How To Make A Scoreboard In Minecraft

Creating a scoreboard in Minecraft is a great way to track objectives, player statistics, game progress, and even custom mini-games. Whether you’re making a PvP arena, adventure map, or just want to track how many mobs you’ve defeated, the scoreboard command system lets you build custom experiences. The scoreboard is a powerful tool in both single-player and multiplayer, and it works across most editions with commands enabled. In this guide, you’ll learn how to make a scoreboard in Minecraft from scratch, how to add objectives, track scores, and display them visually in-game.

Understanding the Scoreboard System

The scoreboard system in Minecraft uses commands to create and manage different types of in-game statistics. These stats are stored as objectives that can track a variety of actions, including kills, deaths, block interactions, custom triggers, or even dummy scores that you manually set.

Scoreboard Terminology

• Objective: A named value that stores player scores.
• Player: The target whose score is tracked (can be a real player or entity).
• Criteria: The type of event or action being tracked (e.g., deaths, health, dummy).
• Display: Where and how the scoreboard is shown (sidebar, list, or belowname).

The basic flow includes creating an objective, setting its criteria, tracking a player’s score, and then displaying it where appropriate. All of this is done using Minecraft’s built-in command system.

How to Enable Commands

If you’re playing in a world without cheats enabled, you won’t be able to use scoreboard commands. Here’s how to make sure they’re on:

• In Single-player: Open to LAN > Enable Cheats > Start LAN World.
• In Creative Mode: Commands are enabled by default.
• In Servers: You must have operator privileges.

Once commands are enabled, you can use the `/scoreboard` command to start setting up your system.

Creating a New Scoreboard Objective

The first step is to create an objective. This is the category under which scores are tracked. For example, you might want to track how many zombies a player kills or how many times they jump.

Command Format

/scoreboard objectives add <name> <criteria> [displayName]

Let’s break it down:

• name: Internal name used for reference (no spaces).
• criteria: What’s being tracked (e.g., playerKillCount, dummy).
• displayName: Optional custom name shown on the scoreboard.

Example Commands

• To create a kill counter:

  /scoreboard objectives add Kills playerKillCount 'Total Kills'

• To create a custom counter you control:

  /scoreboard objectives add Points dummy 'Game Points'

Now that the objective exists, you can assign and manipulate scores related to it.

Displaying the Scoreboard

Once the objective is created, you can choose how to display it. There are three display slots available:

• Sidebar: Shows on the side of the screen for all players.
• Belowname: Displays scores under each player’s name.
• List: Shows scores next to player names in the player list (Tab).

Example Display Commands

• /scoreboard objectives setdisplay sidebar Kills

• /scoreboard objectives setdisplay belowname Points

• /scoreboard objectives setdisplay list Points

This command sets where the scoreboard will appear. You can only show one objective in each display slot at a time, but you can switch between them as needed.

Assigning and Modifying Scores

If you’re using a dummy objective, you’ll need to manually set or modify scores. This is great for mini-games, triggers, or redstone systems where you control the logic.

Manual Score Commands

• Set a score:

  /scoreboard players set PlayerName Points 10

• Add to score:

  /scoreboard players add PlayerName Points 5

• Remove from score:

  /scoreboard players remove PlayerName Points 2

You can also use `@a` (all players), `@p` (nearest player), or `@r` (random player) in place of a name for broader control.

Using Scoreboard Triggers

Some scoreboards work with trigger criteria, which allow players to interact via commands. This is useful for allowing players to change their own scores without being in creative mode.

Trigger Setup

• Create a trigger objective:

  /scoreboard objectives add Vote trigger 'Voting Score'

• Allow players to use it:

  /scoreboard players enable @a Vote

• Players can then run:

  /trigger Vote add 1

Trigger-based scoreboards are useful for voting systems, checkpoints, and participation-based mechanics.

Tracking Player Statistics Automatically

If you want the scoreboard to update based on player actions, use built-in criteria instead of dummy. These include:

• playerKillCount: Tracks how many players a user has killed.
• deathCount: Tracks total deaths.
• mobKills: Tracks total mobs killed.
• minecraft.used:minecraft.bow: Tracks bow usage.

Example for Tracking Deaths

/scoreboard objectives add Deaths deathCount 'Deaths'

/scoreboard objectives setdisplay sidebar Deaths

/scoreboard objectives remove Points

/scoreboard players reset PlayerName Points