Detecting Player Kills with Minecraft Scoreboards: A Comprehensive Guide

Introduction

Minecraft scoreboards are an incredibly powerful tool for tracking all sorts of in-game events. From simple things like counting deaths to complex things like tracking objective completions in minigames, scoreboards offer a flexible way to add custom logic to your Minecraft worlds. In this guide, we’re going to dive deep into one of the most sought-after applications: detecting when one player kills another. This isn’t just about knowing someone died; it’s about identifying the killer, which opens up a world of possibilities for custom killstreaks, detailed stat tracking in minigames, triggering unique events upon a kill, and so much more.

This article is designed to be helpful for both beginners and more experienced Minecraft command block users. We’ll start with the fundamentals and gradually build up to more advanced techniques, so even if you’re new to scoreboards, you’ll be able to follow along and create your own custom kill detection system.

Understanding the Basics: The deathCount Criterion

One of the simplest scoreboard criteria is `deathCount`. As the name suggests, `deathCount` automatically increases by one whenever a player dies. It’s a straightforward way to track overall deaths in your world or a specific game.

To create a `deathCount` objective, you would use the following command:

/scoreboard objectives add Deaths deathCount Deaths

This command creates a new objective named “Deaths” using the `deathCount` criterion and displays it as “Deaths” on the scoreboard. You can display this scoreboard using commands like /scoreboard objectives setdisplay sidebar Deaths or /scoreboard objectives setdisplay list Deaths.

While `deathCount` is useful for tracking deaths, it has a significant limitation: it doesn’t tell you *who* killed *whom*. It only tells you that *someone* died. If you want to know who was responsible for the kill, you’ll need a different approach. This is because `deathCount` only identifies that a death has occurred; it gives no information about the specific cause or the player responsible for causing the death.

For that reason, `deathCount` alone is not enough to detect player kills in a meaningful way if you want to create special effects or reward systems for the player that caused the kill. To do that, you’ll need a more complex system.

The Key: minecraftkilledby:minecraftplayer Statistic

The real magic for detecting player kills lies in the `minecraft.killed_by:minecraft.player` statistic. This statistic is the cornerstone of accurately identifying who killed whom.

Here’s how it works: every time a player kills another player, the `minecraft.killed_by:minecraft.player` statistic for the *killer* increases by one. This statistic is specifically designed to track player-on-player kills, ignoring kills by mobs or other environmental hazards. The crucial part is `killed_by:minecraft.player`, which ensures that only kills inflicted on players by other players are counted.

To create a “Kills” objective that tracks player kills, use the following command:

/scoreboard objectives add Kills minecraft.killed_by:minecraft.player Kills

This command creates a new objective named “Kills” using the `minecraft.killed_by:minecraft.player` criterion and displays it as “Kills” on the scoreboard. Now, whenever a player kills another player, their “Kills” score will increase. This gives you a reliable way to track the number of player kills by each player in your world or minigame.

Detecting a Kill in Real-Time: The Detection System

Simply tracking the number of kills isn’t enough; we need to *detect* when a kill actually happens in order to trigger custom events or rewards. To do this, we’ll use a clever system that compares a player’s current kill count with their previous kill count. If the current kill count is higher than the previous kill count, we know that the player just got a kill.

The fundamental principle is comparing current kills with previous kills. This means we need to store the previous value for each player. To do this, we’ll use a separate “dummy” scoreboard objective. A dummy objective doesn’t automatically track anything; it simply holds a value that we can set and manipulate using commands.

Here’s the breakdown of the steps involved:

• Copy the “Kills” score to a “KillsPrev” (or similar) scoreboard. This stores the previous kill count.
• Detect if the “Kills” score is greater than the “KillsPrev” score. This indicates a new kill has occurred.
• Execute commands based on that detection. This is where you’ll trigger your custom events or rewards.

Here’s the detailed command block setup:

Step one: Create Objectives:

/scoreboard objectives add Kills minecraft.killed_by:minecraft.player Kills

/scoreboard objectives add KillsPrev dummy KillsPrev

Step two: Copy Current Kills to Previous Kills (Repeating, Always Active):

/execute as @a run scoreboard players operation @s KillsPrev = @s Kills

Step three: Detect New Kills (Chain, Conditional, Always Active):

/execute as @a if score @s Kills > @s KillsPrev run say @s just got a kill!

(Replace the `say` command with your desired action.)

Let’s break down how the execute as @a if score @s Kills > @s KillsPrev command works:

• execute as @a targets all players in the game. This ensures that the check is performed for every player.
• if score @s Kills > @s KillsPrev checks if the current kill score for the targeted player (`@s`) is greater than their previous kill score. This is the core of the kill detection logic.
• run executes the specified command only if the score condition is met. In this case, it runs the say command, but you can replace this with any command you want to execute when a player gets a kill.

Enhancements and Customization

Now that you have a basic kill detection system in place, let’s explore some ways to enhance and customize it to fit your specific needs.

Targeting the Victim

One common desire is to determine *who* the killer killed. This requires a slightly more advanced technique, involving the use of tags. We’ll tag the victim momentarily after the kill is detected, allowing us to target them for specific actions.

Here’s a detailed command block sequence:

• Reset Tag (Repeating, Always Active): /tag @a remove KilledBy (Removes the “KilledBy” tag from all players)
• Detect Kill and Tag Victim (Chain, Conditional, Always Active):

/execute as @a[scores={KillsPrev=..Kills}] at @s run tag @e[distance=..three,type=player,limit=one,sort=nearest] add KilledBy (Replace three with an appropriate radius)

Explanation:

• The first section detects if a player’s kill score has increased.
• The second section targets the player nearest to the killer within a specified radius and adds the “KilledBy” tag to them.
• Execute Command on Killer, Targeting Victim (Chain, Conditional, Always Active):

/execute as @a[tag=!KilledBy,scores={KillsPrev=..Kills}] at @s run say @s killed @p[tag=KilledBy]

Explanation:

• The first section targets all players who got a kill and who don’t have the “KilledBy” tag. This is important to prevent the killer from accidentally targeting themselves.
• The second section executes a say command, targeted to the killer, that prints the name of the tagged player.

Handling Multiple Kills Quickly

A potential issue can arise if a player gets multiple kills in quick succession. The `KillsPrev` score might not catch up quickly enough, leading to some kills being missed.

There are a couple of solutions to this problem:

• Increase the speed of the repeating command block. You can do this by setting the tick delay to a lower value. Be careful, though, as this can increase server load.
• Use more complex logic. Instead of simply comparing Kills and KillsPrev, you could calculate the *difference* between the two scores and then trigger actions based on that difference. This is a more advanced technique but can be more reliable for handling rapid kills.

Integrating with Minigames

The power of this kill detection system truly shines when integrated into minigames. Here are a few examples:

• Granting points for kills: Use the scoreboard players add command to award points to players who get kills. For example: /execute as @a[scores={KillsPrev=..Kills}] run scoreboard players add @s TeamPoints one
• Triggering killstreaks: Give players special effects or abilities when they reach certain kill milestones. For example, give a speed boost at three, five, or ten kills. You can use the /effect give command for this: /execute as @a[scores={Kills=three..}] run effect give @s minecraft:speed five one true
• Ending a game mode: Use the kill count to determine when a player has won the game. For example, end the game when a player reaches a certain kill count.

You can use scoreboard values with commands like /give, /effect, and many others to create a wide range of custom gameplay mechanics.

Troubleshooting and Common Issues

Even with a carefully crafted system, things can sometimes go wrong. Here are some common issues and how to troubleshoot them:

• Kills not being detected:
  • Double-check the objective criteria (minecraft.killed_by:minecraft.player). Make sure there are no typos or errors.
  • Ensure the command blocks are in the correct order and chain. The order in which the command blocks execute is crucial.
  • Verify command block activation (Repeating, Chain, Conditional, Always Active settings). Incorrect settings can prevent the command blocks from running properly.
  • Check the radius of the command blocks. If you’re using the victim targeting method, the radius must be large enough to encompass the victim.
• Incorrect victim being targeted (if using the victim targeting method):
  • Adjust the distance in the victim tagging command (distance=..three). The radius may be too small or too large.
  • Ensure there are no other players too close to the killer at the moment of the kill. Multiple players within the radius can lead to the wrong player being tagged.
• Command blocks failing to execute:
  • Check for syntax errors. Even a small typo can prevent a command block from working.
  • Ensure command blocks are enabled on the server (enable-command-block=true in server.properties). If command blocks are disabled, they will not run.

Conclusion

Detecting player kills with Minecraft scoreboards opens a vast landscape of possibilities for creating custom gameplay experiences. By understanding the core concepts of objectives, criteria, and command block logic, you can build sophisticated systems that track kills, target victims, and trigger custom events.

Remember the key points: creating objectives to track kills, detecting changes in those objectives, and using the data to drive custom game mechanics. This will allow you to create all kinds of reward and penalty systems. With the knowledge you’ve gained from this guide, you can now experiment, innovate, and build upon the provided examples to create truly unique and engaging Minecraft worlds. Consider this just the starting point for your adventure into custom scoreboard mechanics.