The /particle Command in Minecraft: Colored Particles, Above Players and on Repeat

Who can use it

/particle is a level 2 command: operators, the console and command blocks can use it. In a single-player world you need cheats turned on; on a server, being op (how to give op).

This guide is for Minecraft Java, the one servers with Paper run. Bedrock has /particle too, but with other names and without the spread or count numbers.

The shape: particle, position and five numbers

/particle <particle> <x y z> <spread X> <spread Y> <spread Z> <speed> <count> [force|normal] [players]. Only the particle is required: /particle heart makes a heart where you stand. But as soon as you want to set the count, you have to write everything before it.

The name is in English (heart, flame, end_rod, cherry_leaves), with or without minecraft: in front; Tab in chat shows you the list. The position works like in any command: ~ ~1 ~ is one block above you, ^ ^ ^2 two blocks ahead of where you're looking, and with numbers, a fixed spot.

An example with everything: /particle end_rod ~ ~1 ~ 1 1 1 0.02 30 makes 30 sparkles spread through a 1-block box around your chest, moving slowly.

What each number does

1. Spread X Y Z

   How far they scatter around the point, in blocks and per axis. 0 0 0 puts them all in the same spot; 3 0 3 makes a wide, flat disc; 0.3 1 0.3 a column. It isn't a hard edge: most land near the center and a few further out.

2. Speed

   How much they move when they come out. With 0 almost all of them stay still or do their usual movement (smoke rises, drips fall). With flames or sparkles, 0.01 or 0.05 is already noticeable; with 1 they shoot off.

3. Count

   How many come out each time. From 5 to 50 is normal for an effect that looks good; more than a few hundred, repeated every tick, causes stutters on modest computers.

4. Count 0: a single one, in one direction

   With 0 a single particle comes out and the three spread numbers stop being a spread: they become the direction it fires in, multiplied by the speed. /particle flame ~ ~1 ~ 0 1 0 0.2 0 shoots one flame upwards. Good for jets and fountains.

Colored, block and item particles

Some particles need to know what color or what block they are. Since 1.20.5 (and in every 26.x) that goes in curly braces, stuck to the name with no space:

1. Colored dust: dust

   /particle dust{color:[0.36,0.29,0.91],scale:1.5} ~ ~1 ~ 1 1 1 0 40 is a purple aura. The color goes in red, green and blue from 0 to 1: the 0 to 255 value divided by 255 (the purple #5b4ae8 is 91, 74 and 232, so 0.36, 0.29 and 0.91). scale is the size, from 0.01 to 4. Since 1.21.2 the color can also be written as a whole number (0x5b4ae8 = 5983976), but the list always works.

2. Dust that changes color: dust_color_transition

   /particle dust_color_transition{from_color:[1.0,0.0,0.0],to_color:[0.0,0.0,1.0],scale:1.5} ~ ~1 ~ 0.5 0.5 0.5 0 20 starts red and ends blue.

3. Potion swirls: entity_effect

   They take a color and an opacity (four numbers): /particle entity_effect{color:[0.36,0.29,0.91,1.0]} ~ ~1 ~ 0.5 0.5 0.5 1 20. Up to 1.20.4 you couldn't set their color.

4. Bits of a block: block, falling_dust and block_marker

   /particle block{block_state:"minecraft:redstone_block"} ~ ~1 ~ 0.5 0.5 0.5 0 30 splashes bits of redstone block. falling_dust makes dust that falls in the block's color, and block_marker shows the icon of an invisible block: /particle block_marker{block_state:"minecraft:barrier"} ~ ~ ~ marks where a barrier is.

5. Bits of an item: item

   /particle item{item:"minecraft:diamond"} ~ ~1 ~ 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.1 20, like when someone eats or a tool breaks.

If your command is from before 1.20.5

Up to 1.20.4 the options went loose after the name, with spaces: /particle dust 1 0 0 1 ~ ~1 ~ 0 0 0 0 10 or /particle block minecraft:stone ~ ~ ~ …. On a current server that doesn't work: the game reads dust without its braces and doesn't understand what comes after. You convert it to the new form by putting the numbers inside {color:[…],scale:…} (or the block inside {block_state:"…"}) and removing the space.

Particles without options (heart, flame, smoke…) are written the same in every version since 1.13. If you don't want to convert it by hand, the /particle generator writes it for the version you pick, today's or an older one.

Who sees them: normal, force and the player list

By default (normal) particles are only seen by players within about 32 blocks, and anyone with “Video Settings” → “Particles” set to “Minimal” or “Decreased” sees fewer or none. With force they're seen up to 512 blocks away and even if the player has them at minimum: for a signal in the sky or an event beacon. Use it sensibly: someone who turned them down for performance gets a screen full of them.

After force or normal you can set who sees them: /particle heart ~ ~2 ~ 0.3 0.2 0.3 0 3 normal @s is only seen by whoever runs the command, and … normal @a[team=red] only by the red team. Good for reward effects that don't bother everyone else.

Above every player and on repeat

A /particle fires once and lasts a moment. For effects that stay, you repeat it: in a “Repeat”, “Always Active” command block (in Spanish), the command runs 20 times a second. If the count is 10, that's 200 particles a second for each one: 2 or 3 each time is usually enough.

To make them appear above every player you need execute: execute as @a at @s run particle heart ~ ~2.2 ~ 0.3 0.2 0.3 0 2. The at @s is what matters: without it, ~ ~ ~ is still the command block's position and all the hearts come out there. For only the players near spawn, swap @a for @a[distance=..20] (easy with the target selector generator). More execute tricks in its guide.

Since 1.21.9 command blocks are switched on with the command_blocks_work rule (no longer with enable-command-block in server.properties): gamerule command_blocks_work true.

The errors and what they mean

“Unknown particle”: the name is wrong or misspelled. Some changed over the years: happy_villager used to be happyVillager and totem_of_undying was totem in very old versions. Press Tab while you type it.

“Can't parse particle options”: a brace, a bracket or a quote is missing, or the color is one number short. Colored dust takes three numbers; swirls, four.

“The particle was not visible for anybody”: the command was fine, but no player was close enough, or the player list didn't match anyone. Get closer or use force.

The command works but you see nothing: check your “Particles” setting in “Video Settings”, that the count isn't 0 by accident and that you're not inside a block. Some particles, like bubble, only show underwater.

The command turns red when you type dust 1 0 0 1: that's the form from before 1.20.5 (see the section above).

Ideas for your server

An aura in your server's color at spawn, blue flames (soul_fire_flame) at portal entrances, cherry_leaves falling from the top of the plaza, or totem_of_undying over an event winner alongside a message with /title and /tellraw.

If you want each player to pick their own effects (wings, halos, trails as they walk) without command blocks, there are plugins for that, like PlayerParticles; they install like any other (how to add plugins).

Be careful with command blocks repeating lots of force particles at spawn: it's where most people gather and slow computers notice it. Try a small count first.

On NapNodes

Minecraft servers run Paper on the latest version, so the curly-brace form in this guide is the one that works. You type it in the panel's “Console”, without the slash; from there ~ ~ ~ is the world spawn point, so use execute at YourName run particle … or fixed coordinates. That's also where you make yourself op with op YourName.

The command block rule can also be changed without commands, in “Settings” → “Game rules” → “Enable Command Blocks”, with the server running. And if you don't have a server yet, the free one is good for trying effects with your friends, no card needed.

Frequently asked questions