Minecraft controls

This article explains how to move around with one of the most common interfaces for Minecraft: Education Edition, a keyboard and mouse. We encourage you to bookmark or print out this page while you are learning how to play, you’ll likely refer to it often.

This article will cover:

Moving around Minecraft

W - Move forward

A - Strafe left

S - Move backward

D - Strafe right

CONTROL - Sprint

SPACE

• Jump by pressing space bar when walking.
• Hop to the block in front of you up by pressing space bar and W at the same time.
  • Hint: This is great for moving up staircases.
• When swimming, space bar will bring you to the surface. 
  • Hint: When playing in Survival mode, you can't hold your breath under water forever! Use the space bar to catch a breath.
• Fly in Creative mode by pressing space bar twice
  • Use these tips when trying to get somewhere quickly:
    • Press space bar once more and you'll levitate upwards.
    • Press space bar twice again to drop back to the ground. 

SHIFT

• When on the ground, press shift to crouch down and sneak.
• When in the air (Creative mode), press shift to fly downwards.

Mouse controls

1 - Attack/Destroy

2 - Pick block. In Creative mode, "2" will place a copy of the target block in your Hotbar.

3 - Use item/place block

Other useful buttons

ESC - Returns you to the menu and then back to the game.

Q - Drops the item you are carrying.

E - Opens and closes your inventory. In creative mode, you can view all the building blocks at your disposal this way.

C - Opens Code Builder.

T - Opens the chat window. Press RETURN to send message.

/ - Opens the chat window with a / already typed. This is handy to quickly enter commands.

1-9 - Selects the appropriate slot in the Hotbar.

F1 - Toggles the interface visibility. This is handy when you want to take a screenshot.

F5 - Changes your player perspective. Toggle to select from the following: First Person → Third Person Rear → Third Person → back to First Person

Changing settings

If these keyboard settings are non-intuitive, you can change them. You can also see how to move around with a controller, a touch interface, or modify any or all of these settings:

• Press ESC to return to the menu.
• Select Settings
• Scroll down to Controls and click on the desired interface.
• Modify as needed – if you make a mistake or want to go back, you can find the reset button to change everything back at the bottom of the list.
• No need to save, the settings are updated automatically. Find out what works best for you!

Additional resources

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This is a Guide. This article has been assembled by one or more members of the community as a helpful resource, instructing players on some aspect of Minecraft. If desired, you may clarify or expand this article yourself.

Minecraft has simple default controls, which differ slightly between platforms.

Minecraft: Java Edition

Controls

Movement
A - Strafe Left

S - Walk Back

W - Walk Forward

D - Strafe Right

SPACE - Jump/Fly

⇧ Shift - Sneak

CTRL - Sprint

Gameplay (Mouse)
Left Click - Attack/Destroy

Middle Click - Pick block

Right Click - Use Item / Place Blocks

Inventory
E - Open/Close Inventory

1 through 9 - Change hotbar slots

F - Swap item in hands

Q - Drop selected item

Multiplayer
T - Open chat

ESC - Pause/Resume

Tab ⇆ - Toggle the list of players

Miscellaneous
CTRL + B - Toggles the arrator

F1 - Toggles the Heads-up display

F2 - Takes a screenshot

F5 - Toggles perspective

F11 - Toggles full-screen mode

L - Open the Advancements screen

Visual map

Changing controls

In the Java Edition of Minecraft, controls can be changed from within the game's menu, under Options > Controls. A user may bind specific keys to any action. Controls can also be reset to default, by clicking "Reset Keys".

Minecraft: Bedrock Edition

Controls

Movement

Left Arrow - Strafe Left

Back Arrow - Walk Back

Front Arrow - Walk Forward

Right Arrow - Strafe Right

45 Degrees Turned Square - Jump/Fly

Double Touch 45 Degrees Turned Blank Square

Double Touch Front Arrow - Sprint

Gameplay

Touchscreen - Attack/Place

Hold - Break/Use

Inventory

3 Dots - Open/Close Inventory

Touch Hotbar Slots - Change Hotbar Slots

Hold Hotbar Slots - Drop Item

Multiplayer

Open Chat Icon - Open Chat/Command

Pause Icon - Pause

Resume Button - Resume

While you can play Minecraft using a PC gaming controller, keyboard shortcuts make it easier to jump on top of things, sneak up on people, and perform other actions. Learn how to take full advantage of keyboard and mouse controls for Minecraft on PC.

Movement Controls for Minecraft on PC

The basic controls for Minecraft are similar to most other PC games that use a qwerty keyboard:

Minecraft Mouse Controls

Most action commands are executed with the mouse.

Inventory Controls

A few simple keyboard shortcuts will let you view and control your inventory faster.

Multiplayer Controls

If you're playing Minecraft with friends, these controls can help you stay connected.

Minecraft Shift Commands

Using the Shift key with the mouse buttons or other keys has different effects depending on the situation:

Miscellaneous Controls

These controls don't fit into any of the categories above, but that doesn't mean they're not useful. Give them a try, you may find the make Minecraft even more fun to play.

Thanks for letting us know!

Holding and pressing use on an usable block with a block in hand overrides the USE action and places the block instead. For example, using a lever on a block that would usually open an internal inventory (such as a dispenser) places the lever instead.

Used to get off rideable entities.

Hovering over an item in any inventory and clicking with the mouse wheel when in creative gives one full stack of that item. Dragging over slots of inventory/container while holding an item fills them with full stacks of copies of that item.

If used on a tile entity while holding , or (for some Macs), the tile entity's nbt data are copied. The block given to the player has the Lore: (+NBT)‌^{[Java Edition only]} or (+DATA)‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]}..

Place blocks, toggle switches/doors (click once), charge a bow (release to fire), block using a shield, use special blocks like chests, doors, and switches, enter vehicles, eat food, drink potions, hoefarmland, shear or dye a sheep, command tamed wolves and ocelots to sit, trade with villagers, place fire using flint and steel or a fire charge, name a mob with a name tag, attach a lead to an animal or attach an animal on a lead to a fence, cast or reel in a fishing rod, throw a splash potion, egg, ender pearl, eye of ender, bottle o' enchanting, or snowball, equip armor from the hotbar if the associated armor slot is empty, eating cake, starting a furnace minecart.

Commonly, if both the item held and the block clicked on has a such purpose (like trying to place dirt on a chest), the block overrules the item. This also means a player can punch an entity while eating/drinking, however the eating/drinking resets when a player presses Button 1.

This button also uses items in the off-hand. Only items with a right click function can be used, and they are available only if the item in the main hand does not have a right click action, or its right click action cannot be performed.

Note that there is no corresponding Pick Up command. Dropped items are picked up (if there is room in inventory/hotbar) by moving near them. Placed items are picked up by "mining" (e.g. chopping up a sign with an axe), when they behave as dropped items and can be picked up as such.

When in the chat window, cycles through possible commands or arguments and also complete player names.

%appdata%\.minecraft\screenshots on Windows
~/Library/Application Support/minecraft/screenshots on macOS
~/.minecraft/screenshots on Linux.

When using some Apple keyboards, must be pressed while holding and to enter fullscreen. Using alone toggles Exposé, and pressing while holding turns down the volume or vice versa, depending on system preferences.

Some people are experiencing a bug while exiting from full-screen mode that causes an inescapable black screen. When that's the case, use  +  to switch out of Minecraft and switch it back to windowed mode.

On Linux, mouse input is often buggy while in full-screen mode. After entering full-screen mode on Linux, the mouse typically restricts the player to a single 360-degree rotation. This can be fixed by hitting to release the mouse then hitting again to regrab it.

Also, note that this may not respect multiple monitors and Minecraft may occupy all screens instead of the one it is active on.

Some, but not all, of the controls can be reconfigured in the options screen.

Movement

Mouse

The mouse controls turning and aiming.

Keyboard

Double-tap the “Forward” key to sprint.

Flying

In Creative Mode, double-tap the “Jump” key to fly. When flying, press “Jump” to move upwards and SHIFT to move downwards.

Mouse Buttons

Left Button

The left button is used hit things - i.e. to break blocks or attack an enemy. It will use the item you are using in your Main Hand.

Right Button

The right button is used for a lot of things:

• placing blocks
• using certain tools (hoeing farmland; shearing sheep)
• firing bows (hold to build power, then release)
• throwing missiles (eggs, snowballs, splash potions)
• eating and drinking
• using the item in your off hand
• operating buttons and levers
• opening doors
• accessing containers (chests, furnaces, brewing stands, etc)

When you click the Right Button, it can be a little bit difficult to predict what will happen.

1. If your crosshairs are pointing at something that can be used or opened, such as a switch, lever, door or chest, then that will be used or opened.
2. If you are holding an item in your Main Hand that can be used with a right click, that will happen. Examples:
   • firing a Bow or throwing a Snowball;
   • using a Hoe to create Farmland or a Shovel to create a Grass Path;
   • placing a block
3. If you are holding an item in your Off Hand that can be used or placed, than that will happen.

Inventory and Toolbar

Keyboard

Main Hand and Off Hand

Your Main Hand is the one contolled by the Left Mouse Button - this will usually be your right hand, but if you prefer to be left-handed you can change this in the screen. You can place an item in your Main Hand using keys 1–9 to select it from the toolbar.

Your Off Hand is your other hand. You can put an item in your Off Hand using the Shield Slot in the Inventory screen, or you can press “F” to swap items between your main hand.

Mouse controls

The middle button (if you have one) will Pick the target block (ie the block that your crosshairs are aimed at).

• In Survival Mode this will select that block type if you have it in your inventory.
• In Creative mode, it will select that block if you have it, and add it to your Toolbar if you don’t.

The mouse wheel (if you have one) can be used to select items in your Toolbar.

If your inventory window is open, pressing 1–9 will add whatever item your mouse is over to that slot on your Toolbar.

Other Controls

Taking Screenshots

Press F1 to remove the toolbar etc from the screen to take a cleaner screen shot.

Press F5 a couple of times if you want to be in the picture yourself.

Press F2 to take a screenshot.