Playanimation

Introduction ​

Sourced by the Japanese Commanders Gathering Discord

In Bedrock, the /playanimation command allows entities to play animations. You can stack multiple animations or even customize them.

Syntax ​

/playanimation <entity: target> <animation: string> [next_state: string] [blend_out_time: float] [stop_expression: string] [controller: string]

Definitions:

<> Angle brackets mean the variable is required.
[] Square brackets mean the variable is optional.

• <entity: target> Specifies the entity that will play the animation.
• <animation: string> Specifies the animation to be played.
• [next_state: string] Specifies which animation to transition to when the current animation's end conditions are met.
• [blend_out_time: float] Sets the time for transitioning between animations.
• [stop_expression: string] Defines the end condition. This must be written in Molang.
• [controller: string] Accesses and defines the animation controller.

Example:

/playanimation @a animation.player.riding.legs none 0 "query.is_moving"

This command plays the animation.player.riding.legs animation (which represents a player's leg movement while sitting) for all players. When query.is_moving (indicating movement) becomes true, it transitions to the animation none in 0 seconds.

Since the animation none does not exist, the entity returns to an idle state, effectively canceling the animation.

If the animation belongs to the entity itself, the animation.entity. part can be omitted.
For example, to play animation.player.attack.positions for a player, you can simply enter attack.positions instead of animation.player.attack.positions.

Animation Controller ​

An animation controller determines which animations play under specific conditions.
If an existing animation controller is accessed, it will be overwritten.

Examples ​

/playanimation @e[type=allay] animation.player.attack.positions none "1" controller.animation.allay.dancing

Executing this command on an Allay prevents it from dancing when music plays.
This happens because the original animation controller, which made it dance when music played, is replaced with a new controller that does nothing.
(Any animation could be used here, but attack.positions was chosen since it has no effect.)

If a non-existent animation controller is specified, it will be registered as a new one:

/playanimation @a animation.ender_dragon.neck_head_movement animation.piglin.celebrate_hunt_special 0 "v.head_position_y=0;v.head_rotation_y=q.life_time*1000;return !q.is_sneaking;" wiki:head

/playanimation @a animation.piglin.celebrate_hunt_special animation.ender_dragon.neck_head_movement 0 "v.head_position_y=0;v.head_rotation_y=q.target_y_rotation;return q.is_sneaking;" wiki:dance

These commands register a new animation controller that:

• Rotates the player's head when not sneaking.
• Plays a dancing animation when sneaking.

The left-side animation transitions to the right-side animation when conditions are met. This can be extended with more transitions. However, transitions only apply within the same animation controller.

For example, if the above commands are active and another animation controller (wiki:head.2, etc.) plays animation.piglin.celebrate_hunt_special, it won’t affect transitions to animation.ender_dragon.neck_head_movement.

Storage and Removal ​

• Animation controllers are stored on the client-side entity.
• They cannot be removed using commands.
• Custom animation controllers reset when leaving the world or sending the affected entity far away.

Stacking Animations ​

Each animation controller can play only one animation at a time. By using multiple animation controllers, you can play multiple animations simultaneously.

Examples ​

/playanimation @a animation.player.riding.legs none 0 "0" wiki:rideleg

This command overlays the riding legs animation with the pigling dance animation:

/playanimation @a animation.piglin.celebrate_hunt_special none 0 "0" wiki:dance

Here, wiki:rideleg and wiki:dance are used as controller names, but any name like "a" or "b" is also valid. However, you cannot use the same name for multiple controllers (e.g., both as "a").

Removing Stacked Animations ​

To remove the above animations, you must overwrite the animation controller states:

/playanimation @a animation.player.attack.positions none 0 "1" wiki:rideleg

/playanimation @a animation.player.attack.positions none 0 "1" wiki:dance

1. The animation.player.attack.positions animation (which does nothing) is played.
2. The condition 1 (true) forces a transition to none.
3. Since none does not exist, the animation is canceled.

Why Not Directly Use none as the Animation?

• You can transition to none, but you cannot directly set none as the animation.
• The animation name must be valid; otherwise, the command might not work properly.

Potential Issues ​

• This method adds a rule that transitions attack.positions to none.
• If any other animation already transitions to attack.positions, unexpected behavior may occur.

Bad Usage Examples ​

/playanimation @a animation.ender_dragon.neck_head_movement attack.positions 0 "v.head_position_y=0;v.head_rotation_y=q.life_time*1000;return !q.is_sneaking;" wiki:head

/playanimation @a attack.positions animation.ender_dragon.neck_head_movement 0 "v.head_position_y=0;v.head_rotation_y=q.target_y_rotation;return q.is_sneaking;" wiki:head

This makes the head rotate only while sneaking. However, if you then execute:

playanimation @e[tag=main] attack.positions none 0 "1" wiki:head

• When you stop sneaking, the animation transitions to attack.positions.
• Since attack.positions is now playing, it transitions to none.
• attack.positions is no longer active, so sneaking no longer triggers animation.ender_dragon.neck_head_movement.

Fixing This Issue:

Instead of transitioning to attack.positions, transition to a different animation that does nothing.

Custom Animations ​

• You can customize animations by modifying their variables.
• Some animations have elements like angles and positions controlled by variable.
• Minecraft uses its own scripting language, Molang, to define stop conditions—but you can also use Molang to change variable values dynamically.

Example: Editing the Parrot's Animation ​

This is part of the animation.parrot.moving JSON file:

"animation.parrot.moving": {
    "loop": true,
    "bones": {
        "body": {
            "position": [ 0.0, "variable.wing_flap * 0.3", 0.0 ]
        },
        "tail": {
            "rotation": [ "60.0 + math.cos(query.anim_time * 38.17) * 17.0 - this", 0.0, 0.0 ]
        },
        "wing0": {
            "rotation": [ 0.0, 0.0, "-5.0 - variable.wing_flap * 57.3" ]
        },
        "wing1": {
            "rotation": [ 0.0, 0.0, "5.0 + variable.wing_flap * 57.3" ]
        }
    }
}

• Bones: "body", "tail", "wing0", and "wing1" are different body parts.
• The body has a y-position controlled by variable.wing_flap.

Now, let's modify the parrot's body position using this command:

/playanimation @a animation.parrot.moving none 0 "variable.wing_flap=10;" wiki:body.ypos

This moves the parrot’s body upwards.

• Setting wing_flap=30 moves it even higher.
• Setting wing_flap=-10 moves it downwards.

Shortened Syntax:

You can shorten variable to v:

/playanimation @a animation.parrot.moving none 0 "v.wing_flap=10;" wiki:body_ypos

variable.wing_flap and v.wing_flap are the same.

Limitations ​

1. Only animations with variable can be customized.

   • If an animation doesn’t use variable, you can’t modify it.

2. Default entity variables reset on each execution.

   • If you loop the command:
   yaml

   /playanimation @a animation.player.attack.rotations none 0 "v.attack_body_rot_y=90;" wiki:body.yrot

   1
   
   • Flickering occurs because v.attack_body_rot_y resets each frame before being reassigned.

Fixing Flickering:

• Use a delay between commands.
• Trigger it once using tags or conditions.

Checking Vanilla Animations ​

You can view Vanilla Minecraft animation files here:
Bedrock Samples - Animation Files

Molang Basics ​

Molang is Minecraft's scripting language used to control animations, conditions, and expressions.

• variable can be shortened to v
• query can be shortened to q

Reference for Molang:

For a detailed guide, visit: Bedrock.dev - Molang Documentation

List of Useful Playanimation Commands ​

• These commands can be applied to players and most other entities.
• All variables are initialized as zero in the examples but can be adjusted as needed.
• Some commands use multiple variables. You can add or remove variables based on your requirements.
• Controller names (e.g., wiki:body_yrot) enable stacking animations without overwriting previous ones.
  • You are free to change the namespace (wiki) or the controller names to your liking.

Body Animations ​

1. Rotate the body of the entity along the Y-axis (excluding limbs and head):

   yaml

   /playanimation @a animation.player.attack.rotations none 0 "v.attack_body_rot_y=0;" wiki:body_yrot

   1
   

2. Rotate the body of the entity along the Z-axis (excluding limbs and head):

   yaml

   /playanimation @a animation.wolf.shaking none 0 "v.body_rot_z=0;" wiki:body_zrot

   1
   

Root Animations ​

1. Rotate the entire entity along the X-axis and Z-axis:

   yaml

   /playanimation @a animation.ender_dragon.setup none 0 "v.clamped_pitch=0;v.clamped_roll=0;" wiki:root_xrot_yrot

   1
   
   • clamped_pitch — rotate the entire entity along the X-axis.
   • clamped_roll — rotate the entire entity along the Z-axis.

2. Offset the entire entity's position along the X, Y, and Z axes:

   yaml

   /playanimation @a animation.minecart.move none 0 "v.rail_offset.x=0;v.rail_offset.y=0;v.rail_offset.z=0;" wiki:root_pos

   1
   
   • rail_offset.x — offset the entire entity along the X-axis.
   • rail_offset.y — offset the entire entity along the Y-axis.
   • rail_offset.z — offset the entire entity along the Z-axis.

Head Animations ​

1. Offset or rotate the entity's head:

   yaml

   /playanimation @a animation.ender_dragon.neck_head_movement none 0 "v.head_position_x=0;v.head_position_y=0;v.head_position_z=0;v.head_rotation_x=0;v.head_rotation_y=0;v.head_rotation_z=0;" wiki:head_pos_rot

   1
   
   • head_position_x — offset the entity's head along the X-axis.
   • head_position_y — offset the entity's head along the Y-axis.
   • head_position_z — offset the entity's head along the Z-axis.
   • head_rotation_x — rotate the entity's head along the X-axis.
   • head_rotation_y — rotate the entity's head along the Y-axis.
   • head_rotation_z — rotate the entity's head along the Z-axis.

(Recommended) Read Next: FMBE - A New Way to Create Display Entities