How to enable command blocks on a Minecraft server

Command blocks are off by default on servers. Set enable-command-block=true in server.properties, restart the server, and make sure you are an op in creative mode to place and edit them.

Enable command blocks#

1. Open the file manager and edit server.properties.
2. Change:

enable-command-block=true

3. Save and restart the server.

If this key is missing from your file, you may be on a very recent Minecraft version where Mojang has moved some settings into game rules. Type /gamerule in-game and press Tab to look for a command block rule. Paper and other platforms may also have their own options; check the console on startup.

Get a command block#

Command blocks are not in the creative inventory search by default. As an op, run in-game:

/give @s minecraft:command_block

To place and edit a command block you need:

• op level 2 or higher (see ops and op levels),
• creative mode (see difficulty and game mode).

Right-click the block to open it and type a command without the leading slash.

Command block types#

Set Always Active to run without redstone, or Needs Redstone to run only when powered.

Hide the chat spam#

Command blocks report their output to ops in chat. Turn it off with:

/gamerule commandBlockOutput false

See gamerules for rule naming on newer versions.

Performance and safety#

• Repeating command blocks run 20 times a second. Heavy commands such as large fill, entity selectors without limits, or execute as @e can cause serious lag. Add selectors like limit=1 and distance=..10 where you can.
• Anyone who can edit a command block effectively has op powers, because a command block can run nearly any command. Only give op and creative to trusted players.
• On Paper, many simple command block setups can be replaced with plugins or data pack functions, which are easier to manage.

Still says "Command blocks are not enabled"?#

• You edited server.properties but did not restart.
• There are two enable-command-block lines and the later one is false.
• You edited a file in the wrong folder. The correct one is in the server root, next to eula.txt.