Camera

Camera Block
Renewable	No
Stackable	Yes (64)
Tool	Any tool
Blast resistance	0
Hardness	0
Luminous	0
Transparent	No
Flammable	No
Catches fire; from lava	No

Tripod Camera
Health points	4HP
Behavior	Passive
Hitbox size	Height: 1.8 Blocks; Width: 0.75 blocks
Spawn	See Obtaining

This feature is exclusive to Minecraft Education.

This article describes content that has been officially made unobtainable in Bedrock Edition.

It can still be obtained using third-party software. However, this can cause unexpected behavior such as bugs and crashes.

The camera is an inanimate passive mob^{[note 1]} that is able to capture and store images. In Minecraft Education, it works together with the portfolio item to create collections of photos.^[1]

Obtaining

The camera can be obtained in the Creative inventory in Minecraft Education. It can be obtained by either NBT editors, inventory editors, or glitches in Bedrock Edition.

Usage

Using a camera from one's inventory captures a first-person screenshot. It may also be placed, creating a camera entity that can track the user, and take pictures from the camera's perspective. Photos that are taken with the camera appear in the portfolio.

Close-up snapshots of an item on the ground can be taken by holding the Shift key while right-clicking.

Screenshots from camera can be inserted into book and quill.^[1]

Photos that are taken with the camera block are stored in com.mojang/screenshots.

Behavior

Cameras are mostly inanimate entities, but they occasionally move when falling and they move at the player's direction when they take a picture.

Cameras are classified as mobs in the game code, they obey gravity, allowing them to fall and having effects common to all other entities. Cameras can be affected by status effects. They can be killed by Harming and Decay splash/lingering potions, and they play the player death sound and fall to their side and disappear, dropping no item. Cameras can't be leashed but they can ride on boats and minecarts.

Cameras are harmed by fire, lava, and campfire damage but they never die from it. Cameras can be destroyed by any projectile used by the player, such as arrows, tridents, or snowballs. Cameras never drown and are invulnerable to the void, cacti, falling blocks, to explosions or by firework rockets.

Wardens, withers, zoglins, goats, and vindicators named Johnny attack cameras, but the camera remains undamaged; pufferfish also inflate when a camera is nearby. Foxes don't sleep near cameras as well.

Sounds

Generic

v t e `normal` sound type
Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Blocks	Once the block has broken	`dig.stone`	1.0	0.8-1.0
	Blocks	When the block is placed	`dig.stone`	1.0	0.8-1.0
	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	`hit.stone`	0.27 ^{[sound 1]}	0.5
	Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	`fall.stone`	0.4	1.0
	Players	Walking on the block	`step.stone`	0.3	1.0
	Blocks	Jumping from the block	`jump.stone`	0.12	1.0
	Blocks	Falling on the block without fall damage	`land.stone`	0.22	1.0

↑ MCPE-169612 — Many blocks make slightly different sounds to stone

Unique

Sounds
Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Players	When a picture is taken with a camera	`camera.take_picture`	1.0	1.0
	Players	When a camera dies	`game.player.die`	1.0	0.8-1.2

Data values

ID

Camera	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Item ID^{[i 1]}	Translation key
Block	`camera`	`242`	Block & Ungiveable Item^{[i 2]}	`item.camera`	`tile.camera.name`
Item	`camera`	`593`	Item	—	`item.camera.name`

↑ ID of block's direct item form, which is used in savegame files and addons.
↑ Unavailable with /give command

Camera	Identifier	Numeric ID	Translation key
Entity	`tripod_camera`	`62`	`entity.tripod_camera.name`

Entity data

See Bedrock Edition level format/Entity format.

Video

History

Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.1.0		The textures and model of the camera can be found in the game files.^[2]^[3]
v0.1.0		Two Java methods named `saveScreenshot` and `postScreenshotToFacebook` exist for saving images to the device and to Facebook respectively, though only the former contains code.
v0.2.0		Added cameras.
		Changed item and tripod textures.
		To use a camera, equip it in the player's hand, then look in the direction the player wants the picture to be taken. Long-press the screen, and a camera drops to the ground where the player are standing. Step back, then press on the camera until it starts emitting smoke particles. The smoke means a picture has been taken, and the camera may disappear immediately afterward.
		Cameras have infinite uses.
		The entity ID is 62 and item 456.^[4]
v0.4.0		The camera is now invisible and makes the standard player damage sound.
v0.7.0		Added the ability to hide the GUI, which has now made the camera obsolete.
v0.8.0	build 2	The camera now uses an egg texture in the inventory.
v0.9.0	build 1	The camera entity has been removed. Tommaso also stated: "It doesn't mean that it's dead forever, in fact I have a lot of ideas for it! I think it will be back when have shaders, sharing and redstone."^[5]
v0.14.0	build 1	The camera entity has been re-added with a new model and item texture.
v0.14.0	build 1	Cameras summon lightning if a player loads a world with one.
v0.14.2		The camera item ID has been changed to 498, but it cannot be used at the moment. The entity can now be spawned with a spawn egg with a damage value of 62.
v0.14.2		According to the language files of the game, the empty label that shows up whenever hovering a finger to a camera would now say "Take Picture". However, the button doesn't do anything.
v0.15.0	build 1	The previous empty label on the camera mentioned above now displays the words "Take Picture". It still doesn't do anything.
		The health of the camera entity is now 2HP instead 4HP.
		The camera no longer summons lightning.
v0.16.0	build 1	The camera now appears as a block in the inventory. It can also be placed as a block using commands.
		The "Take Picture" button now appears to function properly, but no image files are created.
		The changes to the camera were likely accidental due to Pocket Edition sharing the same codebase as Education Edition.
	build 2	The camera block form is no longer obtainable.
	build 4	The camera's item form has been removed, and the camera can no longer be obtained or placed using any command.
Bedrock Edition
1.8.0	beta 1.8.0.8	The camera has been reimplemented.
1.8.0	beta 1.8.0.8	The camera entity can now be spawned with a spawn egg with damage value 258.
1.12.0	beta 1.12.0.2	The camera can now be obtained with the `/give` command.
1.13.0	beta 1.13.0.1	The camera can no longer be obtained with the `/give` command.
		Functionality has been added to the camera. Screenshots that are taken by the camera can now be saved into the `screenshots` folder.
		Cameras are now a part of the Minecraft Education toggle as a hidden feature.
		Cameras no longer have a death animation when killed by the player and instead, instantly emit smoke particles.
1.16.100	beta 1.16.100.50	The camera can now be obtained with the `/give` command once again.
1.16.100	beta 1.16.100.55	The camera can no longer be obtained with the `/give` command.
Minecraft Education
1.0		Added cameras.
1.4.0		Cameras no longer have a death animation when killed by the player manually and instead instantly emit smoke particles.

A row of cameras, as seen in v0.3.0.
Example image taken by the camera entity.
The first method of using cameras.
The second method of using cameras.
A camera spawned using a spawn egg named "Dinnerbone" in the v0.15.0 beta.
A camera falling from a tree.

Future

At the Minecraft Pocket Edition panel at MINECON 2012, as well as one of Jbernhardsson's livestreams, it was stated that future plans include trying to have a proper use for cameras, perhaps an easier way to take screenshots and share them with others.^[6] In the BlockTalk Q&A, the camera was briefly mentioned as part of a broader "sharing" theme planned for Bedrock Edition in the future.^[7] It later got implemented into Minecraft Education, using the camera to make screenshots and share them in a special book.

Issues

Issues relating to "Camera" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

Trivia

A camera prevents a book and quill from working. Attempting to craft it or obtain it by commands gives a regular book instead, due to non-implementation of photo attaching to written books.^[verify]
The camera can take a screenshot, which appears a bit smaller with a thick paper outline having cuts on its edges, making it look like an old photograph.

Gallery

Renders

A recreation of a potential camera animation, using an unused texture from Pi Edition.

Screenshots

A camera spawned with the name "Dinnerbone"
A camera being damaged by lava.
A camera sitting in a minecart.
A camera with slow falling effect.
A vindicator named Johnny attacking a camera.
A camera alongside a NPC and a agent in a tutorial world.
The camera and camera block placed in a world along with other Education Edition features.
An example of the screenshot taken by a camera in beta 1.13.0.1.
Steve, Alex, Jesse, and an Agent getting their picture taken.
Another example of a screenshot taken by a camera in 1.21.51.

In other media

The camera in promotional artwork for Minecraft Education.

Notes

↑ Belongs to the mob entity family in the game's code.

References

External links

Learn to Play: The Camera – Minecraft.net on August 22, 2018

Navigation

[3] MCPE-169612 — Many blocks make slightly different sounds to stone

[bedrock-item-id-4] ID of block's direct item form, which is used in savegame files and addons.

[bedrock-no-give-5] Unavailable with /give command

[mob-family-1] Belongs to the mob entity family in the game's code.

[screenshot-edu-2] ttps://aka.ms/MEEBookAndQuill

[found-6] Reddit - Found image file for camera in Minecraft Portable Edition Demo APK file.

[7] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20160604161800/https://twitter.com/Kappische/status/103548954368679936

[8] ttps://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/1233138-i-found-the-camera-id/

[9] ttps://reddit.com/r/MCPE/comments/281sep/camera/ci6znr8?context=1

[10] ttps://youtube.com/watch?v=YMhyX_lKWV4

[11] ttps://youtube.com/watch?v=Ruf6tvqsD84

[note 1]

[1]

[sound 1]

[i 1]

[i 2]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]