The /tp Command in Minecraft: to Coordinates, to a Player, to Another Dimension and to Any Structure

Who can use it

/tp is a level 2 command: operators (op) and the console use it. A normal player gets “Unknown or incomplete command”, as if it didn't exist. To make yourself op, type op YourName in the server console.

In the game chat it's written with the slash (/tp …); in the server console, without it (tp …). What really changes in the console is that there's no “you”: @s is nobody, so you always have to say who is being moved.

The four forms of the command

Every /tp is “who” and “where to”. If you don't say who, it's you. The “where to” is a set of coordinates or an entity (a player, a mob).

1. You, to coordinates

   /tp 120 70 -340 takes you to x=120, y=70 (the height), z=-340. You see the coordinates you're at with F3 in Java.

2. You, next to a player

   /tp Ana puts you where Ana is, facing where she's facing.

3. Another player, to coordinates

   /tp Luis 0 80 0. From the console it's the normal form: tp Luis 0 80 0.

4. A player, next to another

   /tp Luis Ana takes Luis to Ana. The first one is who moves; the second, the destination.

Relative coordinates (~) and forward (^)

With ~ you count from where you are: /tp ~ ~10 ~ lifts you 10 blocks without moving from the spot, and /tp ~100 ~ ~ takes you 100 blocks east (x grows towards the east). A lone ~ means “the same as now”.

With ^ you count towards where you're looking: /tp ^ ^ ^5 moves you 5 blocks forward in the direction you're looking, and ^1 in the first number moves you to your left. All three coordinates go with ^ or none do; it doesn't mix with ~ or with plain numbers.

You can mix ~ and numbers: /tp 500 ~ 500 takes you to x=500, z=500 at whatever height you're at.

Which way you face on arrival

After the coordinates you can add the rotation: /tp @s 0 70 0 90 0 leaves you facing west and straight ahead. The first number is the turn to the sides (0 south, 90 west, 180 north, -90 east) and the second up or down (-90 at the sky, 90 at the ground).

Or facing something: /tp @s 0 70 0 facing 10 70 10 leaves you looking at that point, and /tp @s 0 70 0 facing entity Ana at Ana. It's useful so that at an event everyone appears facing the stage.

Moving several at once: @a, @p, @e

Instead of a name you can use a selector. @a is all players, @p the nearest, @r a random one, @s you and @e all entities (mobs, dropped items, boats…).

/tp @a @s brings the whole server to you; from the console, tp @a Ana takes them to Ana. Inside square brackets you filter: /tp @a[distance=..30] 0 80 0 only moves those 30 blocks or less from you.

For a mob, make it just one: /tp @e[type=minecraft:villager,sort=nearest,limit=1] @s brings the nearest villager. Without limit=1 and without type, @e also moves the items on the ground, the arrows and the armour stands that are loaded: better not.

Going to another dimension (the Nether, the End)

/tp to coordinates leaves you in the dimension you're already in. To change dimension there are two ways.

Next to someone who's already there: /tp Ana takes you to her side even if Ana is in the Nether.

To coordinates in another dimension, with execute: /execute in minecraft:the_nether run tp @s 0 70 0. The names are minecraft:overworld, minecraft:the_nether and minecraft:the_end. From the console, replace @s with the player's name. Nether coordinates are the normal world's divided by 8: to work out which ones match, the NapNodes Nether calculator does it for you.

If the server has extra worlds with Multiverse, you go there with mv tp world_name (the multiple worlds guide explains it).

Finding something with /locate and getting there

/locate tells you where the nearest one of something is. It's also op-only, and has three variants: /locate structure minecraft:village_plains (structures), /locate biome minecraft:cherry_grove (biomes) and /locate poi minecraft:meeting (points of interest, like a village bell).

With # in front you search for a group: /locate structure #minecraft:village finds the nearest village of any type (plains, desert, taiga, savanna or snowy). Others that are searched for a lot: minecraft:stronghold (the stronghold with the End portal), minecraft:ancient_city, minecraft:trial_chambers, minecraft:mansion, minecraft:monument; in the Nether, minecraft:fortress and minecraft:bastion_remnant.

The answer brings the coordinates in green: clicking them writes the /tp to go there into your chat. For structures the height comes out as ~ (yours), and you can end up underground or in the air: change it to a high number, or use the trick below.

If it says it can't find anything, there isn't one in that dimension (there are no villages in the Nether) or it's too far away for what it searches in one go.

Arriving without ending up inside a wall

/tp puts you exactly where you say, whatever is there: if there's rock, you suffocate; if there's air 200 blocks up, you fall. It doesn't look for a safe spot.

The trick: /spreadplayers 500 500 0 5 false @s takes you to the surface near x=500, z=500, on top of the first solid block. The numbers are the centre (x and z), the minimum distance between players (0), the radius it can land in (5), whether it respects teams (false) and who it moves. In the Nether, where everything is ceiling, add under and a height: /spreadplayers 60 60 0 5 under 120 false @s.

Without that, go up high and fall protected: /tp @s 500 200 500 and, before it, /effect give @s minecraft:slow_falling 30, which lets you drift down slowly.

If you have EssentialsX

EssentialsX brings its own /tp, which takes the place of the game's one: it goes by its permissions (essentials.tp) and doesn't necessarily understand all the forms above. The game's one is still there with its full name: /minecraft:tp, with every form in this guide.

For your normal players, what's usually needed isn't /tp but /tpa (asking to go to someone, who has to accept), /home and /spawn: the EssentialsX guide explains how to give them with LuckPerms without making anyone op.

If you want someone to be able to use the game's /tp without being op, with LuckPerms: lp user Name permission set minecraft.command.teleport true. Think about it first: with /tp you can reach any base, including other people's.

The typical errors

“Unknown or incomplete command”: you don't have permission (you're not op) or part of the command is missing. In the server console, make sure it includes the player's name.

“No entity was found”: the name is misspelled or that player isn't online. You can't move someone who's offline.

“Only one entity is allowed, but the provided selector allows more than one”: the destination has to be a single one. /tp @s @a doesn't work; /tp @a @s does.

“Invalid position for teleport”: the coordinates go outside the world (beyond 30 million blocks, or the height the game allows).

You arrive and die instantly: you were inside blocks or fell from very high. Use the /spreadplayers trick or slow falling.

At NapNodes

Minecraft servers run on Paper with the latest version, and everything in this guide works as is. Commands are typed in the panel's “Console”, without the slash and with the player's name (tp Ana 0 80 0); that's also where you make yourself op with op YourName.

Before moving half the server for an event, or trying far-off coordinates that generate new terrain, make a backup in “Backups”: if something goes wrong, you're back in a minute. And if the server struggles when lots of people travel to new areas at once, the Minecraft RAM guide tells you how much you need.

Frequently asked questions