Custom Advancements JSON Examples: Root, Task, and Rewards

The three examples below are the actual files shipped inside the mod’s examples/advancements/ directory. They form a small, self-contained advancement tree: a root tab, a simple task child, and a reward-bearing task that chains off the second. Together they demonstrate every common pattern you will encounter when writing your own advancements. All three files belong to the customadvancements namespace. Place them in .minecraft/customadvancements/customadvancements/ to load them in-game.

1. Root Advancement — root.json

A root advancement defines an entirely new tab in the advancement screen. It has no parent field, and its display block must include a background to fill the tab panel. The minecraft:tick trigger fires every game tick, so the root completes silently the moment any player logs in.

root.json

{
  "display": {
    "icon": {
      "id": "minecraft:diamond_block"
    },
    "title": {
      "translate": "customadvancements.advancements.example_root.title"
    },
    "description": {
      "translate": "customadvancements.advancements.example_root.description"
    },
    "background": {
      "type": "IMAGE",
      "location": "customadvancements:textures/screenshot.png",
      "object_fit": "COVER"
    },
    "show_toast": false,
    "announce_to_chat": false,
    "hidden": false
  },
  "criteria": {
    "requirement": {
      "trigger": "minecraft:tick"
    }
  }
}

Notable fields:

background — Uses the IMAGE type to render a full-size screenshot behind the tree. The object_fit: "COVER" mode scales the image to fill the entire panel without letterboxing. See Background Types for all available types.
show_toast: false and announce_to_chat: false — Root advancements that complete on every login should never fire notifications; these two flags suppress both the toast overlay and the chat broadcast.
hidden: false — The root is always visible in the tab, so there is no reason to hide it.
minecraft:tick trigger — The simplest possible trigger. No conditions block is needed because the tick trigger always fires unconditionally.

2. Simple Task — example.json

This is a standard child advancement linked to the root above. It completes as soon as dirt appears anywhere in the player’s inventory, triggering a toast and a chat announcement.

example.json

{
  "display": {
    "icon": {
      "id": "minecraft:dirt"
    },
    "title": {
      "translate": "customadvancements.advancements.example_example.title"
    },
    "description": {
      "translate": "customadvancements.advancements.example_example.description"
    },
    "frame": "task",
    "show_toast": true,
    "announce_to_chat": true
  },
  "parent": "customadvancements:root",
  "criteria": {
    "requirement": {
      "trigger": "minecraft:inventory_changed",
      "conditions": {
        "items": [
          {
            "id": "minecraft:dirt"
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

Notable fields:

parent: "customadvancements:root" — Links this advancement as a child of root.json. The resource location is the namespace (customadvancements) plus the filename without the .json extension (root).
frame: "task" — Renders the standard rectangular frame around the icon. Use "goal" for a rounded frame or "challenge" for a star frame on more difficult objectives.
minecraft:inventory_changed trigger — Fires whenever the player’s inventory changes. The conditions.items array narrows it to only fire when at least one minecraft:dirt item is present.
No requirements field — because there is only one criterion, omitting requirements means the single criterion must be satisfied, which is equivalent to [["requirement"]].

3. Task with Rewards — back_to_the_roots.json

This advancement chains off example.json and requires the player to kill an adult zombie while holding rotten flesh in their main hand. On completion it grants 50 experience points.

back_to_the_roots.json

{
  "parent": "customadvancements:example",
  "criteria": {
    "back_to_the_roots": {
      "conditions": {
        "entity": [
          {
            "condition": "minecraft:entity_properties",
            "entity": "this",
            "predicate": {
              "type": "minecraft:zombie",
              "flags": {
                "is_baby": false
              }
            }
          }
        ],
        "killing_blow": {
          "direct_entity": {
            "equipment": {
              "mainhand": {
                "items": [
                  "minecraft:rotten_flesh"
                ]
              }
            }
          }
        }
      },
      "trigger": "minecraft:player_killed_entity"
    }
  },
  "display": {
    "announce_to_chat": true,
    "description": {
      "translate": "customadvancements.advancements.back_to_the_roots.description"
    },
    "frame": "task",
    "hidden": false,
    "icon": {
      "id": "minecraft:rotten_flesh"
    },
    "show_toast": true,
    "title": {
      "translate": "customadvancements.advancements.back_to_the_roots.title"
    }
  },
  "requirements": [
    [
      "back_to_the_roots"
    ]
  ],
  "rewards": {
    "experience": 50
  }
}

Notable fields:

minecraft:player_killed_entity trigger — Fires when the player lands the killing blow on any entity.
conditions.entity — An array of condition objects that the killed entity must match. The single entry here uses minecraft:entity_properties to assert that the entity is a minecraft:zombie and is not a baby (is_baby: false).
conditions.killing_blow — Inspects the damage source. The direct_entity.equipment.mainhand.items array ensures the player must be holding minecraft:rotten_flesh in their main hand when the kill lands.
requirements — Explicitly lists the single criterion. With only one criterion this is optional, but it is good practice to include it for clarity.
rewards.experience: 50 — Awards 50 XP points directly to the player on completion.

Using Vanilla Advancements as Templates

Writing advancement JSON from scratch can be tedious when you are not sure what a complex conditions block should look like. The /ca/generate/advancement/all command exports every currently loaded advancement — including all vanilla and mod advancements — as ready-to-edit JSON files placed directly into customadvancements/. This gives you accurate, working examples of every trigger type and condition structure that Minecraft uses, which you can then copy and modify for your own advancements.

/ca/generate/advancement/all

See Commands for the full command reference and other available generation commands.

Use /ca/generate/ids first to dump all advancement resource locations to a text file. This makes it easy to find the exact ID of an advancement you want to inspect or override before running the full generation command.

For the complete field reference used in these examples, see Structure.

Getting Started

Creating Advancements

Configuration

Commands

Localization & Textures

Troubleshooting

Custom Advancements JSON Examples: Root, Task, and Rewards

1. Root Advancement — root.json

2. Simple Task — example.json

3. Task with Rewards — back_to_the_roots.json

Using Vanilla Advancements as Templates

​1. Root Advancement — root.json

​2. Simple Task — example.json

​3. Task with Rewards — back_to_the_roots.json

​Using Vanilla Advancements as Templates

1. Root Advancement — root.json

2. Simple Task — example.json

3. Task with Rewards — back_to_the_roots.json

Using Vanilla Advancements as Templates