Supported Game Modes
Not all versions of Minecraft support every game mode. Here is a summary of the game modes that are supported by the different versions of Minecraft:
| Game Mode | Platform(s) |
|---|---|
| Creative |           |
| Survival | |
| Adventure | |
| Spectator | |
| Hardcore | |
Game Modes
Minecraft started with two basic game modes – Creative and Survival. Later, Minecraft added three more game modes to make things more interesting – Adventure, Spectator and Hardcore. Let’s quickly explain the differences between these modes.
Creative
Creative mode gives you unlimited resources, lets you destroy blocks instantly when mining, and allows you to fly in the game.
When you play in this mode, you will not have a health bar, a hunger bar or an experience bar. Although you don’t have an experience bar, you will continue to gain experience from killing mobs and mining certain items. You will be able to kill mobs, but mobs will never attack you or fight back. Also, you will not take damage or die in the game.
You can start a Minecraft world in Creative mode. You can also switch your world to Creative mode from another game mode whenever you like.
Survival
Survival mode lets you search for resources, pick up mined items, and craft items. However, you will not be able to fly.
When you play in this mode, you will have a health bar, a hunger bar and an experience bar. You will be able to kill mobs and hostile mobs will attack you. You will take damage and can die in the game.
You can start a Minecraft world in Survival mode. You can also switch your world to Survival mode from another game mode whenever you like.
Adventure
Adventure mode has limited features to preserve adventure maps from being changed. In this mode, you will not be able to fly. Also, blocks can not be destroyed by hand, but rather you must use an item with the CanDestroy tag to destroy a block. Blocks can only be placed if the block has the CanPlaceOn tag.
When you play in this mode, you will have a health bar, a hunger bar and an experience bar. You will be able to kill mobs and hostile mobs will attack you. You will take damage and can die in the game.
Although you can not start a Minecraft world in Adventure mode (you will have to choose Creative or Survival when you create the world), you can switch to Adventure mode from another game mode using the /gamemode command.
Spectator
Spectator mode is only available in Minecraft Java Edition. It was first introduced in Minecraft 1.8 to allow players to fly around and observe the Minecraft world. Players in this mode can not interact with anything in the game, but can fly through solid objects.
When you play in this mode, you will not have a health bar, a hunger bar or an experience bar. You will not be able to kill mobs, take damage or die in the game.
Although you can not start a Minecraft world in Spectator mode (you will have to choose Creative or Survival when you create the world), you can switch to Spectator mode using the /gamemode command.
Spectator is a great mode to use if you have mined underground and have gotten lost or run out of resources. Just switch to Spectator mode and fly up! You can easily find blue skies and the ground. Then switch back to Creative or Survivalmode again.
Hardcore
Hardcore mode is only available in Minecraft Java Edition. This mode locks you at the hardest difficulty level and you only have one life!
When you play in this mode, you will have a health bar, a hunger bar and an experience bar. You will be able to kill mobs and hostile mobs will attack you. You will take damage and can die in the game.
You can only choose Hardcore when you first create the Minecraft world and there is no way to switch to Hardcore after your world has been created in another game mode.
Congratulations, you just learned about game modes in Minecraft.