Ships

Build a ship, sail it, hold a bay.

Last updated: 2026-09-11 7:31 PM EST.

What counts as a ship

10 to 1000 blocks. At least a quarter wooden planks or slabs. Touching water. Between Y 50 and Y 80.
Most building blocks are fine: glass, stairs, slabs, doors, fences, chests, furnaces, lanterns, beds.
Dirt, stone, cobblestone and sand are not. One bad block stops the whole ship.

Build on your own town's land where it touches water. Ships only launch there. That spot is your harbour.

Control	What it does
`/pilot Ship`	Take the helm. No sign needed. Chests, animals and dropped items on deck come along.
`/cruise north`	Sail that way until told otherwise. Also south, east, west.
`/cruise off`	Stop.
Stick, right-click	One step the way you face.
Stick, left-click	The ship follows you as you walk. Left-click again to stop.
`/rotate left`	Quarter turn left.
`/rotate right`	Quarter turn right.
Sign `[helm]`	A wheel. Right-click turns clockwise, left-click the other way.

Seagrass and kelp never block a ship. While you pilot, nobody else can break its blocks.

Command	What it does
`/manoverboard`	Back on deck within 30 seconds of falling in. Not inside a bay: you swim.
`/shiphome`	Ship goes to its harbour. You must be piloting: board, `/pilot Ship`, then this.
`/release`	Drop the helm. The ship is just blocks. Anyone can take them unless a claim protects the water.

Dying does not lose your ship. It usually goes home on its own.
Logging out or being kicked sends it home. If it stayed at sea: rejoin, board, pilot, /shiphome.
Captain dies in a boarding: ship goes home with the crew. Captain dies any other time: only the ship goes home.

Bays are on the map. A sword means nobody holds it. A banner means a town does. /cap list names them.
In a bay and 1 chunk around it, always: no building, no breaking, no explosions, no teleports in. /home, ender pearls and /manoverboard all fail.

You need a town. You must be on a piloted ship. Crew count too. Swimming in does nothing.
Sail the whole hull into a bay with no enemy ship. The capture starts on its own: 1 minute to prepare, then 15 minutes holding. Everyone online is told.
Inside, during a capture: fight crews inside the bay, use items. Blocked: fighting anyone outside, building, explosions, teleports, most commands. Nobody outside can hurt you either.
If an enemy ship holds the bay, you cannot capture. The refusal names their captain. Sail in anyway: the two ships dock and freeze, and the crews fight on deck. When a captain dies, their ship goes home with the survivors and the bay is lost.

Your town is paid every day it holds the bay: stags, brews, ores and more. The map shows what each bay pays.
No safe period. The next attack can start 5 minutes after a capture. A town cannot capture a bay it already holds. A crew at sea is the only defence.