Minecraft Server Commands Reference
Essential commands for managing your Minecraft server, from player management to world configuration.

Minecraft Server Commands Reference#

This guide covers commonly used commands for managing your Minecraft server.

Command Syntax#

  • Arguments in <brackets> are required
  • Arguments in [brackets] are optional
  • Remove the brackets when running commands
  • Console commands don't need a / prefix; in-game commands do

To see all available commands, use /help in-game.

Player Management#

Operator Permissions#

op <player>

Grants operator (admin) permissions. Only op trusted players, as they can execute any command.

deop <player>

Removes operator permissions.

Whitelist#

whitelist <on|off>

Enables or disables the whitelist.

whitelist add <player>
whitelist remove <player>
whitelist list

Manage which players can join your server.

Banning#

ban <player> [reason]
ban-ip <ip> [reason]
pardon <player>
pardon-ip <ip>

Block players or IP addresses from joining.

Current Players#

list

Shows all currently connected players.

Gameplay Commands#

Game Mode#

gamemode <survival|creative|adventure|spectator> [player]

Changes a player's game mode.

Teleportation#

tp <player> <x> <y> <z>
tp <player> <target>

Teleports players to coordinates or other players.

Items#

give <player> <item> [amount]
clear <player> [item] [count]

Give or remove items from player inventories.

Kill#

kill <target>

Eliminates entities (players, mobs, etc.).

World Settings#

Spawn Point#

setworldspawn <x> <y> <z>

Sets the world's default spawn location.

Time#

time set <day|night|noon|midnight>
time set <ticks>
time add <amount>

Controls the time of day.

Weather#

weather <clear|rain|thunder> [duration]

Sets weather conditions.

Difficulty#

difficulty <peaceful|easy|normal|hard>

Changes the server difficulty.

Seed#

seed

Displays the world seed.

Game Rules#

Game rules adjust server mechanics. View all with /gamerule and set with:

gamerule <rule> <value>

Useful Game Rules#

RuleDefaultDescription
doDaylightCycletrueTime progresses naturally
doMobSpawningtrueMobs spawn naturally
doFireTicktrueFire spreads
mobGriefingtrueMobs can modify blocks
keepInventoryfalsePlayers keep items on death
pvptruePlayers can damage each other
doInsomniatruePhantoms spawn
playersSleepingPercentage100Percentage needed to skip night

Example: Disable phantoms:

gamerule doInsomnia false

Example: Allow one player to skip night:

gamerule playersSleepingPercentage 1

Note

As of Minecraft 1.21.9, some settings previously in server.properties (like pvp, enable-command-block, and allow-nether) have been moved to game rules.

Save Commands#

save-all
save-on
save-off

Force save, or enable/disable automatic saving.

Server Control#

stop

Safely shuts down the server.

Warning

Always use stop rather than force-killing the server to prevent world corruption.