Minecraft tick command guide: All you need to know

Mojang recently released a new Minecraft snapshot, 23w43a, where it released a bunch of interesting features. Apart from the new copper and tuff blocks that will be added to the game with the 1.21 update, the developer also introduced a brand new command related to tick. Since tick is essentially a programming loop that makes any process happen whenever it completes one cycle, this particular command serves to change how the cycle works.

Here is everything you need to know about the new tick command and how to use it in Minecraft snapshot 23w43a.

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Everything to know about the new tick command in Minecraft

How to find the tick command?

Cheats can be enabled while creating a new world in Minecraft (Image via Mojang)

First and foremost, you must download the latest snapshot version to use the new command. This can be done by opening the official game launcher, selecting the latest snapshot 23w42a from the drop-down menu, and hitting play.

Next, you need to create a brand new world where you are in creative mode and cheats are enabled, since commands only work when the world cheats are enabled. Once this is done, you will be able to use the new command.

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What is the new tick command for?

Right before using, it is important to understand that the tick command is essentially used to stop, slow down, and speed up every activity that is happening inside the game. The speed of the day, mob movements, and even redstone contraption speed can be altered with this command.

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How to use the tick command

You can start off by typing "/tick" to bring up a list of features that the command offers in Minecraft: freeze, query, rate, sprint, step, and unfreeze.

Two of the simplest features are the freeze and unfreeze inputs. These two will simply pause and unpause Minecraft's tick rate. If you write "/tick freeze," it will stop every kind of activity that is happening in the world, except for your movement, of course. This means that mobs will stop on their tracks, the day-night cycle will stop, and even the redstone machines will pause. Unfreeze input will do exactly the opposite and resume the regular tick.

The query input will give a detailed summary of Minecraft's tick rate and how the device is handling its speed.

The step input only works when the tick is frozen at first. After inputting the step command, enter the number of seconds you want the tick rate loop to function normally before it freezes again, which can be done by typing "/tick step stop."

The tick command's sprint function essentially runs the game's activities as fast as possible for a set duration. After the sprint is finished, it will return to it's default tick speed (20), and show data on how many ticks it updated in a single second.

Finally, the rate input is one of the coolest features since it allows you to manually set the tick speed. You can set it to 1 and not only see the world move extremely slowly, but you will move and react in slow motion as well. Unfortunately, this does not go the other way. If you increase the tick rate speed beyond 20, which is the default, every mob and activity will speed up, except for your own.