Force chunks to stay loaded and ticking even with no players nearby.
These are block coordinates, not chunk coordinates. ~ ~ targets the chunk you are standing in; chunk numbers cannot be shown for ~ offsets.
Chunk 0, 0 spans blocks X 0 to 15 and Z 0 to 15.
Forces the chunk containing that block column. ~ ~ means the chunk you are standing in when the command runs.
Divide a block coordinate by 16 and round down. Rounding goes toward negative infinity: block -1 is in chunk -1, not chunk 0.
A chunk is 16x16 blocks at full world height. Chunk 6, -13 covers blocks X 96 to 111 and Z -208 to -193.
The Chunk line shows the chunk you are standing in. Or skip the math: stand in the chunk and run /forceload add ~ ~.
Permission level 2: /forceload needs cheats enabled in singleplayer or operator status on a server. Command blocks and datapack functions can run it too. Forced chunks keep ticking until removed, so force only what your build actually needs.
/forceload marks chunks so Minecraft keeps them loaded and ticking even when every player is far away or offline. Forced chunks keep running redstone, hoppers, crops and entities, survive restarts, and stay marked until you remove them. It needs cheats enabled or operator permission level 2.
Normally Minecraft only simulates the chunks around players. Walk away from your farm and its chunks unload: furnaces pause, crops stop growing, redstone clocks freeze mid-pulse. The /forceload command overrides that for the chunks you mark. They load at the entity ticking level, the same full simulation as chunks players stand in, so everything inside keeps working as if someone were there.
Forced chunks are saved with the dimension, so they come back after every restart and keep ticking until someone runs /forceload remove or /forceload remove all. The marking is also per dimension: a chunk forced in the Overworld says nothing about the Nether, and each subcommand only touches the dimension it executes in. To manage another dimension from where you stand, wrap the command in /execute in.
Typical uses: keeping an iron farm or crop farm producing while you explore, holding both ends of a long item-transport line in memory, and keeping clock circuits or shifting redstone alive across chunk borders. Modern versions keep only a tiny spawn-chunk area (controlled by the spawnChunkRadius gamerule), so forceload is the dependable way to keep machinery running. Use the generator above to compose the command, then paste it into chat, the server console or a command block.
The command has three subcommands: add, remove and query. Positions are X Z block coordinates (a column position, no Y value), and ~ offsets are allowed:
Working examples you can copy directly:
/forceload requires operator permission level 2, the same level command blocks run at. That means it works from the chat of an opped player or a singleplayer world with cheats on, from the server console, from command blocks and from datapack functions. One add or remove command can cover at most 256 chunks; larger rectangles are rejected with a too-many-chunks error.
The most common forceload mistake is feeding it chunk numbers. The command takes block coordinates and works out the chunk itself: a chunk is a 16x16 column of blocks, and the chunk coordinate is the block coordinate divided by 16, rounded down. Rounding goes toward negative infinity, so block -1 sits in chunk -1, not chunk 0. Going the other way, chunk c covers blocks c x 16 through c x 16 + 15.
The fastest way to find a chunk in game is the F3 debug screen: the Chunk line shows the chunk you are standing in. Or skip the math entirely: stand inside the chunk you care about and run /forceload add ~ ~. The generator above includes a chunk-to-block converter, so you can type chunk numbers from the F3 screen and have the matching block corners filled in for you.
The chunk math also explains the area limit. Blocks 0, 0 through 255, 255 map to chunks 0, 0 through 15, 15: a 16 by 16 square of exactly 256 chunks, the largest area one command accepts. Stretch either corner one block further, to 256, and the rectangle becomes 17 chunks wide (289 in total) and the command fails. When you need a bigger region, run several adds side by side; the tool above counts the chunks live so you see the limit before the game does.
It marks chunks as force loaded, so the game keeps them loaded and ticking even when no player is anywhere near them. Redstone keeps running, crops keep growing and entities keep moving in those chunks. They stay marked until you run /forceload remove, and the command needs cheats enabled or operator permission level 2.
Block coordinates. You give it an X and Z block position and Minecraft forces the chunk containing that column. To target a specific chunk, multiply the chunk coordinate by 16 to get its corner block: chunk 6, -13 starts at block 96, -208. Going the other way, divide the block coordinate by 16 and round down.
Yes. Forced chunks are saved with the dimension, so they reload automatically every time the world or server starts, and they stay forced until someone runs /forceload remove or /forceload remove all. Run /forceload query after a restart to confirm the list.
A single /forceload add command covers at most 256 chunks, for example a 16 by 16 chunk square. Bigger areas fail with a too-many-chunks error, so split them across several commands. There is no hard cap on the total number of forced chunks in a world, but every forced chunk keeps ticking and costs server performance.
Partly. Forced chunks tick at the entity ticking level, so existing mobs, redstone, hoppers and crops all keep working. Natural mob spawning is the exception: new mobs only spawn when a player is nearby, so a spawning-based farm still needs someone in range. Farms fed by crops, breeders or item transport run fine unattended.
The usual causes: you lack permission (it needs cheats in singleplayer or op level 2 on a server), the area spans more than 256 chunks, or you are in the wrong dimension, since forceload only affects the dimension the command runs in. Use /execute in minecraft:the_nether run forceload add to force Nether chunks from the Overworld, and verify with /forceload query.
Need to get to those chunks yourself? Or browse more Minecraft tools:
