Mastering Minecraft: How to Change Your Gamemode With Commands

Are you new to Minecraft and wondering how to change your gamemode?

Explore the different ways you can switch between game modes using commands.

Learn how to use the /gamemode command with a player’s name and understand the purpose behind changing gamemodes.

Discover the risks and limitations associated with changing gamemodes and get some tips for effectively using gamemode commands in Minecraft.

Dive in and level up your Minecraft gameplay!

What is a Gamemode in Minecraft?

In Minecraft, the term gamemode refers to the overall aesthetic function of a world. You can switch between gamemodes in single-player games and on survival, creative, and adventure servers. Additionally, players in Spectator mode are technically in gamemode 3 but with special features. They do not have access to many blocks or items in the traditional sense and do not have a health bar above the hotbar. This is not an exclusive list of features, as Minecraft offers countless server configurations with new variants.

These are the standard available gamemodes in Minecraft, each with its own numerical id. They can be changed using basic commands, which combine both the numeric ID and the written gamemode for ease of input. They are as follows:

• Survival (0) – The basic form of Minecraft with block breaking and placing, as well as crafting and combat.
• Creative (1) – All blocks are inventory-accessed at any time and no health-meter. Players are immune to essentially all game mechanics.
• Adventure (2) – A gamemode for custom maps, restricting players from breaking the environment for typical blocks.
• Spectator (3) – A passive mode for map-makers and tour guides, with player collision removed.

How to Change Your Gamemode in Minecraft?

You change your gamemode in Minecraft by entering a chat line command. You can do this either in the Minecraft client or remotely with the RCON or SSH protocols. If you want to change your gamemode in Minecraft without having to click anything, press the `T` key on a PC or the `Backquote` key on a Mac to open up the chat screen. If these keys do not work, you can press `Esc`, click the `Multiplayer` tab, and then click `Open Chat`. You can then use the chat line to enter either /gamemode creative, /gamemode survival, /gamemode adventure, or /gamemode spectator and press Enter.

Using the /gamemode Command

In vanilla Minecraft, use the /gamemode command to change your game mode. This is the simplest option if you are the host of a new single-player game. /Gamemode 0 changes to survival mode, /gamemode 1 changes to creative mode, /gamemode 2 changes to adventure mode, and /gamemode 3 changes to spectator mode. You can change game modes any time you are in the game, even if you are in the middle of a game.

Using the /gamemode Command with a Player’s Name

To set the gamemode of a player, this command structure in full is needed to be able to change the game mode in Minecraft.

1. The player of interest necessarily has to be selected, which requires the use of the /gamemode spectator, survival, or creative command as illustrated in point one of the tutorial, so it is recorded.
2. The /gamemode keyword is used.
3. The mode to which the selected player’s gamemode will be changed is used.
4. The username of the desired target player is used after an extra space following the previous inputs.

This command will change the gamemode of the player AJTechYT to creative mode and will look like this:

• /gamemode creative AJTechYT

This command will change a player’s gamemode without their needing to interact in any way. While this is useful for those who are using a particularly regimented game or server setting, it is not useful in many everyday applications outside of mass server changes in an IT network. An omission was found on Jun 2020. If the /gamemode command is used without a target player, the console will return the error message “Usage: /gamemode [player]“. This is a grammatical error and there is an unnecessary ‘mode‘ precursor term that has not been used in other /gamemode commands. For the sake of the semantic understanding of the player, this is a bad design.

Using the /gamemode Command with a Target Selector

In Minecraft editing commands, the target selector refers to the person selected to have their game mode changed by a command. In standard single-player Minecraft, the user interacts with the entire map. In multi-player and on servers, there are often many users and players can use the target selector to apply the command to themselves or a specific user.

Here are the different ways to use the target selector according to minecraft.fandom and variables that users might encounter.

• /gamemode creative @p: sets the game mode of the closest player (standing within an 8-block radius) to creative.
• /gamemode creative @a [name=!PlayerName]: sets the game mode of (all) players except PlayerName to creative.
• /gamemode creative @r: sets the game mode of a randomly selected player to creative. Best used with gamemode survival to create a PVP server.

Using the /gamemode Command with a Game Mode Number

When a player wants to use the /gamemode command to change their game mode, they can use the numbers 1, 0, or 2 with the command interchangeably to represent creative, survival, or adventure modes. Here is the exact command to enter into the chat box for each mode:

1. Creative Mode – /gamemode 1
2. Survival Mode – /gamemode 0
3. Adventure Mode – /gamemode 2

The game mode screen in Minecraft (which can be accessed by pressing F3 and P keys together) is able to see the numerical representation that the game associates with the three main game modes.

What are the Different Game Modes in Minecraft?

The different game modes in Minecraft are Creative, Survival, Adventure, Spectator, and in Multiplayer modes such as Player vs Player (PVP) Creative. In Creative mode, players are free to modify the game environment and have unlimited resources, thereby allowing them to build whatever they want. This is the game mode generally used when players want to build without being concerned about materials. In Survival mode, players are challenged to gather materials and manage hunger. Unlike creative mode, materials must be gathered and crafting must be performed in order to create complex structures or items.

In Adventure mode, the players must follow the game’s pre-programmed rules and have no construction or destructive power. In Spectator mode, players are allowed to roam around the game and see how other players are going without being noticed. PVP and Player vs Player Creative are modes used mainly in multiplayer games. PVP is a game where players fight each other and can destroy each other’s building material, whereas Player vs. Player Creative mode only allows players to modify their game environment.

Survival Mode

The main mode for new players, Survival Mode in Minecraft is when players gather resources themselves and need to mine to create structures to survive against monsters, hunger and, in some cases, other players. Normal Block/Survival Let’s Play Minecraft is the most common game mode of Minecraft. It is activated with /gamemode survival or nicknamed /gamemode s.

Creative Mode

The creative mode in Minecraft can be accessed using the /gamemode command. The creative mode in Minecraft is meant for gameplay where you need only to build without the pressures related to obtaining resources. It is a multiplayer mode for designing maps or structures and for creative learning. This model turns off all types of damage, meaning you are immortal against any attacks and will not take drowning or suffocation damage. Players will be able to instantly destroy any type of block and do not need any equipment.

Adventure Mode

Adventure mode is focused on exploration and was added in Minecraft 1.3. Players must have special permission to break or place blocks in this mode, making adventure maps a lot more challenging and requiring players to actually explore in order to overcome challenges.

To enter adventure mode using commands, enter /gamemode adv or /gamemode a. The command for setting an individual player to adventure mode is /gamemode a <player_username>. You can also set an area to adventure mode for all players, including yourself, with the command /gamemode a [player1,player2,…] or /gamemode a [player1,player2,…] [x y z].

Adventure mode is the second gamemode to launch after creative and can be enabled in a number of custom editor and adventure maps.

Spectator Mode

Enter Spectator mode in Minecraft by typing /gamemode 3. In spectator mode you may fly around freely and clip through any materials to inspect or scout, and you can also track mobs. This mode is best for doing research, testing redstone devices, decorating the map, or wisely avoiding monsters. While in survival or creative modes, typing /gamemode 3 as the op player changes the game mode to spectator and back to survival or creative mode.

In video game terms, Spectator mode is Minecraft’s version of a fly (or spectate) mode, which sometimes can be used to cheat if not carefully monitored. For instance, in Capture the Flag game mods, any players holding flags who enter spectator mode drop the flag, letting the other team capture them as they watch without retribution, potentially frustrating some players.

What is the Purpose of Changing Gamemodes in Minecraft?

The purpose of changing gamemodes in Minecraft is: To give players control over their gaming experience by letting them change in-game rules to make it harder or easier to do specific activities, expand what they can do, or remove consequences for taking risks.

Players change gamemodes by entering the of a proper command in Minecraft chat or cheatsheet/procedures from an in-game menu. These commands could be done with or without enabling cheats. To see a list of commands to use, type /help into the chat.
To look at current gamemode status settings type /gamerule into the chat.
To change the gamemode from survival to creative type /gamemode creative into the chat.

The following are the five main Minecraft gamemode categories that can be altered in varying ways. They are survival, creative, adventure, spectator, and hardcore. Players can use cheats, third-party game host modifications or even sign mods to enable gamemode change. Use commands to enable cheats or to change the gamemode directly. These steps can be done with our without cheats enabled.

Are There Any Risks or Limitations to Changing Gamemodes?

There are no risks to changing gamemodes directly, as switching Minecraft gamemodes using the /gamemode creative or /gamemode survival commands does not expose you or your player to any danger. There are significant limitations to changing Minecraft game modes, however. You cannot enter Adventure mode without cheats. Attempts to change game modes in adventure mode using cheats (such as /gamemode creative) will not work. Gamemodes can only be changed via the pause menu or commands in versions 1.2 (Java) or 1.6 (Bedrock) and subsequently. Attempts to employ cheat commands before then will result in the commands not working or even breaking the player’s ability to switch game modes in the future.

Can Only be Done in Single Player or on a Server with Cheats Enabled

Changing your gamemode with commands cannot be done in Minecraft Education Edition. To do this, find Open to LAN or create a Saved Home LAN World Save in the single-player mode or on any map in multiplayer where you are an Operator (OP). In the More Options tab, find Allow Cheats and click to toggle it on. After having done that, press T on the string2gamemode window or enter /gamemode creative2 in the chat box and press Enter.

Unless you play Minecraft alone, other players must give you the ability to change your gamemode. In regular play, the ability to give other players Operator (OP) privileges or cheat toggles to change a gamemode can only be done by the Operator or via in-game commands if the Operator has not disabled them. If players do not have the ability to change the gamemode, there is no alternative but to play the game according to the ruling of the Operator or whoever has the ability to give or remove access to certain commands or commands console options .

May Cause Glitches or Bugs in the Game

In certain versions of Minecraft, switching modes while using cheats enabled that quickly could cause the game to crash and the save file to become corrupted. Minecraft user pochemugu relates in a 2018 post how after using the /gamemode command his server suddenly crashed, following which he couldn’t open the files as they were reportedly corrupted. Generally, the reason people can’t open their old worlds is due to the setting of the prior gamemode.

Developer Slickman01 advised a user who had committed to a lower difficulty in adventure or survival mode (for a challenge or other reasons) but wanted to get back from that mode that a new world was required. The moderator of the Minecraft subreddit echoed these comments. “[pochemugu] most likely can’t play his world anymore because of too many errors added by his or possibly minecraft itself to his world save. Technically you could create a new world that is just like the old with external programs. Eg download a map online and copy the chunks of the old world over on it.” Occasionally, resurrecting vexing game bugs may be linked to the mode you previously used. However, this does not mean that all game errors are due to an improper command for a new gamemode.

Can Affect Achievements or Progress in the Game

When you change your gamemode in Minecraft using commands, you have the ability to affect completion of achievements or progress in the game. The game is typically more challenging in Survival mode (GameType 0) and similar to traditional game play in Adventure mode (GameType 2). When using the command to give the player creative mode, there is potential for the cheating aspect to alter how one interacts with and progresses through the game. Achievements are used as an indicator and record of a player’s progress in the game, becoming more difficult with management of hunger and ability or inability to destroy certain blocks. The personal effect of this adds an another layer of difficulty and competitiveness among players.

What are Some Tips for Using Gamemode Commands in Minecraft?

Here are some tips for using gamemode commands in Minecraft. Minecraft has three main game modes – creative, survival, and adventure. Each mode serves a different purpose. Creative is best for easy creative building while survival is good for survival challenge world. Adventure is good to most accurately simulate being a mob in a survival world or to create a non-survival challenge world. You can switch between these in-game using commands.

• Switch to gamemode creative (gamemode c/gamemode creative/gamemode 1) to give yourself infinite abilities, flying abilities, and unlimited building tools.
• Switch to gamemode survival (gamemode s/gamemode survival/gamemode 0) to build structures with legitimate resources to defend during the night.
• Switch to gamemode adventure (gamemode a/gamemode adventure/gamemode 2) for non-survival challenges. Including defeating mobs or creating maps.

When using survival gamemode before you apply commands or cheats-bring yourself to full health to ensure you do not jeopardize the difficulty in survival. Before you eliminate a mob or fishing rod to catch an entity-switch to the appropriate adventure mode for a more realistic challenge.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the command to change gamemode in Minecraft?

To change your gamemode in Minecraft using commands, you can use the command “/gamemode [gamemode] [player]” where [gamemode] is the mode you want to change to (such as survival, creative, adventure, or spectator) and [player] is the username of the player whose gamemode you want to change. For example, “/gamemode creative Steve” would change Steve’s gamemode to creative.

Can I change my gamemode without using commands?

Yes, you can change your gamemode by using the in-game menu without using commands. Press the “Esc” key to open the menu and click on “Open to LAN”. Then, click on “Allow Cheats” and change your gamemode by clicking on the “Game Mode” button.

What is the difference between “/gamemode” and “/gamemode creative” commands?

The “/gamemode” command allows you to change to any gamemode, while the “/gamemode creative” command specifically changes your gamemode to creative mode. You can replace “creative” with “survival”, “adventure”, or “spectator” to change to those respective modes.

Is there a shortcut to change my gamemode?

Yes, there is a shortcut to change your gamemode using commands. Press the “T” key to open the chat and type “/gamemode [gamemode] [player]” and press “Tab” to autocomplete the player’s name. This will save you from typing the full command.

How can I change my gamemode back to survival after using commands?

If you are in creative or adventure mode, you can change back to survival mode by typing “/gamemode survival [player]” in the chat. If you are in spectator mode, you can use the “/gamemode spectator [player]” command to change back to survival.

Can I change another player’s gamemode using commands?

Yes, if you have the appropriate permissions, you can change another player’s gamemode by using the “/gamemode [gamemode] [player]” command. Make sure to type in the correct player’s username to change their gamemode.