Creative

Pixel art and other creations made in Creative mode

Creative mode is one of the main game modes in Minecraft. Creative mode strips away the survival aspects of Minecraft and allows players to easily create and destroy structures and mechanisms with the inclusion of an infinite use of blocks and flying. It disables the player's ability to earn achievements though. It also changes some of the background music.

Gameplay

A player flying in Creative mode.

Destroying

Creative mode allows players to destroy all blocks instantly (including normally indestructible blocks such as bedrock, end portal frames, etc.), provided they are not holding a sword, trident, mace or debug stick‌.

When continuously holding destroy to break blocks in Creative mode, there is a 6 game tick (0.3 second) cooldown between each block broken. This is distinct from instant mining in Survival mode, where one block can be broken every game tick (0.05 second). This cooldown can be bypassed by rapidly clicking the destroy button, allowing blocks to be broken as quickly as the player clicks.

Blocks directly broken by the player do not drop any resource; the only exceptions are shulker boxes and beehives if they have non-default NBT data. Containers also drop their contents when broken. Blocks broken indirectly (for example, a torch attached to the block that is being broken, or blocks destroyed by an explosion) drop item resources as in other game modes. Infested blocks do not spawn silverfish when destroyed directly by the player.

Reach

Players in Creative have a longer reach for placing, destroying, and attacking than in Survival.

Edition	Reach in Creative mode	Reach in other game modes
Java Edition	5.2 blocks	4.5 blocks
Bedrock (keyboard or controller)	5 blocks	5 blocks
Bedrock (touch controls)	12 blocks	6 blocks

Flying

Creative mode gives players the ability to fly. To activate flying, double tap the jump key. Use the jump key to go up and the sneak key to go down, and the movement controls to move. The player can disable flying in mid-air by double-tapping jump again, causing them to drop to the ground. Touching the ground when flying disables flying in Java Edition, but not in Bedrock Edition. Getting into a minecart, or bed does not disable flying. However, getting into a boat or riding a mob such as pig, llama, horse, donkey, mule, skeleton horse, strider, trader llama or camel disables flying.

Invincibility

In Creative mode, players have no visible health or hunger bar to hamper their building since they are invincible (though it is still possible to eat).

Players in Creative mode are unable to receive damage from the vast majority of sources. In Java Edition, going too far into the void still kills the player; however, in Bedrock Edition, the player is also immune to this (they are stopped by an invisible barrier that exists in all three dimensions). The player can fly around in the void provided they do not descend more than 64 blocks below the bottom of the dimension. In Java Edition, the void, the /kill and /damage commands, as well as external editors, are the only way to die in Creative mode. Creative players in Bedrock Edition are completely invulnerable.

Mobs

Mobs still spawn as they do in other game modes, unless the difficulty is Peaceful or when the game rule doMobSpawning is set to false, but all are passive toward the players. Zombies summoned by others calling for backup attempt to attack the player, but they still cause no harm, and they stop attacking after several seconds. The player can still ignite creepers with a flint and steel or fire charge. Mobs killed by the player in Creative still drop items, but most other entities do not.

Switching to Creative mode

Once a world is created, if cheats are enabled, the game mode can be manually changed to Creative (or other game modes) with the /gamemode command, specifically by typing /gamemode creative. In Java Edition, the game mode switcher (F3 + F4) can also be used. In multiplayer, players can be individually changed between game modes with the /gamemode command available to operators. This means that individual players can play Creative mode (at the operator's discretion) on a Survival map, or vice-versa. The default game mode for new players can also be changed with the /defaultgamemode command.

Achievements

In Bedrock Edition, opening a new Creative world or opening an existing world in Creative permanently disables achievements or trophies for that particular game, but has no other effects on gameplay. In other words, achievements/trophies work only in games that have never been in Creative.

Creative inventory

The Creative mode inventory showing the Search tab for the Java Edition.

The Creative mode inventory showing the All tab in Bedrock Edition (Classic option).

The Creative mode inventory showing the All tab in Bedrock Edition (Pocket option).

In Creative, the normal inventory screen is replaced by the item selection screen, which contains almost all blocks and items (with some exceptions) in a tabbed interface. Some items and blocks are available only in Creative mode, such as spawn eggs. Likewise, some blocks can be used only in Creative, such as command blocks and structure blocks.

Java Edition

In Java Edition, there are 13 tabs that are ordered from top-left to bottom right as:

• Building Blocks
• Colored Blocks
• Natural Blocks
• Functional Blocks
• Redstone Blocks
• Saved Hotbars
• Search Items
• Tools & Utilities
• Combat
• Food & Drinks
• Ingredients
• Spawn Eggs
• Operator Utilities (Needs to be enabled in settings)
• Survival Inventory

Bedrock Edition

In Bedrock Edition, there are 5 tabs:

• Construction
• Equipment
• Items
• Nature
• All

When using the "Classic" UI profile, the buttons in the top right corner can toggle the inventory screen to show:

• only the Creative inventory
• both the Creative and the Survival inventory
• only the Survival inventory

When using the "Pocket" UI profile, it is not possible to display both the Creative and the Survival inventory at the same time; the Creative inventory, however, can be shrunk to also display the 2×2 crafting grid or the equipment slots using the tabs on the right side of the screen.

General info

Some items behave differently in Creative mode. Items do not disappear or lose durability when used. For example, putting an item in an item frame, on an armor stand, or in a decorated pot does not cause it to disappear from the player's hand. Instead, the item is duplicated. It is the same for putting on armor by right-clicking it from the player's hotbar. Also, empty buckets simply make liquids disappear.

In Java Edition, there is a "destroy item" button, where items can be dragged to and deleted. ⇧ Shift + clicking on the button clears the entire inventory, including the hotbar, off-hand slot, and armor slots.

Item entities can be picked up by the player, but if the hotbar is already full, the items go into the Survival inventory. If the survival inventory is full as well, the items are deleted even though they appear to be picked up.

Pick block

The player can obtain items using pick block. Unlike Survival, the block selected appears in the player's hotbar even if the block is not already in the hotbar or in the Survival inventory. If it is in the inventory, then the block moves out of its former slot and replaces the block/item in the active hotbar slot, with the size of the stack preserved. If the hotbar is full then the selected block replaces the block/item in the active slot.

Most blocks give the player a copy of themselves when using pick block. Using it on an item frame gives the player the item held inside, or the item frame itself if no item is held. Using it on a mob gives the player a spawn egg of that mob. Using it on a mob head gives the mob type that it is; using it on custom heads gives only the mob type that was used in the command, but without the custom skin.

If the player holds Ctrl and presses pick block, in addition to obtaining the item, it also preserves the block's NBT tags, allowing the player to place an identical copy of the block; this allows the player to duplicate items inside of chests, dispensers, and so on, and also duplicates the text on signs.

Unavailable blocks and items

There are several blocks and a couple of items that do not appear in the Creative inventory. They can be obtained with the /give command and can be manually placed using /setblock command, using the IDs provided in the table below. Additionally, using pick block on these blocks also gives them, except where noted. Technical blocks, such as portals and off-state redstone torches, do not have corresponding inventory items at all in Java Edition and cannot be obtained without external help in Bedrock Edition, and thus cannot be legitimately obtained.

Name	Can be obtained with Pick Block?	Inventory availability		Identifier
		Java Edition	Bedrock Edition
Allow	Yes	N/A	No	allow
Barrier	Yes	Yes	No	barrier
Border	Yes	N/A	No	border_block
Command block	Yes	Yes	No	command_block repeating_command_block chain_command_block
Debug stick	Not a block	Yes	N/A	debug_stick
Deny	Yes	N/A	No	deny
Ender dragon spawn egg	Yes (entity)	No	No	ender_dragon_spawn_egg
Minecart with command block	Yes (entity)	Yes	No	command_block_minecart
Firework star	Not a block	Yes	No	firework_star
Firework rocket	No (entity)	No	No	firework_rocket
Petrified Oak Slab	Yes	No	No	petrified_oak_slab
Structure block	Yes	Yes	No	structure_block
Structure void	Yes	Yes	No	structure_void
Knowledge book	Not a block	No	N/A	knowledge_book
Jigsaw block	Yes	Yes	No	jigsaw
Light block	Yes‌	Yes	No	light‌ light_block‌
Suspicious stew	Not a block	No	No	suspicious_stew
Bundle	Not a block	Yes	N/A	bundle
Uncraftable potion	Not a block	No	N/A	potion
Uncraftable lingering potion	Not a block	No	N/A	lingering_potion
Uncraftable splash potion	Not a block	No	N/A	splash_potion
Uncraftable tipped arrow	Not a block	No	N/A	tipped_arrow
Wither spawn egg	Yes (entity)	No	No	wither_spawn_egg
Ominous Vault	No	No	No	vault

Platform specific exclusive features

Some blocks and items are obtainable in Creative on one platform, but not the other. The full list of blocks and items obtainable only in the Java Edition Creative Inventory can be found in Java Edition exclusive features#Creative inventory. Bedrock Edition exclusive Creative Inventory blocks and items can be found in Bedrock Edition exclusive features#Creative inventory.

Creative inventory exclusives

Several blocks and items found in the Creative inventory are not normally available as items through vanilla Survival gameplay.

• Bedrock
• Budding Amethyst
• Chorus Plant
• Dirt Path
• End Portal Frame
• Farmland
• Frogspawn
• Infested Cobblestone
• Infested Chiseled Stone Bricks
• Infested Cracked Stone Bricks
• Infested Deepslate
• Infested Mossy Stone Bricks
• Infested Stone
• Infested Stone Bricks
• Monster Spawner
• Player Head
• Potion of Decay‌
• Splash Potion of Decay‌
• Lingering Potion of Decay‌
• Arrow of Decay‌
• Potion of Luck‌
• Splash Potion of Luck‌
• Lingering Potion of Luck‌
• Arrow of Luck‌
• Reinforced Deepslate
• Spawn Egg
• Trial Spawner
• Vault

Some of these, however, were obtainable using glitches or by exploiting quirks in certain historical versions; more information can be found in the Minecraft Discontinued Features Wiki.

Representation in level.dat

Creative mode is represented as 1 in GameType in the level.dat file; to manually change the GameType, the file must first be opened with an external NBT editor.

Note: Singleplayer worlds do not use this field to save the game mode the player is currently in.

History

[hide]Java Edition pre-Classic
Cave game tech test							The first version of "Creative" mode has no flying, and no placing or removing blocks.
rd-132211							The player can now place and destroy blocks. Left-clicking places a block, and right-clicking destroys a block.
							Blocks cannot be placed past the world boundary.
							Falling off the edge or digging through the bottom of the world no longer kills the player.
[hide]Java Edition Classic
May 16, 2009							Notch discussed Creative among the various game modes he envisioned for the game.
0.0.19a							Hotbar was added. It displayed all blocks except cobblestone and sand.
0.24_SURVIVAL_TEST							Removed Creative mode, added survival features.
0.28							Creative mode update, restored Creative mode to Classic.
[hide]Java Edition Indev
0.31			20091231-1				Effectively removed Creative from this version onwards, as all subsequent versions up to and including Beta 1.7.3 use Survival gameplay. However, some minor code edits could return the game to an effective Creative state (similarly to activating Survival mode in Classic 0.28 and 0.29), although this was unsupported and became increasingly unstable through the updates.
[hide]Java Edition Beta
June 28, 2011							Notch announced Creative mode as one of the gamemodes a player can choose.
July 5, 2011							The modification date of the texture used for the Creative inventory prior to 1.3.1 (12w16a) suggests that Creative mode was in development at this point.
1.8			Pre-release				Re-added Creative mode released in the Adventure Update alongside Survival.
[hide]Java Edition
1.0.0			Beta 1.9 Prerelease 5				Hostile mobs are now neutral to players in Creative mode.
1.2.1			12w05a				Enchanting no longer requires experience in Creative mode.
1.3.1			12w16a				Cheats allow switching between Survival and Creative modes without mods or editors.
			12w17a				Tools in Creative mode now have infinite durability.
			12w18a				Players no longer begin with a full hotbar in Creative mode.
			12w21b				Players can now access the Survival inventory, previously, the Survival inventory was accessible only when using crafting tables or similar blocks.
			12w22a				The player can now wear and remove armor in Creative mode.
			12w27a				Creative inventory now shows status effects.
			12w30c				The crafting grid was removed from the Survival inventory tab because of a duplication bug.
1.4.2			12w32a				Added command blocks, which can be used only in Creative mode.
1.6.1			13w18a				Creepers, skeletons, zombies, witches and wolves are no longer provoked when attacked by a player who is in Creative mode.
			13w21a				Experience levels no longer appear in Creative. Previously, the experience would be hidden but experience levels would show.
			13w25b				It is no longer possible to break blocks with a sword in Creative mode.
1.7.2			1.7				Spiders, cave spiders, zombie pigmen, blazes, and endermen are no longer provoked when attacked by a player who is in Creative mode.
2013 Music Update							Six ambient music tracks are added that play in Creative mode.
1.8			14w06a				Players in Creative mode can make barriers visible by holding a barrier in their hand.
			14w07a				Players can create a copy of a block entity in their hotbar, including all NBT data, by holding Ctrl and pressing pick block.
			14w10a				Players in Creative can now damage entities even if they are flagged invulnerable.
1.9			15w31a				Added structure blocks in the Combat Update. They were unobtainable and unusable and could be placed only with commands, such as /setblock.
1.10			16w20a				Structure blocks are now obtainable using commands in the Frostburn Update and usable in Creative mode.
1.12			17w06a				Added toolbar saving.
1.13			18w20a				It is no longer possible to break blocks with tridents in Creative mode.
1.15			19w46a				All foods are now edible in Creative mode, including cake.
1.16			20w10a				Fire and soul fire now behave more like other blocks and therefore can no longer be put out by swords/tridents in Creative
			Pre-release 1				Using a bucket on water or lava in Creative mode now provides the player with one water or lava bucket in the inventory. This is created in a new inventory slot rather than replacing the used bucket. A limit of one bucket per fluid can be obtained this way - attempting to fill a bucket where a filled one already exists in the inventory removes the fluid as expected but does not provide any new buckets.
							Cows and mooshrooms can also now be milked in Creative mode, providing the player with limitless milk buckets.
			Pre-release 4				Milking cows now provides Creative players with only one bucket.
[hide]Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.1.0							Added Creative mode.
v0.2.0							Added the flying ability to Creative mode.
							Added Survival mode, making Creative optional.
v0.10.0			build 1				Creative now has the day/night cycle.
v0.11.0			build 1				Creative mode worlds can now be converted to Survival (or vice-versa) without third-party software.
			build 10				Increased interaction range for players in Creative.
			build 11				Players in Creative are no longer killed by the void.
			build 12				Players in Creative mode no longer catch fire.
v0.12.1			build 1				Mobs no longer become hostile toward Creative mode players.
							External inventories can now be interacted with in Creative.
							Prior to this version, players could not activate nether reactors in Creative mode; this was made obsolete with the addition of the Nether.
			build 11				External inventories can no longer be interacted with in Creative due to a lack of a proper inventory.
							It is no longer possible to break blocks with a sword in Creative mode.
v0.14.0			build 1				Added Survival inventory tabs to the Creative inventory.
							External inventories can now be interacted with in Creative.
v0.15.0			build 1				Added achievements, which cannot be earned in Creative mode. Switching to Creative gives a "warning" message.
[hide]Bedrock Edition
1.2.0			beta 1.2.0.2				Players now start Creative mode worlds with an empty hotbar.
1.7.0			beta 1.7.0.2				Players can now eat in Creative mode.
[hide]Legacy Console Edition
Xbox 360	Xbox One	PS3	PS4	PS Vita	Wii U	Switch
TU5	CU1	1.00	1.00	1.00	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added Creative mode.
TU6							Added a quick command to clear the hotbar in Creative mode. (////// button)
							Tools in Creative mode now have infinite durability.
TU24		1.07					Six ambient music tracks are added that play in Creative mode.
[hide]New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0							Added Creative Mode

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  The first image of flying in Creative mode.

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  The Creative mode item selection screen prior to Java Edition 12w21b.

Issues

Issues relating to "Creative" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

Gallery

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  Creative mode in Java Edition Beta 1.8 Pre-release.

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  Creative mode in Java Edition Beta 1.8.1.

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  Several Creative mode builds.

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  A house built on a Creative plot server.

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  A Creative mode interface.

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