/bossbar

Creates and manages custom boss bars displayed at the top of players' screens. Boss bars can show progress, notifications, and custom messages.

Overview

Creates and manages custom boss bars displayed at the top of players' screens. Boss bars can show progress, notifications, and custom messages. In vanilla Minecraft Java Edition it is one of the bossbar commands and has been available since version 1.13.

It is invoked as /bossbar ... and accepts one required argument () and 2 optional arguments ([id] and [arguments]).

Boss bar properties: name (display text), color (pink/blue/red/green/yellow/purple/white), style (progress/notched_6/notched_10/notched_12/notched_20), max, value, visible, players. Boss bars persist across server restarts.

A new bar is invisible until you assign viewers with set players. Colours are pink/blue/red/green/yellow/purple/white and styles are progress or notched_6/10/12/20; bars persist across restarts.

Syntax & Arguments

/bossbar <add|get|list|remove|set> ...

The full syntax is /bossbar .... Angle brackets < > mark required arguments and square brackets [ ] mark optional ones; a vertical bar | between words means you pick exactly one of those literals. You must always supply . The arguments [id] and [arguments] may be omitted, in which case the documented default applies.

action: Required, of type a literal. add = create; get = query value; list = show all; remove = delete; set = modify properties.
id: Optional, of type a resource. The boss bar ID (namespaced, e.g., my_pack:my_bar).
arguments: Optional, of type a various. Varies by action. For set: color, max, name, players, style, value, visible.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
action	literal	Required	add = create; get = query value; list = show all; remove = delete; set = modify properties.
id	resource	Optional	The boss bar ID (namespaced, e.g., my_pack:my_bar).
arguments	various	Optional	Varies by action. For set: color, max, name, players, style, value, visible.

Examples

The 3 examples below are ready to copy and adapt. For instance, /bossbar add my_server:timer {"text":"Event Timer","color":"gold"} creates a new boss bar with the ID "my_server:timer" and gold-colored text. Each example varies the arguments to show a different real use of /bossbar; read the note under every snippet to see exactly what changes.

/bossbar add my_server:timer {"text":"Event Timer","color":"gold"}

Creates a new boss bar with the ID "my_server:timer" and gold-colored text.

/bossbar set my_server:timer players @a

Shows the timer boss bar to all players.

/bossbar set my_server:timer value 75

Sets the boss bar's current value to 75 (out of max).

Permission Level & Requirements

/bossbar sits at permission Level 2 - Game Master / Cheats, which means it needs permission level 2, the level cheats grant to single-player worlds and that operators hold by default.

In a single-player world you must have "Allow Cheats" turned on (or open the world to LAN with cheats) before it will run; on a multiplayer server the player needs to be an operator at the matching level.

This reference describes the Java Edition 1.21 form of the command; Bedrock Edition may use slightly different argument formats.

Common Mistakes

Forgetting to set 'players', a new boss bar is not visible until players are assigned.
Not setting 'max' before 'value', the default max is 100 but if your scale differs, set max first.

Notes

Related Commands

If /bossbar is part of your toolkit, the commands below are the ones you will most often reach for alongside it: /title, /scoreboard, and /execute. They cover closely related tasks, so the links above jump straight to each one.

/title

/scoreboard

/execute

Frequently Asked Questions about /bossbar

What does the /bossbar command do in Minecraft?

Creates and manages custom boss bars displayed at the top of players' screens. Boss bars can show progress, notifications, and custom messages. It belongs to the bossbar command group and was added in Java Edition 1.13.

What is the correct syntax for /bossbar?

/bossbar .... The required argument is action, and the optional ones are id and arguments.

What permission level does /bossbar need?

It requires permission Level 2 - Game Master / Cheats. On a server the player must be an operator at that level, or have cheats enabled in single-player.

What is a common mistake when using /bossbar?

Forgetting to set 'players', a new boss bar is not visible until players are assigned.

Can you give an example of /bossbar in use?

Yes. /bossbar set my_server:timer players @a — shows the timer boss bar to all players.

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