WorldEdit: the in-game map editor — commands, permissions and safety

In short: //wand gives you a wooden axe — left-click sets the first corner, right-click the second. Then //set stone fills the selection, //replace stone dirt swaps one block for another, //copy and //paste move a build, //schem save stores it in a file, and //undo reverts a mistake. Out of the box only operators can use WorldEdit — grant it through LuckPerms, and only to people you trust.

Installation#

WorldEdit runs on Java Edition: for a server the developers recommend Paper, which has improvements WorldEdit can use; Spigot, NeoForge and Sponge work too. Download the build for your Minecraft version from Modrinth (WorldEdit 7.4.6 on Modrinth is marked for 1.21.11 and 26.1–26.3), put it in plugins/ and restart the server. The config appears at plugins/WorldEdit/config.yml. The general routine is in how to install a plugin.

Selections#

Filling and replacing#

//set stone
//set sandstone,glass
//replace sandstone dirt
//set air
//walls stone_bricks
//overlay torch
//stack 4
//undo

• //set <pattern> fills the whole selection; sandstone,glass mixes them half and half.
• //replace <from> <to> changes only the listed blocks; without the first argument it changes every non-air block.
• //walls builds walls without floor or ceiling, //faces all six sides, //overlay places blocks on top of the terrain: torches, fences, paths.
• //stack 4 repeats the selection 4 times in the direction you face — for bridges and tunnels.

Copy, paste and schematics#

//copy copies the selection to your clipboard relative to where you stand. That's the key idea: if you copied a castle while standing on its roof, //paste puts the castle under your feet. //paste -o pastes it back where it was copied from, -a skips air, and -n only selects where the paste would land — handy to check before pasting. //cut copies and removes; //rotate 90 and //flip rotate and mirror the clipboard.

History and undo#

• //undo reverts the last action, //undo 5 the last five, //redo brings them back. By default the last 15 actions are kept (history.size).
• History lives in the player's session and for 10 minutes after they log out. Someone else's actions are undone with //undo <number> <name>, which needs worldedit.history.undo.other.
• WorldEdit records only direct changes. Water and lava that start flowing, doors, signs and grass that pop off won't come back with history.

So //undo insures you against your own typo, not against a griefer. CoreProtect logs WorldEdit changes: rolling back a selection is /co rollback t:15m r:#worldedit. For the worst case — server backups.

Permissions and limits#

The docs say it plainly: by default nobody but operators can use WorldEdit, and worldedit.* is full access for admins. Give builders specific permissions through LuckPerms:

lp group builder permission set worldedit.wand true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.selection.pos true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.selection.expand true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.region.set true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.region.replace true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.clipboard.copy true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.clipboard.paste true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.history.undo.self true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.history.redo.self true

limits:
    max-blocks-changed:
        default: 50000
        maximum: 200000
logging:
    log-commands: true
    file: worldedit.log
history:
    size: 15

By default max-blocks-changed is -1 — unlimited — and the command log is off. Only worldedit.limit.unrestricted lets someone go above the maximum. The numbers in the example aren't the developers' recommendation; fit them to the size of your builds. Indent this file with 4 spaces — tabs break it.

WorldEdit for staff: the grief risk#

One //set air over a spawn selection erases weeks of work, and a hijacked builder account with WorldEdit is more dangerous than any cheat. An anticheat won't help here: these are legitimate commands with legitimate permissions. What to do:

• Don't hand out OP. Operators get all of WorldEdit; give a builder group only the commands it needs.
• Turn on the limit and the log. max-blocks-changed caps the size of one operation, and log-commands records who did what.
• Keep CoreProtect. It logs WorldEdit edits and rolls them back — see CoreProtect.
• Builders on a separate server. Build on a creative server and move the results over as schematics, keeping WorldEdit on the main server to a couple of admins. The overall setup is in grief protection; building a staff team is in moderation team.

FastAsyncWorldEdit#

FastAsyncWorldEdit (FAWE) is a WorldEdit fork with large speed and memory improvements and many extra commands. Edits are processed asynchronously, and limits are set per player: changes, entities, memory. FAWE is a direct replacement: its developers say not to install WorldEdit alongside it, and plugins that depend on WorldEdit work with FAWE. Modrinth has it for Paper and Spigot, including 1.21.11 and 26.x.

FAWE respects regions from WorldGuard, PlotSquared, GriefPrevention and other plugins on its own: a player edits only where they can build. The bypass is the /wea command or the fawe.bypass permission — like WorldEdit itself, give it to admins only. According to its description, CoreProtect logs WorldEdit edits and FAWE's supported clipboard pastes.

WorldEdit and the anticheat#

WorldEdit edits are made by the server, not by a player's hands — that's not the same as Nuker, FastBreak or Scaffold, which break and build faster than the game allows. Those cheats are the anticheat's job. DGuard — the best anticheat for a modern Minecraft server — checks building, combat, movement, packets, inventory and the world, runs in hidden mode and gathers evidence before it punishes.

For staff, DGuard follows the same principle as WorldEdit: fewer rights, less risk. You invite moderators to the panel by email: they see server status and the punishment log with reports, but get neither OP nor your password. You can see what it looks like in the demo panel, no sign-up needed.

FAQ#