How to Limit Crafting to Unlocked Recipes in Minecraft

This Minecraft tutorial explains how to use a game command to limit crafting to only unlocked recipes with screenshots and step-by-step instructions.

Are you a mapmaker? Do you want to allow players to only craft an item when the recipe is unlocked? This is called limited crafting and you can turn on this feature with the doLimitedCrafting option in the /gamerule command. Let's explore how to use this cheat (game command).

TIP: After turning on limited crafting, use either a knowledge book or the /recipe command to unlock a specific crafting recipe.

Supported Platforms

The limited crafting command is available in the following versions of Minecraft:

PlatformSupported (Version*)
Java Edition (PC/Mac) Java Edition (PC/Mac)Yes (1.12)
Pocket Edition (PE) Pocket Edition (PE)No
Xbox 360 Xbox 360No
Xbox One Xbox OneNo
PS3 PS3No
PS4 PS4No
Wii U Wii UNo
Nintendo Switch Nintendo SwitchNo
Windows 10 Edition Windows 10 EditionNo
Education Edition Education EditionNo

* The version that it was added or removed, if applicable.
NOTE: Pocket Edition (PE), Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Windows 10 Edition are now called Bedrock Edition. We will continue to show them individually for version history.

Requirements

To run game commands in Minecraft, you have to turn cheats on in your world.

doLimitedCrafting Command

Examples

How to Enter the Command

1. Open the Chat Window

The easiest way to run a command in Minecraft is within the chat window. The game control to open the chat window depends on the version of Minecraft:

  • For Java Edition (PC/Mac), press the T key to open the chat window.

2. Type the Command

In this example, we will limit crafting to only unlocked recipes with the following command:

/gamerule doLimitedCrafting true

Type the command in the chat window. As you are typing, you will see the command appear in the lower left corner of the game window. Press the Enter key to run the command.

do limited crafting command

Once the cheat has been entered, limited crafting will be enabled.

do limited crafting command

You will see the message "Gamerule doLimitedCrafting is now set to: true" appear in the lower left corner of the game window to indicate that limited crafting has been turned on.

Now, let's see what happens when you try to craft an item whose recipe is not unlocked.

do limited crafting command

Currently, our recipe book only has beetroot soup and conduit as unlocked recipes. When we try to craft a diamond sword using 2 diamonds and 1 stick, the diamond sword does not appear in our result box. This means that we can't craft it.

TIP: Use either a knowledge book or the /recipe command to unlock a specific crafting recipe so that it appears in your recipe book.

After we unlock the crafting recipe for a diamond sword using a knowledge book or the /recipe command, we will now see the diamond sword as an unlocked recipe in our recipe book. And if we add the 2 diamonds and 1 stick, we can now craft a diamond sword (see below):

do limited crafting command

Congratulations, you just learned how to limit crafting in Minecraft!