WorldEdit changes millions of blocks in one command. That is exactly why it is useful and exactly why a single mistyped number turns an afternoon into a restore from backup.
The four habits
- Check your selection before every operation
//sizetells you how many blocks you are about to change. Reading that number takes two seconds and catches the extra zero. - Know that
//undoexists and is limitedIt undoes your recent operations, per player, and only while you are still online with history remaining. It is not a substitute for a backup, and it will not save you after a restart.
- Never run a huge operation with players online
A large edit blocks the main thread while it runs. Everybody freezes, some people time out, and the operation is not any faster for it.
- Take a backup before anything irreversible
Regeneration, large replacements, and anything touching spawn. Five minutes now against everybody's builds.
Commands worth respecting
| Command | Why to be careful |
|---|---|
//set | Fills the entire selection. With the wrong selection this is the classic disaster. |
//regen | Regenerates terrain from the seed. Everything built in the selection is gone, and undo does not always recover it. |
//replace | Safer, but a wrong block ID still changes millions of blocks. |
//brush | Applies on every click. Easy to forget you still have it equipped. |
//expand | Grows the selection. Combined with //set, this is how a room becomes a crater. |
A player with WorldEdit can reshape the whole world faster than any griefer with a pickaxe, and the damage looks deliberate because it is precise. Give it to people you would trust with a backup restore, and no further.
//copy and //schematic save write a build to a file you can paste anywhere, including on another server. It is the right way to preserve something before a world reset, and it costs nothing to keep.
//size shows the count you expected, the operation completes without a tick warning in the console, and the result looks right from three directions.