For some of us Minecraft is more than just a game where you sit down and build cool things. For many Minecraft and friends go hand in hand.
Multiplayer is a big thing that attracts a lot of people to the game, because everything is better with company. With countless public servers making up the game there’s a community for just about everyone.
However, not all aspects of Multiplayer are for everyone. Even though PVE is a core part of the game, PVP isn’t meant for everybody.
Luckily, PVP can be disabled just like PVE can be.
Disabling PVP in Java Edition
In Java Edition making a large server is a bit more complex, so a lot of people prefer to make a single world and open it up to LAN.
A LAN world can be accessed by anyone who is connected to your Wi-Fi network at the moment. If they’re on a different connection they cannot access it the same way they would a server. Though, a LAN world doesn’t make it any easier to disable PVP.
Unlike in Bedrock Edition or on public servers it’s a little more difficult to disable it. There is no straight forward command or toggle, so players had to figure out a way to get around this.
A popular way is to do so using the scoreboard which is implemented in all Multiplayer worlds.
When you get into your world you will have to create a team using the command written below. This command is linked directly to the scoreboard mechanic.
The name can be pretty much anything under 16 characters. For this example I’m just using the name “One”.
/team add One
This command will create a team under your chosen name in the scoreboard. The scoreboard is usually used for servers and people who make minigames within Minecraft, but it’s pretty useful for us here.
Once you have your team made, you will follow it up with the next command.
The [teamname] here will still be “One” because this is the name I had chosen for the example. [Player] will be any player in your world who you wish to add to the team and disable PVP for. You will also need to add yourself into the team.
/team join [teamname] [player]
A proper example of using our existing team and a Player name would be:
/team join One PlayerMinecraft
This command will put the chosen player on the team with you and any other player that’s also on said team. After this you can go ahead and use a command to disable “friendly fire” which will make you unable to damage the players on the team.
/team modify One FriendlyFire false
Now you can try out by hitting your friends to see if they take damage, which they shouldn’t.
Additionally if this is too many steps for you, you can also use commands to inflict certain debuffs or buffs on players which would entirely negate the damage they would deal or receive.
Luckily a thing that makes commands easier on Java is that the text chat displays all possible arguments you can use for a particular command that you are inputting.
Disabling PVP in Servers
If you are hosting your own server, depending on the host you will usually have a whole new set of commands that you can use. Either via commands or via server settings you can easily alter how your server works.
For Gportal you can do this through their website and find the settings for your chosen server.
There you scroll down until you see the option that says “pvp=true”. Clicking on it it should change it to “pvp=false” which then disables the ability to damage other players.
In other servers this would have to be done manually directly through the server files on your computer. Locate the server file and open it. There you will see all of your server and current world configurations.
Find the line that says “pvp=true” and rewrite it to “pvp=false”.
Additionally if the type of server you are hosting doesn’t have a website which you can access and you are struggling to find your server’s files on your computer, the next best thing would be to install a Plugin.
The WorldGuard Plugin is one that is commonly used in larger servers as it allows you to create specific non-PVP zones. It also allows you to add more rules to your server and modify areas into what you need them to be.
Their website has all the information and commands you may need.
Alternatives to PVP Servers
Like I mentioned, the scoreboard is often used in different servers by their owners to develop and make minigames.
These minigames are the perfect alternative to large PVP filled servers. While there certainly are PVP based minigames, there are many without it involved that you can still play with your friends.
Minigames like Parkour courses, Racing, Puzzles, Mazes, and Speed Bridging are all popular minigames you and your friends can try out without needing to worry about being hit and dying countless times.
Disabling PVP in Bedrock Edition
Bedrock Edition is much different than Java when it comes to playing Multiplayer. While in Java it’s quite a struggle to set up a server through hosts and other methods, Bedrock makes this much easier.
The biggest thing to note is that in Bedrock Edition you can simply join your friend’s world without it being hosted as a server, Realm, or without even being on the same Wi-Fi network.
All you need to do is add your friends through the game or through the Xbox app.
Once you have added them all you need to do is start up a world and they can join the world as long as you, the host, are connected to it.
To disable PVP on Bedrock you can do so before you launch your world for the first time.
When you’re setting up your Bedrock world you will have an entire list of options. Everything from the game difficulty and disabling Mob Griefing, to allowing Fire Spread, The very first thing you will see at these World Options will be to toggle Friendly Fire on and off.
By default the option is always on.
However, don’t fear if you forget to do this, because you can still use a command to disable or enable it while in game whenever you wish to do so. The command is simple:
/gamerule pvp [false/true]
The “gamerule” command can be used for many things, but it has much more utility in Bedrock. It can even be used to stop rain or snow from falling. Here you can use it to turn PVP on and off at will.
Just like in Java, Bedrock displays all the possible arguments and options for the command you’re currently imputing. You don’t have to stress yourself with remembering all of these commands.
