BTE Builder Guidebook

Table of Contents
There is now a changelog at the bottom of the page, where we add updates on what we add
or change in this giant document.

Preface 4
Translations of the Guidebook 4

Getting Started 6
Don’t feel confident enough to build? 6
The Solo-Builder Application 6
Bedrock version? 7
Settings for generating a new world 7
Entering the world for the first time 7
How to teleport 7
Before you build/Best Practices 8
Important Links 9

Building rules 9
What does 1:1 scale mean? How big is a Minecraft block irl? 9
General Rules 9
Things you are allowed to do but might be unsure about 9
Things that you are not allowed to use/do: 10
Things that make the world look better: 10
Do we build the interiors of buildings? 10
Why do we not build interiors of private buildings? 11
How do I find the borders of my plot in Minecraft? 11
Method 1 11
Method 2 11
What do I do if a building is on the border to another plot that you do not own? 12
What do you do if you are unable/unwilling to finish your plot? 13
How do I upload my world file? 13

Where do I find image material about my build? 14

Street level images 14
Video material 14
3D material 14
Where do I find building heights? 14

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Useful WorldEdit commands 15
How to find Block IDs 15
How to select a region using WorldEdit 15
Beginner commands 15
Circles 16
Polygon selection 16
The most important command: //Undo 18
The few basic commands 18
Copy command 19
Change Biome 19
Stacking 19
Brush commands 20
Using schematics in BTE 20
Creating Schematics in BTE 21
Transfering the schematic to a server 21
Sharing a schematic to the community 21
Loading and pasting a build from a schematic 21
Complicated (but doable) commands 22
Selecting multiple block types 22
//deform 22

Building Tips 23
General tips 23
Block color overview 23
Custom heads 23
Custom banners 24
Other blocks only spawnable with commandblock or WorldEdit 25
Buildings 26
Building detail 27
Streets, Roads and Paths 28
Lamp posts 29
Rail lines 30
Terraforming 31
How to lower or raise smaller areas 31
How to lower bigger areas 32
How to make rivers 33
Nature 35
Leave block IDs that do not decay 35
Creating a forest with custom trees 35
Controlling the the length of vines 35
Building shells and outlines 36
BTE Normalization 36

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Open Street Maps (OSM) 37
What is OSM? 37
How to use OSM to edit the maps of the world 37
How to work with bad or misaligned satellite images 37
How to get the changes into Minecraft? 37

Troubleshooting 38
Missing building outlines/rivers/roads. 38

Where do I find Help? 38

List of useful Minecraft heads and banners 38

Heads 38
Banners 38

Conventions for editing the guidebook? 39

Contributors 40
Translators: 40

Changelog 41

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Preface
This is a document to feature all the commands, rules and tips for making your building
experience as easy as possible. All commands in here should be copy and paste friendly for
your game.

If you want to change something or have suggestions, send in a form here:

Suggestion Form
You can also DM @Aquaday#6574 if you don't want to fill out a form.

Please note that this document is in-development. Feel free to contribute!

If you are editing have a look at the conventions for editing the guidebook

We are also working on a quick guide, find it here: Quick guide

There is also a technical guide, check it out here: Technical guide

Translations of the Guidebook

If you want to help translate the guidebook into another language contact the translation
team.

Chinese Version is currently being worked on.

French Version French Version

German Version
A German version of the Guidebook is currently being worked on:
This would be where the link to it would go… If I had one. (I’ll add it when translation is
done.)

Portuguese Version
A Portuguese version of the Guidebook is currently being worked on:
This would be where the link to it would go… If I had one. (I’ll add it when translation is
done.)

Spanish Version Spanish Version:

Polish Polish version

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5
 Getting Started

Don’t feel confident enough to build?

Don't worry we all started small. You might think that all of us are master builders because
you saw all those fancy buildings being showcased but in truth we all started with a dirt
house and a door at some point.
The world is a big place and not every building is complicated to build.
Here are some tips for the beginner:
● Start with something small
● Start with something familiar
● Ask for advice whenever you are stuck
Choose one or two small houses in your local area that you know very well and start building
Go to the Discord #progress channel and ask for building tips (e.g. Which blocks to use for
different materials).
If you want to improve your building technique check out some YouTube videos on
"WorldEdit" and "Effortless Building". Both of these mods are included in the modpack and
can save a lot of time.
Good luck and have fun!

The Solo-Builder Application

To become a builder you need to download the modpack. You can find the installer in Discord
#play-java.
The first decision you have to make is where you want to build. Check out the Map to see which plots
of land are still available. You can choose any of the unclaimed plots. Each plot is 512 x 512 meter (=
Minecraft blocks) in size.
Before you can claim the plot you have to do some building to show that you are ready for the
challenge.
Choose 2-5 buildings to build (these buildings should not be on the border with other plots) and start
building.
When the buildings look like the real world buildings take a screenshot (The perspective of the
screenshot should be the same as a real-life reference image).
Upload your screenshot and the reference image separately to Imgur.
Head over to the webpage and apply for the builder position.
Your application should be answered within approx. 2 days.
You can go on building until you get an answer.
You will get a direct message on Discord approving your application.
If your application is denied you will get some feedback on what to improve.

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Bedrock version?
You can join the project on the bedrock edition of the game, more info is available on the bedrock
guidebook or in the #play-bedrock channel of the discord. The ip for the bedrock server is:
bedrock.buildtheearth.net with the port 19132.
Another way you can help the project to help to map out the world on Open Street Maps if you do not
have the game in either edition.

Settings for generating a new world

When you download the modpack a pre-generated world will be included. Sometimes you will have to
generate a new world to deal with some bugs though.

These are the current settings for generating a new world:

Generate Structures: ON
CubicChunks: Default
Allow Cheats: ON
World Type: Planet Earth
Bonus Chest: OFF
More World Options:
Projection: terra121.projection.bteairocean
Orientation: Upright
Smooth Blending: ON
Spawn Roads: ON
Advanced Water: ON
Elevation Based Ores: ON
OSM Building Outlines: ON

Entering the world for the first time

If everything went correctly you should spawn on a mushroom island in the middle of the ocean.
Welcome to “Null - Island”.

How to teleport
Video tutorial
You can teleport to any location in the world using the command /tpll x (y) z, for example
/tpll 40.708838, -73.999225 to go to New York.

To get the coordinates of any place in the world you can:

1. Copy them from the Interactive Map.
2. Go to Google maps, right-click onto your point of interest and click “What is here?” click on the
coordinates showing up at the bottom of the screen. Now you can copy the coordinates in the
toolbar on the left.

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There is also a custom mod that has been made for this project only made by Smyler#7078, called
Terramap. This mod allows you to easily teleport without having to copy-paste the GPS coordinates
from a web browser or open various map websites at the desired location directly from the game.
After it is installed in your modpack, you can open the map with M, and then zoom in on the location
you want to go to.

Before you build/Best Practices

Everybody has their own way to go about starting a build, however, there are some preparations that
will help in the long run, especially in less densely populated areas.
1. Make sure that your plot is not already claimed.
2. /tpll to your coordinates and have a look around the plot to see the layout, orientation and
identify missing features. (to find the corners of your plot go to “MyBuildTheEarth” on the
webpage and click on your region. You will find the x and y coordinates of the corners there.)
3. Go to OpenStreetMaps (OSM) and check if your area has been mapped completely and
accurately. More info on OSM
If the mapping is not correct:
a. Create an account and edit the map on OSM
b. Give the changes 30-60 min to update
c. Select your plot using the WorldEdit //wand and use //regen to update
4. Fix your biomes if needed:
a. Select your plot using the WorldEdit //wand
b. //setbiome [biometype], check //biomelist for all possible biomes
5. Check the elevation of your plot and fix it with WorldEdit.
6. Fix any bugged terrain generation using WorldEdit
7. Do a couple of commands to change some gamerules. These commands are really sensitive
to capital letters, so copying them into your game is the safest way to go. Even if you type
without capitals, it will show a message that you have done it, even if nothing has changed.
a. /gamerule doDaylightCycle false (stops day night cycle)
i. You can then do /time set day or /time set night to change the time.
b. /gamerule doMobSpawning false (stops mobs from spawning)
i. Doing /butcher will butcher every mob in the area, including NPC and pets.
You can also do /kill @e[type=!player]
c. /gamerule mobGriefing false (stops creepers/endermen from destroying your build)
d. /gamerule doWeatherCycle false (Stops rain and snowfall)
e. /gamerule randomtickspeed 0 (based on theoric knowledge but may not improve the
game experience
i. You can also do /weather clear to put the weather to sunny. There is also
rain and thunderstorm.
8. We recommend to set the chunk loading distance as low as possible (otherwise the world file
size will increase.)
9. You’re ready to start building!

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Important Links
https://buildtheearth.net/
https://buildtheearth.net/map

Building rules

What does 1:1 scale mean? How big is a Minecraft block irl?
1 Minecraft block = 1 meter in real life or 1.0936133 yards
For other units check out the Minecraft Distance Measurement section
There are however stretched locations. Due to the fact that the world is not flat, some locations in the
world will be stretched a bit. This is a math problem that has been worked on for hundreds of years,
and we knew this going in. This means that in some places, the ratio might be 1:1.25 or even higher,
meaning the buildings and distances will be larger compared to other locations in the world. You will
have to research this at your location and build accordingly. You will also have to increase the height
of your building by the ratio of the location, to make sure the building does not look stretched. A safe
way to do it is to add everything to the OpenStreetMap, as this will place the buildings exactly as they
should be.

General Rules
See the Discord #rules for more information:
● No Ethnocentrism.
● No NSFW.
● Keep it as close to real life as possible.
● Upload your world file regularly (weekly/ biweekly/ monthly) to the website.
● If you are unable/unwilling to go on building your plot do this.
● Do not build outside your claimed border, as those buildings will not be included in the
final world. Here is how you find the borders of your plot.

Things you are allowed to do but might be unsure about

● You are allowed to change the building outlines and roads sizes to make them look more
like the real world (remember that outlines that are completely wrong should be edited in OSM
first.)
● You are allowed to change the biome to fit the biome in real life.
○ The biomes are randomly generated, so they are not going to be close to how it is in
real life.
● Trees, caves, grass and some terrain blocks (example water) are generated automatically, and
you can change these.
● You are allowed to use custom heads for detailing.

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 ● You are allowed to use mods that create buildings from an api. This is basically a
program/mod that creates the outlines from the information online. Always double check the
buildings after you are done. Here are some mods that might help: Building outlines/ shells.
○ We're looking to get API building rolled out to the entire community in the future
● You can build cars if you keep them in the right scale.
Lesser know blocks that you are allowed to use:
○ Custom heads, custom banners, structure blocks, double sandstone slab, double
smooth stone slab.

Things that you are not allowed to use/do:

● Do not rotate buildings so they are straight in Minecraft (You can make small adjustments if
absolutely necessary but try to keep the orientation of buildings as the outlines show)
● You are not allowed to add new blocks that are not in the default game
● You are not allowed to have command blocks in your final build you can use them to spawn
ing banners and heads
● You are not allowed to use custom maps
● You are not allowed to use minecarts
● You are not allowed to use boats
● You are not allowed to use item frames
● You are not allowed to use any type of mob
● You are not allowed to use armor stands
● You are not allowed to use paintings
● You are discouraged from using any storage blocks such as shulker boxes and chests in your
builds because they do not render at a distance (you can still use them if you wish though)

Things that make the world look better:

● Try to replace the grass floor in the building with stone or concrete.
● Cover your windows with glowstone or sea lanterns to create a nice effect during the night.
● For bigger buildings think about creating an inner shell (otherwise you can look right through
the building)

Do we build the interiors of buildings?

This depends on the type of building you are building.
For public buildings of interest (tourist attractions, cathedrals ) it would be great if you would
include the publicly accessible parts of the interior.
For buildings with public sections (lobbies, restaurants etc.) you are welcome to build the publicly
accessible parts of the interior.
For private homes, schools and all areas not accessible for the generals public please do not
build any parts of the interior.

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Why do we not build interiors of private buildings?
The main reasons for this are privacy and security. The interiors of many buildings are sometimes
critical information that and making them available for the public can present security risks. If an area
is not accessible to the public there usually is a good reason why. Building restricted interiors can put
the BTE project in serious trouble in the long run.

How do I find the borders of my plot in Minecraft?

Knowing the exact borders of your plot is important as the submission system only submits your exact
plot. Anything that is built outside your plot borders will not be transferred into the final world. See
What do I do if a building is on the border…
Unfortunately, an integrated plot marker system is not included in the modpack yet.
Firstly you have to find the corners of your plot and then mark the borders between the corners
outside of your plot.
There are 2 ways to find the corners

Method 1
Go to the website and log into your “MyBuildTheEarth” account
Open the region you want to find the borders to.

The X and Z coordinates given here are the Minecraft coordinates of the 4 corners of your plot.
In my case the corners could be found at:
/tp [username] 4520448 [y-coordinate] 970752
/tp [username] 4520448 [y-coordinate] 971263
/tp [username] 4520959 [y-coordinate] 970752
/tp [username] 4520959 [y-coordinate] 971263
Choose a sensible y-coordinate (it will be in meters above sea level)

Method 2
There will be a faster version of this being released by the development team, but for now, this is what
we have.

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 1. Log onto the website, and find your claim on the map

2. Move the center of the map to one of the corners, and use the /tpll command above the
map.

After you have found the corners of

your plot:
3. When you have teleported to
your corner location, you can do
[F3] + [G]. This will bring up the
chunk borders.
4. I am now standing on the inside
of the claim, and then I build a
pillar about 20 blocks tall on the
corner outside of the claim, like
this. If you place it on the inside,
it will be in the world file when
you upload it, and we do not
want that.

5. Then you can repeat step 2 to 4

until you have done all the
corners. When that is completed,
you can use WorldEdit with the
//line [Block-id]
command, to create a line from
each corner. This will create a
line of blocks outside of your
claim, so you know to stay inside
the borders.

What do I do if a building is on the border to another plot that you do

not own?
When you submit your world your plot will be cut at the borders of your plot so by submitting a single
plot only half the house will be in the final world

1. The best solution is to claim the other plot and build it as well.
2. If the neighbouring plot is already claimed. Arrange with the builder of that plot about which of
you builds the building (Setup a local server or exchange worlds to make sure that the house
fits on both plots).

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 3. Do not build the house and wait for someone else to claim the plot and come to you to arrange
the situation as in 2. (This is the least favorable solution because it relies on the other person
following the same guideline which might be changed in the future and it relies on you keeping
in contact with the project until someone claims the plot.)

What do you do if you are unable/unwilling to finish your plot?

1. Upload your world file on the website.
2. Notify a reviewer (DM them) and tell them that you are not going to finish your plot and that
you have uploaded your world file.

How do I upload my world file?

Your world file is located in the following directory:

Windows:
`C:/Users/[username]/Appdata/Roaming/.buildtheearth/saves`
Appdata is hidden as per default so search for %appdata% if you can’t see it.
Mac:
`~/Library/Application Support/.buildtheearth/saves`

1. Go to the website and log in to your “MyBuildTheEarth”-account

2. Either select “Upload my world” in the “MyBuildTheEarth”- dropdown or open our region and
select “Upload my world” at the top
3. Search for the world file
4. Select the regions that are included in this upload
5. (not implemented yet) Select “region completed” if you are completely done with building in
this region
6. Click upload and wait for the upload to complete

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Where do I find image material about my build?
Before you start building you should make sure that you have enough real life image material to start.
In this section, we collect some ideas on where to find image data and other material about the
buildings you want to build.

Street level images

The most popular street level image database is Google Street View.
An alternative to Google Street View is mapillary which has street level coverage of some places that
Google street view does not cover but it mostly restricted to large roads

Video material
Now that we live in the times of affordable drones you can find many YouTube videos showing aerial
coverage of many cities (especially tourist attractions).
Check out the streaming service of your choice for travel documentaries. With a bit of luck they
show some scenic views of the city you are building in.
Find a movie that was filmed in the city of your choice maybe they show some nice overviews

3D material
Some heritage sites in the world have been mapped using mapping lasers.
Check out Cyark for amazing 3D maps of many heritage sites around the world.
The Zamani Project is a great resource for
African Heritage sites.

Where do I find building heights?

1. Google Earth Pro (its free) measuring tool.
How to measure with GoogleEarth Pro.
2. For heritage sites and many official building
you can find sources on the internet (check
e.g. Wikipedia and official webpages.)
3. Emporis is a database for house statistics
that lists building heights for many houses
worldwide.
4. Assume that the door is 2m and measure as
well as possible from photos.
5. In rare cases, the building height is registered in OSM.
6. There might be some information available in city planning offices or their webpage (depending
on your country. This might be hard to get to though.)
7. Go out and measure it yourself (see picture)

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Useful WorldEdit commands
List of WorldEdit commands
Some of the commands listed below might not work on all server, talk with the server owner if some of
these does not work.

How to find Block IDs

For many WorldEdit commands, you can use Block IDs to reference specific block types.
To show the block IDs in the Minecraft creative menu press F3 + H. IDs will be shown as 0001/2. This
translates to WorldEdit as 1:2
or visit Minecraft Block ID reference to see all block IDs.

How to select a region using WorldEdit

Use the //wand (normally the wooden axe), left-click a block to select it as position 1 right-click a
block to select it as position 2.
OR
Use the commands //pos1 and //pos2 to select the block you are standing on (works with air too).
OR
Use the commands //hpos1 and //hpos2 to select the block you are looking at at a distance.
The selected area is the area or volume between the two positions.

Beginner commands
CAREFUL
Do not use too big areas, as it can crash your server and completely lag out your world.
Because this project is not using normal cubes, we most of the time have to change the figure to a
polygon. We have moved this first as most people are going to have use for this, so if there is
anything you have a question about after reading this, you will most likely find the answer under one
of the other commands.

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Circles

Circles can be created easily using WorldEdit.

Filled: //cyl [blocktype] [radius] 1
Unfilled: //hcyl [blocktype] [radius] 1

Polygon selection
- With //sel you can change your //wand to create non square structures. The command that
is the most useful is //sel poly. This will change your wand into a tool that can zone out a
location that is not a full square or rectangle, also known as a polygon.
- After you have done //sel poly, you can start marking your area. Left click where you want
to start your polygon, and then right click all the other corners. You can select as many as you
want, but the less the better.

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- After you have selected the area, you can use the normal //set, //replace, //copy
and //paste commands to change your build.

-
- When you are finished with your polygon, you can turn it back to a normal cube wand, with
//sel cuboid.

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The most important command: //Undo
- The undo command is your best friend. If you are afraid to mess up, undo is here to help you.
After you have done most commands, you can do //undo to reset the last WorldEdit
command you did. You can also do //undo 10 to erase the last 10 actions you did.
- A couple things to remember:
- This will not remove flowing water, or flowing lava, if you have done //set with
either water or lava, so be careful with this!
- If you place something that has to be placed on a block, for example a flower,
mid air, then everything will drop down to the floor. This can cause major lags,
so double check the ID before you do any major commands.

The few basic commands

- //wand is used to bring up the tool you are going to use for your WorldEdit commands. When
you do //wand, you get a wooden axe in your hand, which you can use to select regions of
what you want to change. By default it is for cuboid shapes, also known as rectangles and
squares. So to select an area, you left click with the wand out on one corner, and right click on
the opposite corner. You now have selected the area that you want to work on.
- You can also use //pos1 and //pos2 to select the area. It will take the position out of
where your feet are placed, so you can easily make a mark in the sky or above ground
without having to build up.
- //set [Block-id] is used to set every block in your region to a certain block. You can use
both block id and name. So if i do //set dirt, the entire region will change to dirt. If i do
//set 1, the entire region will be changed to stone.
- //replace [from block-id] [to block-id] is used to change only certain blocks
into a different block in the region. so if i do //replace dirt 1, it will change all dirt blocks
to stone blocks. You can also remove certain blocks using 0, or air. //replace stone 0 will
delete all stones in the area. You can also use //cut stone to remove only stone.
- You can also use //replacenear [radius] [from block-id] [to
block-id] if you do not want to mark the area. If i do
//replacenear 100 water grass, it will replace all water in a 100 block radius to
grass centered on the player.
- CAREFUL If you pick a too large radius number, it can crash both the server
and your world. It becomes really laggy above 100 blocks.
- //line [block-id] can be used to create a diagonal line from point A to point B. Select
this area with the wand. Only works with cuboid wand.
- /up [amount] is used to teleport you up a certain amount of blocks, and then place a glass
block below you. This is useful if you want to select up to a certain amount of blocks above
you.

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Copy command
The copy command is used to take a copy of something you have built, and move it to wherever you
want it. The commands are //copy and //paste.

You have to remember where you took the copy, because it pastes in relation to where you stood. The
best idea is to stand either on a corner or in the middle of the building, on ground level. Then you
move to where you want to paste it, and stand on the exact same block you stood when you did
//copy.
You can also do //rotate [degree amount] after you have done //copy to change the
direction of the build. You can do 90, 180 and 270. It rotates clockwise. After you have rotated it, you
can do //paste to place it.
If you only want to copy certain blocks, you can do //copy -m [block-id] and then
//paste -a to place them. The -m stands for mask and any blocks that do not match will be
replaced with air in your clipboard. In the paste command, the -a means -air, which means you can
paste only the blocks you want without changing anything about the other surrounding blocks.

Change Biome
Select the area you want to change the biome of using the //wand, then type
//setbiome [biome] (refer to /biomelist). Relaunch the world to see your changes.
A known bug is that the biome only changes in a few chunks or that the biome reverts back to the
original in some chunks. The only fix we have for this, is to do the command in smaller areas. We do
not have a fix for biomes reverting.

Stacking
Stacking gif
Really good for making skyscrapers. Build the first floor of you building, and do
//stack [floor amount] [direction]. This will rise your building up the amounts of floors
you have chosen. The direction can be up, down, north, south, east or west.
Make sure the building height is correct after doing the stack command, as it might not be exactly as
high as it is supposed to be.

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Brush commands
The Brush command rewrites what a tool does. You know how right clicking on grass with a hoe will
create farmland? With the brush command we can make any tool do a terraforming action. As this
action is bound to a tool you need to choose a tool to overwrite. You can choose any tool (hoes,
pickaxes, shovels even compasses and swords) except for the wooden axe (it is the WorldEdit wand
so you better not overwrite it)

Sphere brush
We now need to make this tool a brush. While holding the tool use the command:
/brush sphere [blocktype(s)] [radius] So when we use the command /brush sphere
stone 3 Your tool has become a “sphere brush”. If you right click a ball of stone will appear. This
ball has a radius of 3 blocks.
● A variation of this would be if you want a ball that is mixed e.g. stone and dirt. For this you use
the command /brush sphere stone,dirt 3. You can create a mixture of any number of
block types. If you do this the block types will be equally distributed. What if you want a ball
that is 80% stone and 20% dirt? No problem /brush sphere 80%stone,20%dirt 3
will do the trick.
○ You can use this command to create a mountain very quickly, but it will look like it is
made from balls. We need a smoothing tool to fix that.

Smoothing brush
Choose another tool to rewrite and use the command /brush smooth [radius] (e.g.
/brush smooth 4) to create a smoothing brush. If you right-click this brush you will smooth out the
landscape.

Mask brush
So far our tools have affected all blocks. The sphere brush has replaced air, grass and stone and the
smooth brush has smoothed all block types. We can change this by applying a mask to our brush.
As an example we will create two brushes that can be used to create gigantic farms in seconds.
The first brush will paint the farm land.
Choose a tool and use the command /brush sphere 90%farmland,10%water 4 . This will
create a sphere tool that draws a ball of farmland and water.
We only want to affect the top layer with this brush so we use the command “/mask grass” to
selectively replace grass blocks. (If your top layer is some other block choose that instead of grass)
Now we can create farmland with water sources by right-clicking.
To quickly add the wheat on top we use a wheat plant sphere brush “/brush sphere wheat 4” but
we only want the wheat to show up on top of farmland so we mask it with “/mask >farmland”

Using schematics in BTE

Schematics are a great way to transport and reuse your builds. This means you can:
1. Move a build from a single player world to a server
2. Reuse a build you have already done in a different part of the world without having to
‘select-//copy-//paste’ every time.

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 3. Upload and share your build on the discord for everybody else to use.
The schematic command of WorldEdit has some limitations that come into play when it is used in the
context of the BTE project.
Limitation 1: You can only make a schematic of a build that is smaller than 256 blocks in
height. Builds that are taller than 256 blocks have to be put in multiple schematics.
Limitation 2: The Schematic command does not seem to work well if you are far away from
the spawn at 0,0,0. As this will be the case in nearly all places in the World we have to move
all builds to the spawn before creating the schematic.

Creating Schematics in BTE

1. Make sure that your build is smaller than 256 blocks in height (make multiple schematics
otherwise)
2. Select your build using the WorldEdit //wand
3. //copy your build
4. Teleport to the spawn /tp [playername] 0,0,0
5. //paste the build close to the spawn
6. Reselect the pasted build using the WorldEdit //wand
7. Create the schematic using //schematic save [filename] (Make sure you use a
unique and descriptive filename. Replace space with “_” or “-”)
The schematic will be saved as a .schematic file in the worldedit/schematics folder in your
.minecraft/config/worldedit/schematics (or twitch/.minecraft/config/worldedit/schematics) directory.
You can check if the schematic has been created correctly by uploading it to cubical.

Transfering the schematic to a server

Upload the schematics into config/worldedit/schematics in your server. If you are not the owner of the
server contact the server admin.

Sharing a schematic to the community

If you have created something that might be useful for other builders (vehicles, traffic lights, other
props) you can upload the schematics in the #public-assets channel. Here are some guidelines for
that:
1. Please make sure that the filename of the schematic is descriptive and written in English.
2. Please provide a screenshot of the build so people know what they get from the schematic.

Loading and pasting a build from a schematic

To load a schematic go to the place of your choice and load the schematic by using the command
//schematic load [filename] (filename without the .schematic extension).
Paste the schematic using //paste.

21
Complicated (but doable) commands

Selecting multiple block types

- This is a feature that you can use on most other WorldEdit commands we have gone through
here. The basic idea is that can add multiple blocks in the same command line, so that all of
the blocks you have chosen are the only ones that moves or changes. You can do this by
separating the blocks with a comma [,]. If you do this with //set or //walls, you get
randomized amounts of blocks
- To randomize different types of blocks within a //set command, you do //set
[block-id],[block-id] For example: //set grass,cobblestone. This will
randomize the blocks. You can also control this by adding % to the command,
example: //set 20%grass,80%cobblestone
- This can be done with //set and //walls

//deform
worldedit deform <- I added this just there is at least something here until someone can add a real
tutorial on it

22
Building Tips
This is general tips on how to build certain styles of thingies. There will be pictures comparing real life
to the built object in game. (just need to find the tips and add pictures)

General tips
Powered iron trapdoor can be made using WorldEdit. First you place an iron trapdoor, and then you
power it. Then you select it, and do //copy and //paste it to where you want it. This way you can
create cool smaller barriers:

Block color overview

Here you can see an ordered overview of the colored blocks in Minecraft.

Custom heads
Minecraft player heads can be used to add details to
builds.

23
You can find thousands of heads in the Minecraft Head Gallery or Gallery2

1. Copy the version 1.12.2 command from the gallery.

2. Give yourself a command block:
/give [name] command_block [amount] or /i commandblock on some servers.
3. Paste the command from the gallery into the command block(You might also have to change
minecraft:banner to banner in the command).
4. Give a redstone signal to the command block (e.g.
with a button or lever).
5. Custom heads can be places on the side and on top
of blocks (see picture).
6. A good idea is to spawn in a stack of them, and then
just adding them to a chest for easy access, so you
can avoid using the command block over and over
again.
See also List of useful Minecraft heads and banners

Custom banners
Custom banners are used almost in the
same way as custom heads. Find the
design you like on Minecraft Tools.
1. Find the banner you like, and click
on it. Scroll down to the command
line, and click Display old versions
commands.
2. Give yourself a command block:

/give [name] command_block [amount] or /i commandblock on some servers

3. Paste the command from the gallery into the command block.
4. Give a redstone signal to the command block (e.g. with a button or lever).
5. You are ready to place!
6. A good idea is to spawn in a stack of them, and then just adding them to a chest for easy
access, so you can avoid using the command block over and over again.
See also List of useful Minecraft heads and banners

24
Other blocks only spawnable with commandblock or WorldEdit

Mushroom blocks ID 99:11+ 99:15

Use 99:11 + 99:15 in WorldEdit as block id

/give @p command_block 1 0 {BlockEntityTag:{Command:"setblock ~ ~ ~

brown_mushroom_block 11",auto:1b}}

/give @p command_block 1 0 {BlockEntityTag:{Command:"setblock ~ ~ ~

brown_mushroom_block 15",auto:1b}}

Smooth sandstone
Use 43:9 in WorldEdit as block id
Spawn the block in with the command: /give @p command_block 1 0
{BlockEntityTag:{Command:"setblock ~ ~ ~ double_stone_slab 9",auto:1b}}
This will give you a command block in your inventory with the correct command set in, so all you have
to do is place it where you want it to be.

25
Smooth double stone slab
Use 43:8 in WorldEdit as block id
Spawn the block in with the command: /give @p command_block 1 0
{BlockEntityTag:{Command:"setblock ~ ~ ~ double_stone_slab 8",auto:1b}}
○ This will give you a command block in your inventory with the correct command set in,
so all you have to do is place it where you want it to be.

Structure blocks

Structure blocks are a different type of blocks that not a lot of people know exists. Getting the first
type of block is easy, getting the rest requires a bit more work.
You can spawn in the data block with commands or WorldEdit
● /give [your name] structure_block 1
● in WorldEdit the ID is structure_block
In order to get the other blocks, you have to first place down the first data structure block. Then you
click on it, and click the data button. This will change the block to a save block. Clicking the save
button at the bottom left, will change it into a corner block. Clicking the corner button, will change it
back to a data block.
● Once you have the block you want, you have to manually //copy and //paste the block to
wherever you want it. There might be a faster way, but i have no found it yet. Feel free to add
it in the suggestion form on the top.

Buildings
Building at an angle can be very hard. here are some helpful images.

26
Building detail
Glass panes are the simplest way to make nice looking
windows. It is impossible to get it correctly to scale, so try
to get it as close as possible, as done here.

ATM

27
 A neat looking ATM with a dropper and button in front, with a powered iron trapdoor on
the side

Streets, Roads and Paths

28
Lamp posts

Cobble walls with smooth stone slabs

Netherbrick fence with redstone lamp and a Cobblestone walls with stone half slabs and
daylight sensor at top redstone lamp with a daylight sensor on top

A Minecraft head (banana bunch) on top of iron bars and cobble wall

29
Rail lines
Oganexon#2001 has created a mod for BTE called BTE Tools, that gives some cool additional
commands for the creation of rail lines.
You can follow the download and install setup on the the download page. This mod only has to be
installed on the server, or on the client if you are playing single player.
After you have installed the mod, you can run the commands in the world, and you will get these cool
lines for where the railroads are.

30
Terraforming

How to lower or raise smaller areas

1. Find the location you want to
change.
2. do //sel poly to select the
wand that marks regions that are
not your usual square or
rectangle.
3. Mark the entire area you want to
change, i have marked them with
diamonds here to show where i
mark

4. Stand still and do the //copy -m

[blocks] command to select the
blocks you want to move up. I use
//copy -m 208,2,45,251:7
This will copy all the blocks that
are part of the generation, paths,
grass, bricks and roads.

5. Place the same amount of blocks

that you want to raise the floor
below you. So i want to raise it up
by one block, so i place one block
below me. If you want to lower it,
you just dig down the amount of
blocks you want to lower.
6. Then i can do //paste -a to
paste in the blocks that i have
copied.

7. Another way to do it is to use

//move [amount]
[direction] [leave-id].
Select the area with wand, and
then you can for example do
//move 1 up dirt to move it
all one block up. Then it will leave
dirt blocks on the location where
you moved the blocks from. If you
are building up a building, you can

31
 stand still, do the //copy
command first, then do //move
command, and then //paste to
not lose any blocks.

How to lower bigger areas

You can do this on any size you want, I've done a smaller area to better show the details. Try not to
choose an area too big, as that can cause massive lags and server timeouts.
Thanks to mcnoided#4059 for this great tip

1. Select the entire area with //sel

poly, extending down to the
lowest part of the actual terrain. I
have marked it here with diamond
blocks. This region selection is
going to remain until you are
done, so do not change your
selection unless stated
otherwise.

2. Then you do //replace

!208,45,251:7 0 This will turn
all the blocks that aren't path, brick
or gray concrete to air.

If you are doing a terrain with

different terrain levels, you will
have to use Google Earth to mark
where the elevation changes and
connect each layers points with
//curve in //sel convex or
//line in the default //sel
cuboid, and then fill in the
missing terrain with //fill.

3. Next step is to replace every brick,

paths and gray concrete into a
block that has gravity, either
concrete powder, sand or gravel. I
use gravel for bricks, sand for
paths, and concrete powder for the
roads. It is important that you do
different gravity blocks for different
blocks. So these are the
commands i write in:
//replace 251:7 252:7

32
 //replace 45 14
//replace 208 12

4. Once you have done all the

different blocks, you want to add
another point to your region
selection in the ground which the
terrain is going to be on.
At this point, you are going to add
one block below the gravity blocks.
These are the commands i use for
that:
//replace <252:7 251:7
//replace <14 45
//replace <14 5
You have to temporarily have your
path blocks as another block, or
else the sand will turn the path
blocks into dirt. I have used planks
here.

5. Now you can do this command:

//replace 252:7,14,12 0
This will remove all the gravity
blocks, and if you have done
everything correctly, all the blocks
should now be in place below.

6. Then it is just to change the blocks

around to the blocks you want, and
fix up the place. One fast way to
replace all the things you find in
the ground, is to use this
command:
//replace !251:7,45,208,0
2

How to make rivers

Credit to mcnoided#4059 for this tip.

33
1. Use Google Earth to mark points of the walls and connect the points with //curve in //sel
convex for the curved parts and //line in the default //sel cuboid for the straight parts

2. Close them off at a reasonable length, I suggest doing about 500 meters at a time

3. Do //fill 20 300 to create a layer of glass

4. Select the entire foundation with //sel poly, and use //stack [amount] down -a to
stack the foundation down to the depth you want.

5. //expand [amount] down so that the selection covers at least all the way to the bottom,
and then //replace 20 8 to replace all the glass blocks to water source blocks.

● If there is water covering up your location, you can change the water using //replace
commands or //mask commands.
● Some buildings can be mistaken for hills, so that the terrain generation makes a giant hill as
well as the building outlines. You can check the elevation using google earth pro. If you hover
over the location you want to see the elevation to, you can see the number on the bottom of
the page, on the black line with all the numbers.
● To cover up a cave, select the corners of the caves using //wand (either with //sel poly or
normal wand) and do //replace air grass. This will change all air blocks to grass
blocks.
● To remove nearby trees, you can do //replacenear 100 log,18,106 0. This will
remove all logs, leaves and vines in a 100 block radius.

34
Nature

Leave block IDs that do not decay

Oak 18:4
Spruce 18:5
Birch 18:6
Jungle 18:7
Acacia 261:4
Dark Oak 261:5.

Creating a forest with custom trees

Planting a bunch of trees have never been easier! A video tutorial on how to use it is found here at
4:45. The idea is to create a brush with a tree clipboard on it.
1. At first you have to build the tree you want to place everywhere. This can either be
done on the ground or in the air.
2. Then you select the entire area of the tree with your wand, move up to right in front of
the tree center on the ground, and do //copy [block id] So if you use a regular
tree, you do //copy 17,18 You can add more ids by separating it with a comma.
3. Select a tool from the creative inventory, and hold it in your hand. This can be any tool,
for example a golden axe, or a wooden hoe. Do //br clipboard -a -p
a. You might get an error message that says “Maximum brush size radius (in
configuration): 6” Here is a guide on how to fix that.
4. At this point your brush is ready! Right click with your tool out to place a tree. To get the
best effect, it's better to have several different tree shapes binded to different tools.

Controlling the the length of vines

To avoid having vines grow longer than you want, you can add barrier blocks to stop the growing. An
alternative is string, but barrier blocks are completely invisible.
Use /give [your name] barrier 64 to add barrier blocks to your inventory.

35
Building shells and outlines

PippenFTS has made a video on this! The tutorial part starts at 2:16, but look through the entire video
before you start to build the building. If you wish for a detailed explanation on this to be added here,
please message @Aquaday#6574 on the discord server.
We have a list of useful outline commands and tips on this link. Show you how to fast and easy build
up walls, either same blocks or different, and also shows you how to work with skyscrapers
Non-straight Building outlines tutorial This is a way to make outlines in a non straight building.

BTE Normalization
Some community members have come together to develop standardized blueprints for common
objects in the world. Check out their github page: BTE-Normalization github to get ideas about how to
build some common things like trains, planes, parking lots. This project is a work in progress and will
grow overtime.

36
Open Street Maps (OSM)
We are lucky to be able to get some information about the world from OpenStreetMaps (OSM). This
information includes roads, houses, rivers, lakes and a lot more.

What is OSM?
OSM is an open source mapping project dedicated to humanitarian mapping. Similar to BTE, they
have the goal to map all of the world. While we are working on our Minecraft world, we can contribute
to the OSM project and help them to achieve their goal. By editing the OSM database you not only
make your own build easier but at the same time you can help identify infrastructure that might be
crucial in future humanitarian work. This applies especially if you are working in a developing country
where maps are hard to come by.

How to use OSM to edit the maps of the world

You must create an account in OSM to be able to edit the maps. For this you only need an email
address.
Click on “Edit” at the top of the screen and then register.
After the registration is done you will get into the “Edit” mode. You will be presented with a short
tutorial that will teach you the basics of OSM.
Please use the hashtag #BTE in your editing comments.

How to work with bad or misaligned satellite images

In remote areas of the world sometimes the satellite images are either not as good as you wish, or
they do not align to the elements that have already been placed in OSM.
In the “edit” mode of OSM you will find a background settings icon on the right of the map. Here you
can choose between different satellite and other map types. Sometimes features of buildings are
more visible on one of the other images.
If there are already some structures mapped in your OSM region, but the underlying satellite image
does not align correctly to these structures you have to move the satellite image. Go to the
“background setting” to find “Adjust imagery offset” at the bottom. Use the arrows to move the satellite
image to align to the pre-generated elements.

How to get the changes into Minecraft?

It can take some time until the changes you made in OSM are registered in the database. After 30 -
60 minutes you should be able to regenerate the part of the Minecraft world you edited to see the
changes.
Select the area you edited in OSM using the WorldEdit //wand.

37
Troubleshooting

Missing building outlines/rivers/roads.

1. Double check your coordinates with /terra where and see if they're correct.
2. Check OpenStreetMaps (OSM) to see if your area has been mapped.
If it has __not__ been mapped:
a. Create an OSM account and add the buildings/roads in OSM (ask if you have questions about
OSM)
b. Wait for 30-60 min for the data to be saved in the OSM database
c. Select the region in Minecraft (using the WorldEdit wand //wand)
d. Use //regen
If it __has been__ mapped but still does not show up:
Create a new world. See Settings for generating a new world,
or Discord #support-info, general help 5

Where do I find Help?

Head to to Discord #support to ask general questions
Head to Discord #progress to ask building questions

List of useful Minecraft heads and banners

Heads
- Heads: Traffic signs blocks, speed limits and Vehicle lights.
- Traffic lights: Red, Yellow and Green

Banners
- Traffic lights.

38
Conventions for editing the guidebook?
I am not sure if I have the proper permissions to just dictate some conventions on this guidebook
but… Well, I am German, I like rules :) and I have written quite a few sections while trying to keep to
the following rules so most of the text is more or less in this format. Feel free to add and change the
rules.

Formatting:
1. Use Heading1, Heading 2 and Heading3 for the section headers (refresh the table of content
from time to time)
2. Code and specific Minecraft commands in Courier new (e.g.
//replace air stone). Separated by non-breaking space characters for readability
(insert>special symbols>non-breaking space).
3. Generic Minecraft commands in bold Courier new (eg.
//replace [blocktype] [blocktype])
4. Enumeration as follows:
1.
2.
a.
b.
3.
5. Itemization using ● try to reduce itemizations to the minimum
6. When creating links replace the link-text with something descriptive e.g. OpenStreetMaps
instead of https://www.openstreetmap.org/
7. To link Discord channels link to the Discord followed by the #channel_name in blue
8. Keyboard shortcuts a F3 + H
9. Do not create a bookmark if you can link to a heading instead.
Images:
10. Make sure that image material you use is not copyrighted!
11. For Real Life to Minecraft comparison pictures put the real life picture on the left and the
Minecraft picture on the right. Adjust the picture size so the pictures have the same height.
12. Use tables to keep pictures and picture legends together.
General conventions:
13. Do not use abbreviations unless the long form is stated on the same page (to make it easier
for people that just skim the pages to find the long forms.)
14. If you insert a placeholder for a section add highlighting or a comment so the next editor can
find an add to it easily
15. If you are writing a tutorial which also as a video tutorial put the video link first

39
Contributors
Add the Discord name of any person that contributes (either being an editor or by suggesting
changes) to this document. If you take a contribution from the suggestion from add the corresponding
Discord name to the list.
The contributors are listed in alphabetical order with special symbols and numbers at the
bottom.

Aquaday
Coppertine
Dryhb Translation in French, Fixed errors in the presentation mostly.
EzraEn
FlamePanther10
mcnoided
thecakebear1
Xylotrupes

Translators:
Translation coordinators in bold

German:
Serdaise#5490

French:
Dryhb#7685

Portuguese:
Diogo HD#4889

Spanish:
Pizzax#9454

40
Changelog
We will add in here whenever we change or add something, so that it is easier to see what we have
added. 3rd of June 2020 is the time this is added.

04.06.2020 Added info about Terramap under How to teleport

03.06.2020 Added Lowering bigger areas of terrain and adding rivers.

41