How to Fix 'Ticking Entity' Crashes on Your Minecraft Server

Identify and remove the corrupted entity causing repeated 'Ticking entity' crashes on your Minecraft Java server, using kill commands or MCA Selector.

A "Ticking entity" crash means a specific entity in your world (a mob, item, projectile, or even a vehicle) became corrupted, and every time the server tries to process it, it crashes. The server will crash on every restart at the same point until you delete or repair the entity.

The good news: the crash report tells you exactly which entity and exactly where it is.

Quick Diagnosis from the Crash Report

Open your latest crash report (crash-reports/ folder) and find the Entity being ticked section:

-- Entity being ticked --
Details:
    Entity Type: minecraft:zombie (net.minecraft.world.entity.monster.Zombie)
    Entity ID: 12345
    Entity Name: Zombie
    Entity's Block location: World: (123, 65, -456), ...
    Entity's Momentum: ...
    Entity's Passengers: []

You now know:

Entity type: minecraft:zombie
Coordinates: 123, 65, -456
Chunk: divide x and z by 16 → chunk (7, -29)

Choose Your Fix Method

Method	When to use	Difficulty
Kill command	Server stays up for a few seconds before crashing	Easy
MCA Selector	Server crashes immediately on world load	Medium
NBTExplorer	You want surgical entity removal without losing the chunk	Hard
Restore backup	You don't care about anything since the corruption	Easy

Method 1: Kill Command (Fastest)

If the server runs for a few seconds before crashing, you can race the crash and kill the entity.

Get the entity type and coordinates from the crash report

From the example: minecraft:zombie at (123, 65, -456).

Start the server and immediately run

In Console in the XGamingServer Panel, as soon as the server is up:

kill @e[type=minecraft:zombie,x=123,y=65,z=-456,distance=..10]

Adjust type, x, y, z to match your crash report. The distance=..10 clause kills any zombie within 10 blocks of that point.

If it works, the server stays up

The crash should stop. If the entity respawns from a spawner or mod, you may need to also break the spawner or remove the chunk (Method 2).

Tip: Have the kill command ready to paste before starting the server. You usually have 5–15 seconds before the crash hits.

Method 2: MCA Selector (Server Crashes Instantly)

If the server crashes before you can run any commands, edit the world offline.

Stop the server

In the panel, stop the server.

Download the world

Click Files, right-click world/ (and world_nether/ / world_the_end/ if relevant), Compress to zip, and download. See Download World.

Open MCA Selector

Download MCA Selector. Open the world folder.

Convert coordinates to chunk coordinates

Divide block coordinates by 16:

Block 123, -456 → Chunk 7, -29

In MCA Selector, hold Shift and click the chunk at (7, -29) to select it.

Delete the chunk

Selection → Delete chunks. Confirm. The chunk and everything in it (including the corrupted entity) is removed. Minecraft will regenerate it next time someone visits.

Re-upload the world

Compress the edited world/ folder, upload it to the panel, and start the server.

Trade-off: Deleting a chunk removes everything in it — terrain, blocks, builds, items. If players have builds in that chunk, use Method 3 instead.

Method 3: NBTExplorer (Surgical Entity Delete)

For removing a single entity without losing the chunk:

Download the world (as above)
Open the region/ folder in NBTExplorer
Open the .mca region file containing your chunk
Navigate to Chunk → Level → Entities
Find and delete the entry matching your entity
Save and re-upload

This preserves all blocks and other entities in the chunk — only the corrupted one is removed.

Method 4: Restore from Backup

If you don't mind losing recent changes:

Open Backups in the panel
Restore the most recent backup from before the corruption started
Start the server

If a Mod Entity Is Crashing

The crash report sometimes names a mod entity:

Entity Type: somemod:weird_creature

In this case:

Update the mod — corruption is often a known bug fixed in a newer version
Check the mod's GitHub Issues — search for the exact Caused by: message
Remove the mod if no fix exists
Then delete the entity using one of the methods above

Removing the mod alone won't fix it — the corrupted entity is still in your world data and will crash the server when its chunk loads.

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Deleting `world/` to fix it	You lose everything. Use MCA Selector or NBTExplorer instead
Killing the wrong entity type	Match the crash report exactly — `minecraft:zombie` ≠ `minecraft:zombie_villager`
Wrong coordinates in the kill command	Re-check the crash report's `Entity's Block location`
Not stopping mods that respawn the entity	Remove the spawner / mod first, then delete the entity
Forgetting Nether/End	If the crash is in the Nether, edit `world_nether/region/`, not `world/region/`

How to Fix 'Ticking Entity' Crashes on Your Minecraft Server

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