Minecraft:World

An extensive view of the Overworld

A world or level is an individual Minecraft "universe" which encompasses all blocks and Minecraft:entities in each Minecraft:dimension. Worlds can be accessed and edited through the Minecraft:world selection menu from the Minecraft:main menu and can be created with the "Minecraft:Create New World" button.

Description

Worlds are split into three Minecraft:dimensions, which are in turn composed of Minecraft:blocks of various sizes, usually either cubic or composed of one or more cuboids, or of flat plane images, all of which are arranged in a Euclidean grid. Minecraft:Fluids, Minecraft:entities and Minecraft:particles also exist within these worlds, and certain locations of the world can possess Minecraft:biomes and different levels of Minecraft:light. Blocks and entities can possess other attributes such as Minecraft:items, Minecraft:effects and, by extension, Minecraft:enchantments. The terrain of world is procedurally generated before Minecraft:players can modify blocks and entities within. Various Minecraft:structures and Minecraft:features can also generate inside worlds, sometimes containing Minecraft:chests with loot inside.

A player can manage settings for gameplay and world generation before world creation in the Minecraft:Create New World screen, and after creation through Minecraft:game rules and the Minecraft:edit world screen.Template:Only Worlds can be generated with several Minecraft:world types, and there are generation options for the Minecraft:world seed and the bonus chest. From the world options, the player can manage the world file, including duplicating, deleting, exporting (to transfer the world or upload to a Minecraft:server),Template:Only and uploading to Minecraft:Realms. Worlds can be modified using Minecraft:resource packs, Minecraft:data packs,Template:Only Minecraft:behavior packs,Template:Only and Minecraft:experiments. World content can be created efficiently using projects in Minecraft:Bedrock Editor.

Minecraft Realms allows server-hosting and world storage online. Each Realm can store three worlds in slots and automatical backups or manual cloud saves,Template:Only which can be accessed from any device by the Realm owner.

Storage

Java Edition

Template:Main Each world is saved in its own separate folder in the Minecraft:.minecraft/saves folder. Files relating to Minecraft:chunks in the Overworld are stored in the base world save folder, Nether files are stored in the DIM-1 subfolder, and End files are stored in DIM1. Each dimension has its own Template:Cd folders that is stored in its directory.

Bedrock Edition

Template:See also Each world is saved in its own separate folder in the Minecraft:com.mojang/minecraftWorlds folder. This world folder can be compressed into a .zip file, which can be changed into a .mcworld file to tranfer the world. Exporting worlds on Windows devices automatically zips the world in a .mcworld file, which can be imported on non-console devices by opening the file with the Minecraft app, or using the import world feature in the Minecraft:play screen.

Directory structure

Template:File
- Template:File: Contains world Minecraft:behavior packs.
- Template:File
  - Template:File: Uneditable binary file.
  - Template:File: Uneditable log file.
  - Template:File Template:Note
  - Template:File: Contains file name of the "MANIFEST-<ID>" file.
  - Template:File Template:Info needed
  - Template:File
- Template:File
- Template:File: File that can be used as a backup for the other DAT file.
- Template:File: Contains the name of the world.
- Template:File: Contains world resource packs.
- Template:File: Contains the UUID of all behavior packs that have ever been enabled for the world.
- Template:File: Determines which behavior packs stored in Template:File are enabled for the world.
- Template:File: The thumbnail of the world, which can be changed to an in-game Minecraft:screenshot in the edit world screen. Must be a 800x450 pixels JPEG file.
- Template:File: Contains the UUID of all resource packs that have ever been enabled for the world.
- Template:File: Determines which resource packs stored in Template:File are enabled for the world.
Template:Notelist

World template

A world file can be converted to a world template to easily modify its contents, such as add-ons and additional languages for the world name, in order to let a player create a new world with data stored in the template.<ref>Template:Cite</ref> A world template uses the same directory structure as regular world files, with a few additional JSON files.

Template:File
- Template:File: Mandatory file, must specify Template:Cd type. Contains the name and ID of the world. If the name and description are set to Template:Cd and Template:Cd, these will be assigned the texts specified in the localization files. Optionally, Template:Cd can be added to the header to override seeds stored in the world data and generate a new world with a random seed.
- Template:File
  - Template:File: Specifies all languages used.
  - Template:File: A language file for localization. Multiple language files can be used.

Localization

The in-game name and description of the world template can be changed for any Minecraft:language. The LANG file should contain Template:Cd followed by the name of the template, and Template:Cd followed by the description. Template:Cd should contain an array of all language codes used.

File:Ore UI - Play Screen "Worlds" Tab - Create From Template Button Screen Menu (Bedrock).png

The "Create from..." screen.

Importing

A finished world template can be zipped and packaged as a Template:Cd file. Opening this file will automatically import it as a world template, stored in Template:Cd. World templates can also be imported on Windows in the "Create from..." screen opened after pressing the "Create new world" button in the Minecraft:play screen.

All imported world templates are shown in the "Create from" screen. Selecting a world template will show the description, and opening it will open the Minecraft:Create New World screen with all data from the world template. Even though it may contain saved chunks and player data, the Minecraft:world seed (if Template:Cd) can be changed, which may result in a sharp boundary between the saved chunks and newly generated chunks. Furthermore, Minecraft:Hardcore can be toggled again, allowing to revive dead players. Various game settings can be locked using lock_template_options, which requires to confirm a warning before one can change them.

World templates can also be purchased from the Minecraft:Marketplace. A list of Marketplace and Minecraft:Marketplace Pass world templates is shown in the "Create from..." screen, which can create a world similar to custom world templates.

Backward-compatibility

File:Vibrant Visuals older versions.png

A world locked in 1.17.0 using world templates, notable for the old world generation and low cloud height. Vibrant Visuals, as a client-side setting, can still be enabled but misses PBR textures.

In a world template, the base_game_version can be set to any minor release after 1.13.0.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> When set to an older version, the world will be created without vanilla resource and behavior packs from higher versions. In other words: the world is locked in an older version, features behave differently, have older looks, and new features are not available. Because the engine still runs on the latest version, unlike with backward-compatibility in Java Edition, certain features do behave differently from the actual game version. This includes hard-coded features outside resource and behavior packs, Minecraft:music, and various bugfixes, as well as features in the game that are not part of the world (such as menu screens).