How to Find Your Minecraft Seed (Java, Bedrock, Servers, Realms)

A world's seed is the number the game used to generate it. Same seed, same version, same world type: same world. Knowing it lets you share a world with friends, recreate it, or look it up on a seed map to see every biome and structure before you explore.

Java Edition: single player

Open chat and type /seed. The game replies with the seed in square brackets; click it to copy it to the clipboard. This works in single player even if cheats are off.

You can also see it without loading the world: in the world list, select the world, choose Re-create and the seed is shown in the world options.

Java Edition: servers

/seed on a server needs operator permission (level 2). If you are not an operator, ask the server owner. The owner has two ways to get it:

• Run seed in the server console. The console can run every command.
• Check server.properties. If a seed was entered before the world was created, it is on the level-seed= line. If that line is empty, the seed was random and only the console or /seed will tell you.

Java Edition: Realms

Ask the Realm owner. The owner can download a backup of the Realm as a single player world, open the copy and type /seed there.

Bedrock Edition

1. In the worlds list, press the Edit button (the pencil) next to your world.
2. In the Game section, scroll down to the Seed field. You can copy it from there.

Players with operator permission can also see the seed in the game settings while the world is open. Bedrock Edition has no /seed command.

On a Bedrock Realm, newer versions of the game show the seed on the Realm's Edit world screen. If yours doesn't, the owner can download the world from the Realm settings and open the copy's Edit screen. On a Bedrock Dedicated Server, the seed is on the level-seed= line of server.properties if one was entered when the world was created.

What is a Minecraft seed?

A seed is a number between about −9.2 quintillion and 9.2 quintillion. When you type a word or a phrase instead, Java Edition turns it into a number, so /seed will show a number even if you created the world with text. Always copy the number the game shows.

Three things have to match for a seed to give you the same world:

• The version. World generation changes between updates. A seed from 1.17 makes a different world in 1.21, and structures move between smaller updates too.
• The world type. Large Biomes and Amplified worlds are generated differently from default worlds with the same seed.
• The edition. Since 1.18, the same seed gives the same terrain and biomes in Java and Bedrock, but structures such as villages and strongholds are placed differently.

Using your seed on a seed map

Once you have the seed, paste it into the seed map and pick the version your world was created in. The version menu also switches to Large Biomes, or to Bedrock Edition (a beta with biomes, slime chunks and the spawn point).

From there you can find the nearest village, stronghold or slime chunk, and copy coordinates for any marker. If you are not sure which version your world was made in, the version you play now is right for any chunk you haven't visited yet; areas you explored in older versions keep their old terrain.

FAQ

Can I find the seed of a server I don't own? Only if the owner gives it to you or makes you an operator. Server seeds are often kept private so players can't map the world ahead of time.

Why does my seed show a different world on the map? Check the version and the world type first; those cause almost every mismatch. Also make sure you copied the number from /seed, not the text you typed when creating the world.

Does the seed change when I update the game? No, the seed stays the same. New chunks are generated with the new version's rules, so places you haven't visited may look different from the same seed in the old version.

Is a Bedrock seed the same as a Java seed? The number is used the same way for terrain and biomes, so the landscape matches. Structures, caves and mob spawns are different.

Sources: Minecraft Wiki: Seed, Minecraft Wiki: /seed.