Minecraft F3 Debug Screen Explained
On pressing the F3 key in Minecraft Java edition, a very confusing screen pops up with a bunch of strange, code-looking-like text. Although overwhelming in the beginning, the data on this screen is extremely important and can make playing the game so much easier. To help you understand it, we have compiled this guide. You’ll learn what everything on the F3 debug screen in Minecraft means and how to find exactly what you’re looking for.
What is the F3 Debug Screen in Minecraft
The F3 debug screen in Java Edition is an overlay screen that you can access by pressing theF3 keyon your keyboard. It shows many useful pieces of information that’ll help you greatly while playing the game.
You will be able to see technical information and data about your current location, biome, targeted blocks, etc. Using this screen, you can know exactly where you canfind the sniffer egg in Minecraft, perhaps all the possiblelocations for armor trims, and most importantly, how to get back to yourMinecraft house.
Left Side of the Minecraft F3 Debug Screen
First Section
The first thing you see on the top left side of the debug screen is thegame versionyou’re playing on currently. If you’re playing with a mod, the “vanilla” will be replaced with the mod name and if you’re playing in a snapshot, the snapshot version will be displayed. Underneath that, you find the following information in the second line:DisplayedMeaningafpsframes per secondT:aais a value for the max framerate option and shows “inf” if unlimitedvsynconly appears if the VSync is enabledGraphics optionfast/ fancy/ fabulousClouds optionfast-clouds/ fancy-clouds, if there is nothing – the clouds are offB:aais a value for the Biome Blend optionGPU:a%ais a GPU utilization percentage
Underneath that, you will find the following information in the third line on the top left:
In the next line of the F3 debug screen on the top left, you will find these:DisplayedMeaningC:a/bais the number of sections rendered over the total number of sections in the loaded area (b).(s)appears in vanilla because the smart culling is enabledD:aais the value of the Render Distance optionpC:aais the number of pending chunks to be batchedpU:aais the number of pending uploads to the video cardaB:aais the number of available buffers to use in the batching process
C refers to Chunk in the above section. Chunk is a 384-block tall part of the world that is 16 blocks wide and 16 blocks long. Sections are parts of a chunk, they are 16x16x16 block areas and there are 24 of them in each chunk.
Moving on, you will find these in the next line on the left side of the F3 debug screen:DisplayedMeaningE:a/bais the number of entities rendered over the total number of entitiesbB: 0this value is not used and it’s always 0SD:aais the value for simulation distance
For those unaware, render distance represents the number of chunks that are visible to players at once. Therefore, if this is set to 12, which means you can see 12 chunks in each cardinal direction. Simulation distance affects the mob AI and block and fluid updating. If this is set to 8, then mobs will be able to move, the crops will grow, and Redstone will function in 8 chunks in each cardinal direction.
This is followed by these items, which mean:
In the last line of the F3 debug screen’s first section on the left, you will see the following info:DisplayedMeaningminecraft:overworld/minecraft:the_nether/minecraft:the_endthe dimension you’re inFC:aais the number of force loaded chunks
Second Section
At the beginning of the next section of the left side of the F3 debug screen in Minecraft, you will see:DisplayedMeaningX/Y/Z:x / y / zthe exact coordinates of the player
x is the exact coordinate of the player on the x-axis (east or west of the center of the world), y is the exact coordinate of the player on the y-axis (this determines how high or low you are in the world), and z is the exact coordinate of the player on the z-axis (north or south of the center of the world).
Underneath that, you will find the following information:DisplayedMeaningBlock:a b ca, b, and c are the coordinates of the block where the player is standing on the x-axis, y-axis, and z-axis, respectively[a b c]these are coordinates of the block in its chunk
In the next line, you can see:
Next in the Minecraft F3 debug screen, you will see even more positioning info:DisplayedMeaningFacing: north/south/east/westthe cardinal direction you’re facing(Towards positive Z/positive X/negative Z/negative X)which horizontal axis you’re facing(a, b)more directions (explained below)
In (a,b), if a is 0, it means you’re facing south. If it’s positive, you’re facing west, and if it’s negative, you’re facing east. If b is 0, it means you’re looking horizontally, if b is positive you’re looking down, and if b is positive you’re looking up. Underneath that, you will see the following:DisplayedMeaningClient Lightaais the total light level(asky, b block)ais the light level that comes from the sky, andbis the light level that comes from blocks that give off light, such as torches, lanterns, etc.
Blocks that are directly exposed to the sky during the day will have the maximum value of the sky light, which is 15 and during the night it will be the minimum, which is 0. Check out the full list oflight sources in Minecraft.
Furthermore, you will see the following information in the next few lines:DisplayedMeaningCH S:aM:baandbare the values of the corresponding client-side heightmaps at the player’s positionSH S:aO:bM:cML:da,b,c, anddare corresponding server-side heightmaps at the player’s positionDisplayedMeaningBiome:biomebiomeis the biome you’re in currentlyDisplayedMeaningLocal Difficulty:a//bais the value of the local difficulty in the chunk andbis the clamped regional difficulty.(Daya)ais the number of in-game days passed since the player generated the world
Local difficulty determines the difficulty in a certain area. For example, if it’s high, hostile mobs will spawn with armor more frequently, lightning strikes are more likely to spawn a skeleton trap horse, phantoms spawn more frequently, etc. This value increases the more players are in a certain area.
Under that line, you will be able tosee thenoise valueson the F3 debug screen. They are used to generate terrain and biomes:DisplayedMeaningNoiseRoutera collection of density functions, which compute value for each blockT:aais a noise value for temperatureV:aais a noise value for humidityC:aais a noise value for continentalnessE:aais a noise value for erosionD:aais a noise value for depthW:aais a noise value for weirdnessPV:aais a noise value for peaksAndValleysAS:aais a noise value for initial_density_without_jaggednessN:aais a noise value for final_density
The next line shows noise values categorized at the current location:DisplayedMeaningBiome BuilderPV:Valley/Low/Mid/High/PeakBased on the PeaksAndValleys value aboveC: Mushroom fields/Deep ocean/Ocean/Coast/Near inland/Mid inland/Far inlandBased on the continentalness value aboveE: aBased on the erosion value aboveT: aBased on the temperature value aboveH: aBased on the humidity value above
The next line in the second section on the left shows information about loaded entities in Minecraft:DisplayedMeaningSC:aais the number of loaded mob-spawning chunks(first)M:aais the number of hostile mobs counting toward the mob capC:aais the number of passive mobs that spawn on the surface(first)A:aais the number of ambient mobs (such as bats)(second)A:aais the number of axolotlsU:aais the number of underground water mobs (such as glow squid)(first)W:aais the number of water mobs (such as squids and dolphins)(second)W:aais the number of water ambient mobs (such as fish)(second)M:aais the number of misc entities
If you are playing with a Minecraft shader loaded in your game, you will see the following details in the next few lines:DisplayedMeaningShader: pathpath is the file path of the shader you’re using
Finally, the last line in the second section on the left side of the F3 debug screen shows the details below:
Third Section
In the final section on the left side of the Minecraft F3 debug screen, you’ll see if the debug pie and debug charts are visible:
The last line lets you know you can click an F3 key and a Q key for help. Check out the Additional Debug Options on the bottom of this guide.
Right Side of the Minecraft F3 Debug Screen
The first line on the right side of the F3 debug screen shows information about thecurrent Java version. Underneath that, you’ll find information about thememory used by the game.
The third line shows thecurrent allocation rate, and the final line below shows the amount ofallocated memory.
The second section on the right side of the F3 debug screen shows thename of your CPU.
In the next section, information about thedisplay,renderer,andOpenGLof your PC or laptop is displayed.
Targeted Block Section of the F3 Debug Screen
When looking at a block, the targeted block section appears on the right side of the F3 debug screen. This section displaysthe coordinates, the name, the states of the block, and all the tags that are associated with it.
Targeted Fluid Section of the F3 Debug Screen
When looking at a block or fluid, the targeted fluid section shows up on the right side of the debug screen. Similarly to the targeted block paragraph, you will see the coordinates, the name, and the state of the fluid, as well as all the tags that contain it.
Targeted Entity Section of the F3 Debug Screen
When looking at an entity, this section appears on the right side of the F3 screen. The name of the entity is shown here, making it easier for you to identify what it is.
Additional Debug Options in Minecraft
Here are some of the more useful debug options and what they do:
Just like that, you’ve mastered the F3 debug screen in Minecraft. So, now you’re able to always find your way back to your base, know what biome you’re in at the moment, and learn about the specific blocks and mobs. With that, load up Minecraft and put into practice all the knowledge you got from this article.
No, the F3 and F3 + G shortcuts do not show spawn chunks of your world.
Radojka Travar
I’m a gaming enthusiast with a strong passion for writing. My expertise lies in creating simple, to the point and clear content teaching you about various features, mechanics and community-based inventions related to Minecraft. In spare time, I love flying around in my Minecraft world and exploring stories of other pixelated games.
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