Structure Block Guide: Save & Load Structures

Structure blocks are one of the most powerful building tools in Minecraft. They let you save structures and paste them anywhere, copy things quickly, or mark areas in your world. Here’s everything you need to know to use them.

What is a Structure Block?

A structure block is a special block that lets you mark, save, and load structures in your Minecraft world. Unlike crafting recipes, you can’t make it with a crafting table. You get it through commands or the creative menu depending on your Minecraft version.

How to Get a Structure Block

Creative Inventory (Education Edition Only)

If you’re on Education Edition, find the structure block in your creative inventory under Items. It’s there and ready to grab.

Using Commands (Java & Bedrock)

On Java and Bedrock Edition, you need to use the /give command to add it to your inventory.

Java Edition 1.13 and newer:

/give @p structure_block 1

Java Edition 1.10-1.12:

/give @p structure_block 1 0

Structure Block Item Details

Java Edition

The structure block has these properties:

• ID Name: minecraft:structure_block
• Max Stack Size: 64
• Available in: 1.10+

The 4 Structure Block Modes

1. Corner Mode (Mark a Structure)

Mark out an area using two structure blocks at opposite corners. This defines the boundaries of your structure before you save it. Just set a structure name and you’re ready to go.

Options:

• Structure Name: What you want to call this structure. Case-sensitive.

2. Save Mode (Save a Structure)

Save your structure to a file. This mode is where you actually capture the blocks and save them so you can load them later.

Options:

• Structure Name: File name for your saved structure (case-sensitive)
• Relative Position: X Y Z coordinates relative to the structure block. No need for the ~ symbol.
• Structure Size: How many blocks wide, tall, and deep. Max 32 blocks each direction.
• Show Invisible Blocks: Toggle to see structure voids (red) and air blocks (blue)
• Detect Structure Size and Position: Auto-fills the size and position if you placed corner blocks first
• Include Entities: Save animals, mobs, and other entities inside the structure
• SAVE: Click to save the structure file to your world

3. Load Mode (Load a Structure)

Load a previously saved structure file. This is how you paste your structures into new locations.

Options:

• Structure Name: Name of the file to load (looks for filename.nbt)
• Relative Position: Where to place it relative to the structure block (X Y Z)
• Show Bounding Box: See a preview of where the structure will load
• Structure Integrity: Value from 0.0 to 1.0. Lower values randomly remove more blocks. Set a seed for consistent results.
• Include Entities: Load saved animals and mobs from the structure
• Rotation: Rotate the structure 0, 90, 180, or 270 degrees when loading

4. Data Mode (Run Functions)

Run custom functions when the map generates. The block removes itself after executing.

Options:

• Custom Data Tag Name: The function you want to run at world generation

Quick Start

1. Get a structure block using /give (Java/Bedrock) or creative menu (Education)
2. Place it down and right-click to open the menu
3. Set the mode to Save, Load, Corner, or Data depending on what you need
4. Configure the options for your use case
5. Click the button to execute (SAVE button for saving, etc.)