Minecraft gamerules guide (Java 26.2)

Minecraft gamerules are an easy way to change how your server works without needing to install any mods or plugins. You can use them to keep inventories after death, stop creepers destroying blocks, allow one-player sleep, disable PvP and plenty more.

If you're following an older Minecraft gamerule guide, you may notice that the commands look different. In the Minecraft 1.21.11 update, gamerules were renamed from names like keepInventory and mobGriefing to keep_inventory and mob_griefing with some being given new names altogether.

Minecraft gamerule cheat sheet

Here are some of the most useful Minecraft Java gamerules at a glance:

How to change gamerules

You can change gamerules through the Console tab of your Lilypad server, or in-game if you have operator privileges (with a / at the beginning). For example, to enable Keep Inventory:

gamerule keep_inventory true or in-game /gamerule keep_inventory true

You can also remove the value from the command to check what a gamerule is currently set to, e.g. /gamerule keep_inventory

Minecraft 26.1 also has a searchable Game Rules menu available to server operators through World Options, if you'd rather avoid remembering all of the commands.

We've listed some more info about the most useful Minecraft Java gamerules below:

Keep your inventory after dying

Default: false
Old gamerule: keepInventory

/gamerule keep_inventory true

Stops players dropping their inventory and XP when they die. Set it to false to restore normal behaviour.

Make only one player need to sleep

Default: 100
Old gamerule: playersSleepingPercentage

/gamerule players_sleeping_percentage 0

Allows a single player to skip the night. You can also use a percentage, such as 50, to require half of the online players to sleep.

Disable access to the Nether through portals

Default: true
Old gamerule: allow-nether in server.properties

/gamerule allow_entering_nether_using_portals false

Stops players travelling to the Nether through portals.

Stop creepers and other mobs destroying blocks

Default: true
Old gamerule: mobGriefing

/gamerule mob_griefing false

Stops mobs making various changes to the world, including Creepers destroying blocks and Endermen picking them up.

Enable or disable command blocks

Default: true
Old gamerule: enable-command-block in server.properties

/gamerule command_blocks_work true

Controls whether command blocks can run. Use false to disable them.

Change crop and plant growth speed

Default: 3
Old gamerule: randomTickSpeed

/gamerule random_tick_speed 10

Controls random ticks used by things like crops, saplings and leaf decay. 0 disables random ticks entirely. Don't set this excessively high as it can affect server performance.

Stop the day/night cycle

Default: true
Old gamerule: doDaylightCycle

/gamerule advance_time false

Stops time progressing naturally. You can then use commands such as /time set day to choose the time you want.

Stop the weather changing

Default: true
Old gamerule: doWeatherCycle

/gamerule advance_weather false

Stops the server automatically switching between clear weather, rain and thunderstorms.

Disable fire spreading

Default: 128
Old gamerule: doFireTick

/gamerule fire_spread_radius_around_player 0

Stops fire spreading. Unlike most renamed gamerules, doFireTick was replaced rather than directly renamed.

Disable natural mob spawning

Default: true
Old gamerule: doMobSpawning

/gamerule spawn_mobs false

Stops all mobs spawning naturally.

Disable hostile mob spawning

Default: true
Old gamerule: spawn-monsters in server.properties

/gamerule spawn_monsters false

Stops monsters from naturally spawning without disabling other mob spawning.

Disable Phantoms

Default: true
Old gamerule: doInsomnia

/gamerule spawn_phantoms false

Stops Phantoms naturally spawning (and attacking!) when players haven't slept for a while.

Disable PvP

Default: true
Old gamerule: pvp in server.properties

/gamerule pvp false

Stops players damaging each other. Set it back to true to enable PvP again.

Disable fall damage

Default: true
Old gamerule: fallDamage

/gamerule fall_damage false

Stops players taking damage from falling.

Disable fire damage

Default: true
Old gamerule: fireDamage

/gamerule fire_damage false

Stops players taking damage from fire and lava.

Disable drowning damage

Default: true
Old gamerule: drowningDamage

/gamerule drowning_damage false

Stops players taking drowning damage when they run out of air.

Disable natural health regeneration

Default: true
Old gamerule: naturalRegeneration

/gamerule natural_health_regeneration false

Stops players naturally regenerating health from having enough hunger. Other methods of healing still work normally.

Respawn players immediately

Default: false
Old gamerule: doImmediateRespawn

/gamerule immediate_respawn true

Skips the death screen and respawns players immediately after they die.

Hide death messages

Default: true
Old gamerule: showDeathMessages

/gamerule show_death_messages false

Stops death messages being shown in chat whenever somebody dies. Good for large servers!

Hide advancement messages

Default: true
Old gamerule: announceAdvancements

/gamerule show_advancement_messages false

Stops advancement announcements appearing in chat. Very useful for large servers!

Change the world spawn radius

Default: 10
Old gamerule: spawnRadius

/gamerule respawn_radius 0

Controls how far from the world spawn point players can respawn. Setting it to 0 makes them spawn directly on or above the block set using /setworldspawn

Change the entity cramming limit

Default: 24
Old gamerule: maxEntityCramming

/gamerule max_entity_cramming 0

Controls how many entities can occupy the same space before taking cramming damage. 0 disables cramming damage entirely.

...and many more

There are over 50 gamerules available to configure, and you can find the full exhaustive list on the Minecraft Wiki. There are also many options to configure in your server's server.properties file — click here for more info.

Updated on: 14/08/2026