How to Turn on Coordinates in Minecraft (2023)

Minecraft is a very simple game on the surface that only becomes more complex the more you dig into it. You start a world with something as simple as chopping a few logs, and manage to eventually create colossal structures or complex redstone machinery in a matter of hours. This complexity extends to how you use your worlds, including the settings you choose to make the experience exactly how you want it. One option has a rather obscure way of being enabled, but is easy once you know how. Here’s how to turn on coordinates in Minecraft.

How to Enable Coordinates in Minecraft

How you enable coordinates is going to depend entirely on whether you’re playing Minecraft Java or Bedrock, with the former being far easier and less annoying. For the case of Java, you’ll want to load up whatever Minecraft world or server you wish to see coordinates on. Then, press the F3 key on your keyboard to pull up the coordinates. This will bring up a rather daunting debug menu, though the X, Y, and Z values are the ones we care about.

As for Bedrock edition, that’s where things become a little more complicated. When creating your world, under Advanced you’ll find the Show Coordinates option listed. Turn that on, and your coordinates will be displayed in the top right. You can enable/disable this feature after creating the world by checking your World Options (the pencil next to the world in your world list).

Related: When Was Minecraft Made? – Answered

The coordinates feature is equally useful no matter which version of Minecraft you’re playing. To understand the numbers a bit better, the first coordinate (X) displays your position both East and West of the world origin. The third coordinate (Z) shows your position both North and South of the world origin. Finally, the second coordinate (Y) displays your height in the world. The Y coordinate has the added feature of helping you know which layer to mine at, which is always a plus.

Now get out there and find exactly what you’re looking for! If you happen to find a village, here’s our guide on all villager jobs and their trades for your convenience.