The /playsound Command in Minecraft: Sounds for Announcements, Events and Maps

Who can use it

/playsound 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 has it too, but the sound names and the order of what comes after are different.

How it's written

The full form is /playsound <sound> <source> <players> <x y z> <volume> <pitch> <min volume>. For example, /playsound minecraft:entity.player.levelup master @a ~ ~ ~ 1 1 plays the level-up sound to everyone near you.

Since 1.20.5 almost everything is optional and you drop parts from the end: /playsound entity.player.levelup on its own plays only to you, where you stand. What you can't do is skip one in the middle: if you want to set the volume, the source, the players and the coordinates have to come first. Up to 1.20.4 the source and the players were required.

The sound is an id in English, with or without minecraft: in front: entity.experience_orb.pickup, block.note_block.pling, event.raid.horn. Press Tab while you type and chat shows you the list. There are almost 2000; the /playsound generator has them all with a search box and the most useful ones grouped.

The source: how loud each player hears it

The source is one of the sliders in the game's “Music & Sounds”: master, music, record (jukeboxes and note blocks), weather, block, hostile, neutral, player, ambient and voice; since 1.21.6 also ui. Each player hears it at the volume they have on that slider.

For announcements that must be heard no matter what, master: if you use music and someone has music at zero, they won't hear it. For a disc or a tune, record, so anyone who doesn't want music can turn it down without losing everything else.

Why nobody hears it: position and range

This is mistake number one. The coordinates say where it plays, and the players say who can hear it: if it plays at ~ ~ ~ (where you are) and your friend is 200 blocks away, it won't reach them even with @a. At volume 1 it's heard up to about 16 blocks; each extra point of volume adds another 16 (volume 4, about 64). Raising the volume doesn't make it louder up close, it only makes it reach further.

For every player to hear it wherever they are, the sound has to come from each of them: /execute as @a at @s run playsound entity.experience_orb.pickup master @s. That's the right way for server-wide announcements (the /execute guide explains the as … at @s).

The other way out is the minimum volume, the last number (from 0 to 1): with /playsound event.raid.horn master @a ~ ~ ~ 1 1 1 every chosen player hears it, wherever they are, although from far away it sounds like background noise with no direction.

Pitch and tunes

Pitch goes from 0 to 2: 1 is normal, 2 is an octave higher and 0.5 an octave lower. Below 0.5 the game doesn't go any lower, so 0.2 sounds the same as 0.5.

With the note block sounds (block.note_block.harp, .bell, .flute, .pling…) and the right pitch you can play notes: /playsound block.note_block.bell master @a ~ ~ ~ 1 1.5874 is a D, eight semitones above the normal sound. The generator has all 25 notes with their pitch number, so you can make a welcome jingle without doing any maths.

Stopping a sound: /stopsound

A disc plays for several minutes and doesn't stop on its own. /stopsound @a record minecraft:music_disc.pigstep cuts it; /stopsound @a record cuts everything from that source and /stopsound @a everything that's playing. To cut a sound whatever its source, put * in its place: /stopsound @a * minecraft:music_disc.pigstep.

Ideas for your server

1. Restart warning

   Before restarting, from the console: execute as @a at @s run playsound block.note_block.pling master @s ~ ~ ~ 1 1 and, right after, the message with /tellraw or /title (the /title and /tellraw guide).

2. The event starts

   execute as @a at @s run playsound event.raid.horn master @s at the same time as the bar appears at the top (the /bossbar guide). For a countdown, one pling per second for the last ten.

3. Prize or record

   playsound ui.toast.challenge_complete master WinnerName plays only for whoever wins, with the game's challenge fanfare.

4. Adventure and horror maps

   In a command block with a pressure plate: thunder (entity.lightning_bolt.thunder), a cave noise (ambient.cave) or the elder guardian's curse (entity.elder_guardian.curse), jump scare included.

The messages and what they mean

“Played sound … to …”: the command worked. If you still don't hear it, check the source (you may have that slider at zero) and that the sound exists.

“The sound is too far away to be heard”: none of the chosen players is within range of where it plays. Use the execute as @a at @s from above or set the minimum volume to 1.

No error and no sound: the id is misspelled. A sound that doesn't exist doesn't error, it just doesn't play; try Tab or look it up in the generator. It also happens with new sounds on an old server that doesn't have them yet.

“That player does not exist” or “No player was found”: the name is wrong or that person isn't online. From the console, @s is nobody: write a name or @a.

On NapNodes

Minecraft servers run Paper on the latest version, so everything in this guide works, the ui source included. 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 sounds with command blocks, the rule has to be on: “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 preparing your events and maps with your friends, no card needed.

Frequently asked questions