How to Find Your Minecraft Seed (Java and Bedrock)

By Shaheer Bin Ramzan. Last reviewed November 7, 2026

You can find your Minecraft seed in under a minute if you can open the world, and even if you cannot, because the game stores it in your save files. This guide covers the in-game command, the world settings screen, the level.dat file, servers and Realms. Use it when you want to share a world, rebuild one, or look it up on a seed map.

Short answer

In Java Edition, open chat and run /seed. In Bedrock Edition, open the world's settings and read the Seed entry. If neither works, read the seed from the world's level.dat file with an NBT editor.

Before you start

A seed is the number a world is generated from. You need the exact number, including any minus sign, plus the edition and version it was made in. For the full explanation, read what a Minecraft seed is and how seeds work.

Find your seed in Java Edition

Use the /seed command

Open the world, press T to open chat, type /seed and press Enter. The game prints the seed in the chat. Click the number to copy it. In a single-player world the command works without cheats. On a multiplayer server you need operator permission (level 2).

Read the seed from level.dat

Use this method when the command is refused or the world will not load. Close the game and copy the world folder as a backup first. Then follow these steps:

Open your saves folder. On Windows it is %appdata%\.minecraft\saves. On macOS it is ~/Library/Application Support/minecraft/saves. On Linux it is ~/.minecraft/saves.
Open the folder named after your world and find level.dat.
Open the file in an NBT editor such as NBTExplorer.
Go to Data, then WorldGenSettings, and read the seed tag. Worlds from before 1.16 store it as RandomSeed inside Data.

Java 26.1 and later: Mojang moved the world generation settings out of level.dat. For these worlds, open data/minecraft/world_gen_settings.dat inside the world folder instead. You can also skip the editor and use our world file seed reader, which handles both files.

Never save changes in the editor. Reading the value is enough, and a wrong edit can corrupt the world.

Find your seed in Bedrock Edition

Bedrock Edition has no /seed command, because the command is exclusive to Java Edition. Open the world's settings instead: select the pencil icon next to your world on the Play screen, or open Settings from the pause menu. The Seed box is on the Advanced page when you open the settings from the Play screen, and on the Game page when you open Settings from inside the world. Copy the number from there. You can paste it into a new world, but structures may sit in different places than in Java, as explained below.

Find the seed of a server or Realm

On a Java server you own, open server.properties and check the level-seed line. An empty value means the game chose a random seed, so run /seed as an operator instead. On a Realm you do not hold the files, and Bedrock does not show the seed there. Download the world to your device first, open it, then use the methods above.

Share your seed with its edition and version

For 64-bit seeds, Java and Bedrock generate the same terrain and biomes, but they place structures such as villages and strongholds differently. A seed can also change between game versions, because Mojang changes world generation when it adds new biomes. Always note the edition and version next to any seed you share. If a map or a new world does not match yours, use our checklist of mismatch causes.

Next steps once you have your seed

Share it with the edition and version, for example "Java 26.3, seed 123456".
Back it up beside your world's coordinates for bases and portals.
Map slime chunks with the slime chunk finder or locate a stronghold with the stronghold locator.
If a map does not match your world, work through the mismatch checklist.
If you do not have the world at all, see whether a screenshot can reveal a seed.

Frequently asked questions

Can I find my seed after I created the world?

Yes. The seed stays in the world for good. Run /seed in Java Edition, read the world settings in Bedrock Edition, or open the level.dat file in an NBT editor. You do not need to remember it when you create the world.

Why is my Minecraft seed negative?

Java Edition seeds are signed 64-bit numbers, so they can be negative. A negative seed works the same as a positive one. Copy the minus sign too, or the game will build a different world.

Can I find a seed from a screenshot?

Not reliably. A screenshot shows terrain but not the number behind it, and many seeds share similar looking areas. You get better results from world coordinates, the level.dat file or the /seed command.

Does the seed include my builds?

No. A seed only describes how the game generates untouched terrain and structures. Your buildings, items and exploration live in the world save files, so a new world from the same seed starts without them.