4

How do Minecraft save files work? Is there a Python interface?

Improve this question
5
  • Just for the record, the Minecraft level file format is documented on the official Minecraft site. Spec includes an example of how to parse.
    – sjohnston
    Commented Oct 19, 2010 at 17:52
  • @sjohnston: Ah yes, I knew it existed there as well but I couldn't find it today - I'll include that in my answer if that's already with you
    – BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft
    Commented Oct 19, 2010 at 18:05
  • @Blue Go for it.
    – sjohnston
    Commented Oct 19, 2010 at 18:13
  • Now that this thread's been necro-bumped, I don't feel bad adding a comment. Notch recently said on his blog that the first priority on Mojang's roadmap is a better save file format. As such, most tools currently used will break until (if) an update is released.
    – Dave McClelland
    Commented Jan 9, 2011 at 22:59
  • 1
    Just a note... The link to the documentation in sjohnston is now Not Found.
    – Denilson Sá Maia
    Commented Jan 16, 2011 at 21:01

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
4

You're looking for mclevel.py. This (as the name hints at) allows python to manipulate Minecraft levels. I don't know if it also does minecarts, but I suppose so.

It can be found at http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=28518&p=507974&hilit=pymclevel#p507974

An example of what you can do with it: http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=52183

Improve this answer
3

This Minepedia page has some documentation; here's a simple overview.

  • World<x> holds the data for the world in the xth slot.
  • level.dat contains information about your spawn point, time of day, inventory.
  • A number of folders used to organize data into at most 64 groups of chunks.
    • A second level of folder used to organize data into at most 4,096 smaller groups of chunks
      • The chunk files themselves, each storing terrain, item and monster data for the corresponding 16×16 slice of the world.

The folder hashing has been added because some systems had trouble handling folders with huge amounts of files.

For the curious, the path for the chunk at position (x,y) for the world in slot w is calculated as follows, using this base36 function and the % modulus operation:

world<w>/<base36(x % 64)>/<base36(y % 64)>/c.<base36(x)>.<base36(y)>.dat

Each chunk is as large as this hole:

a 16×16 meters large hole all the way down to the void. Image courtesy of Raven Dreamer, say hello to the creeper.

Improve this answer
1
  • Answer is outdated.
    – pppery
    Commented Jul 9, 2019 at 14:36
3

Information about the world-file format can be found here and here.

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.