/worldborder has ten forms, and only two of them animate
set and add take an optional time argument that shrinks the border gradually; the other eight are instant. Plus what Minecraft's four border defaults actually mean.
The world border is one command with ten complete forms, and the difference between two of them and the rest is the whole reason shrinking-border maps work. Taken from Mojang's own command tree for 26.2 and the defaults the planner on this page starts from.
All ten forms
/worldborder get
/worldborder set <distance>
/worldborder set <distance> <time>
/worldborder add <distance>
/worldborder add <distance> <time>
/worldborder center <pos>
/worldborder damage amount <damagePerBlock>
/worldborder damage buffer <distance>
/worldborder warning distance <distance>
/worldborder warning time <time>That is the complete list — there is no remove, no reset, and no way to query an individual setting. get returns the diameter and nothing else.
Only set and add take a time
Two forms have an optional trailing <time>, in seconds:
/worldborder set 100 60— move to a 100-block diameter over 60 seconds/worldborder add -50 30— shrink by 50 blocks over 30 seconds
Every other form applies instantly. This is the mechanic every shrinking-border minigame is built on, and it is why those maps use set/add on a timer rather than repeatedly setting a smaller number — one command with a time argument produces a smooth shrink that the client renders as the moving wall.
add with a negative distance is how you shrink relatively. There is no separate subtract form.
distance means diameter, not radius
set and add take the diameter. A /worldborder set 6000 gives you 3000 blocks from the centre in each direction, not 6000. This is the single most common mistake with the command, and the planner on this page exists partly to convert between the two.
center is separate and takes a position, so a border is a square centred wherever you last set it — moving the centre does not resize it.
What the four defaults mean
| setting | default | meaning |
|---|---|---|
damage amount | 0.2 | damage per second, per block you are beyond the buffer |
damage buffer | 5 | blocks past the border before damage starts |
warning distance | 5 | blocks from the border where the red vignette appears |
warning time | 15 | seconds before an incoming border arrives that the warning shows |
The damage is the part worth reading twice: it scales with how far outside you are, not with time spent outside. At the defaults, standing 10 blocks past the border means 5 blocks past the buffer, so 1 damage per second — and 30 blocks out is 5 per second. A player who walks steadily outward dies increasingly fast, which is the intended pressure.
Setting damage buffer to 0 removes the grace zone entirely, and setting damage amount to 0 makes the border purely visual — a wall you can walk through with a red screen and no consequence.
Warning time is about movement, not position
warning distance triggers on where you are. warning time triggers on where the border will be: with the default 15, a shrinking border warns you 15 seconds before it reaches you, even if you are currently well inside it.
Both can fire at once, and both only tint the screen — neither stops the player.