The /bossbar Command in Minecraft: Your Own Bars for Events and Countdowns

Who can use it

/bossbar is an operator command (level 2). In a single-player world you need cheats turned on; on a server, being op: in the console type op YourName (how to give op).

This guide is for Minecraft Java, the one servers with Paper run. Bedrock doesn't have /bossbar.

Creating the bar

The form is /bossbar add <id> <name>. For example: /bossbar add napnodes:event {"text":"Event: dragon hunt","color":"gold"}. The id is what the server calls it internally (lowercase letters, numbers, _, -, . and /); if you put nothing before the colon, the game adds minecraft:. The name is what's shown above the bar, written like /tellraw text.

For plain text without colors, quotes are enough: /bossbar add napnodes:event "Event tonight". If you write it without quotes and with spaces, it fails.

Freshly created, the bar is white, plain, at 0 out of 100 and nobody can see it. This is what confuses people most: the command says “Created custom bossbar…” and nothing shows on screen. You still have to say who sees it.

Who sees it: players

/bossbar set napnodes:event players @a shows it to everyone online. Any selector works: @a[team=red] only the red team, @a[distance=..50] the players nearby, or a name. Each time you run it, it replaces the previous list (it doesn't add to it), and /bossbar set napnodes:event players with nothing after removes it from everyone.

Careful: @a picks whoever is online at that moment. Anyone who joins later won't see it until you run the command again. If everyone has to see the bar all the time, put that same command in a repeating, always-active command block (command blocks guide (in Spanish)).

Changing it: color, style, value and name

1. color

   /bossbar set napnodes:event color purple. There are only seven: white, pink, blue, red, green, yellow and purple. The text color is something else: it goes in the name.

2. style

   /bossbar set napnodes:event style notched_10: progress is the plain bar and notched_6, notched_10, notched_12 and notched_20 split it into that many segments. With 10 segments and a max of 10, each segment is a round or a minute.

3. max and value: how full it is

   /bossbar set napnodes:event max 20 and /bossbar set napnodes:event value 15 leave it three-quarters full. The max starts at 1 and the value at 0; a value above the max leaves it full.

4. name: changing the text

   /bossbar set napnodes:event name {"text":"It's starting!","color":"red","bold":true}. The text is worked out when you run the command: if you put a score inside it, it doesn't update on its own.

5. visible: hiding it without deleting it

   /bossbar set napnodes:event visible false removes it from the screen without losing its player list or its value; with true it comes back.

A countdown that fills on its own

The bar doesn't move on its own, but a scoreboard does. The idea: a number that goes down every tick (20 per second) and that the bar copies. For five minutes, 6000 ticks:

1. 1. The counter

   /scoreboard objectives add countdown dummy and /scoreboard players set #time countdown 6000. #time isn't a player: that way it doesn't show in the Tab list.

2. 2. The bar with the same max

   /bossbar set napnodes:event max 6000 and /bossbar set napnodes:event players @a.

3. 3. Make it go down

   In a repeating, always-active command block: execute if score #time countdown matches 1.. run scoreboard players remove #time countdown 1.

4. 4. Make the bar copy it

   In a chain block after the previous one, also always active: execute store result bossbar napnodes:event value run scoreboard players get #time countdown.

Ideas for your server

The health of a boss made with /summon: a named mob and the bar copying its health with execute store result bossbar napnodes:boss value run data get entity @e[tag=boss,limit=1] Health, with the max equal to its full health. More on creating it in the /summon guide and the /attribute one (in Spanish).

A restart warning (“The server restarts in 5 minutes”) that empties in the meantime; the progress of a community event (blocks placed, monsters killed) with a scoreboard that adds up; or one bar per team in a minigame, each with players @a[team=…].

To remove it when you're done: /bossbar remove napnodes:event. Bars are saved with the world, so they're still there after restarting the server until you delete them. /bossbar list shows the ones that exist.

The errors and what they mean

“No bossbar exists with the ID '…'”: the id is misspelled or missing its first part. If you created it as event, it's called minecraft:event; check the exact name with /bossbar list.

“A bossbar already exists with the ID '…'”: you created it before (bars survive restarts). Change whatever you want with set or delete it with remove and create it again.

“Nothing changed. That's already the value of this bossbar” (or the color, the style, the name…): the command was fine, but the bar was already like that. In a repeating command block it's normal and does no harm.

“Nothing changed. Those players are already on the bossbar with nobody to add or remove”: the same, for players; it happens in the repeating block when nobody new has joined.

It's created but not shown: you haven't told anyone to see it (players), or you hid it with visible false. /bossbar get napnodes:event players says who has it and /bossbar get napnodes:event visible whether it's hidden.

The name fails: text with spaces goes in quotes, and colored text with its braces and double quotes exactly as in the example. If it gets complicated, the /bossbar generator writes it for you.

From the server console

In the console it works the same, without the slash in front: bossbar set napnodes:event value 50. Since @a doesn't depend on where you are, it works as is. That way you can announce an event or a restart without being in the game.

On NapNodes

Minecraft servers run Paper on the latest version, so everything in this guide works. You type the commands in the panel's “Console”, without the slash, and that's where you make yourself op with op YourName to use them from chat.

For the countdown with command blocks, the rule has to be on: “Settings” → “Game rules” → “Enable Command Blocks”, with the server running. The /bossbar generator gives you the commands with a preview of how it looks. And if you don't have a server yet, the free one is good for preparing the event with your friends, no card needed.

Frequently asked questions