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WorldEdit Schematics and Commands: Save, Load, Paste Builds

Where WorldEdit saves schematics, how to //schem save and load them, and a commands table with the permission node for each, plus brushes, undo and limits.

Updated September 28, 2026
Minecraft

Somebody on your server wants to build a 200-block castle, and doing it by hand is not going to happen. WorldEdit is the answer: its commands change thousands of blocks at once, and its schematics save a finished build to a file you can paste anywhere. It is also the plugin half your other plugins quietly depend on — WorldGuard cannot define a region without it, and CoreProtect can scope a rollback to a WorldEdit selection.

It is worth being clear about what WorldEdit is and is not. It is an in-game map editor: you tell it an area, then you tell it what to do to that area. It is not a protection plugin, it has no permissions model of its own beyond the nodes below, and it will happily let a trusted builder flatten spawn in one command. Installing it is a decision about who you trust.

This guide covers selections, the region and clipboard commands, where WorldEdit schematics are saved and how to load them, brushes, undo, the limits you should set before you hand it to anyone, and a commands table with the permission node for each. Installing plugins in general is covered in How to install plugins for Minecraft Java Edition.

Installing WorldEdit

WorldEdit is one of the rare projects that ships for both plugin and mod platforms from the same download page. Get it from Modrinth, and pick the build that matches your server:

Server type Where the jar goes Config file
Paper, Spigot, Purpur plugins/ plugins/WorldEdit/config.yml
Fabric, NeoForge mods/ config/worldedit/worldedit.properties
Sponge mods/ config/worldedit/worldedit.conf

WorldEdit does not run on Bedrock Edition, Realms or Minecraft for Windows — those have no mod support to hook into. It also cannot be used on a plain vanilla server jar, which cannot load plugins at all; see Minecraft Server Software Compared if you are not sure which you are running.

Nobody can use WorldEdit until you grant permissions

WorldEdit's own documentation opens with this: "By default, no one can use WorldEdit." On a Bukkit-family server, operators get everything unless you disable that; otherwise you must hand out permission nodes through a permissions plugin. worldedit.* grants the lot and is the usual node for administrators. On Fabric and NeoForge only operators can use it on a server, and in single player it needs cheats enabled. See How to Set Up LuckPerms Permissions for Minecraft.

As of 28 September 2026 the current stable release is still WorldEdit 7.4.5, published 9 August 2026, supporting Minecraft 26.2 on Bukkit, Paper, Spigot, Folia, Fabric and NeoForge. Minecraft 26.3 support is in the 7.4.6 betas (beta-01 on 21 September, beta-02 on 24 September 2026), for both the Bukkit family and Fabric/NeoForge. If your server is on 26.3, you need a 7.4.6 beta until 7.4.6 is released.

Why some commands start with two slashes

This trips up everyone on day one. WorldEdit splits its commands across two prefixes, and the split is consistent:

  • Anything that acts on your selection or clipboard uses // — //set, //replace, //copy, //paste, //pos1, //expand.
  • Tools, brushes and navigation use a single / — /brush, /mask, /material, /jumpto, /ascend, /thru.
  • History commands accept either. /undo and //undo are the same command, as are /redo and /clearhistory.

If a command "does not exist", the slash count is the first thing to check.

Selections

A selection is the area WorldEdit will act on. Everything in the next section operates on it, and WorldGuard reads it to define a region.

Getting the two corners

//wand hands you the selection wand, which is a wooden axe by default. Left-click a block to set position 1, right-click to set position 2. Those two blocks are opposite corners of a cuboid, and the cuboid is always axis-aligned — you cannot select a rotated box.

If carrying an axe is awkward, there are three alternatives:

Command Sets the corner to
//pos1 / //pos2 The block above the one you are standing on — useful when you are flying
//pos1 x,y,z / //pos2 x,y,z Exact coordinates you already know
//hpos1 / //hpos2 The block you are looking at, however far away
//chunk The whole chunk you are standing in. //chunk -s selects every chunk your current selection touches

You can bind the wand to a different item with /tool selwand while holding it, or change wandItem in the config.

Adjusting it afterwards

Most people select the footprint at ground level and then grow it vertically.

//expand 10 up
//expand 5 down
Select the floor, then take in the whole building

//expand <amount> [direction] takes N, S, E, W, U, D, or relative directions F, B, L, R. Leave the direction off and it expands the way you are facing. //expand vert stretches the selection from sky to bedrock in one go, and //expand 10 n,w grows two directions at once. //contract works identically in reverse. //outset and //inset grow or shrink every face at once, //shift moves the whole box without resizing it, and //trim shrinks it to fit the blocks actually inside.

//size reports the dimensions and block count, //count <mask> counts matching blocks, and //distr breaks the selection down by block type — the fastest way to answer "how much stone is in here?"

You cannot see the selection without help

Vanilla draws nothing. //drawsel renders a server-side outline, but only for cuboid selections up to 48×48×48 and only in creative mode, because it is built on structure blocks. For everything else, builders use a client-side mod such as WorldEdit CUI. That is a per-player client install; it changes nothing on the server.

Cuboids are the default, but //sel poly, //sel convex, //sel ellipsoid, //sel sphere and //sel cyl switch modes. Polygonal and convex selections are capped at 20 points by default (maxPolygonalPoints and maxPolyhedronPoints).

//sel cyl followed by //set gives you a filled circle without counting a single block. On a server without WorldEdit — or in survival, where you are placing blocks by hand — the Minecraft circle generator prints the same shape as a per-row chart instead.

Changing the Selection

These are the commands the selection exists for. All of them respect masks and patterns, so //set sandstone,glass gives you a 50/50 mix and //set stone_bricks,cracked_stone_bricks,mossy_stone_bricks gives you a weathered wall.

Command What it does
//set <pattern> Fill every block in the selection
//replace [from] <to> Replace matching blocks only — //replace sandstone dirt
//overlay <pattern> Put a block on top of every surface block
//walls <pattern> Build the four sides
//faces <pattern> Build walls, floor and ceiling
//hollow [thickness] [pattern] Empty out the inside of a solid shape
//smooth [iterations] [mask] Smooth the terrain elevation
//naturalize Three layers of dirt on top, stone below
//move [count] [offset] Move the contents somewhere else
//stack [count] [offset] Repeat the contents in the direction you are facing
//regen [-b] [seed] Regenerate the selection from world generation
//line / //curve Draw a line or spline between selection points
//forest [type] [density] / //flora [density] Plant trees or ground cover

//set air clears an area. //regen is the one to reach for when you want terrain back the way the generator made it — add -b to regenerate biomes too, and give it a seed if you want different terrain.

//regen and //set air are not undoable by the world

They are undoable by WorldEdit's own history, and only for as long as that history lasts. A //regen over a player's base destroys the base and every chest in it. Take a backup from the Backups tab before any large destructive edit — see How to create a backup.

The Clipboard: Copy, Paste and Schematics

Copy and paste

//copy
//paste
Copy a build and drop a second one where you stand

The single most important thing about //copy is that it records where you were standing relative to the copy. Paste it later and it lands in the same relative position. Stand on top of a castle when you copy it and //paste puts the castle under you; stand at its front door and it appears around your feet. Plan where you stand before you copy.

//cut copies and then deletes the original, leaving air unless you name a block to leave behind. Three flags apply to //copy, //cut and //paste alike:

  • -e also handles entities (armour stands, item frames, paintings, mobs)
  • -b also handles biomes
  • -m <mask> restricts which blocks are involved

//paste adds a few of its own: -o pastes at the original coordinates rather than relative to you, -a skips air blocks so you paste a building into terrain without punching a hole around it, -s selects the pasted area afterwards, and -n shows you where the paste would land and selects it without pasting anything.

//rotate 90 turns the clipboard around the vertical axis — angles must be multiples of 90, and rotation happens around the point you were standing at when you copied. //flip [direction] mirrors it. /clearclipboard empties it.

Your clipboard and history live in a session, not on disk

Sessions survive for 10 minutes after a player logs off. Log back in inside that window and your clipboard and undo history are still there; come back the next day and they are gone. Anything you want to keep must be saved as a schematic.

Schematics

A schematic is a clipboard saved to a file. This is how builds move between worlds, between servers, and between people. It is also how a Minecraft BedWars server gets its arena maps built and pasted.

//schem save spawn_cathedral
//schem load spawn_cathedral
//paste
Save the clipboard, then load it back later
Command What it does
//schem save [-f] <name> Save the clipboard. -f overwrites an existing file
//schem load <name> Load a file into your clipboard
//schem list [-dn] [-p <page>] List saved schematics. -n sorts newest first, -d oldest first
//schem delete <name> Delete a saved schematic
//schem formats List the formats this server can read and write
//schem share [name] Upload the clipboard and get a share link

Files live in the schematics folder inside WorldEdit's config folder — plugins/WorldEdit/schematics on Paper, Spigot and Purpur, or config/worldedit/schematics on Fabric and NeoForge. The folder is not created until you save your first schematic; if you have downloaded a schematic and want to drop it in, create the folder yourself. The save and load commands accept folder/file, so //schem save builds/cathedral organises them into subfolders.

.schem and .schematic are different formats, and one is read-only

WorldEdit 7 (from Minecraft 1.13 onwards) writes the Sponge schematic format, extension .schem. The older MCEdit-compatible .schematic format could not represent the modern block format, so WorldEdit can still import those files through a legacy compatibility layer but can no longer write them. A download site offering only .schematic files still works; you just cannot save back to it.

Both the copy's origin and your offset to it are stored in the file, so a schematic pastes relative to you exactly as the original copy did. Third-party tools that write the format do not always store that offset.

//schem share uploads to the EngineHub Paste Service by default and gives you a link. Those uploads are deleted after one month — it is a way to hand a build to somebody, not a backup.

Brushes

A brush turns an item into a terrain-sculpting tool. Bind one, then right-click at range to apply it. Brushes are how large natural terrain actually gets built.

/brush sphere stone 5
/mask grass
/material red_wool,green_wool
/brush none
A stone sphere brush of radius 5, painting only onto grass
Brush Command
Sphere /brush sphere [-h] <pattern> [radius] — -h for hollow
Cylinder /brush cylinder [-h] <pattern> [radius] [height]
Set /brush set <shape> [size] <pattern> — the only one that does cubes
Clipboard /brush clipboard — stamps your clipboard at the target point
Smooth /brush smooth [radius] [iterations] [mask]
Gravity /brush gravity [radius] — drops floating blocks straight down
Forest /brush forest <shape> [radius] [density] <tree type>
Extinguish /brush extinguish [radius] — a fire-masked air sphere
Butcher /brush butcher [radius] — kills entities, hostile only by default
Deform / raise / lower /brush deform, /brush raise, /brush lower
Biome /brush biome <shape> [radius] <biomeType>

Four settings apply to whichever brush you currently hold: /mask limits which blocks it affects, /size sets the radius, /material sets the pattern, and /range sets how far it will reach. /tracemask controls what the ray tracer passes through — /tracemask #solid lets a brush reach through water, which is how underwater terrain gets built. /brush none (or /tool none) unbinds it.

Brush radius is capped by maxBrushRadius, which defaults to 6. Raise it in the config if your builders need more.

History, Limits and Not Breaking the Server

Undo

Every WorldEdit action, from a command or a brush, goes into your session history — the last 15 actions by default. //undo reverses the most recent one and //undo 5 reverses the last five. //redo puts them back. /clearhistory wipes your history.

Staff with the right permission can undo somebody else's work with //undo <number> <player>, and thanks to sessions that still works for 10 minutes after that player has logged off. This is the fastest way to deal with a builder who has just made a very large mistake.

Undo only reverses what WorldEdit directly changed

WorldEdit records direct changes. Knock-on effects — water that started flowing, doors and signs and tall grass that popped off when their support vanished, sand that fell — are not in the history and will not come back. For a build with a lot of attached blocks, this makes //undo an approximate repair rather than an exact one.

Per-player limits

This is the part most servers skip and later regret. WorldEdit's default block change limit is unlimited (defaultChangeLimit: -1, maxChangeLimit: -1). One player with a fat-fingered //set and no limit can lock a server up.

Config setting Default What it caps
defaultChangeLimit -1 Blocks changed in one operation, for everyone
maxChangeLimit -1 The highest limit a player may set with //limit
maxBrushRadius 6 Brush size
maxRadius -1 Radius for commands that take one
maxSuperPickaxeSize 5 Super pickaxe area
maxPolygonalPoints 20 Points in a //sel poly selection

Set defaultChangeLimit to something survivable — a few hundred thousand — and maxChangeLimit higher for the people who need it. In game, //limit <n> changes a player's own limit up to that ceiling, and worldedit.limit.unrestricted exempts a player from it entirely. Give that node to nobody you would not give /stop to.

A big edit also needs memory. WorldEdit's own guidance is roughly 1 GB for the server plus 2 GB for every ten million blocks you are editing — a 50 million block operation wants about 11 GB of heap. Heap sizing is covered in Minecraft Server RAM and JVM Flags. If the server dies mid-edit rather than finishing slowly, raise timeout-time in spigot.yml; that is the watchdog, not WorldEdit.

CoreProtect logs WorldEdit

If CoreProtect is installed, WorldEdit operations are logged like any other block change, and r:#worldedit scopes a rollback to your current selection. That combination — select the damage, roll back only that — is the cleanest repair there is. See CoreProtect: Logging, Lookups and Rollbacks.

WorldEdit Commands and Permission Nodes

WorldEdit has close to 200 commands, and the official command reference lists every one. What it does not give you is the short list a server owner actually needs: the commands builders use every day, and the node you must grant for each. Every command and node below is taken from that reference for the 7.4 series.

Command Permission node What it does
//wand worldedit.wand Gives the selection wand (a wooden axe by default)
//pos1, //pos2 worldedit.selection.pos Set a corner where you stand, or at coordinates
//hpos1, //hpos2 worldedit.selection.hpos Set a corner at the block you are looking at
//expand, //contract worldedit.selection.expand, worldedit.selection.contract Grow or shrink the selection. //expand vert goes to world limits
//size, //count, //distr worldedit.selection.size, worldedit.analysis.count, worldedit.analysis.distr Measure the selection and what is in it
//set worldedit.region.set Fill the selection
//replace worldedit.region.replace Swap one block type for another
//walls, //faces worldedit.region.walls, worldedit.region.faces Build the sides, or sides plus floor and ceiling
//overlay worldedit.region.overlay Cover the top surface
//hollow worldedit.region.hollow Empty a solid shape
//move, //stack worldedit.region.move, worldedit.region.stack Move or repeat the selection's contents
//smooth, //naturalize worldedit.region.smooth, worldedit.region.naturalize Terrain clean-up
//regen worldedit.regen Regenerate from the world seed. Destructive
//sphere, //cyl, //pyramid worldedit.generation.sphere, worldedit.generation.cylinder, worldedit.generation.pyramid Generate shapes at your position
//copy, //cut worldedit.clipboard.copy, worldedit.clipboard.cut Put the selection on your clipboard
//paste worldedit.clipboard.paste Paste the clipboard
//rotate, //flip worldedit.clipboard.rotate, worldedit.clipboard.flip Turn or mirror the clipboard
//schem save worldedit.schematic.save (or worldedit.clipboard.save) Save the clipboard as a .schem file
//schem load worldedit.schematic.load (or worldedit.clipboard.load) Load a file onto the clipboard
//schem list worldedit.schematic.list List saved schematics
//schem delete worldedit.schematic.delete Delete a saved schematic
//schem share worldedit.schematic.share (or worldedit.clipboard.share) Upload the clipboard and get a link
//undo, //redo worldedit.history.undo, worldedit.history.redo Step back and forward through your own history
//undo <n> <player> worldedit.history.undo.other Undo somebody else's edits. Staff only
/brush sphere and other brushes worldedit.brush.sphere (one node per brush type) Bind a brush to the item in your hand
/mask, /material, /size, /range worldedit.brush.options.mask and so on Brush settings
//limit worldedit.limit Change your own block change limit, up to maxChangeLimit
/worldedit reload worldedit.reload Reload the config

//schem, /schem, /schematic and //schematic are all the same command. Where two nodes are listed, WorldEdit accepts either one. //schem list and //schem delete have only their own schematic node, so a builder with just worldedit.clipboard.save can save a schematic but cannot list the folder.

Undoing someone else's edit is a separate node

//undo and //redo accept worldedit.history.undo or worldedit.history.undo.self (and the redo equivalents) for your own history. Undoing another player's edits with //undo <number> <player> also checks worldedit.history.undo.other, so builders can clean up after themselves without being able to rewind each other.

A builder rank you can paste

This gives a trusted builder selections, region edits, the clipboard, schematics, brushes and undo of their own edits, without //regen, the snapshot restore commands or an unlimited block change limit. Run it from the Console tab.

lp creategroup builder
lp group builder permission set worldedit.wand true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.selection.pos true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.selection.hpos true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.selection.expand true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.selection.contract true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.selection.size 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.region.walls true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.region.faces true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.region.overlay true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.region.hollow true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.region.move true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.region.stack 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.clipboard.rotate true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.clipboard.flip true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.schematic.save true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.schematic.load true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.schematic.list true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.history.undo true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.history.redo true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.brush.sphere true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.brush.smooth true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.brush.options.mask true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.brush.options.material true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.brush.options.size true
lp group builder permission set worldedit.brush.options.range true
LuckPerms: a WorldEdit builder group

Add players with lp user <name> parent add builder. To scope the rank to a creative build world only, append a context such as world=build to each line, as described in How to Set Up LuckPerms Permissions for Minecraft. Staff who clean up after other people also need worldedit.history.undo.other. Set defaultChangeLimit (see the limits table above) before you hand this rank out.

Common Issues

  • Every command says "you do not have permission". WorldEdit grants nothing by default. Op yourself, or grant worldedit.* through LuckPerms.
  • Commands return "0 blocks changed". A global mask is set. Clear it with //gmask and no argument.
  • The selection includes a block at (-1, -1, -1). A known conflict with a client-side mod. Use the long-range wand (/tool farwand) or remove the mod.
  • Signs, chests or entities paste empty. Setting block entities needs the worldedit.setnbt permission. On Bukkit servers WorldEdit also needs a version-specific adapter, which is why a Minecraft update usually means updating WorldEdit before block entities work again.
  • The server crashes on a large edit. Not enough heap, or the watchdog killed it. Both are covered above.
  • A schematic will not load. It may be a format this build cannot read — //schem formats lists what is available. Files must sit in the schematics folder, not the WorldEdit folder itself.
  • //undo did not restore everything. Indirect changes are not recorded. Restore from a backup if the difference matters.
  • A brush builds in mid-air. Its range is shorter than the distance to the ground; raise it with /range.

FAQ

Does WorldGuard need WorldEdit, or the other way round?

WorldGuard needs WorldEdit — specifically the Bukkit build of it — because WorldEdit is what selects the area a region covers. WorldEdit does not need WorldGuard. See Minecraft WorldGuard: Region Protection Explained.

Can players use WorldEdit in survival?

They can, if you give them the nodes. Most servers do not. The usual arrangement is WorldEdit for staff and builders only, with a creative build world where they use it — see Multiverse: Running Several Worlds on One Minecraft Server.

Does WorldEdit work on Fabric and NeoForge?

Yes. The same version number ships for both. 7.4.5 supports 26.2 on Fabric and NeoForge as well as the Bukkit family, and the 7.4.6 betas add 26.3. Note that WorldGuard does not, so a Fabric server gets the editing without the protection.

Where does WorldEdit save schematics?

In a schematics folder inside WorldEdit's config folder: plugins/WorldEdit/schematics on Paper, Spigot and Purpur, or config/worldedit/schematics on Fabric and NeoForge. The folder only appears after the first //schem save, so create it yourself in the File Manager if you want to upload a downloaded .schem file before then.

How do I move a build to another server?

//copy, //schem save <name>, download the .schem file from plugins/WorldEdit/schematics over SFTP, upload it into the same folder on the other server, then //schem load <name> and //paste.

Why do my pastes land in the wrong place?

Because the paste is relative to where you stood when you copied. Use //paste -o to put it back at its original coordinates, or //paste -n first to select the target area without pasting so you can see where it would go.

Will WorldEdit lag my server?

A large operation absolutely will, because it is doing real work. That is what limits are for. Chronic lag that is not tied to a specific edit is a different problem — see Diagnosing Minecraft Server Lag.

Primary sources used for this guide (checked 19 August 2026; versions and the commands and permissions table re-checked 28 September 2026, including the permission checks in the WorldEdit 7.4.5 source): the official WorldEdit documentation — installation, configuration, permissions, selection, clipboard and schematics, history, brushes, the command reference and the FAQ; and the WorldEdit project on Modrinth for the current version and supported Minecraft versions.

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