How to make a minigame with commands

Updated: 30 October 2026

1. Setup: run once

/scoreboard objectives add points dummy "Points"
/scoreboard objectives setdisplay sidebar points
/team add red
/team add blue
/team modify red color red
/team modify blue color blue
/team modify red friendlyFire false

This creates a score to count points and two colored teams. friendlyFire false stops teammates hurting each other (see the team command).

2. Start: run when the button is pressed

/team join red @a[tag=red]
/team join blue @a[tag=blue]
/gamemode adventure @a
/clear @a
/effect clear @a
/scoreboard players set @a points 0
/spreadplayers 0 0 10 50 true @a
/give @a minecraft:wooden_sword
/title @a title {"text":"Go!","color":"gold"}
/playsound minecraft:entity.player.levelup master @a ~ ~ ~ 1 1

• Adventure mode: players cannot break the arena.
• Empty inventories and effects: nothing carries over from the last round.
• Random spawns: true keeps teams together (see spreadplayers).
• Title and sound: make the start obvious (see title and playsound).

In command blocks, link these with chain command blocks so they run in order (see the command block guide).

3. During the game: run all the time

/execute as @a[team=red] at @s if block ~ ~-1 ~ minecraft:gold_block run scoreboard players add @s points 1
/execute if entity @a[scores={points=10..}] run title @a title {"text":"Game over!"}

In a repeating command block these run every tick. The first gives red players a point while they stand on gold, and the second checks whether anyone reached 10. For kill counts and timers see the scoreboard minigame guide, and for a countdown bar see bossbar.

The first line keeps adding points every tick while a player stands there. To count only once, tag the player and exclude the tag afterward.

4. End and reset

/tp @a 0 64 0
/gamemode adventure @a
/clear @a
/effect clear @a
/team leave @a
/scoreboard players reset @a points
/kill @e[type=minecraft:item]

Send everyone back to the lobby, reset inventories, effects, teams and points, and clean up dropped items, so the next round can start right away.

On Bedrock

• Bedrock has no /team. Split teams with tags instead (/tag @a[...] add red).
• Write /effect @a clear and /title @a title Go!.
• Scoreboards, /spreadplayers and the new /execute syntax (1.19.50+) all work.

Common problems

• Commands run over and over: check impulse vs repeat. Start commands belong in an impulse block that runs once.
• Chat fills with command output: /gamerule command_block_output false (commandBlockOutput on 1.21.10 and older).
• Bystanders get caught up: tag the players taking part and use @a[tag=player] instead of @a (see the tag command).

Common questions

• Can non-operators start the game? Yes, a button wired to a command block works for anyone. For chat menus, use /trigger.
• Should I use a data pack? Command blocks are fine for small games. As commands pile up, functions are easier to manage.
• Can the arena be reused? Yes, with the reset commands. For games that break the arena, /clone a saved copy back in.

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