Bedrock Edition Commands: Complete Guide

How Commands Work in Bedrock

Commands in Minecraft Bedrock Edition let you modify the game world, teleport players, spawn entities, change game rules, and much more. They are entered in the chat window (press T or the chat icon) prefixed with a forward slash. Commands can also be placed in command blocks for automation.

To use commands, cheats must be enabled in the world settings. On servers and Realms, you need operator permissions. Enabling cheats in a survival world disables achievements for that world permanently.

Key Differences from Java Edition

Bedrock Edition commands share most syntax with Java Edition but have several important differences:

• Bedrock uses the @ target selectors like Java (@a, @p, @r, @e, @s) but some selector arguments differ.
• NBT data tags are not supported in Bedrock commands. You cannot specify item enchantments or entity data through NBT.
• Bedrock uses /give with data values instead of NBT for some item variants.
• The /data command does not exist in Bedrock.
• Block states in Bedrock use a different syntax: ["state"="value"] instead of Java block state format.
• Some commands that exist in Java are missing from Bedrock, including /data, /attribute, /team, and /bossbar.
• Bedrock has unique commands not found in Java, such as /camerashake, /dialogue, and /playanimation.

Target Selectors

Target selectors let you choose which entities a command affects:

• @a - All players
• @p - Nearest player
• @r - Random player
• @e - All entities
• @s - The entity executing the command (self)

You can filter targets with arguments in square brackets:

@e[type=zombie,r=10]      # All zombies within 10 blocks
@a[scores={kills=5..}]    # All players with 5+ kills
@p[name=Steve]            # Nearest player named Steve
@e[family=monster,c=3]    # 3 closest monsters

Bedrock uses c for count limit while Java uses limit. Bedrock uses r and rm for radius while Java uses distance.

Commonly Used Commands

Here is a quick reference for the most popular Bedrock commands:

• /tp - Teleport players or entities
• /give - Give items to players
• /fill - Fill regions with blocks
• /summon - Spawn entities
• /effect - Apply status effects
• /gamemode - Change game mode
• /execute - Run commands with modified context
• /setblock - Place a single block
• /clone - Copy blocks from one area to another
• /kill - Remove entities
• /clear - Remove items from inventory
• /scoreboard - Manage scoreboard objectives and scores
• /tag - Add or remove tags from entities
• /title - Display text on screen
• /playsound - Play sounds

Command Blocks

Command blocks are special blocks that execute commands automatically. Bedrock has three types:

• Impulse (orange): Runs once when activated by redstone or when set to Always Active.
• Chain (green): Runs when the command block pointing into it completes. Used to chain multiple commands.
• Repeat (purple): Runs every game tick (20 times per second) while active.

To get a command block, use: /give @s command_block

Command blocks are essential for creating maps, minigames, and automated systems without add-ons.

Useful Tips

• Use Tab completion to auto-fill command names, player names, and block/item IDs.
• Relative coordinates use tilde (~): ~ ~5 ~ means current position but 5 blocks higher.
• Local coordinates use caret (^): ^ ^ ^5 means 5 blocks in front of where you are facing.
• Use /tickingarea to keep areas loaded when no player is nearby, which is necessary for always-on farms.