minecraft:mansion and minecraft:monument. The tab key lists every option. For a stronghold the old-fashioned way, there is our stronghold guide.

Effects

Command	What it does
/effect give @s minecraft:night_vision infinite 0 true	Night vision forever, without particles
/effect give @s minecraft:speed 60 2	Speed III for 60 seconds (levels count from 0)
/effect clear @s	Remove every effect

infinite gives an effect with no time limit, and the final true hides the particles. Remember the level number starts at 0: 0 is level I, 1 is level II.

Building

Command	What it does
/fill ~-5 ~ ~-5 ~5 ~5 ~5 minecraft:glass hollow	Fill a box; hollow keeps only the walls
/fill ... minecraft:air replace minecraft:water	Replace one block type with another in a box
/clone <from> <to> <destination>	Copy a region somewhere else
/setblock ~ ~-1 ~ minecraft:diamond_block	Place one block

/fill has modes: replace, hollow, outline, keep and destroy (which drops items like mining). A single fill can change up to 32,768 blocks by default.

Spawn points and mobs

Command	What it does
/spawnpoint	Set your respawn point where you stand
/setworldspawn	Set the world spawn where you stand
/summon minecraft:zombie ~ ~ ~	Spawn a mob at your position
/ride @s mount @n[type=minecraft:horse]	Mount the nearest horse
/attribute @s minecraft:scale base set 2	Make yourself twice as big (set it back with 1)

Server and technical

Command	What it does
/gamerule keep_inventory true	Change a game rule; names changed in 1.21.11, see the gamerules list
/tick query	Show how fast the server is running
/tick freeze and /tick unfreeze	Pause and resume the game world
/tick rate 40	Run the game at a different speed (20 is normal)

If you run a server, /tick query is a quick health check. For a proper look at what is slowing things down, our guide to MSPT and the spark profiler goes further.

Common mistakes

• "Unknown or incomplete command": a typo, or cheats are off. Use Tab completion to catch typos.
• Old syntax from old videos: /effect @p speed and numeric item IDs are from before 1.13. Use /effect give and item names like minecraft:diamond.
• Old gamerule names: keepInventory became keep_inventory in 1.21.11.
• Effect levels off by one: /effect give @s minecraft:haste 60 1 is Haste II, not Haste I.