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What Server API does

Understand what BDEngine Server API provides and what your integration must handle, including quick commands and alternative sources of export data.

What the API provides

Server API returns a model or animation published from BDEngine through Export to Minecraft Server. The editor assigns the export a six-digit ID, which you use in an HTTP request.

The ID is available for 10 minutes from publication. The response contains a content object with the exported data and the Minecraft version selected in the editor.

Where responsibility lies

BDEngine:

  • Prepares the export from the project and assigns its ID.
  • Returns the JSON and substitutes the requested tag into export strings.
  • Documents the data format and its limitations.

Your integration:

  • Retrieves and, if needed, stores the response.
  • Decides where and when to use the model.
  • Creates entities and executes commands.
  • Handles animation and sound timing, events, and the model’s lifecycle.

There is no official BDEngine server plugin. You can develop your own integration using the data contract.

How this differs from other BDEngine features

A data pack export includes files and runtime functions for Minecraft. A Server API response is a data structure for your integration. Even type: "full" does not mean that the response includes every data pack file or can play animations on its own. See Export support and limitations.

Editor plugins run inside BDEngine and use editorAPI. Server API is an HTTP interface for systems outside the editor. These are separate interfaces with different responsibilities.

Export IDs and quick commands

After publication, the editor displays both the ID and a ready-to-copy quick command, such as /bde spawn 123456.

The default command prefix is bde spawn. You can change it in the export dialog to match your own server plugin; the editor appends the export ID. This is a convenience for copying a command, not an HTTP API method or a built-in Minecraft command.

See Server export and quick commands for the editor workflow. To retrieve data directly, continue with Your first request and JSON response.

Other ways to obtain the same export format

Local JSON exports and the plugin method return the export object directly, without the HTTP response’s content wrapper. They retain the [BDESERVERTAG] placeholder. Server API replaces that placeholder using the request’s tag parameter.

A .bdengine file is an editable project, not this export format. See JSON structure for the response structure and the differences between export sources.