|This feature is exclusive to Java Edition.|
The world border is the current edge of a Minecraft world.
The world border appears as animated, diagonal, narrow stripes. When the border is not moving, the stripes are a translucent aqua color. If the border is expanding, the stripes appear green; if the border is shrinking, the lines appear red.
The world border is essentially a giant bounding box; by default, its center lies at coordinates X/Z: 0, with a width and length of almost 30 million (29,999,984) blocks from both ends. Its effects cease at an altitude of approximately Y=231-1 (2.147 billion, or 2,147,483,647), even though it no longer visually displays below Y: 0 and above Y: 255.
With commands, the size and position of the border can be modified. The world border always behaves in full block increments, even if it is set to a partial block. Its default size and location remain the same across all three dimensions. If it is in the Nether, it will appear red, regardless if the border is expanding or shrinking.
Most entities, with exception to some projectiles, are unable to move through the world border.
If a dispenser or dropper is placed so that it directly faces the edge of the border, then items, projectiles, TNT, etc. can be fired outside of the edge of the border. Any items fired out of a dispenser will float in midair; if an item is dropped from the player inventory, the item will fall normally.
While players themselves cannot move through the world border, they can reach the other side of the world border through other means, including:
- Letting the world border pass them as it is shrinking
- Throwing an ender pearl through the world border
- Mounting a minecart, boat, horse, or pig
- Using commands such as
- Sleeping next to the world border
Players cannot normally place and destroy blocks, nor interact with objects outside of the world border, as there are no hitboxes. It is possible to place blocks outside of the world border, either by placing the block against one that is inside the world border, or by using commands.
Most blocks still function outside the world border, and most redstone contraptions will still function as well. Exceptions include falling blocks (such as sand and gravel), which will drop as an item, and pistons or hoppers, which will simply not function. Explosions from TNT and other sources also work normally, destroying terrain outside of the border. Light from torches and other sources will also remain unaffected.
Liquids can flow through the border and will continue flowing until they reach their flow limit. Liquids cannot be placed on the outside of the border. Liquids placed via a dispenser will flow as normal. Mixing water and lava with a dispenser will result in the flow of each liquid abruptly ending, presumably because the stone, cobblestone, or obsidian that would normally generate does not.
/worldborder set <sizeInBlocks> [timeInSeconds]
- Sets the border to a square region with the specified size in blocks as the width and length. Optionally, a timeInSeconds may be specified such that the border grows or shrinks from the previous width to that being set over the specified time in seconds. If timeInSeconds is not specified, the world border changes immediately. To reset the world border size, set sizeInBlocks to 29999984. The border will still grow or shrink and the animation will display even if the game is paused.
/worldborder center <x> <z>
- Sets the center of the area inside the world border to the specified <x> and <z> coordinates. Tilde (~) can be used as a relative coordinate. To reset the world border center, set both <x> and <z> to 0 (zero).
/worldborder add <sizeInBlocks> [timeInSeconds]
- Adds or subtracts sizeInBlocks to/from the current world border width and length. sizeInBlocks may be a positive or negative number. Optionally, a timeInSeconds may be specified such that the border grows or shrinks from the current width to that being set over the specified time in seconds.
/worldborder damage buffer <sizeInBlocks>
- Sets the amount of blocks a player may safely be outside the world border before taking damage. The default is 5 blocks.
/worldborder damage amount <damagePerBlock>
- Sets the amount of damage a player takes when outside the world border plus the world border buffer. The default is 0.2 damage per second per block.
/worldborder warning time <timeInSeconds>
- Causes the screen to be tinted red when a contracting world border will reach the player within the specified time. The default is 15 seconds. The tint will not display if the user is using fast graphics.
/worldborder warning distance <sizeInBlocks>
- Causes the screen to be tinted red when the player is within the specified number of blocks from the world border. The default is 5 blocks. The tint will not display if the user is using fast graphics.
- Returns the current width of the world border.
|1.8||April 24, 2014||Dinnerbone tweets a previews of the "shimmery" world border textures, which were made by Ryan Holtz.|
|14w17a||Added the customizable world border.|
|14w18a||Players cannot interact with blocks outside the world border anymore.|
|14w19a||"Warning" and "damage" commands added.|
|A red-colored warning aura is seen when within a certain distance of the world border.|
|The border in the Nether is now the same size as that of the Overworld.|
|Traveling to the Nether will no longer create new portals outside the boundary.|
|14w20a||If you’re stuck outside the world border, it is possible to freely fly/walk around, though you gradually lose hearts. Not possible to freely walk through the border from the inside.|
|14w26a||"Add" command added.|
|14w29a||"Get" command added, which shows the current size of the border.|
|Command blocks no longer work outside of the border. Unclear if this is a bug or intended.|
|14w30a||Hoppers outside of the world border no longer function.|
|14w31a||The time parameter of the world border size changing can now be larger.|
|Only players take damage outside of the world border.|
- The reason the default world border is at X/Z ±29,999,984 is because Dinnerbone put it 1 chunk (16 blocks) short of the edge to prevent falling through the world.
- Due to a bug, you can seemingly do so, but it will not actually take effect.