The Minecraft commands you actually need

About fifteen commands cover nearly everything you will do with cheats: switching modes, fixing time and weather, getting gear and finding structures. Every line below was checked against Java Edition 26.3, where game rules now use snake_case names.

All commands on this page need operator permission (only /seed works without it in singleplayer).

• New world: Create New World, Game tab, Allow Cheats ON.
• Existing world: Esc, World Options..., Allow Cheats ON, Apply Changes. In 26.3 this button replaced "Open to LAN" in the Game Menu.
• Server: ask the owner to make you an operator.

Open the chat with T or /. While you type, the game suggests arguments and Tab completes them. Test a command in the builder below before you paste it.

/gamemode creative
/gamemode survival Steve
/time set day
/weather clear
/difficulty peaceful

• /gamemode takes survival, creative, adventure or spectator, optionally followed by a player.
• /time set accepts day (1000), noon (6000), night (13000), midnight (18000) or a number of ticks. The Nether has no clock of its own: there, use /time of minecraft:overworld set day.
• /weather takes clear, rain or thunder, plus an optional duration such as 1d (one in-game day).
• /difficulty takes peaceful, easy, normal or hard.

Game rules are switches for the whole world. Since 26.x they are written in snake_case: keepInventory no longer works.

/gamerule keep_inventory true
/gamerule advance_time false
/gamerule advance_weather false
/gamerule mob_griefing false

In order: keep items and XP on death, freeze the day-night cycle, stop weather changes, stop creepers and endermen from changing blocks. Type a rule without a value (/gamerule keep_inventory) to see its current setting. The same switches are in World Options under Edit Game Rules....

/give @s minecraft:diamond_pickaxe
/give @s minecraft:torch 64
/effect give @s minecraft:night_vision infinite 0 true
/effect clear @s
/enchant @s minecraft:efficiency 5

• /give puts an item in your inventory, the number at the end is the amount.
• /effect give takes seconds or infinite, then the amplifier (0 = level I) and true to hide particles. The example gives permanent Night Vision.
• /enchant works on the item in your main hand, only up to the normal maximum level and only if the item accepts the enchantment. Efficiency stops at V, Sharpness at V, Unbreaking at III.

/locate structure #minecraft:village
/locate biome minecraft:cherry_grove
/tp 250 80 -1200
/seed
/spawnpoint
/setworldspawn

• /locate returns the nearest structure or biome. Click the coordinates in the chat and the game prepares a /tp @s command for you.
• /tp X Y Z takes you there.
• /seed shows the world seed. In singleplayer it works even without cheats.
• /spawnpoint sets your respawn point where you stand. /setworldspawn moves the world spawn for everyone, in the dimension where you run it.

/summon minecraft:iron_golem
/summon minecraft:lightning_bolt ~ ~ ~5
/fill ~-3 ~ ~-3 ~3 ~2 ~3 minecraft:air
/kill @e[type=minecraft:item]

• /summon spawns an entity at your feet or at the given position. The second line strikes lightning 5 blocks south of you.
• /fill replaces a box between two corners. The example clears a 7 × 3 × 7 space around you (147 blocks). One command can change at most 32,768 blocks by default (game rule max_block_modifications).
• /kill @e[type=minecraft:item] removes every dropped item in loaded chunks, handy after a farm or a /fill with destroy.

Never run /kill or /kill @e without a filter: the first kills you, the second kills every mob and every player, you included. There is no undo for /kill or /fill.