How To Make A Command Bounce Pad In Minecraft – Launch Players Into The Air!

Hey everybody, it’s UnderMyCap and welcome back to another video! Today I’m going to be showing you how to make launch pads in Minecraft. This is a really cool command that basically involves three simple commands, and you can actually make a really cool launch pad with them. You’ve probably seen these in Hypixel and other servers — those are actually data pack based and have a really cool command system — but this one you’ll be able to do in any vanilla Java world.

Please note this won’t work on Bedrock, sadly. There is a completely different structure and I’m not sure if it’s possible, but if you do want to see a Bedrock version please leave a comment down below and I will actually try looking into it, because this thing is pretty cool when it works!

How It Works

As you’ll notice in the video, when you walk up to or simply walk on the build nothing happens. It’s only when you step on the iron trapdoor that the effects are applied. When you step on it you get flung quite high up into the air, and you’ll keep getting flung as long as you stand on the trapdoor. A really cool unique feature I’ve built into this is that you can actually get flung in a direction when you run at it with some pace — so if you run into it you’ll get launched in the direction you were running, and it works really really well. The design I’ve used is kind of an air vent style, with a cloud particle effect to make it look like wind.

Getting Started – The Command Block

First things first, you’re going to need a command block because you simply can’t do this without one. To get a command block, type the following into your chat:

/give @s command_block

You can’t get command blocks from the creative inventory, so this command is the way to do it. Once you’ve hit enter you’ll have your command block ready to place down.

Command 1 – The Levitation Effect

Place your first command block down and open it up. We’re going to set up the levitation effect command first. Because we only want the command to execute when a player steps on the trapdoor, we’re going to use the execute command with a distance-based selector. Type in the following command:

execute at @a[distance=..5] if block ~ ~-1 ~ iron_trapdoor run effect give @s levitation 1 60 true

The distance=..5 part is really important here. The two dots before the 5 mean the command will execute for any player within 5 blocks or below, rather than at an exact distance of 5. This means if you have trapdoors elsewhere in your world that you don’t want to act as launch pads, this command will only work within the set distance of your specific command block setup. You can adjust this number to suit your build. The if block ~ ~-1 ~ part checks that the block directly beneath the player is an iron trapdoor before applying the effect. The levitation amplifier is set to 60, which after some testing I’ve found works as a great height, and the duration is set to 1 second — any longer and it runs a bit too long. The true at the end hides the particles. Once you’ve entered the command, make sure there are no spaces at the end, then set the command block to Repeat and Always Active.

Command 2 – The Speed Effect

Now we’re going to copy and paste the command block. To do this on Windows, hold Ctrl and click with the middle mouse button on the command block — this will pick up an exact copy including all of its NBT data. On Mac, it should be the Command key combined with your pick button. Place the copied command block directly above the first one. Open it up and change levitation to speed and change the amplifier from 60 to 100. This gives players the speed effect when they stand on the trapdoor, which is what flings them further in the direction they’re moving. If you want to make the launch pad more powerful or less powerful, simply adjust these amplifier numbers higher or lower to get the feel you want.

Command 3 – The Particle Effect

For the final command block, we’re going to create the visual particle effect. Open up the third command block, clear any existing command, and type in the following:

/particle cloud ~ ~2 ~ 0 1 0 0 1 force

The cloud particle is what I used to give it that wind vent feel, but you can swap this out for any particle you like. The ~ ~2 ~ positions the particle 2 blocks above the command block. The 0 1 0 values spread the particles 1 block above and 1 block below, the speed is set to 0, and the count is set to 1. Setting it to force means everyone will be able to see the particles. Set this command block to Always Active as well and you’re done with the commands!

Finishing The Build

Now all that’s left is to place your iron trapdoor on top of the command block setup. Once it’s in place, step onto the trapdoor and you should be launched up into the air — it really is that simple! If you want to get fancy with the design like I did, you can build an air vent style structure around it with some cloud-like decorations, but the core functionality is all done with just those three commands.

Final Thoughts

And that’s it — you’ve built your very own command-based launch pad in Minecraft! This is such a fun little addition to any Java server or vanilla world, and I hope you enjoy experimenting with the amplifier values to get it just right for your build. If you found this helpful, please make sure to like the video and subscribe to the channel — I love making command tutorials for Minecraft and there are plenty more on the channel. Thank you so much for reading and watching, and I can’t wait to see you in the next one. See ya!