Minecraft:Coordinates

Coordinates numerically represent a location in a Minecraft:dimension.

World coordinates

File:Coordinates.png

X, Y and Z coordinate on a Minecraft map.

North is upward, at *negative* z and 180 degrees. Moving clockwise, East is to the right at positive X and -90 degrees. South is down, at *positive* Z and 0 degrees. West is left, at negative X and +90 degrees.

X and Z axes with directions shown, from a birds-eye view. Red highlights where these axes are different than standard.

World coordinates are expressed as a set of three absolute world coordinates (X Y Z), each number representing a distance along an axis from the world origin.

Coordinate system

World coordinates are based on a grid where three lines or axes intersect at the origin point.

• The x-axis indicates the player's distance east (positive) or west (negative) of the origin point—i.e., the longitude,
• The z-axis indicates the player's distance south (positive) or north (negative) of the origin point—i.e., the latitude,
• The y-axis indicates how high or low (from -64 to 320, with 63 being sea level) the player is—i.e., the Minecraft:elevation,
• The unit length of the three axes equals the side of one block. And, in terms of real-world measurement, one block equals 1 cubic meter.

The origin point marks the zero point for the x and z coordinates. Hence, it may be thought of as the 0,0 coordinate:

• X-axis = 0
• Z-axis = 0

As the player travels south, the z-axis number increases; travel north and it decreases. Similarly, the x-axis number increases as the player travels east and decreases as they travel west. As the player's elevation rises, the y-axis number increases, and as the player's elevation lowers, that number decreases.

An entity's coordinates are actually the coordinates of the center at the bottom of entity's collision box. When the display shows that the player is at position Y=63, then the player's feet are at Y=63.0, and their eyes are at Y=64.62.

Block position

The position of a block is actually the coordinates of the point at the lower northwest corner of the block, that is, the integer coordinates obtained by rounding down the coordinates inside the block.

In Minecraft, decimal coordinates usually needs to be converted into integer coordinates by rounding down, which is called the block position of the coordinate. Note that for positive coordinates a block position starts with 0 (it's so-called 0-based), and for negative coordinates it starts with -1.

There are available interactive calculators (hosted on this wiki) that may be used to convert between different types of coordinate values.

Displaying coordinates

Java Edition

Template:IN, pressing Template:Key (or Template:Key on Macs and some laptops or Template:Key on newer MacsTemplate:Verify) brings up a Minecraft:debug screen that shows the player's current coordinates (XYZ) and Minecraft:rotation in the upper left part of the screen. It also shows other useful in-game information, like the block position of the player, and the position of this block within the current Minecraft:chunk. The debug screen also replaces the crosshair with a display of these three directions: +X in red, +Y in green, +Z in blue (eastward, upward, and southward, respectively). Some information can be hidden using Template:Cmd command.

• Screenshot showing the debug information, with coordinates XYZ, Facing, and Block position.
  Screenshot showing the debug information, with coordinates XYZ, Facing, and Block position.
• Debug screen when reducedDebugInfo is true.
  Debug screen when reducedDebugInfo is true.

Bedrock Edition

Template:IN, the block position of the player can be displayed by changing the world options. The coordinates are displayed in a box in the top left, if the "Show Coordinates" option is turned on in the game settings screen or Template:Command is used.

The coordinates can also be shown in the Minecraft:chat by enabling "Copy Coordinate UI" in the creator settings, which is independent from the world options. The player's coordinates are shown with two decimals, and the player can also choose to show the coordinates of the block the player is currently facing. Both coordinates can also be copied with a customizable hotkey, Template:Keys for the player's coordinates and Template:Keys for the facing coordinates by default.

• The block position of player shown in Bedrock Edition.
  The block position of player shown in Bedrock Edition.
• The chat with "Copy Coordinate UI" enabled.
  The chat with "Copy Coordinate UI" enabled.

Commands

Some Minecraft:commands use require the player to specify coordinates. They can be expressed explicitly, using absolute world coordinates, or relative to the command source, using relative world coordinates or local coordinates.

Relative world coordinates

When specifying coordinates, each coordinate can alternatively be expressed as a relative world coordinate, written in tilde notation (~ΔX ~ΔY ~ΔZ). A number following a tilde (~) describes an offset from execution position along one of the world axes, and a lone tilde assumes an offset of 0. For example, the position Template:Distdir ~10 ~ ~-30 means "10 blocks east (+X) and 30 blocks north (–Z) of here." And ~ ~ ~ means the command's current position.

Relative world coordinates can mix with absolute coordinates; for example, Template:Cmd keeps the sender's X and Z positions unchanged but teleports them to an absolute height of 64 blocks.

The Template:Command command can update a command's current position, changing the meaning of ~ ~ ~.

Local coordinates

The other way to describe positions is with local coordinates, written in caret notation (Template:Local frame).

Like relative coordinates, these describe positions relative to where a command is executed from, but with different directions. A number following a caret (^) is an offset within a moving, entity-centric frame: This coordinate system is centered at the executor's position, with +X_local directed to its left, +Y_local directed upward, and +Z_local directed in the direction the sender faces. (Note that an entity with rotation 0 0 has its local frame aligned with the world frame.)

Described in other terms, these coordinates express ^ΔSway ^ΔHeave ^ΔSurge

For example, Template:Cmd teleports the player 5 blocks forward. If they turn around and repeat the command, they are teleported back to where they started.

Template:IN, pressing Template:Key+Template:Key displays the +Z_local direction for all entities as a blue ray centered on their heads.

Local coordinates cannot be mixed with world coordinates (e.g. ^ 0 ^, ^ 0 ~1), and attempting so alerts the typist, "Cannot mix world & local coordinates (everything must either use ^ or not)." So such a command fails to be parsed. However, this effect can be achieved using Template:Cmd to "globalize" the y coordinate, and Template:Cmd to "globalize" the x and z coordinates. For example, Template:Cmd teleports the player 3 blocks in forward, but at the same Y level.

A command's execution position, rotation, dimension, and anchor all can change the effect of using ^ ^ ^. These can be updated by the Template:Command command.

History