Paste the build

Load the build into your clipboard, check where it will land, then paste it. Nothing changes in the world until the final step, so you can check the position as often as you need to.

Load it

//schem load spawn-hub

The .schem extension is optional. Run //schem list if you're not sure of the name. To check the build's size before you go further, run:

//size -c

Know where it will land

A schematic remembers where the builder was standing when they copied it. That point is the origin. When you paste, the origin lands at your feet and the rest of the build sits around you exactly as it sat around the builder. If the builder stood in the middle of a spawn's floor, the middle of that floor will land where you're standing.

Builds aren't all saved from the same spot, so check where this one will go before you paste:

//paste -n

-n selects the area the build would fill but doesn't place anything. With a selection-outline mod such as WorldEditCUI you'll see the box. Without one, run //size to print its corners. Move and run //paste -n again until the box is where you want it.

Check two things:

• The ground line. The build's base should sit on the ground, not float above it or sink into it.
• World height. In the Overworld, blocks can only exist between Y -64 and Y 319. Any part of the build outside that range is cut off.

Rotate or flip it (optional)

//rotate 90
//flip

• //rotate turns the build around its origin in steps of 90 degrees. Rotations add up, so running //rotate 90 twice turns it 180 degrees. Stairs, doors and other blocks that face a direction turn with it.
• //flip mirrors the build in the direction you're facing, or in one you name, such as //flip north.
• Run //paste -n again afterwards to check the new position. To undo a rotation, load the schematic again.

Paste

//paste -a -e -s

What each flag does:

• -a skips the schematic's air blocks. Use it almost always; see With or without air.
• -e pastes entities: armour stands, item frames, paintings, display entities and any mobs saved with the build. Use it when the build has decorations that aren't blocks.
• -s selects the pasted area afterwards. Always use it, because the steps after the paste work on the selection.
• -b pastes the build's biomes, so grass, leaf and water colours match the original.
• -o pastes at the original coordinates. Only use it when a build's docs tell you to.
• -n selects the area without pasting anything, so you can check the position first.

-e and -b only paste entities and biomes that were saved in the schematic. If it has none, they do nothing.

With or without air

A schematic is a box. Every space in that box that isn't part of the build is saved as air, and a plain //paste places that air too. Anything that was already inside the box, such as terrain, trees or other builds, is wiped. This is what cuts a perfect cube into the landscape.

-a skips the air, so only the build's own blocks are placed and everything around them stays as it was.

Which to use:

• Into a void world, or onto cleared, flat ground: //paste -a. There's nothing to clear, so the area is left untouched.
• Onto terrain you want to keep around the build: //paste -a. The hills and trees next to the build stay.
• Over an older version of the same build: //paste without -a. The air clears out old blocks the new version no longer has.

Big builds

• FAWE pastes in the background. The server keeps running while the blocks are placed, and chunks fill in as they finish. Large builds can take a while, so wait until the paste reports it's done before you run anything else.
• If FAWE asks you to confirm because the selection is large, run //confirm.
• If FAWE says "Too many blocks changed", you've hit its edit limit. Operators and players with fawe.limit.unlimited have no limit.
• Paste at a quiet time. Even with FAWE, a large paste uses a lot of memory and CPU, and players near the build will see chunks pop in.

Using plain WorldEdit

WorldEdit updates blocks as it places them, just as if a player had placed them. Sand and gravel without support fall, water and lava start flowing, redstone fires, and leaves recalculate their distance from the nearest log, so those far from a log are marked to decay. Turn these updates off before you paste:

//perf neighbors off
//perf update off

Paste, then turn them back on so your normal edits behave as usual:

//perf neighbors on
//perf update on

FAWE has these updates off by default, so skip this step if you use FAWE.

Next: After the paste.