Game rule

Game rules are a set of customizable options for a specific in-game world.

Modifying game rules

In Java Edition, game rules can be changed using toggle buttons on the "Edit Game Rules" menu built into the "Create World" screen. The game rules are split into categories named "Player", "Mobs", "Spawning", "Drops", "World updates", "Chat", and "Miscellaneous".

In Bedrock Edition, about half of the game rules can be changed using toggles on the "World settings" and "Cheats" sections of the world's Game settings screen. The remainder can be changed only with commands.

When in-game, game rules can be changed using the /gamerule command, using the syntax /gamerule <rule> [<value>], where <rule> is the name of the game rule and <value> is an allowed value, which depends on the type of the game rule. The types are boolean (where the allowed values are either true or false) and integer (where any whole number is able to be entered).

List of game rules

The following is a list of game rules available in-game, their allowed values, and their availability in Java Edition and Bedrock Edition.

List of game rules
Rule name	Description	Default value	Type	Category‌^{[JE only]}	Availability
Rule name	Description	Default value	Type	Category‌^{[JE only]}	Java	Bedrock
`announceAdvancements`	Whether advancements should be announced in chat.	`true`	Bool	Chat	Yes	No
`blockExplosionDropDecay`	Whether block loot is dropped by all blocks (`false`) or randomly (`true`) depending on how far the block is from the center of a block explosion (e.g. clicking a bed in dimensions other than the Overworld).	`true`	Bool	Drops	Yes	No
`commandBlocksEnabled`	Whether command blocks should be enabled in-game.	`true`	Bool		No	Yes
`commandBlockOutput`	Whether command blocks should notify admins when they perform commands.	`true`	Bool	Chat	Yes	Yes
`commandModificationBlockLimit`	Controls the maximum number of blocks changed when using `/clone`, `/fill`, or `/fillbiome`.	`32768`	Int	Miscellaneous	Yes	No
`disableElytraMovementCheck`	Whether the server should skip checking player speed when the player is wearing elytra. Often helps with jittering due to lag in multiplayer.	`false`	Bool	Player	Yes	No
`disableRaids`	Whether raids are disabled.	`false`	Bool	Mobs	Yes	No
`doDaylightCycle`	Whether the daylight cycle and moon phases progress.	`true`	Bool	World Updates	Yes	Yes
`doEntityDrops`	Whether entities that are not mobs should have drops.	`true`	Bool	Drops	Yes	Yes
`doFireTick`	Whether fire should spread and naturally extinguish.	`true`	Bool	World Updates	Yes	Yes
`doInsomnia`	Whether phantoms can spawn in the nighttime.	`true`	Bool	Spawning	Yes	Yes
`doImmediateRespawn`	Players respawn immediately without showing the death screen.	`false`	Bool	Player	Yes	Yes
`doLimitedCrafting`	Whether players can craft only those recipes that they have unlocked.	`false`	Bool	Player	Yes	Yes
`doMobLoot`	Whether mobs should drop items and experience orbs.	`true`	Bool	Drops	Yes	Yes
`doMobSpawning`	Whether mobs should spawn naturally, or via global spawning logic, such as for cats, phantoms, patrols, wandering traders, or zombie sieges. Does not affect special spawning attempts, like monster spawners, raids, or iron golems.	`true`	Bool	Spawning	Yes	Yes
`doPatrolSpawning`	Whether patrols can spawn.	`true`	Bool	Spawning	Yes	No
`doTileDrops`	Whether blocks should have drops.	`true`	Bool	Drops	Yes	Yes
`doTraderSpawning`	Whether wandering traders can spawn.	`true`	Bool	Spawning	Yes	No
`doVinesSpread`	Whether vines can spread to other blocks. Cave vines, weeping vines, and twisting vines are not affected.	`true`	Bool	World Updates	Yes	No
`doWeatherCycle`	Whether the weather can change naturally. The `/weather` command can still change weather.	`true`	Bool	World Updates	Yes	Yes
`doWardenSpawning`	Whether wardens can spawn.	`true`	Bool	Spawning	Yes	No
`drowningDamage`	Whether the player should take damage when drowning.	`true`	Bool	Player	Yes	Yes
`enderPearlsVanishOnDeath`	Controls whether thrown ender pearls vanish when the player dies.	`true`	Bool	Player	Yes	No
`fallDamage`	Whether the player should take fall damage.	`true`	Bool	Player	Yes	Yes
`fireDamage`	Whether the player should take damage in fire, lava, campfires, or on magma blocks.	`true`	Bool	Player	Yes	Yes
`forgiveDeadPlayers`	Makes angered neutral mobs stop being angry when the targeted player dies nearby.	`true`	Bool	Mobs	Yes	No
`freezeDamage`	Whether the player should take damage when inside powder snow.	`true`	Bool	Player	Yes	Yes
`globalSoundEvents`	Whether certain sound events are heard by all players regardless of location.	`true`	Bool	Miscellaneous	Yes	No
`functionCommandLimit`	The maximum number of commands that can be executed by `/function` at once.	`10000`	Int		No	Yes
`keepInventory`	Whether the player should keep items and experience in their inventory after death.	`false`	Bool	Player	Yes	Yes
`lavaSourceConversion`	Whether new sources of lava are allowed to form.	`false`	Bool	World Updates	Yes	No
`logAdminCommands`	Whether to log admin commands to server log.	`true`	Bool	Chat	Yes	No
`maxCommandChainLength`	The maximum length of a chain of commands that can be executed during one tick. Applies to command blocks and functions.	`65536`	Int	Miscellaneous	Yes	Yes
`maxCommandForkCount`	The maximum number of forks (contexts) that can be created during one tick. Applies to command blocks and functions.	`65536`	Int	Miscellaneous	Yes	No
`maxEntityCramming`	The maximum number of pushable entities a mob or player can push, before taking 6HP entity cramming damage per half-second. Setting to 0 or lower disables the rule. Damage affects Survival-mode or Adventure-mode players, and all mobs but bats. Pushable entities include non-Spectator-mode players, any mob except bats, as well as boats and minecarts.	`24`	Int	Mobs	Yes	No
`minecartMaxSpeed`^[upcoming]	The maximum speed a minecart may reach.	`8`	Int (max 1000)		Yes
`mobExplosionDropDecay`	Whether block loot is dropped by all blocks (`false`) or randomly (`true`) depending on how far the block is from the center of a mob explosion (e.g. Creeper explosion).	`true`	Bool	Drops	Yes	No
`mobGriefing`	Whether creepers, zombies, endermen, ghasts, withers, ender dragons, rabbits, sheep, villagers, silverfish, snow golems, and end crystals‌^{[BE only]} should be able to change blocks, and whether mobs can pick up items. When mobGriefing is disabled, piglins do not pick up gold ingots, but a player can still barter with them by using the item on the mob. Similarly, villagers do not pick up food items but can still breed until they run out of any food already in their inventory. This also affects the capability of zombie-like creatures like zombified piglins and drowned to pathfind to turtle eggs.	`true`	Bool	Mobs	Yes	Yes
`naturalRegeneration`	Whether the player can regenerate health naturally if their hunger is full enough (doesn't affect external healing, such as golden apples, the Regeneration effect, etc.).	`true`	Bool	Player	Yes	Yes
`playersNetherPortalCreativeDelay`	Controls the time that a creative player needs to stand in a nether portal before changing dimensions.	`1`	Int	Player	Yes	No
`playersNetherPortalDefaultDelay`	Controls the time that a non-creative player needs to stand in a nether portal before changing dimensions.	`80`	Int	Player	Yes	No
`playersSleepingPercentage`	What percentage of players in the Overworld must sleep to skip the night. A percentage value of 0 or less allows the night to be skipped by just 1 player, and a percentage value more than 100 prevents players from skipping the night.	`100`	Int	Player	Yes	Yes
`projectilesCanBreakBlocks`	Whether impact projectiles destroy blocks that are destructible by them, i.e. chorus flowers, pointed dripstone, and decorated pots.	`true`	Bool	Drops	Yes	Yes
`pvp`	Whether the player can fight with other players.	`true`	Bool		No	Yes
`randomTickSpeed`	How often a random block tick occurs (such as plant growth, leaf decay, etc.) per chunk section per game tick. 0 and negative values disables random ticks, higher numbers increase random ticks. Setting to a high integer results in high speeds of decay and growth. Numbers over 4096 make plant growth or leaf decay instantaneous.	`3`‌^{[JE only]} `1`‌^{[BE only]}	Int	World Updates	Yes	Yes
`recipesUnlock`	Whether the player needs to collect items to unlock recipes in the recipe book.	`true`	Bool		No	Yes
`reducedDebugInfo`	Whether the debug screen shows all or reduced information; and whether the effects of `F3` + `B` (entity hitboxes) and `F3` + `G` (chunk boundaries) are shown.	`false`	Bool	Miscellaneous	Yes	No
`respawnBlocksExplode`	Prevents beds/respawn anchors from exploding in other dimensions.	`true`	Bool		No	Yes
`sendCommandFeedback`	Whether the feedback from commands executed by a player should show up in chat. Also affects the default behavior of whether command blocks store their output text.	`true`	Bool	Chat	Yes	Yes
`showBorderEffect`	Whether border blocks effects are shown.	`true`	Bool		No	Yes
`showCoordinates`	Whether the player's coordinates are displayed.	`true`	Bool		No	Yes
`showDaysPlayed`	Whether a text box similar to the coordinates box (from `showCoordinates`) should be displayed (underneath the coordinates box).	`false`	Bool		No	Yes
`showDeathMessages`	Whether death messages are put into chat when a player dies. Also affects whether a message is sent to the pet's owner when the pet dies.	`true`	Bool	Chat	Yes	Yes
`showRecipeMessages`	Whether the recipe toasts are displayed.	`true`	Bool		No	Yes
`showTags`	Hides the "Can place on" and "Can destroy" block lists from item lore, as well as item lock indicators.	`true`	Bool		No	Yes
`snowAccumulationHeight`	The maximum number of snow layers that can be accumulated on each block.	`1`	Int	World Updates	Yes	No
`spawnChunkRadius`	The size of the spawn chunks of the world.	`2`	Int	Miscellaneous	Yes	No
`spawnRadius`	The number of blocks outward from the world spawn coordinates that a player spawns in when first joining a server or when dying without a personal spawnpoint. Has no effect on servers where the default game mode is Adventure.	`10`	Int	Player	Yes	Yes
`spectatorsGenerateChunks`	Whether players in Spectator mode can generate chunks.	`true`	Bool	Player	Yes	No
`tntExplodes`	Whether TNT explodes after activation.	`true`	Bool		No	Yes
`tntExplosionDropDecay`	Whether block loot is dropped by all blocks (`false`) or randomly (`true`) depending on how far the block is from the center of a TNT explosion.	`false`	Bool	Drops	Yes	Yes
`universalAnger`	Makes angered neutral mobs attack any nearby player, not just the player that angered them. Works best if `forgiveDeadPlayers` is disabled.	`false`	Bool	Mobs	Yes	No
`waterSourceConversion`	Whether new sources of water are allowed to form.	`true`	Bool	World Updates	Yes	No

Additional behavior

This section needs expansion.

You can help by expanding it.

This section explains more complex behaviors of certain gamerules.

disableRaids
- When true, the Bad Omen effect is not removed from a player when entering a village.
- Stops a raid if set to true while a raid is in progress, but the existing raid mobs do not despawn.
doEntityDrops
- When false, removing items from item frames does not drop that item.
doMobLoot
- Does not affect drops not related to a mob's death, such as chicken laying eggs, or sheep dropping wool when sheared.
- Does not affect the dropping of wither roses when mobs are killed by the wither.^[1]^[2]
doMobSpawning
- Affects only natural mob spawning. Mobs from structures,‌^{[Java Edition only]} monster spawners, and events still spawn when set to false.
doTileDrops
- When false, containers still drop their contents, but not themselves.
  - Shulker boxes do not drop anything, causing the items in them to be lost.
- When false, destroying an armor stand does not drop it nor any armor it had equipped.
- When false, item frames still drop themselves and their items.
- When false, infested blocks do not spawn silverfish when broken.
drowningDamage
- When false, the player still loses air, but does not take damage when the air is depleted.
fireDamage
- When false, the player may still be set on fire, but does not take damage when on fire.
forgiveDeadPlayers
- Every neutral mob that can be aggravated remain aggravated even after the offending player dies, with the exception of piglins when a player does not wear golden armor and iron golems when it is created from a village where the player is unpopular.
keepInventory
- When true, players also retain their experience upon death.
- When true, health and hunger are still reset as normal upon death.
- When true, all effects are still removed upon death.^[3]
- When true, items enchanted with Curse of Vanishing do not disappear upon death.^[4]
mobGriefing
- When false, prevents all mobs from modifying the environment in any way. This includes trampling crops and turtle eggs, picking up items, destroying blocks, or moving blocks. Specifically, it prevents:
  - Allays from picking up dropped items.
  - Blazes from creating fire or lighting campfires.
  - Creepers from destroying blocks when they explode, although they still damage entities.
  - Dolphins from picking up dropped items.‌^{[JE only]}
  - End crystals from destroying blocks when they explode, although they still damage entities.
  - Ender dragons from destroying blocks, causing it to just fly through them instead.
  - Endermen from picking up or placing blocks.
  - Evoker from turning blue sheep red.‌^{[JE only]}
  - Foxes from picking sweet berries from a sweet berry bush and picking up dropped items.
  - Ghast fireballs from exploding blocks and creating fire. They still damage entities.
  - Piglins from attempting to barter by picking up dropped items; using the item on them still works.
  - Rabbits from eating carrot crops.
  - Ravagers from destroying crops and leaves.
  - Sheep from turning grass blocks into dirt, but does not prevent the regrowth of wool. They still act as if they are eating the grass and regrow their wool upon doing so, but the grass remains and the grass breaking sound does not play.
  - Silverfish from hiding in infested blocks and destroying those blocks when hatching.
  - Snow golems from creating snow trails.
  - Villagers from farming and picking up items. However, they can still open doors and throw items.
  - Withers and its heads from destroying blocks with their explosions. Entities are still damaged, and a wither rose drops as an item.
  - Zombies from breaking doors, picking up items, and attacking turtle eggs.
- Also efects mobs with the weaving effect from placing cobwebs.
- Has no effect on mobs destroying anything in item form, ex: item frames and leads^[5]‌^{[until JE 1.21.2]}. Also doesn't effect bees breezes, frogs turtles or the player.
playersSleepingPercentage
- When set to 0, at least one player is still required to sleep to skip the night.
- When set to a number greater than 100, night is not skipped no matter how many players are sleeping.
randomTickSpeed
- Does not affect:
  - Death of coral blocks, coral, and coral fan.
  - Hatching of frogspawn^[6] and sniffer eggs^[7].
snowAccumulationHeight
- When set to 0, snow layers do not form at all.
- When set to 8 or higher, snow forms up to the level of a full block, but no greater than that.
universalAnger
- Every neutral mob that can be aggravated targets all nearby players whenever they are aggravated.
- Bees attack all nearby players when their beehive is broken, regardless of the setting of this gamerule.^[8]
  - Bees becoming angry when attacked works as expected.

History

[hide]Java Edition
1.4.2	12w32a	Added `/gamerule`.
	12w32a	Added the following gamerules: `doFireTick` `mobGriefing` `keepInventory` `doMobSpawning` `doMobLoot` `doTileDrops`
	12w38a	Added game rule `commandBlockOutput`.
1.6.1	13w23a	Added game rule `naturalRegeneration`.
1.6.1	13w24a	Added game rule `doDaylightCycle`.
1.8	14w03a	Added game rule `logAdminCommands`.
	14w10a	Added game rule `showDeathMessages`.
	14w17a	Added game rule `randomTickSpeed`.
	14w26a	Added game rule `sendCommandFeedback`.
	14w29a	Added game rule `reducedDebugInfo`.
	14w29a	Added the ability to create dummy game rules.
1.8.1	pre1	Added game rule `doEntityDrops`.
1.8.1	pre1	Game rule `doTileDrops` no longer affects entities.
1.9	15w37a	Added game rule `spectatorsGenerateChunks`.
	15w51a	Added game rule `spawnRadius`.
	16w07a	Added game rule `disableElytraMovementCheck`.
1.11	16w38a	Added game rule `doWeatherCycle`.
1.11	16w38a	Added game rule `maxEntityCramming`.
1.12	17w13a	Added game rule `doLimitedCrafting`.
	17w16b	Added game rule `maxCommandChainLength`.
	17w18a	Added game rule `announceAdvancements`.
	pre1	Added game rule `gameLoopFunction`.
1.13	17w45a	Removed the ability to create custom game rules.
1.13	17w49b	Removed game rule `gameLoopFunction`. Its functionality was replaced with and expanded by the `minecraft:tick` function tag.
1.14.3	pre3	Added game rule `disableRaids`.
1.15	19w36a	Added game rule `doInsomnia`.
		Added game rule `doImmediateRespawn`.
		Added game rule `drowningDamage`.
		Added game rule `fallDamage`.
		Added game rule `fireDamage`.
1.15.2	pre1	Added game rule `doPatrolSpawning`.
1.15.2	pre1	Added game rule `doTraderSpawning`.
1.16	20w17a	Game rules can now be changed upon world creation.
1.16	pre1	Added game rule `universalAnger`.
1.16	pre1	Added game rule `forgiveDeadPlayers`.
1.17	20w48a	Added game rule `freezeDamage`.
1.17	20w51a	Added game rule `playersSleepingPercentage`.
1.19	22w16a	Added game rule `doWardenSpawning`.
1.19.3	22w44a	Added the following game rules: `blockExplosionDropDecay` `mobExplosionDropDecay` `tntExplosionDropDecay` `snowAccumulationHeight` `waterSourceConversion` `lavaSourceConversion` `globalSoundEvents`
1.19.4	23w03a	Added game rule `commandModificationBlockLimit`.
1.19.4	23w06a	Added game rule `doVinesSpread`.
1.20.2	23w31a	The `randomTickSpeed` game rule now affects the formation of snow and ice,^[9] as well as the filling of cauldrons with rain.^[10]
1.20.2	pre1	Added game rule `enderPearlsVanishOnDeath`.
1.20.3	23w41a	Added game rule `maxCommandForkCount`.
1.20.3	23w42a	Added game rules `projectilesCanBreakBlocks`, `playersNetherPortalDefaultDelay` and `playersNetherPortalCreativeDelay`.
1.20.5	24w03a	Added game rule `spawnChunkRadius`.
1.21	24w21a	Added game rule `entitiesWithPassengersCanUsePortals`.
1.21	pre1	Removed game rule `entitiesWithPassengersCanUsePortals`. Entities with passengers can now use portals by default.
[hide]Upcoming Java Edition
1.21.2 Experiment Minecart Improvements	24w33a	Added `minecartMaxSpeed` with a default of 8 and maximum of 1000.
[hide]Pocket Edition
1.0.5	alpha 1.0.5.0	Added `/gamerule`.
		Added game rule `drowningDamage`.
		Added game rule `fallDamage`.
		Added game rule `fireDamage`.
		Added game rule `pvp`.
1.1.0	alpha 1.1.0.0	Added game rule `doDaylightCycle`.
		Added game rule `doEntityDrops`.
		Added game rule `doFireTick`.
		Added game rule `doMobSpawning`.
		Added game rule `doMobLoot`.
		Added game rule `doTileDrops`.
		Added game rule `doWeatherCycle`.
		Added game rule `keepInventory`.
		Added game rule `mobGriefing`.
[hide]Bedrock Edition
1.6.0	beta 1.6.0.6	Added game rule `doInsomnia`.
1.7.0	beta 1.7.0.2	Added game rule `commandBlocksEnabled`.
1.8.0	beta 1.8.0.8	Added game rule `randomTickSpeed`.
1.9.0	beta 1.9.0.0	Added game rule `showDeathMessages`.
		Added game rule `immediateRespawn`.
		Added game rule `functioncommandlimit`.
1.12.0	beta 1.12.0.2	Added game rule `spawnRadius`.
1.12.0	beta 1.12.0.2	Added game rule `sendCommandBlockFeedback`.
?		Added game rule `commandBlockOutput`.
		Added game rule `maxCommandChainLength`.
		Added game rule `naturalRegeneration`.
		Added game rule `sendCommandFeedback`.^[verify]
		Added game rule `showCoordinates`.
		Added game rule `tntExplodes`.
1.14.0		Added game rule `showTags`.
?		Removed the ability to create dummy gamerules.
1.16.210	beta 1.16.210.53	Added game rule `freezeDamage`.
1.17.30	beta 1.17.20.20	Added game rule `respawnBlocksExplode`.
?		Added game rule `showBorderEffect`.
1.20.30	Preview 1.20.20.21	Added game rule `playersSleepingPercentage`.
	Preview 1.20.20.21	Added game rule `recipesUnlock`.
	Preview 1.20.30.20	Added game rule `doLimitedCrafting`.
	Preview 1.20.30.22	The `recipesUnlock` game rule is now set to `true` by default.
1.20.40	Preview 1.20.40.22	The `spawnRadius` game rule is now set to `10` by default to match Java Edition.
1.20.50	Preview 1.20.50.20	Added game rule `showRecipeMessages`.
1.20.50	Preview 1.20.50.22	Added game rule `projectilesCanBreakBlocks`.
1.21.0	Preview 1.21.0.20	Added game rule `tntExplosionDropDecay`.
1.21.0	Preview 1.21.0.23	Added game rule `showDaysPlayed`.

Gallery

Screenshots

All the gamerules in 1.17.

References

↑ MC-154922
↑ MCPE-73842
↑ MC-67352 — resolved as "Works As Intended".
↑ MC-108353 — resolved as "Works As Intended".
↑ MC-3697
↑ MC-249308
↑ MC-261250 — resolved as "Invalid".
↑ "Revamped anger management for neutral mobs in minecraft. Now angered neutral mobs won't attack innocent bystanders, won't forget you just cuz you log out & log in, and won't keep killing you after you die & respawn. Etc. Find anything wonky? Report at bugs.mojang.com" – @henrikkniberg on X (formerly Twitter), June 5, 2020
↑ MC-93320 — Water freezes even if randomTickSpeed is 0 — resolved as "Fixed".
↑ MC-93820 — Rain filling cauldrons is not affected by randomTickSpeed — resolved as "Fixed".

Navigation

[1] MC-154922

[2] MCPE-73842

[3] MC-67352 — resolved as "Works As Intended".

[4] MC-108353 — resolved as "Works As Intended".

[5] MC-3697

[6] MC-249308

[7] MC-261250 — resolved as "Invalid".

[8] "Revamped anger management for neutral mobs in minecraft. Now angered neutral mobs won't attack innocent bystanders, won't forget you just cuz you log out & log in, and won't keep killing you after you die & respawn. Etc. Find anything wonky? Report at bugs.mojang.com" – @henrikkniberg on X (formerly Twitter), June 5, 2020

[MC-93320-9] MC-93320 — Water freezes even if randomTickSpeed is 0 — resolved as "Fixed".

[10] MC-93820 — Rain filling cauldrons is not affected by randomTickSpeed — resolved as "Fixed".

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[hide] v t e Gameplay
General mechanics	Add-ons Attribute Commands Distance Effect Potency Explosion Game rules Interaction range Inventory Creative inventory Saved Hotbars Generated loot Hitbox Multiplayer Server Server list Realms Splitscreen Oxidation Rarity Redstone circuits Conductivity Renewability Renewable Non-renewable Rotation Snowlogging South-east rule Spawn protection Tiers Waterlogging
Survival	Advancements Achievements Archaeology Armor materials Bartering Breaking Instant mining Breeding Brewing Cooking Crafting 2×2 grid Recipe book Dual wield Difficulty Durability Enchanting Experience Farming Fishing Health Healing Hunger Item repair Mob spawning Ominous Event Ominous Trial Raid Patrol Raid captain Smelting Smithing World Spawn Taming Trading Workstations Zombie siege
Combat	Blocking Damage Attack cooldown Critical hit Knockback Sprint-knockback Drops Monster infighting
Environment	Biomes Daylight cycle Dimensions Light Seeds Structures Weather World generation
Movement	Crawling Flying Gliding Jumping Lying Riding Sitting Sneaking Sprinting Swimming Walking
User interface	Action bar Bossbar Chat Death messages Game mode switcher Heads-up display Narrator Locator Bar^{[upcoming JE 1.21.6 & BE 1.21.80]} Scoreboard Toasts Tutorial hints Tooltip
Visuals	Color Block colors Item colors Effect colors Miscellaneous colors Emotes Error Missing textures Resource pack Screen effects Skins Character Skin pack Third-person view
Outdated	Sword blocking Materials Update Suppression