Custom Advancement Criteria, Triggers, and Rewards

Define criteria and triggers in Custom Advancements JSON files for Minecraft 1.18.2, including requirements logic, common triggers, and rewards.

Criteria define the conditions a player must meet to earn an advancement. Each criterion listens for a specific game event — called a trigger — and optionally narrows it down with a conditions block. An advancement can require one criterion or many, and the requirements field gives you precise control over which combination must be satisfied.

criteria is required on every advancement file. A file without it fails validation and is skipped at load time.

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Criteria Object Structure

The criteria field is a JSON object where each key is an arbitrary name you give to a criterion, and the value is an object with:

• "trigger" — the namespaced ID of the Minecraft advancement trigger to listen for
• "conditions" — an optional object whose shape depends on the chosen trigger

"criteria": {
  "has_diamond": {
    "trigger": "minecraft:inventory_changed",
    "conditions": {
      "items": [
        { "item": "minecraft:diamond" }
      ]
    }
  }
}

Criterion names are arbitrary strings. They are referenced only within the same advancement’s requirements field and have no effect outside the file.

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Requirements Logic

The optional requirements field is a two-dimensional array that expresses a logical combination of criteria using AND and OR.

• The outer array is AND — every inner array must be satisfied.
• Each inner array is OR — at least one criterion in the group must be satisfied.

"requirements": [
  ["criterion_a", "criterion_b"],
  ["criterion_c"]
]

This reads as: (criterion_a OR criterion_b) AND criterion_c.

If requirements is omitted, every criterion defined in the criteria object must be satisfied.

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Common Triggers

Custom Advancements does not add any trigger types of its own. It loads advancements that use any trigger Minecraft 1.18.2 natively supports.

Trigger	When it fires	Key condition fields
minecraft:tick	Every game tick	None — always fires
minecraft:inventory_changed	The player’s inventory changes	items — array of item predicate objects
minecraft:player_killed_entity	The player lands the killing blow on an entity	entity — entity condition array; killing_blow — damage source predicate
minecraft:killed_by_crossbow	The player kills one or more entities with a single crossbow shot	victims, unique_entity_types
minecraft:enter_block	The player enters a specific block	block, state
minecraft:item_used_on_block	The player uses an item on a block	location, item

The full list of vanilla triggers and their condition schemas is documented on the Minecraft Wiki. Make sure you are reading the schema for Java Edition 1.18.2 — the item predicate format in particular changed in later versions.

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Trigger Examples

minecraft:tick

The simplest possible criterion. The minecraft:tick trigger fires on every game tick, so the advancement completes the instant the player loads in. This is the standard pattern for root advancements, which need to be granted immediately so their tab is always visible.

"criteria": {
  "requirement": {
    "trigger": "minecraft:tick"
  }
}

minecraft:inventory_changed

Fires whenever the player’s inventory is modified. The items array lists item predicates — each object matches by "item" (an exact item ID), "tag" (an item tag), count, durability, NBT, and more.

"criteria": {
  "requirement": {
    "trigger": "minecraft:inventory_changed",
    "conditions": {
      "items": [
        {
          "item": "minecraft:dirt"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

This criterion fires as soon as any dirt appears in the player’s inventory.

In Minecraft 1.18.2 an item predicate uses the singular key "item" with a single item ID string. The "items": [...] array-of-IDs form inside a predicate belongs to Minecraft 1.20.5 and later and will not parse here. To match several different items, list several predicate objects, or use "tag" with an item tag.

Matching an item tag instead of a single item:

"conditions": {
  "items": [
    {
      "tag": "minecraft:stone_tool_materials"
    }
  ]
}

minecraft:player_killed_entity

Fires when the player is the direct cause of an entity’s death. The entity field is an array of condition objects, each with a "condition" type key. The killing_blow field inspects the damage source, including the item held when the kill was made.

"criteria": {
  "back_to_the_roots": {
    "trigger": "minecraft:player_killed_entity",
    "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"
              ]
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

This criterion fires when the player kills an adult zombie while holding rotten flesh in their main hand.

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Complete Example: A Multi-Field Advancement

The following child advancement is granted when the player obtains a Nether Star, and awards 100 experience points on completion.

get_star.json

{
  "display": {
    "icon": {
      "item": "minecraft:nether_star"
    },
    "title": {
      "text": "Star Collector",
      "color": "gold"
    },
    "description": {
      "text": "Obtain a Nether Star."
    },
    "frame": "challenge",
    "show_toast": true,
    "announce_to_chat": true
  },
  "parent": "customadvancements:my_root",
  "criteria": {
    "get_star": {
      "trigger": "minecraft:inventory_changed",
      "conditions": {
        "items": [
          {
            "item": "minecraft:nether_star"
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  },
  "rewards": {
    "experience": 100
  }
}

Save this file as customadvancements/customadvancements/story/get_star.json and run /ca reload. It is registered under the resource location customadvancements:story/get_star.

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Rewards

The optional rewards object grants the player something when the advancement is completed. It sits at the top level of the advancement JSON, alongside criteria and display.

"rewards": {
  "experience": 50,
  "loot": ["minecraft:chests/simple_dungeon"],
  "recipes": ["minecraft:iron_sword"],
  "function": "mymod:on_complete"
}

experience · integer

The number of experience points awarded to the player.

loot · array of strings

A list of loot table resource locations. Each table is rolled and the resulting items are placed directly in the player’s inventory.

"loot": ["minecraft:chests/simple_dungeon"]

recipes · array of strings

A list of recipe resource locations to unlock in the player’s recipe book.

"recipes": ["minecraft:crafting_table"]

function · string

A single function resource location, run as the player when the advancement is granted.

"function": "mynamespace:my_function"

All rewards sub-fields are optional; include only those you need.

In Minecraft 1.18.2 the loot table field is called loot, not loot_tables. Using the wrong key causes the rewards block to fail parsing.

For complete working files, see Examples. For the top-level field reference, see Structure.