Every Minecraft Game Rule: Complete List with Defaults

Read this first: all the names changed

In Minecraft 1.21.11 every game rule was renamed from camelCase to snake_case. keepInventory is now keep_inventory, doDaylightCycle is now advance_time, and so on.

That means three things for you:

• Java is case-sensitive. Copy a command from an older guide and you get no warning - you get Unknown game rule
• Three rules had their meaning inverted at the same time. See the section on them - they are the dangerous part of this change
• doFireTick no longer exists. Probably the most-copied game rule on the internet, and it is gone from Java

If your server runs 1.21.10 or older, the old camelCase names still apply. The translation table below covers both.

If you do not know the exact names on your version, type /gamerule and press tab. The server tells you what it understands. It is the one answer that is always right.

---

How to use /gamerule

/gamerule <rule>              reads the current value
/gamerule <rule> <value>      sets a new value

• Requires permission level 2 - so operator
• Values are true/false for most, whole numbers for the rest
• From 26.1 you can also find them in the pause menu under World Options, which has a search box

---

Where are they stored?

Game rules live in the world, not in server.properties. That has three consequences that surprise people:

• If you delete or reset server.properties, your game rules survive
• If you move your config to another server without the world, your game rules do not come along
• If you upload a new world, every rule is back at its default

To back them up, the world folder has to come with you. See Backing Up and Restoring Your Game Server.

---

Translation: old name to new

The names people actually arrive with. Everything in the left column fails on 1.21.11 and newer:

Old name	New name
keepInventory	keep_inventory
doDaylightCycle	advance_time
doWeatherCycle	advance_weather
doFireTick	Removed - use fire_spread_radius_around_player
mobGriefing	mob_griefing
randomTickSpeed	random_tick_speed
doInsomnia	spawn_phantoms
announceAdvancements	show_advancement_messages
showDeathMessages	show_death_messages
playersSleepingPercentage	players_sleeping_percentage
spawnRadius	respawn_radius
maxEntityCramming	max_entity_cramming
doImmediateRespawn	immediate_respawn
fallDamage / fireDamage / drowningDamage	fall_damage / fire_damage / drowning_damage
naturalRegeneration	natural_health_regeneration
sendCommandFeedback	send_command_feedback
commandBlockOutput	command_block_output
reducedDebugInfo	reduced_debug_info
forgiveDeadPlayers	forgive_dead_players
universalAnger	universal_anger
doWardenSpawning	spawn_wardens
doMobSpawning	spawn_mobs
doMobLoot	mob_drops
doTileDrops	block_drops
doEntityDrops	entity_drops
doLimitedCrafting	limited_crafting
doPatrolSpawning	spawn_patrols
doTraderSpawning	spawn_wandering_traders
doVinesSpread	spread_vines
maxCommandChainLength	max_command_sequence_length
commandModificationBlockLimit	max_block_modifications
snowAccumulationHeight	max_snow_accumulation_height
disableElytraMovementCheck	elytra_movement_check - inverted
disablePlayerMovementCheck	player_movement_check - inverted
disableRaids	raids - inverted

---

The three inverted rules

Here translating the name is not enough. The meaning is reversed, so a mechanical conversion gives you the exact opposite of what you wanted:

Before	Now	How to turn it off today
disableRaids true	raids	/gamerule raids false
disableElytraMovementCheck true	elytra_movement_check	/gamerule elytra_movement_check false
disablePlayerMovementCheck true	player_movement_check	/gamerule player_movement_check false

---

Player

Rule	Type	Default	Meaning
keep_inventory	bool	false	Players keep items and experience on death
immediate_respawn	bool	false	Skip the death screen
fall_damage	bool	true	Fall damage
fire_damage	bool	true	Damage from fire, lava, campfires and magma blocks
drowning_damage	bool	true	Drowning damage
freeze_damage	bool	true	Powder snow freezing damage
natural_health_regeneration	bool	true	Natural healing from hunger
pvp	bool	true	Whether players can damage each other. Replaces pvp in server.properties
allow_entering_nether_using_portals	bool	true	Whether the Nether can be reached via portals. Replaces allow-nether
players_sleeping_percentage	int	100	Percentage of players who must sleep to skip the night
respawn_radius	int	10	Spread around world spawn on first join and death without a bed
limited_crafting	bool	false	Only recipes that have been unlocked
elytra_movement_check	bool	true	Speed check on elytra. false disables it
player_movement_check	bool	true	Speed check on players. false disables it
ender_pearls_vanish_on_death	bool	true	Thrown ender pearls vanish when the thrower dies
fire_spread_radius_around_player	int	128	How far fire can spread. 0 disables spread entirely, -1 = unlimited
players_nether_portal_default_delay	int	80	Ticks in a portal before changing dimension
players_nether_portal_creative_delay	int	0	The same, for Creative
spectators_generate_chunks	bool	true	Whether spectators can generate new terrain
locator_bar	bool	true	The locator bar showing positions

---

Mobs

Rule	Type	Default	Meaning
mob_griefing	bool	true	Whether mobs may change blocks and pick up items
max_entity_cramming	int	24	How many entities may be crammed before taking damage. 0 disables the damage
raids	bool	true	Whether raids are enabled
forgive_dead_players	bool	true	Angered neutral mobs calm down when the player dies
universal_anger	bool	false	Angered mobs attack everyone nearby, not just the culprit

---

Spawning

Rule	Type	Default	Meaning
spawn_mobs	bool	true	Natural spawning in general
spawn_monsters	bool	true	Monsters. Replaces spawn-monsters in server.properties
spawn_phantoms	bool	true	Phantoms at night
spawn_patrols	bool	true	Pillager patrols
spawn_wandering_traders	bool	true	Wandering traders
spawn_wardens	bool	true	Wardens
spawner_blocks_work	bool	true	Whether spawner blocks function

---

Drops

Rule	Type	Default	Meaning
block_drops	bool	true	Whether broken blocks drop items
mob_drops	bool	true	Whether mobs drop loot and experience
entity_drops	bool	true	Whether other entities drop items
block_explosion_drop_decay	bool	true	Whether loot from block explosions partly disappears
mob_explosion_drop_decay	bool	true	The same for mob explosions
tnt_explosion_drop_decay	bool	false	The same for TNT. Note the different default
projectiles_can_break_blocks	bool	true	Whether projectiles can break chorus flowers, dripstone and pots

---

World

Rule	Type	Default	Meaning
advance_time	bool	true	Whether the day/night cycle runs
advance_weather	bool	true	Whether weather changes on its own
random_tick_speed	int	3	Random ticks per chunk section. Governs growth, decay, ice and snow
max_snow_accumulation_height	int	1	How many snow layers can accumulate. 0 to 8
water_source_conversion	bool	true	Whether new water sources can form
lava_source_conversion	bool	false	Whether new lava sources can form
spread_vines	bool	true	Whether vines spread

---

Chat and messages

Rule	Type	Default	Meaning
show_death_messages	bool	true	Death messages in chat
show_advancement_messages	bool	true	Advancement announcements
send_command_feedback	bool	true	Command replies in chat
command_block_output	bool	true	Whether command blocks notify operators
log_admin_commands	bool	true	Whether admin commands go in the server log

---

Commands and technical

Rule	Type	Default	Meaning
command_blocks_work	bool	true	Whether command blocks function. Replaces enable-command-block
tnt_explodes	bool	true	Whether TNT explodes at all
reduced_debug_info	bool	false	Reduced F3 screen
global_sound_events	bool	true	Whether wither spawns and dragon deaths are heard world-wide
max_command_sequence_length	int	65536	Maximum command chain in one tick
max_command_forks	int	65536	Maximum forks in one tick
max_block_modifications	int	32768	Maximum blocks changed by /fill and /clone

---

The four that matter most for performance

Rule	Why
random_tick_speed	The single most important dial. Raise it and you multiply the server's work per chunk. A classic self-inflicted TPS collapse
mob_griefing	Turning it off removes a lot of block updates - and creepers stop destroying terrain
fire_spread_radius_around_player	0 stops fire spread entirely. -1 is the most expensive setting there is
spectators_generate_chunks	false stops spectators generating new terrain. A real saving on large servers

max_entity_cramming 0 makes it worse, not better. That value disables the damage - and with it the automatic cap on how many entities can stack up. For better performance it should go down, not to zero.

---

The ten most misunderstood

1. The three inverted rules. disableRaids true becomes raids false - not raids true.
2. doFireTick no longer exists in Java. Use fire_spread_radius_around_player 0.
3. keep_inventory also keeps experience. Health, hunger and effects still reset.
4. max_entity_cramming 0 disables the damage, not the cramming.
5. spawn_mobs false does not stop all mobs. Spawners, structures, raids, spawn eggs and iron golems still work.
6. mob_griefing false does not stop explosion damage to players. Creepers still hurt - they just do not break blocks. It also stops villagers farming and picking up food, which produces a classic "my villagers stopped working" ticket.
7. players_sleeping_percentage 0 does not skip the night on its own. One player still has to sleep.
8. respawn_radius is not the same as spawn-protection. The first is respawn scatter, the second is build protection in server.properties.
9. tnt_explosion_drop_decay defaults to false, where the other two decay rules default to true.
10. natural_health_regeneration false does not disable all healing. Golden apples, Regeneration and beacons still work.

---

Good advice

• If you are unsure of a name, use tab completion instead of copying from a guide.
• Write down which rules you changed. They live in the world, and there is no list of "things I edited".
• Back up the world folder before changing rules on a server with players on it.
• If an old command suddenly fails, check the translation table above before looking for other causes.

Cannot find a rule on your version? Contact our support with your server version and we will find the right name.