A few months ago, I launched my first Minecraft server. I also had my first creative building experience. Up until that point, everything I have done was in survival mode. Despite my knowledge of Minecraft, I was lost when it came to some of the amazing power that Minecraft 1.8 actually has in the way of commands. If you want an exhaustive tutorial on setting up a server (and many commands) check out the Gamepedia tutorial. But below is a cheat-sheet of useful commands. And, for people who have never used chat/command, type T and you’ll get a chat window. Type in all commands there.
Useful Commands When Creatively Building
/time set
This command will take a 3rd parameter which is either a TIME or a name. Named times are “dawn, day, midday, dusk, night, midnight” So, and example would be: “/time set day” or “/time set night” (both without the quotes when you’re typing it in). You can control the exact hour if you really want, but I won’t cover that.
/weather [clear/rain/thunder] duration
This command will change the weather. Clear means sun, rain is raining, thunder means storms. Duration is in seconds and isn’t necessary. Example: “/weather clear” “/weather rain 3600”.
/gamerule
Gamerule changes a bit of how Minecraft works. It can do some crazy things and you can find the full list here. but when it comes to creative builds, here are some common and useful uses:
/gamerule doDaylightCycle false (will not let time progress – so if it’s day, it remains day, if night, remains night. To turn it back on, change false to true)
/gamerule doMobSpawning false (will determine if mobs spawn normally or not. Great for when you don’t want mobs running around your creative worlds)
/fill x1 y1 z1 x2 y2 z2 block
The fill command is new to 1.8 and is EXTREMELY powerful. It lets you fill a given region with blocks. you can even do a find/replace. For full details see this tutorial. but here’s an overview. Start by pressing F3 and seeing your current co-ordinate positions (the block your feet are in). Use that as you X1 Y1 and Z1. Then move to the end area and use those co-ordinates for your X2 Y2 and Z2. It’s an easy way to make a wall. You can also use “air” for the block and clear.
Examples:
/fill 100 60 250 100 70 290 stone
This will make a wall 10 high (in the Y direction) and 40 in the Z direction. Made of stone.
HUGE TIP:
Minecraft will also let you use relative numbers using ~. ~ represents your current position. So, if you want to hollow out a 10x10x10 box you can use the command:
/fill ~ ~ ~ ~+10 ~+10 ~+10 air
Useful Commands When Running a Server
This is far from a complete tutorial but it will give you some useful notes when running a small server with friends.
1) On servers, the initial spawn area is protected. Only people with OP access can build there or access chests. The first user on the server is by default an OP.
2) To OP another use type: /op [minecraft_name]. Example: /op thewizardllewyn
3) to DEOP a user type: /deop [minecraft_name]. Exmaple: /deop thewizardllewyn
4) If your server is set up to whitelist (which is always a good idea) use: /whitelist add [minecraft_name] to add a user to the whitelist
5) To ban a user: /ban [minecraft_name] [optional reason why]. Note: to UNBAN a user you need to do: /pardon [minecraft_name]
Hopefully these help you to have more fun and keep gaming!