Pre-release protocol

This page documents the changes from the last stable Minecraft release (currently 1.12.2, protocol 340) to the current pre-release (currently 18w15a, protocol 371). Note that this page contains bleeding-edge information that may not be completely or correctly documented.

One who wishes to commandeer the merging of this into Protocol when an update is made must be sure to respect any changes that may have occurred to the respective packets there.

Contents

Data types

Other definitions

Global palette

A table/dictionary/palette mapping nonnegative integers to block states. The block state IDs can be constructed from this table by multiplying what the Minecraft Wiki calls “block IDs” by 16 and adding the metadata/damage value (or in most programming languages block_id << 4 | metadata). Block state IDs are created in a linear fashion based off of order of assignment. One block state ID allocated for each unique block state for a block; if a block has multiple properties then the number of allocated states is the product of the number of values for each property. A current list of properties and state ID ranges is found on burger.

Alternatively, the vanilla server now includes an option to export the current block state ID mapping, by running java -cp minecraft_server.18w15a.jar net.minecraft.data.Main --reports (use --help for a list of other options). One can parse the generated blocks.json to convert known block states to and from ids.

Packets

ID	Packet name	Documentation
Handshaking serverbound
0x00	Handshake	Current	Pre
Play clientbound
0x04	Spawn Painting	Current	Pre
0x07	Statistics	Current	Pre
0x09	Update Block Entity	Current	Pre
0x0B	Block Change	Current	Pre
0x0F 0x0E	Chat Message (clientbound)	Current	(unchanged)
0x10 0x0F	Multi Block Change	Current	Pre
0x0E 0x10	Tab-Complete (clientbound)	Current	Pre
0x11	Declare Commands		Pre
0x11 0x12	Confirm Transaction (clientbound)	Current	(unchanged)
0x12 0x13	Close Window (clientbound)	Current	(unchanged)
0x13 0x14	Open Window	Current	(unchanged)
0x14 0x15	Window Items	Current	(unchanged)
0x15 0x16	Window Property	Current	(unchanged)
0x16 0x17	Set Slot	Current	(unchanged)
0x17 0x18	Set Cooldown	Current	(unchanged)
0x18 0x19	Plugin Message (clientbound)	Current	(unchanged)
0x19 0x1A	Named Sound Effect	Current	Pre
0x1A 0x1B	Disconnect (play)	Current	(unchanged)
0x1B 0x1C	Entity Status	Current	(unchanged)
0x1C 0x1D	Explosion	Current	(unchanged)
0x1D 0x1E	Unload Chunk	Current	(unchanged)
0x1E 0x1F	Change Game State	Current	(unchanged)
0x1F 0x20	Keep Alive (clientbound)	Current	(unchanged)
0x20 0x21	Chunk Data	Current	Pre
0x21 0x22	Effect	Current	(unchanged)
0x22 0x23	Spawn Particle	Current	Pre
0x23 0x24	Join Game	Current	(unchanged)
0x24 0x25	Map	Current	Pre
0x25 0x26	Entity	Current	(unchanged)
0x26 0x27	Entity Relative Move	Current	(unchanged)
0x27 0x28	Entity Look And Relative Move	Current	(unchanged)
0x28 0x29	Entity Look	Current	(unchanged)
0x29 0x2A	Vehicle Move (clientbound)	Current	(unchanged)
0x2A 0x2B	Open Sign Editor	Current	(unchanged)
0x2B 0x2C	Craft Recipe Response	Current	Pre
0x2C 0x2D	Player Abilities (clientbound)	Current	(unchanged)
0x2D 0x2E	Combat Event	Current	(unchanged)
0x2E 0x2F	Player List Item	Current	(unchanged)
0x30	Face Player		Pre
0x2F 0x31	Player Position And Look (clientbound)	Current	(unchanged)
0x30 0x32	Use Bed	Current	(unchanged)
0x31 0x33	Unlock Recipes	Current	Pre
0x32 0x34	Destroy Entities	Current	(unchanged)
0x33 0x35	Remove Entity Effect	Current	(unchanged)
0x34 0x36	Resource Pack Send	Current	(unchanged)
0x35 0x37	Respawn	Current	(unchanged)
0x36 0x38	Entity Head Look	Current	(unchanged)
0x37 0x39	Select Advancement Tab	Current	(unchanged)
0x38 0x3A	World Border	Current	(unchanged)
0x39 0x3B	Camera	Current	(unchanged)
0x3A 0x3C	Held Item Change (clientbound)	Current	(unchanged)
0x3B 0x3D	Display Scoreboard	Current	(unchanged)
0x3C 0x3E	Entity Metadata	Current	(unchanged)
0x3D 0x3F	Attach Entity	Current	(unchanged)
0x3E 0x40	Entity Velocity	Current	(unchanged)
0x3F 0x41	Entity Equipment	Current	(unchanged)
0x40 0x42	Set Experience	Current	(unchanged)
0x41 0x43	Update Health	Current	(unchanged)
0x42 0x44	Scoreboard Objective	Current	Pre
0x43 0x45	Set Passengers	Current	(unchanged)
0x44 0x46	Teams	Current	Pre
0x45 0x47	Update Score	Current	(unchanged)
0x46 0x48	Spawn Position	Current	(unchanged)
0x47 0x49	Time Update	Current	(unchanged)
0x48 0x4A	Title	Current	(unchanged)
0x4B	Stop Sound		Pre
0x49 0x4C	Sound Effect	Current	(unchanged)
0x4A 0x4D	Player List Header And Footer	Current	(unchanged)
0x4B 0x4E	Collect Item	Current	(unchanged)
0x4C 0x4F	Entity Teleport	Current	(unchanged)
0x4D 0x50	Advancements	Current	(unchanged)
0x4E 0x51	Entity Properties	Current	(unchanged)
0x4F 0x52	Entity Effect	Current	(unchanged)
0x53	Declare Recipes		Pre
0x54	Tags		Pre
Play serverbound
0x02 0x01	Chat Message (serverbound)	Current	(unchanged)
0x03 0x02	Client Status	Current	(unchanged)
0x04 0x03	Client Settings	Current	(unchanged)
0x01 0x04	Tab-Complete (serverbound)	Current	Pre
0x12	Craft Recipe Request	Current	Pre
0x17	Recipe Book Data	Current	Pre

New/modified data types

Slot

Name	Type	Meaning
Block ID Item ID	Short	The item/block ID. A value of -1 signifies that the slot is empty, and no further data follows. Item IDs are now uniquely defined and are completely independent of block IDs.
Item Count	Optional Byte	Not present if Block ID is -1.
Item Damage	Optional Short	Not present if Block ID is -1.
NBT	Optional NBT	Not present if Block ID is -1. If 0, there is no NBT data, and no further data follows. Otherwise the byte is the start of an NBT blob as shown below:

Particle

Field Name	Field Type	Meaning
ID	VarInt	The ID of the particle type, see below.
Data	Varies	Varies based on the particle type, see below.

Particle Name	Particle ID	Data
minecraft:ambient_entity_effect	0	None
minecraft:angry_villager	1	None
minecraft:barrier	2	None
minecraft:block	3	Field Name Field Type Meaning BlockState VarInt The ID of the block state.
minecraft:bubble	4	None
minecraft:cloud	5	None
minecraft:crit	6	None
minecraft:damage_indicator	7	None
minecraft:dragon_breath	8	None
minecraft:dripping_lava	9	None
minecraft:dripping_water	10	None
minecraft:dust	11	Field Name Field Type Meaning Red Float Red value, 0-1 Green Float Green value, 0-1 Blue Float Blue value, 0-1 Scale Float The scale, will be clamped between 0.01 and 4.
minecraft:effect	12	None
minecraft:elder_guardian	13	None
minecraft:enchanted_hit	14	None
minecraft:enchant	15	None
minecraft:end_rod	16	None
minecraft:entity_effect	17	None
minecraft:explosion_emitter	18	None
minecraft:explosion	19	None
minecraft:falling_dust	20	Field Name Field Type Meaning BlockState VarInt The ID of the block state.
minecraft:firework	21	None
minecraft:fishing	22	None
minecraft:flame	23	None
minecraft:happy_villager	24	None
minecraft:heart	25	None
minecraft:instant_effect	26	None
minecraft:item	27	Field Name Field Type Meaning Item Slot The item that will be used.
minecraft:item_slime	28	None
minecraft:item_snowball	29	None
minecraft:large_smoke	30	None
minecraft:lava	31	None
minecraft:mycelium	32	None
minecraft:note	33	None
minecraft:poof	34	None
minecraft:portal	35	None
minecraft:rain	36	None
minecraft:smoke	37	None
minecraft:spit	38	None
minecraft:squid_ink	39	None
minecraft:sweep_attack	40	None
minecraft:totem_of_undying	41	None
minecraft:underwater	42	None
minecraft:splash	43	None
minecraft:witch	44	None
minecraft:bubble_pop	45	None
minecraft:current_down	46	None
minecraft:bubble_column_up	47	None

Entity Metadata Format

Note that entity metadata is a totally distinct concept from block metadata. It is not required to send all metadata fields, or even any metadata fields, so long as the terminating entry is correctly sent.

Entity Metadata is an array of entries, each of which looks like the following:

Name	Type	Meaning
Index	Unsigned Byte	Unique index key determining the meaning of the following value, see the table below. If this is 0xff then the it is the end of the Entity Metadata array and no more is read.
Type	Optional Byte Enum	Only if Index is not 0xff; the type of the index, see the table below
Value	Optional value of Type	Only if Index is not 0xff: the value of the metadata field

Value of Type field	Type of Value field	Notes
0	Byte
1	VarInt
2	Float
3	String
4	Chat
5	OptChat (Boolean + Optional Chat)	Chat is present if the Boolean is set to true
5 6	Slot
6 7	Boolean
7 8	Rotation	3 floats: rotation on x, rotation on y, rotation on z
8 9	Position
9 10	OptPosition (Boolean + Optional Position)	Position is present if the Boolean is set to true
10 11	Direction (VarInt)	(Down = 0, Up = 1, North = 2, South = 3, West = 4, East = 5)
11 12	OptUUID (Boolean + Optional UUID)	UUID is present if the Boolean is set to true
12 13	OptBlockID (VarInt)	0 for absent, otherwise index into the global palette. (Air is treated as absent)
13 14	NBT Tag
15	#Particle

Entity

The base class.

Index	Type	Meaning		Default
0	Byte	Bit mask	Meaning	0
		0x01	On Fire
		0x02	Crouched
		0x04	Unused (previously riding)
		0x08	Sprinting
		0x10	Unused (previously eating/drinking/blocking; use hand state now)
		0x20	Invisible
		0x40	Glowing effect
		0x80	Flying with elytra
1	VarInt	Air		300
2	String OptChat	Custom name		empty
3	Boolean	Is custom name visible		false
4	Boolean	Is silent		false
5	Boolean	No gravity		false

AreaEffectCloud

Extends Entity.

Index	Type	Meaning		Default
6	Float	Radius		0.5
7	VarInt	Color (only for mob spell particle)		0
8	Boolean	Ignore radius and show effect as single point, not area		false
9	Particle	The #Particle		effect
9	VarInt	Particle ID		15 (mobSpell)
10	VarInt	Particle parameter 1		0
11	VarInt	Particle parameter 2		0

Block Actions

No changes so far.

Plugin Channels

MC|StopSound

Server to client

Used to implement the /stopsound command. Stops a sound that is currently playing on the client.

Field name	Field type	Notes
Sound category	String	Should be one of the sound categories used in Named Sound Effect, but if it's invalid or empty then it is (intentionally) treated as all sound categories.
Sound name	String	A sound effect name. If left empty, all sounds are stopped.

Emptiness of sound category or sound name can be combined, IE a empty sound name but a set sound category will stop all sounds in the given category.

This plugin channel has been replaced by the stop sound packet.

MC|DebugCaves

Never sent, but (presumably) used to debug caves. Does not render without modifying the client.

Field name		Field type		Notes
Unknown 1		Position
Count		Int		Length of the following array
Data	Unknown 2	Array	Position
	Unknown 3		Float

MC|DebugStructures

Never sent, but (presumably) used to debug structures. Does not render without modifying the client.

Field name		Field type		Notes
Unknown 1		Int
Bounding box minX		Int		min must be less than max
Bounding box minY		Int
Bounding box minZ		Int
Bounding box maxX		Int
Bounding box maxY		Int
Bounding box maxZ		Int
Count		Int		Length of the following array
Unknown	Bounding box minX	Array	Int	min must be less than max
	Bounding box minY		Int
	Bounding box minZ		Int
	Bounding box maxX		Int
	Bounding box maxY		Int
	Bounding box maxZ		Int
	Unknown		Boolean

MC|DebugWorldGenAttempt

Never sent, but (presumably) used to debug something with world generation. Does not render without modifying the client.

This channel is invalid, as its name is longer than the max length (23 > 20).

Field name	Field type	Notes
Unknown 1	Position
Unknown 2	Float
Unknown 3	Float
Unknown 4	Float
Unknown 5	Float
Unknown 6	Float

Play

Clientbound

Spawn Painting

This packet shows location, name, and type of painting.

Packet ID	State	Bound To	Field Name	Field Type	Notes
0x04	Play	Client	Entity ID	VarInt
			Entity UUID	UUID
			Motive	String (13) VarInt	Name of the painting. Max length 13 Panting's ID, see below
			Location	Position	Center coordinates (see below)
			Direction	Byte Enum	Direction the painting faces (North = 2, South = 0, West = 1, East = 3)

Calculating the center of an image: given a (width × height) grid of cells, with (0, 0) being the top left corner, the center is (max(0, width / 2 - 1), height / 2). E.g. (1, 0) for a 2×1 painting, or (1, 2) for a 4×4 painting.

List of paintings by coordinates in paintings_kristoffer_zetterstrand.png (where x and y are in pixels from the top left and width and height are in pixels or 16ths of a block):

Name	ID	x	y	width	height
Kebab minecraft:kebab	0	0	0	16	16
Aztec minecraft:aztec	1	16	0	16	16
Alban minecraft:alban	2	32	0	16	16
Aztec2 minecraft:aztec2	3	48	0	16	16
Bomb minecraft:bomb	4	64	0	16	16
Plant minecraft:plant	5	80	0	16	16
Wasteland minecraft:wasteland	6	96	0	16	16
Pool minecraft:pool	7	0	32	32	16
Courbet minecraft:courbet	8	32	32	32	16
Sea minecraft:sea	9	64	32	32	16
Sunset minecraft:sunset	10	96	32	32	16
Creebet minecraft:creebet	11	128	32	32	16
Wanderer minecraft:wanderer	12	0	64	16	32
Graham minecraft:graham	13	16	64	16	32
Match minecraft:match	14	0	128	32	32
Bust minecraft:bust	15	32	128	32	32
Stage minecraft:stage	16	64	128	32	32
Void minecraft:void	17	96	128	32	32
SkullAndRoses skull_and_roses	18	128	128	32	32
Wither minecraft:wither	19	160	128	32	32
Fighters minecraft:fighters	20	0	96	64	32
Pointer minecraft:pointer	21	0	192	64	64
Pigscene minecraft:pigscene	22	64	192	64	64
BurningSkull minecraft:burning_skull	23	128	192	64	64
Skeleton minecraft:skeleton	24	192	64	64	48
DonkeyKong minecraft:donkey_kong	25	192	112	64	48

The Minecraft Wiki article on paintings also provides a list of painting names to the actual images.

Statistics

Sent as a response to Client Status (id 1).

Packet ID	State	Bound To	Field Name		Field Type		Notes
0x07	Play	Client	Count		VarInt		Number of elements in the following array
			Statistic	Name	Array	String (32767)	https://gist.github.com/Alvin-LB/8d0d13db00b3c00fd0e822a562025eff
				Category ID		VarInt	See below
				Statistic ID		VarInt	See below
				Value		VarInt	The amount to set it to

Categories (these are namespaced, but with :. replaced with .):

Name	ID	Registry
minecraft.mined	0	Blocks
minecraft.crafted	1	Items
minecraft.used	2	Items
minecraft.broken	3	Items
minecraft.picked_up	4	Items
minecraft.dropped	5	Items
minecraft.killed	6	Entities
minecraft.killed_by	7	Entities
minecraft.custom	8	Custom

Blocks, Items, and Entities use block (not block state), item, and entity ids.

Custom has the following (unit only matters for clients):

Name	ID	Unit
minecraft.leave_game	0	None
minecraft.play_one_minute	1	Time
minecraft.time_since_death	2	Time
minecraft.sneak_Time	3	Time
minecraft.walk_one_cm	4	Distance
minecraft.crouch_one_cm	5	Distance
minecraft.sprint_one_cm	6	Distance
minecraft.swim_one_cm	7	Distance
minecraft.fall_one_cm	8	Distance
minecraft.climb_one_cm	9	Distance
minecraft.fly_one_cm	10	Distance
minecraft.dive_one_cm	11	Distance
minecraft.minecart_one_cm	12	Distance
minecraft.boat_one_cm	13	Distance
minecraft.pig_one_cm	14	Distance
minecraft.horse_one_cm	15	Distance
minecraft.aviate_one_cm	16	Distance
minecraft.jump	17	None
minecraft.drop	18	None
minecraft.damage_dealt	19	Damage
minecraft.damage_taken	20	Damage
minecraft.deaths	21	None
minecraft.mob_kills	22	None
minecraft.animals_bred	23	None
minecraft.player_kills	24	None
minecraft.fish_caught	25	None
minecraft.talked_to_villager	26	None
minecraft.traded_with_villager	27	None
minecraft.eat_cake_slice	28	None
minecraft.fill_cauldron	29	None
minecraft.use_cauldron	30	None
minecraft.clean_armor	31	None
minecraft.clean_banner	32	None
minecraft.interact_with_brewingstand	33	None
minecraft.interact_with_beacon	34	None
minecraft.inspect_dropper	35	None
minecraft.inspect_hopper	36	None
minecraft.inspect_dispenser	37	None
minecraft.play_noteblock	38	None
minecraft.tune_noteblock	39	None
minecraft.pot_flower	40	None
minecraft.trigger_trapped_chest	41	None
minecraft.open_enderchest	42	None
minecraft.enchant_item	43	None
minecraft.play_record	44	None
minecraft.interact_with_furnace	45	None
minecraft.interact_with_crafting_table	46	None
minecraft.open_chest	47	None
minecraft.sleep_in_bed	48	None
minecraft.open_shulker_box	49	None

Units:

• None: just a normal number (formatted with 0 decimal places)
• Damage: value is 10 times the normal amount
• Distance: a distance in centimeters (hundredths of blocks)
• Time: a time span in ticks

Update Block Entity

Sets tile entity associated with the block at the given location.

Packet ID	State	Bound To	Field Name	Field Type	Notes
0x09	Play	Client	Location	Position
			Action	Unsigned Byte	The type of update to perform, see below
			NBT Data	NBT Tag	Data to set. May be a TAG_END (0), in which case the block entity at the given location is removed (though this is not required since the client will remove the block entity automatically on chunk unload or block removal)

Action field:

• 1: Set data of a mob spawner (everything except for SpawnPotentials: current delay, min/max delay, mob to be spawned, spawn count, spawn range, etc.)
• 2: Set command block text (command and last execution status)
• 3: Set the level, primary, and secondary powers of a beacon
• 4: Set rotation and skin of mob head
• 5: Set type of flower in flower pot
• 5: Declare a conduit
• 6: Set base color and patterns on a banner
• 7: Set the data for a Structure tile entity
• 8: Set the destination for a end gateway
• 9: Set the text on a sign
• 10: Declare a shulker box, no data appears to be sent and the client seems to do fine without this packet. Perhaps it is a leftover from earlier versions?
• 11: Set the color of a bed Declare a bed

Block Change

Fired whenever a block is changed within the render distance.

Changing a block in a chunk that is not loaded is not a stable action. The Notchian client currently uses a shared empty chunk which is modified for all block changes in unloaded chunks; while in 1.9 this chunk never renders in older versions the changed block will appear in all copies of the empty chunk. Servers should avoid sending block changes in unloaded chunks and clients should ignore such packets.

Packet ID	State	Bound To	Field Name	Field Type	Notes
0x0B	Play	Client	Location	Position	Block Coordinates
			Block ID	VarInt	The new block state ID for the block as given in the global palette. (When reading data: type = id >> 4, meta = id & 15, when writing data: id = type << 4 | (meta & 15)) See that section for more information.

Multi Block Change

Fired whenever 2 or more blocks are changed within the same chunk on the same tick.

Changing blocks in chunks not loaded by the client is unsafe (see note on Block Change).

Packet ID	State	Bound To	Field Name		Field Type		Notes
0x10 0x0F	Play	Client	Chunk X		Int		Chunk X coordinate
			Chunk Z		Int		Chunk Z coordinate
			Record Count		VarInt		Number of elements in the following array, i.e. the number of blocks affected
			Record	Horizontal Position	Array	Unsigned Byte	The 4 most significant bits (0xF0) encode the X coordinate, relative to the chunk. The 4 least significant bits (0x0F) encode the Z coordinate, relative to the chunk.
				Y Coordinate		Unsigned Byte	Y coordinate of the block
				Block ID		VarInt	The new block state ID for the block as given in the global palette. (When reading data: type = id >> 4, meta = id & 15, when writing data: id = type << 4 | (meta & 15)) See that section for more information.

To decode the position into a world position:

worldX = (horizPos >> 4 & 15) + (chunkX * 16);
worldY = vertPos;
worldZ = (horizPos & 15) + (chunkZ * 16);

Tab-Complete (clientbound)

Used to respond to the client's previous tab complete request.

Packet ID	State	Bound To	Field Name		Field Type		Notes
0x0E 0x10	Play	Client	Transaction Id		VarInt		This id should also be used in the tab completion response packet, or it will be ignored.
			Start		VarInt		Start of the text to replace
			Length		VarInt		Length of the text to replace
			Count		VarInt		Number of elements in the following array
			Matches	Match	Array	String (32767)	One eligible command value to insert, note that each command is sent separately instead of in a single string, hence the need for Count. Note that for instance this doesn't include a leading / on commands.
				Has tooltip		Boolean	True if the following is present
				Tooltip		Optional Chat	Tooltip to display; only present if previous Boolean is true

Declare Commands

Lists all of the commands on the server, and how they are parsed.

This is a tree, with one root node. Each redirect or child node must refer only to nodes that have already been declared.

Packet ID	State	Bound To	Field Name	Field Type	Notes
0x11	Play	Client	Count	VarInt	Length of the following array
			Nodes	Array of Node	A array of CommandNodes
			Root index	VarInt	Index of the RootCommandNode in the previous array

Node:

Field Name	Field Type	Notes
Flags	Byte	Bit mask Meaning 0x03 Type of the CommandNode 0 RootCommandNode 1 LiteralCommandNode 2 ArgumentCommandNode 0x04 Has command 0x08 Has redirect node 0x10 Has custom suggestions, currently only present if the type is a ArgumentCommandNode
Children Count	VarInt	Length of the following array
Children	Array of VarInt	The indexes of the children CommandNodes within the Nodes array
Redirect node	Optional VarInt	Only if flags & 0x08. Points to the redirect CommandNode within the Nodes array
Extra node data	Extra node data	Type depends on the CommandNode type, see below.

Extra node data:

Type	Field Name	Field Type	Notes
RootCommandNode	Empty	Empty
LiteralCommandNode	Literal	String (32767)	The text
ArgumentCommandNode	Name	String (32767)	The name of the argument
	Parser	Identifier	One of several known to the client, listed below. If the client does not know the parser, reading this RequiredArgumentBuilder stops immediately (following fields are not read)
	Properties	Optional, varies	See below. Varies depending on the parser.
	Suggests	Optional Identifier	Only present if (flags & 0x10) != 0. See below for the available types.

Parsers:

Identifier	Description	Properties
brigadier:bool	Boolean value (true or false, case-sensitive)	None
brigadier:double	Double	Specifies min and max values: Name Type Description Flags Byte Min Optional double Only if flags & 0x01. If not specified, defaults to -Double.MAX_VALUE (≈ -1.7976931348623157E307) Max Optional double Only if flags & 0x02. If not specified, defaults to Double.MAX_VALUE (≈ 1.7976931348623157E307)
brigadier:float	Float	Specifies min and max values: Name Type Description Flags Byte Min Optional float Only if flags & 0x01. If not specified, defaults to -Float.MAX_VALUE (≈ -3.4028235E38) Max Optional float Only if flags & 0x02. If not specified, defaults to Float.MAX_VALUE (≈ 3.4028235E38)
brigadier:integer	Integer	Specifies min and max values: Name Type Description Flags Byte Min Optional integer Only if flags & 0x01. If not specified, defaults to Integer.MIN_VALUE (-2147483648) Max Optional integer Only if flags & 0x02. If not specified, defaults to Integer.MAX_VALUE (2147483647)
brigadier:string	A string	A VarInt enum: Value Name Description 0 SINGLE_WORD Reads a single word 1 QUOTABLE_PHRASE If it starts with a ", keeps reading until another " (allowing escaping with \). Otherwise behaves the same as SINGLE_WORD 2 GREEDY_PHRASE Reads the rest of the content after the cursor. Quotes will not be removed.
minecraft:entity	A selector, player name, or UUID.	Has a single flags byte: Bit mask Meaning 0x01 If set, only allows a single entity/player 0x02 If set, only allows players
minecraft:game_profile	A player, online or not. Can also use a selector, which may match one or more players (but not entities).	None
minecraft:block_pos	A location, represented as 3 numbers (which must be integers). May use relative locations with ~.	None
minecraft:vec3	A location, represented as 3 numbers (which may have a decimal point, but will be moved to the center of a block if none is specified). May use relative locations with ~.	None
minecraft:vec2	A location, represented as 2 numbers (which may have a decimal point, but will be moved to the center of a block if none is specified). May use relative locations with ~.	None
minecraft:block_state	A block state, optionally including NBT and state information.	None
minecraft:block_predicate	A block, or a block tag.	None
minecraft:item_stack	An item, optionally including NBT.	None
minecraft:item_predicate	An item, or an item tag.	None
minecraft:color	A chat color. One of the names from Chat#Colors, or reset. Case-insensitive.	None
minecraft:component	A JSON Chat component.	None
minecraft:message	A regular message, potentially including selectors.	None
minecraft:nbt	An NBT value, parsed using JSON-NBT rules.	None
minecraft:nbt_path	A path within an NBT value, allowing for array and member accesses.	None
minecraft:objective	A scoreboard objective.	None
minecraft:objective_criteria	A single score criterion.	None
minecraft:operation	A scoreboard operator.	None
minecraft:particle	A particle effect (an identifier with extra information following it for specific particles, mirroring the Particle packet)	None
minecraft:rotation	An angle, represented as 2 numbers (which may have a decimal point, but will be moved to the center of a block if none is specified). May use relative locations with ~.	None
minecraft:scoreboard_slot	A scoreboard display position slot. list, sidebar, belowName, and sidebar.team.${color} for all chat colors (reset is not included)	None
minecraft:score_holder	Something that can join a team. Allows selectors and *.	Has a single flags byte: Bit mask Meaning 0x01 If set, allows multiple.
minecraft:swizzle	A collection of up to 3 axes.	None
minecraft:team	The name of a team. Parsed as an unquoted string.	None
minecraft:item_slot	A name for an inventory slot.	None
minecraft:resource_location	An Identifier.	None
minecraft:mob_effect	A potion effect.	None
minecraft:function	A function.	None
minecraft:entity_anchor	The entity anchor related to the facing argument in the teleport command, is feet or eyes.	None
minecraft:range	A range of values with a min and a max.	Name Type Description Decimals Boolean Whether decimal values are allowed.
minecraft:item_enchantment	Represents a item enchantment.	None

Suggestion types:

Identifier	Description
minecraft:ask_server	Sends the Tab-Complete packet to the server to request tab completions.
minecraft:all_recipes	Suggests all the available recipes.
minecraft:available_sounds	Suggests all the available sounds.
minecraft:summonable_entities	Suggests all the summonable entities.

Named Sound Effect

See also: #Sound Effect

Used to play a sound effect on the client. Custom sounds may be added by resource packs.

Packet ID	State	Bound To	Field Name	Field Type	Notes
0x19 0x1A	Play	Client	Sound Name	String (256) Identifier	All sound effect names as of 1.12.2 can be seen here.
			Sound Category	VarInt Enum	The category that this sound will be played from (current categories)
			Effect Position X	Int	Effect X multiplied by 8 (fixed-point number with only 3 bits dedicated to the fractional part)
			Effect Position Y	Int	Effect Y multiplied by 8 (fixed-point number with only 3 bits dedicated to the fractional part)
			Effect Position Z	Int	Effect Z multiplied by 8 (fixed-point number with only 3 bits dedicated to the fractional part)
			Volume	Float	1 is 100%, can be more
			Pitch	Float	Float between 0.5 and 2.0 by Notchian clients

Chunk Data

Main article: Chunk Format

See also: #Unload Chunk

The server only sends skylight information for chunk pillars in the Overworld, it's up to the client to know in which dimenison the player is currently located. You can also infer this information from the primary bitmask and the amount of uncompressed bytes sent. This packet also sends all block entities in the chunk (though sending them is not required; it is still legal to send them with Update Block Entity later).

Indexes into the global palette are still used, but since the global palette has changed, behavior is different.

Packet ID	State	Bound To	Field Name	Field Type	Notes
0x20 0x21	Play	Client	Chunk X	Int	Chunk coordinate (block coordinate divided by 16, rounded down)
			Chunk Z	Int	Chunk coordinate (block coordinate divided by 16, rounded down)
			Ground-Up Continuous	Boolean	See Chunk Format
			Primary Bit Mask	VarInt	Bitmask with bits set to 1 for every 16×16×16 chunk section whose data is included in Data. The least significant bit represents the chunk section at the bottom of the chunk column (from y=0 to y=15).
			Size	VarInt	Size of Data in bytes
			Data	Byte array	See data structure in Chunk Format
			Number of block entities	VarInt	Length of the following array
			Block entities	Array of NBT Tag	All block entities in the chunk. Use the x, y, and z tags in the NBT to determine their positions.

Data structure

The data section of the packet contains most of the useful data for the chunk.

Field Name	Field Type	Notes
Data	Array of Chunk Section	The length of the array is equal to the number of bits set in Primary Bit Mask. Sections are sent bottom-to-top, i.e. the first section, if sent, extends from Y=0 to Y=15.
Biomes	Optional Byte Int Array	Only sent if Ground-Up Continuous is true; 256 bytes entries if present

Spawn Particle

Displays the named particle

Packet ID	State	Bound To	Field Name	Field Type	Notes
0x22 0x23	Play	Client	Particle ID	Int	The particle ID listed in #Particle.
			Long Distance	Boolean	If true, particle distance increases from 256 to 65536
			X	Float	X position of the particle
			Y	Float	Y position of the particle
			Z	Float	Z position of the particle
			Offset X	Float	This is added to the X position after being multiplied by random.nextGaussian()
			Offset Y	Float	This is added to the Y position after being multiplied by random.nextGaussian()
			Offset Z	Float	This is added to the Z position after being multiplied by random.nextGaussian()
			Particle Data	Float	The data of each particle
			Particle Count	Int	The number of particles to create
			Data	Array of VarInt Varies	Length depends on particle. "iconcrack" has length of 2, "blockcrack", "blockdust", and "fallingdust" have lengths of 1, the rest have 0. The variable data listed in #Particle

Map

Updates a rectangular area on a map item.

Map icons with types over 15 currently don't work on servers (see MC-126815).

Packet ID	State	Bound To	Field Name		Field Type		Notes
0x24 0x25	Play	Client	Item Damage		VarInt		The damage value (map ID) of the map being modified
			Scale		Byte		From 0 for a fully zoomed-in map (1 block per pixel) to 4 for a fully zoomed-out map (16 blocks per pixel)
			Tracking Position		Boolean		Specifies whether the icons are shown
			Icon Count		VarInt		Number of elements in the following array
			Icon	Direction And Type	Array	Byte	0xF0 = Type, 0x0F = Direction
				X		Byte
				Z		Byte
				Has Display Name		Boolean
				Display Name		Optional Chat	Only present if previous Boolean is true
			Columns		Byte		Number of columns updated
			Rows		Optional Byte		Only if Columns is more than 0; number of rows updated
			X		Optional Byte		Only if Columns is more than 0; x offset of the westernmost column
			Z		Optional Byte		Only if Columns is more than 0; z offset of the northernmost row
			Length		Optional VarInt		Only if Columns is more than 0; length of the following array
			Data		Optional Array of Unsigned Byte		Only if Columns is more than 0; see Map item format

For icons, a direction of 0 is a vertical icon and increments by 22.5° (360/16).

Types are based off of rows and columns in map_icons.png:

Icon type	Result
0	White arrow (players)
1	Green arrow (item frames)
2	Red arrow
3	Blue arrow
4	White cross
5	Red pointer
6	White circle (off-map players)
7	Small white circle (far-off-map players)
8	Mansion
9	Temple
10	White Banner
11	Orange Banner
12	Magenta Banner
13	Light Blue Banner
14	Yellow Banner
15	Lime Banner
16	Pink Banner
17	Gray Banner
18	Light Gray Banner
19	Cyan Banner
20	Purple Banner
21	Blue Banner
22	Brown Banner
23	Green Banner
24	Red Banner
25	Black Banner
26	Treasure marker

Craft Recipe Response

Response to the serverbound packet (Craft Recipe Request), with the same recipe ID. Appears to be used to notify the UI.

Packet ID	State	Bound To	Field Name	Field Type	Notes
0x2B 0x2C	Play	Client	Window ID	Byte
			Recipe	VarInt Identifer	A recipe ID

Face Player

Used to rotate the client player to face the given location or entity (for /teleport [<targets>] <x> <y> <z> facing).

Packet ID	State	Bound To	Field Name	Field Type	Notes
0x30	Play	Client
			Feet/eyes	VarInt enum	Values are feet=0, eyes=1. If set to eyes, aims using the head position; otherwise aims using the feet position.
			Target x	Double	x coordinate of the point to face towards
			Target y	Double	y coordinate of the point to face towards
			Target z	Double	z coordinate of the point to face towards
			Is entity	Boolean	If true, additional information about an entity is provided.
			Entity ID	Optional VarInt	Only if is entity is true — the entity to face towards
			Entity feet/eyes	Optional VarInt enum	Whether to look at the entity's eyes or feet. Same values and meanings as before, just for the entity's head/feet.

If the entity given by entity ID cannot be found, this packet should be treated as if is entity was false.

Unlock Recipes

Packet ID	State	Bound To	Field Name	Field Type	Notes
0x31 0x33	Play	Client
			Action	VarInt	0: init, 1: add, 2: remove
			Crafting Recipe Book Open	Boolean	If true, then the crafting recipe book will be open when the player opens its inventory.
			Crafting Recipe Book Filter Active	Boolean	If true, then the filtering option is active when the players opens its inventory.
			Smelting Recipe Book Open	Boolean	If true, then the smelting recipe book will be open when the player opens its inventory.
			Smelting Recipe Book Filter Active	Boolean	If true, then the filtering option is active when the players opens its inventory.
			Array size 1	VarInt	Number of elements in the following array
			Recipe IDs	Array of VarInt Identifier
			Array size 2	Optional VarInt	Number of elements in the following array, only present if mode is 0 (init)
			Recipe IDs	Optional Array of VarInt Identifier, only present if mode is 0 (init)

Action:

• 0 (init) = All the recipes in the list 2 will added to the recipe book. All the recipes in list 1 will be tagged as displayed, recipes that aren't tagged will be shown in the notification. VERIFY LIST ORDER?
• 1 (add) = All the recipes in the list are added and their icon will be shown in the notification.
• 2 (remove) = Remove all the recipes in the list. This allows them to re-displayed when they are readded.

Scoreboard Objective

This is sent to the client when it should create a new scoreboard objective or remove one.

Packet ID	State	Bound To	Field Name	Field Type	Notes
0x42 0x44	Play	Client	Objective Name	String (16)	An unique name for the objective
			Mode	Byte	0 to create the scoreboard. 1 to remove the scoreboard. 2 to update the display text.
			Objective Value	Optional String (32)	Only if mode is 0 or 2. The text to be displayed for the score
			Type	Optional String VarInt Enum	Only if mode is 0 or 2. “integer” or “hearts”

Teams

Creates and updates teams.

Packet ID	State	Bound To	Field Name		Field Type	Notes
0x44 0x46	Play	Client	Team Name		String (16)	A unique name for the team. (Shared with scoreboard).
			Mode		Byte	Determines the layout of the remaining packet
			0: create team	Team Display Name	String (32)
				Team Prefix	String (16)	Displayed before the names of players that are part of this team
				Team Suffix	String (16)	Displayed after the names of players that are part of this team
				Friendly Flags	Byte	Bit mask. 0x01: Allow friendly fire, 0x02: can see invisible players on same team
				Name Tag Visibility	String Enum (32)	always, hideForOtherTeams, hideForOwnTeam, never
				Collision Rule	String Enum (32)	always, pushOtherTeams, pushOwnTeam, never
				Color Formatting	Byte VarInt enum	For colors, the same Chat colors (0-15). -1 indicates RESET/no color. See below for more info.
				Entity Count	VarInt	Number of elements in the following array
				Entities	Array of String (40)	Identifiers for the entities in this team. For players, this is their username; for other entities, it is their UUID.
			1: remove team	no fields	no fields
			2: update team info	Team Display Name	String (32)
				Team Prefix	String (16)	Displayed before the names of entities that are part of this team
				Team Suffix	String (16)	Displayed after the names of entities that are part of this team
				Friendly Flags	Byte	Bit mask. 0x01: Allow friendly fire, 0x02: can see invisible entities on same team
				Name Tag Visibility	String Enum (32)	always, hideForOtherTeams, hideForOwnTeam, never
				Collision Rule	String Enum (32)	always, pushOtherTeams, pushOwnTeam, never
				Color Formatting	Byte VarInt enum	For colors, the same Chat colors (0-15). -1 indicates RESET/no color. See below for more info.
			3: add players to team	Entity Count	VarInt	Number of elements in the following array
				Entities	Array of String (40)	Identifiers for the entities added. For players, this is their username; for other entities, it is their UUID.
			4: remove players from team	Entity Count	VarInt	Number of elements in the following array
				Entities	Array of String (40)	Identifiers for the entities removed. For players, this is their username; for other entities, it is their UUID.

Formatting: The formatting of a team defines how the names of the team members are visualized. The following table lists all the possible formattings.

ID	Formatting
0-15	Color formatting, same values as Chat colors.
16	Obfuscated
17	Bold
18	Strikethrough
19	Underlined
20	Italic
21	Reset

Stop Sound

Packet ID	State	Bound To	Field Name	Field Type	Notes
0x4B	Play	Client	Flags	Byte	Controls which fields are present.
			Source	Optional VarInt enum	Only if flags is 3 or 1 (bit mask 0x1). See below. If not present, then sounds from all sources are cleared.
			Sound	Optional Identifier	Only if flags is 2 or 3 (bit mask 0x2). A sound effect name, see Named Sound Effect. If not present, then all sounds are cleared.

Categories:

Name	Value
master	0
music	1
record	2
weather	3
block	4
hostile	5
neutral	6
player	7
ambient	8
voice	9

Declare Recipes

Packet ID	State	Bound To	Field Name		Field Type		Notes
0x53	Play	Client	Num Recipes		VarInt		Length of the following array
			Recipe	Recipe ID	Array	Identifier
				Type		String	The recipe type, see below
				Data		Optional, varies	Additional data for the recipe. For some types, there will be no data.

Recipe types:

Type	Description	Data
crafting_shapeless	Shapeless crafting recipe. All items in the ingredient list must be present, but in any order/slot.	As follows: Name Type Description Group String Used to group similar recipes together in the recipe book. Tag is present in recipe JSON. Ingredient count VarInt Length of the following array Ingredients Array of Ingredient Result Slot
crafting_shaped	Shaped crafting recipe. All items must be present in the same pattern (which may be flipped horizontally or translated)	As follows: Name Type Description Width VarInt Height VarInt Group String Used to group similar recipes together in the recipe book. Tag is present in recipe JSON. Ingredients Array of Ingredient Length is width * height. Indexed by x + (y * width). Result Slot
crafting_special_armordye	Recipe for dying leather armor	None
crafting_special_bookcloning	Recipe for copying contents of written books	None
crafting_special_mapcloning	Recipe for copying maps	None
crafting_special_mapextending	Recipe for adding paper to maps	None
crafting_special_firework_rocket	Recipe for making firework rockets	None
crafting_special_firework_star	Recipe for making firework stars	None
crafting_special_firework_star_fade	Recipe for making firework stars fade between multiple colors	None
crafting_special_repairitem	Recipe for repairing items via crafting	None
crafting_special_tippedarrow	Recipe for crafting tipped arrows	None
crafting_special_bannerduplicate	Recipe for copying banner patterns	None
crafting_special_banneraddpattern	Recipe for adding patterns to banners	None
crafting_special_shielddecoration	Recipe for applying a banner's pattern to a shield	None
crafting_special_shulkerboxcoloring	Recipe for recoloring a shulker box	None

Ingredient is defined as:

Name	Type	Description
Count	VarInt	Length of the following array
Items	Array of Slot	Any item in this array may be used for the recipe. The count of each item should be 1.

Tags

This packet MUST be send TWICE, even if it's empty, not doing so can crash the client (e.g. when clicking a fuel slot in a furnace). The packet should also be send two times, this is to prevent the client from crashing.

Packet ID	State	Bound To	Field Name	Field Type	Notes
0x54	Play	Client	Block Tags	(See below)	IDs are block IDs
			Item Tags	(See below)	IDs are item IDs

Tags look like:

Field Name		Field Type		Notes
Length		VarInt		Length of the following array
Tags	Tag name	Array	Identifier
	Count		VarInt	Length of the following array
	Entries		Array of VarInt	Numeric ID of the block/item.

Serverbound

Tab-Complete (serverbound)

Sent when the client needs to tab-complete a minecraft:ask_server suggestion type.

Packet ID	State	Bound To	Field Name	Field Type	Notes
0x01 0x04	Play	Server	Transaction Id	VarInt	The id received in the tab completion request packet, must match or the client will ignore this packet. Client generates this and increments it each time it sends another tab completion that doesn't get a response.
			Text	String (32767 256)	All text behind the cursor without the / (e.g. to the left of the cursor in left-to-right languages like English)
			Assume Command	Boolean	If true, the server will parse Text as a command even if it doesn't start with a /. Used in the command block GUI.
			Has Position	Boolean
			Looked At Block	Optional Position	The position of the block being looked at. Only sent if Has Position is true.

Craft Recipe Request

A replacement for Prepare Crafting Grid. It appears to behave more or less the same, but the client does not specify where to move the items.

This packet is sent when a player clicks a recipe in the crafting book that is craftable (white border).

Packet ID	State	Bound To	Field Name	Field Type	Notes
0x12	Play	Server	Window ID	Byte
			Recipe	VarInt Identifier	A recipe ID
			Make all	Boolean	Affects the amount of items processed; true if shift is down when clicked

Recipe Book Data

(previously known as Crafting Book Data)

Packet ID	State	Bound To	Field Name		Field Type	Notes
0x17	Play	Server	Type		VarInt	Determines the format of the rest of the packet
			Type	Field Name
			0: Displayed Recipe	Recipe ID	Int	The internal id of the displayed recipe.
			1: Recipe Book States	Crafting Recipe Book Open	Boolean	Whether the player has the crafting recipe book currently openened/active.
				Crafting Recipe Filter Active	Boolean	Whether the player has the crafting recipe book filter option currently active.
				Smelting Recipe Book Open	Boolean	Whether the player has the smelting recipe book currently openened/active.
				Smelting Recipe Filter Active	Boolean	Whether the player has the smelting recipe book filter option currently active.

The Recipe Book Status type is send when one of the states changes.

Handshaking

Clientbound

There are no clientbound packets in the Handshaking state, since the protocol immediately switches to a different state after the client sends the first packet.

Serverbound

Handshake

This causes the server to switch into the target state.

Packet ID	State	Bound To	Field Name	Field Type	Notes
0x00	Handshaking	Server	Protocol Version	VarInt	See protocol version numbers (currently 340 371)
			Server Address	String	Hostname or IP, e.g. localhost or 127.0.0.1, that was used to connect. The Notchian server does not use this information.
			Server Port	Unsigned Short	Default is 25565. The Notchian server does not use this information.
			Next State	VarInt Enum	1 for status, 2 for login

Status

Clientbound

No changes so far.

Serverbound

No changes so far.

Login

Clientbound

No changes so far.

Serverbound

No changes so far.