Minecraft guides — page 8 — page 8

Practical write-ups on commands, datapacks, building and server performance — each one paired with the tool that does the work.

Custom enchantments without mods: the data-driven enchantment format

Enchantments became datapack JSON, so a custom one needs no mod. Here is the file shape, the effect components that actually do something, and how to make it obtainable.

2026-07-02Commands & Data

/particle: what delta and speed really mean, and the count=0 trick

The four numbers after the position are not a direction. Here is what delta and speed do, why count=0 behaves completely differently, and how to aim a particle.

2026-07-01Commands & 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.

2026-06-30Commands & Data

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.

2026-06-29Commands & Data

Biomes are 3D now: why the biome under your feet is not the one on the surface

Cave biomes generate independently of the surface, which changes mob spawns, water colour and where structures appear. What that means in practice.

2026-06-28Building & Resources

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.

2026-06-27Commands & Data

Armour maths: why 20 armour points is not 80% reduction

The armour formula includes toughness and the attack's armour-piercing. Here is the real equation, what Protection adds on top, and where the hard caps sit.

2026-06-26Building & Resources

Replacing sounds with a resource pack: sounds.json and the .ogg requirement

Minecraft only plays Ogg Vorbis, and a sound event is not a file. Here is the mapping file, how to add a sound instead of replacing one, and why yours is silent.

2026-06-25Building & Resources

XP levels and total experience: the three formulas and what a death costs

Levels are not linear — level 30 is 1,395 XP but level 60 is 6,720. Here are the piecewise formulas, what you keep on death, and the cheapest level for enchanting.

2026-06-24Building & Resources

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.

2026-06-23Commands & Data

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