Minecraft Sound Event

Sound Event (Java Edition)

Sound events are the base objects the game plays. (Bedrock has its own sound events.)

Sound Events

Registry SOUND_EVENT, data pack path sound_event — a built-in registry, yet undefined IDs can be used. Playing creates a sound event instance (event + position + initial pitch/volume). A sound event has:

• a sound event reference (namespace ID; for built-in events the registration name equals the reference), and
• a play range: server→client send distance for the instance.

Inline format (usable anywhere in data packs):

{ "sound_id": "<event ID>", "range": 16.0 }

range — max distance sent to players (absent → 16 × initial volume). sound_id (required) — the event reference.

Definition Format (sounds.json)

Sound event definitions live in assets/<namespace>/sounds.json (vanilla's is a hashed resource file). Root object mapping event names (e.g. entity.enderman.stare → ID <ns>:<name>) to:

• replace (default false) — replace lower-priority packs' data instead of merging.
• sounds — the playable sound entries (string = name with defaults, or object):
  • name (required) — a sound file (assets/<ns>/sounds/<path>.ogg) or another event reference.
  • type (default file) — file or event.
  • weight (>0, default 1; ignored for event) — random selection weight (events use the referenced event's own weights).
  • attenuation_distance (default 16) — linear attenuation max distance (mono audio only; ignored by some instance types).
  • pitch (>0, default 1), volume (>0, default 1).
  • preload (default false; ignored for event) — load into memory right after all definitions load.
  • stream (default false) — stream-decode progressively (then no looping and preload is moot).
  • subtitle — localization key for the subtitle when this event plays.

Merging

Packs load bottom-up: non-conflicting events load directly; on conflict, replace: true in the upper pack discards all lower data; replace: false merges. Parse errors in any sound data discard that whole resource pack. Direct/indirect self-references (type event cycles) cause a non-fatal stack overflow and unload ALL resource packs. After merging, preload: true files load.

Example merge (top to bottom): A: sounds AB (replace false) → C,D (replace true) → G,H (replace false) ⇒ final A = ABCD; B: E,F (false) → I,J (true) ⇒ final B = EFIJ.

Empty References

• minecraft:intentionally_empty — un-replaceable; plays nothing, no warnings.
• minecraft:empty — placeholder for events with empty sounds; warns on first play.

Sound Playback

Logical Sides

• Server sounds — created server-side, sent over the network to nearby players (blocks, entities, commands like /playsound). Radius: range if present, else max{16v, 16} from initial volume v (players within 16 blocks always receive it).
• Client sounds — created client-side, only on one client (e.g. biome ambient music).

Categories

master (base for all), music, record (note blocks/jukeboxes), weather, block, hostile, neutral, player, ambient (fireworks, XP orbs, item entities), voice (narrator), ui.

Instance Types

• Normal — instant, non-looping, linear falloff; most sounds.
• Bee flying — client sound on world join; entity.bee.loop/loop_aggressive; volume/pitch scale with horizontal speed.
• Elytra flying — client sound while gliding (item.elytra.flying); loops; volume 0 for the first second, ramps up over the next second and with speed; louder = higher pitch.
• Entity-bound — follows the entity's position; non-looping.
• Guardian attack — entity.guardian.attack; loops, no attenuation; volume ∝ attack progress², pitch linear.
• Biome ambient — client, loops, follows the player, fades across biome borders.
• Minecart — entity.minecart.riding on join; loops; volume/pitch linear with speed.
• Minecart riding — entity.minecart.inside / inside.underwater; loops, no attenuation; louder with speed.
• Sniffer digging — entity.sniffer.digging; non-looping, follows the sniffer.
• Underwater ambient — client on entering water (ambient.underwater.loop); loops, follows player; volume ramps up over 2 s, fades over 1 s after leaving.
• Underwater ambient additions — client on entering water; 0.01% ultra_rare / 0.09% rare / 0.9% normal ambient.underwater.loop.additions*, else nothing; non-looping, stops on leaving water.
• End flash — weather.end_flash; position = 10 blocks along the flash's pitch/yaw direction.

Playback Steps

1. Skip if a related entity has Silent: true.
2. Pick a sound entry by weight (volume v0, pitch p0, attenuation d0). Event references multiply their referenced entry's volume/pitch into their own (v0 = v·v'); attenuation always comes from the current entry only.
3. Empty reference → don't play.
4. Final volume: normal instances = category × instance × entry volumes, clamped 0–1; other types ignore the entry volume.
5. Final pitch: normal instances = instance × entry pitch, clamped 0.5–2; others use instance pitch only.
6. Volume 0 → don't play.
7. Attenuation distance = final volume × entry attenuation (ignored for no-attenuation models).
8. Static buffering (whole file; allows looping) vs streaming (no looping even if requested).

Trivia: music.nether.warped_forest is defined and /playsound-selectable but has no actual sound; stereo audio cannot use linear attenuation in OpenAL.