How to Set a World Border on a Minecraft Server

A worldborder Minecraft server setup takes two commands. Open the console and type worldborder center 0 0 and then worldborder set 10000. That creates a square border 10,000 blocks wide (5,000 in each direction from the center), and players cannot walk past it. Since Minecraft 1.21.9 each dimension has its own border, so repeat it for the Nether and the End.

Why put a world border on your server

• Disk space and backups. Every explored chunk is saved. A border caps how big the world can grow.
• Performance. With a fixed area you can pre-generate all of it so nobody generates terrain while playing. Our Chunky pregeneration guide covers that part.
• Gameplay. A smaller map keeps a group of friends close, and a border that grows over time makes for a good season or event.

Minecraft worldborder commands

All subcommands need permission level 2, so in game you must be an operator (see how to OP yourself). In the console you type them without the slash. These are the Java Edition subcommands from the Minecraft Wiki:

The number in set is the diameter, not the radius. worldborder set 10000 means the edges sit 5,000 blocks from the center. This is the most common mistake people make, and it makes the map four times smaller than they wanted.

Worldborder Minecraft server setup, step by step

1. Open the server console. On TheGameHosting, open your server in the panel and choose the Console tab.
2. Decide the center. Usually it is the world spawn or 0, 0. In game, press F3 to read your X and Z.
3. Type worldborder center 0 0 (or your X and Z).
4. Type worldborder set 10000 for a 10,000-block-wide map. Pick your own size: 2,000 to 6,000 is plenty for a small group.
5. Type worldborder get to confirm. The command returns the current size.
6. Repeat for the Nether and the End with execute in (next section).
7. Fly to the edge in creative or spectator to see the striped wall and check it is where you expected.

worldborder center 0 0
worldborder set 10000
worldborder get

One border per dimension (Nether and End)

Minecraft 1.21.9 made the world border dimension-specific: each dimension can have its own size and position, and the command only changes the border of the dimension where it runs. The console runs in the overworld, so to reach the other dimensions use execute in. The Nether is scaled 1:8, so a 10,000-block overworld border matches 1,250 blocks in the Nether:

execute in minecraft:the_nether run worldborder center 0 0
execute in minecraft:the_nether run worldborder set 1250
execute in minecraft:the_end run worldborder set 10000

On versions older than 1.21.9 the border was shared, so a single command was enough. If you are not sure which version you run, the first lines of the startup log print it, and our guide on updating a Minecraft server explains how to move to a newer one safely.

Growing the border over time: ticks, seconds and days

The optional time argument makes the border move slowly instead of jumping. Here many older tutorials are now wrong. In Minecraft 1.21.11 Mojang changed this argument from seconds to ticks (20 ticks are one second) and added two suffixes: s for seconds and d for in-game days.

worldborder add 2000 3600s
worldborder set 20000 1d

The first line grows the map by 2,000 blocks over one hour; the second widens it to 20,000 over one in-game day. On 1.21.10 and older, the time had no suffix and was always seconds:

worldborder add 2000 3600

Type the old form on a new server and you get 3,600 ticks, three minutes instead of an hour. Always add the s suffix on current versions so the intent is clear.

Warning, damage and max-world-size

Players outside the border take damage once they are further out than the buffer. You can tune how strict it is:

worldborder warning distance 20
worldborder damage buffer 5
worldborder damage amount 0.2

There is also a max-world-size setting in server.properties: the number of blocks from the center of the world where the border appears, with a default of 29,999,984. It works as an upper limit; most owners leave it alone and use the command instead.

Set your border on a server that is always on

A border pays off most on a server that runs all the time. On a TheGameHosting Minecraft server you type these commands in the Console tab, pre-generate the area with Chunky from the Plugins tab, and keep the world safe with the Backups tab. Want the border to grow every week? The Schedules tab can send a console command on a timer. It runs 24/7 on AMD Ryzen 9950X and 7950X3D hardware with DDoS protection, from $1.90 USD/month. See plans and pricing and use FULL2026 for 15% off for life.

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