If you've been looking for MCEdit for any modern version of Minecraft, you may have noticed that it doesn't exist. If you have some MCEdit schematic files that you're trying to use, you may be wondering what to do. Luckily, there's still a way to load and paste MCEdit schematics into your world on these versions. WorldEdit supports loading old MCEdit schematics through a compatibility layer and allows pasting.
When Minecraft 1.13 released, it contained many changes that completely rewrote how blocks and items worked. This change was also an opportunity to rewrite the IDs and names of all existing blocks, items, entities, block entities, and biomes. These changes meant that all existing software that interfaced with the game required rewriting to work with the new system. MCEdit ended development around this time, causing it never to receive 1.13 support.
While WorldEdit now uses the new Sponge schematic format, which provides 1.13 support and mod compatibility, it can still load old MCEdit schematics in later versions. To do this, WorldEdit employs a sophisticated conversion system to convert the old blocks, entities, and block entities to something that can exist in a new world.
How to load an MCEdit schematic file with WorldEdit?
- Determine if you want to use this schematic on multiplayer or singleplayer
- If singleplayer, install Minecraft Forge or Fabric on the client
- If multiplayer, install Spigot or Paper on the server
- Install WorldEdit for the platform you have installed. These instructions are available at the WorldEdit website
- Locate your WorldEdit schematic directory, and create if missing
- For Forge/Fabric, it will be in
.minecraft/config/WorldEdit/schematics/ - For Spigot/Paper, it will be in
plugins/WorldEdit/schematics/
- For Forge/Fabric, it will be in
- Place the schematic files you want to use into the located folder
- Load up the game, and enter the world you want to load the schematics into
- Load it in-game using the
//schem load filenamecommand. - Stand where you want the schematic to appear, and run
//paste. - If you've put it in the wrong place, you can use
//undoand try again.
For more information on using schematics with WorldEdit, follow this guide.
How to save an MCEdit schematic file with WorldEdit?
Due to the changes in Minecraft 1.13, it's impossible to do this cleanly without data loss. Therefore WorldEdit does not provide a way to do this natively. There are a few workarounds, however.
Many Minecraft servers have set up a Paper server with the ProtocolSupport plugin, allowing 1.12.2 players to connect. Admins can then connect using 1.12.2 with a world downloader mod installed, allowing them to then open that world up in singleplayer. They can then either use MCEdit to save a schematic or use the Forge version of WorldEdit.
Instead of creating MCEdit schematics, however, it is strongly recommended to use the modern Sponge schematic format which WorldEdit supports natively.
Conclusion
While the MCEdit schematic format is obsolete and replaced by a significantly better alternative, there are still use cases for loading old schematic files. WorldEdit allows importing these files to ensure that server owners won't lose old builds. Now that MCEdit no longer exists, WorldEdit is the best way to load schematic files into your Minecraft worlds.
About the Author
Hi, I'm Maddy Miller, a Senior Software Engineer at Clipchamp at Microsoft. In my spare time I love writing articles, and I also develop the Minecraft mods WorldEdit, WorldGuard, and CraftBook. My opinions are my own and do not represent those of my employer in any capacity.