Stop TNT and creeper damage to your world

Two game rules decide whether explosions can wreck your world: one covers creepers and other mobs, the other covers TNT. On 1.21.5 and newer you change both from the Console tab. Minecraft 1.21.11 renamed every game rule, so use the command that matches your version, and on 1.21.4 and older TNT needs a plugin.

Checked against Minecraft 26.3 and WorldGuard 7.0.20 on Paper 26.3, October 2026.

Find your version

Your Minecraft version is the Version cell in the stats block of the left rail, and the JAR Manager tab shows it under Minecraft version. Then pick the commands from this table.

Send the command

1. Open the Console tab and make sure the server is Running. A command sent while the server is stopped waits in a queue until it starts.
2. Click the Send a command box and type the command without a leading slash.
3. Press Enter. The server replies that the game rule is now set to the value you gave. If the rule already had that value, it replies that the rule is already set to it instead.

To check a rule later, send only its name, such as gamerule mob_griefing. The server tells you what it is currently set to. To undo a change, send the same command with true.

What each rule does

With mob griefing off, creeper explosions no longer destroy blocks. The same rule also stops endermen picking up and placing blocks, ghast fireballs and withers breaking blocks, and villagers farming.

Mojang describes the TNT rule this way: when it is false, TNT will not explode and cannot be ignited. TNT minecarts follow the same rule. The two rules are separate, so set both if you want both.

On 1.21.4 and older: use WorldGuard

Before 1.21.5 there is no vanilla switch for TNT. On Paper or Purpur, the WorldGuard plugin has flags for it. The tnt flag controls whether TNT detonation or block damage is permitted, and creeper-explosion controls whether creeper explosions can do damage.

1. Install WorldGuard and WorldEdit from the Plugins tab, then restart the server. Set up WorldGuard on your Minecraft server covers it.
2. In game, as an operator, run /rg flag __global__ tnt deny. WorldGuard gives operators its permissions unless its configuration turns that off. Every world has its own global region, so this covers the whole world.
3. Run /rg flag __global__ creeper-explosion deny for creepers.

To protect only one area, such as spawn, set the same flags on that region instead.

If the rule seems to do nothing

• The server replies Unknown or incomplete command. See below for error. The rule name does not exist on your version, so check the spelling against the table above.
• Blocks still break. Send the rule name on its own and check it reads false. Then check you set the rule that matches what exploded: mob_griefing for creepers and tnt_explodes for TNT.

For other rules, see the game rules guide. To keep other players from damaging builds, see the guide to protecting builds from griefing.