/experience

Adds, sets, or queries experience points or levels for one or more players. Identical to /xp.

Overview

Adds, sets, or queries experience points or levels for one or more players. Identical to /xp. In vanilla Minecraft Java Edition it is one of the player commands and has been available since version 1.13.

It is invoked as /experience [levels|points] and accepts 3 required arguments (, , and ) and one optional argument ([unit]).

/experience is an alias — /xp behaves identically, so you can use whichever you prefer.

Introduced in 1.13 as the expanded version of /xp. Both commands remain available and behave identically.

The query action returns either the level count or the points within the current level, depending on the unit you ask for.

Syntax & Arguments

/experience <add|set|query> <targets> <amount> [levels|points]

The full syntax is /experience [levels|points]. 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 , , and . The argument [unit] may be omitted, in which case the documented default applies.

action: Required, of type a literal. The action to perform: add, set, or query.
targets: Required, of type an entity. The player(s) to modify.
amount: Required, of type an integer. The amount of experience. Omitted when action is query.
unit: Optional, of type a literal. Whether the amount refers to levels or points. Defaults to points.

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Description
action	literal	Required	The action to perform: add, set, or query.
targets	entity	Required	The player(s) to modify.
amount	integer	Required	The amount of experience. Omitted when action is query.
unit	literal	Optional	Whether the amount refers to levels or points. Defaults to points.

Examples

The 3 examples below are ready to copy and adapt. For instance, /experience add @s 10 levels adds 10 experience levels to yourself. Each example varies the arguments to show a different real use of /experience; read the note under every snippet to see exactly what changes.

/experience add @s 10 levels

Adds 10 experience levels to yourself.

/experience set @p 0 levels

Resets the nearest player's level to 0.

/experience query @s points

Displays your current experience points within the current level.

Permission Level & Requirements

/experience 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

Trying to set points to a value higher than the current level's maximum, the command will fail.
Confusing this with Bedrock Edition syntax which uses a different format.

Notes

Introduced in 1.13 as the expanded version of /xp. Both commands remain available and behave identically.

Related Commands

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

/xp

/enchant

Frequently Asked Questions about /experience

What does the /experience command do in Minecraft?

Adds, sets, or queries experience points or levels for one or more players. Identical to /xp. It belongs to the player command group and was added in Java Edition 1.13.

What is the correct syntax for /experience?

/experience [levels|points]. The required arguments are action, targets, and amount, and the optional one is unit.

What permission level does /experience 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 /experience?

Trying to set points to a value higher than the current level's maximum, the command will fail.

Can you give an example of /experience in use?

Yes. /experience set @p 0 levels — resets the nearest player's level to 0.

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