/difficulty

/difficulty

Permission level required	2 ‌[JE only] 1 ‌[BE only]
Restrictions	Cheat only‌[BE only]

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Sets or queries the difficulty level (peaceful, easy, etc.).

Usage

On a multiplayer server difficulty lasts only until the server is restarted — on restart, difficulty is reloaded from server.properties.

In Hardcore mode, the difficulty doesn't change even when successful.‌^{[Java Edition only]}

Syntax

• Java Edition

difficulty [peaceful|easy|normal|hard]

• Bedrock Edition

difficulty <difficulty: Difficulty>

difficulty <difficulty: int>

Arguments

JE: peaceful|easy|normal|hard
BE: difficulty: Difficulty: enum and difficulty: int: int

Specifies the new difficulty level. Must be one of the following:

• peaceful (can be abbreviated as p or 0‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}) for Peaceful difficulty
• easy (can be abbreviated as e or 1‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}) for Easy difficulty
• normal (can be abbreviated as n or 2‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}) for Normal difficulty
• hard (can be abbreviated as h or 3‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}) for Hard difficulty

If unspecified, queries the current difficulty instead of changing it.‌^{[Java Edition only]}

Result

Command	Trigger	Java Edition	Bedrock Edition
Any	The command is incomplete, or any argument is not specified correctly.	Unparseable	Unparseable
	The original difficulty is the same as the specified difficulty.	Failed	Successful
	Otherwise	Successful

Output

Command	Edition	Situation	Success Count	/execute store success ...	/execute store result ...
Any	Java Edition	On fail	0	0	0
/difficulty ...		On success	1	1	0
/difficulty		On success	1	1	the number id of current difficulty (peaceful = 0, easy = 1, normal = 2, hard = 3)
Any	Bedrock Edition	On fail	0	N/A	N/A
		On success	1	N/A	N/A

Examples

• To change the difficulty to hard: difficulty hard, difficulty h‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}, or difficulty 3‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}

History

Java Edition

Java Edition
1.4.2			12w32a				Added /difficulty.
1.13			17w45a				/difficulty [<value>] now only accepts string IDs, not shorthand or numeric.
							/difficulty 2 is now /difficulty normal.
							/difficulty p is now /difficulty peaceful.
							The player can now query for the current difficulty by using /difficulty without any arguments.

Bedrock Edition

Pocket Edition
1.0.5			alpha 1.0.5.0				Added /difficulty.

See also

• /gamemode – changes a player's game mode (Creative, Survival, etc.)

External links

• "/difficulty Command" – Microsoft Learn, October 11, 2023.