Commands & Data guides — page 4 — page 4
Minecraft guides filed under Commands & Data.
Player heads by username: how the profile component works and why heads go blank
A head stores a skin snapshot, not a live link. Here is the profile component, why an old head shows the wrong skin, and how UUID lookup fits in.
Custom recipes: shaped, shapeless, and using tags instead of listing every wood
A shaped recipe that will not craft usually has its key wrong or its pattern padded. Here is the JSON, the tag trick that collapses eight recipes into one, and how to test.
Scoreboards: the criteria that track things automatically, and display slots
Most scoreboard tutorials only use dummy. The built-in criteria track deaths, blocks mined and custom stats with no commands at all — here is the full shape.
Block, item and entity ids: namespaces, block states, and the ones that differ
An id is not always what the item is called, and a block id is not the same as its item id. The naming rules, the renames that break old commands, and where states fit.
Colour and formatting codes: § codes, hex, and where each one still works
Section-sign codes still work in some places and are ignored in others. Here is the full table, the hex syntax that replaced them, and which contexts accept what.
Bossbars and titles: persistent state, timings, and the value/max split
A bossbar survives restarts and a title does not. Here is the create-then-modify pattern, the fade timings people set backwards, and how to drive a progress bar.
Dialog screens: building real menus without a mod
Datapack dialogs give you a proper window with inputs and buttons. Here is the JSON shape, how a button runs a command, and how it compares to the book-menu hack.
Camera cutscenes without a mod: keyframes, interpolation and spectator tricks
Two ways to move a camera in vanilla — a ticking teleport function, or the timeline registry. What each is good for, and the smoothing that stops it looking robotic.
Looking for more Minecraft tools?
A suite of client-side generators, viewers and converters — all free, all in your browser.