A collection of helpful utilities related to the zvcr file format and the Minecraft Anvil file format, in the form of a C++ library and a command line program.

The zvcr CLI accepts parameters in sequence, denoted by a - prefix:
zvcr -flag -arg1=value1 -arg2=value2

Basic parameter syntax:
-parameter=value
-parameter='string value with spaces'
-flag

You can choose from the following modes to do operations on zvcr / mca files, Minecraft worlds, etc.

Some commands require the use of Minecraft registries (-reg='/path/to/registries'), which you can download here. You may also optionally set the ZVCR_CLI_MINECRAFT_REGISTRIES_PATH environment variable to avoid passing in the -reg parameter every time.

In the help page,
optional parameters are denoted with []: [-optional=value],
variadic parameters are denoted with [...]: -parameters=values[...] (example: zvcr -parameters=value1 value2 value3).

• -help: Shows all commands and their usages. Use zvcr -help <command> to see the usage of that command.
• -merge: Merges distinct zvcr directories together, preserving their histories and combining their timelines
• -import: Imports Minecraft anvil (mca) files to zvcr
• -export: Exports zvcr files to Minecraft anvil (mca)
• -level-dat: Creates a level.dat file with custom parameters in a Minecraft world folder

• -merge: Merges distinct zvcr directories together, preserving their histories and combining their timelines
  • -dim={overworld/nether/end}
  • -in='/path/to/input-zvcr-dirs'[...]
  • -out='/path/to/output-zvcr-dir'
  • [-inputs=x.z or min_x.min_z,max_x.max_z[...] (defaults to all region files in the input directories)]
  • [-zstd-level=zstd compression level]
  • [-zstd-threads=zstd compression threads]
  • [-threads=number of threads (defaults to number of threads on this system)]
  • [-backup-existing]

• -import: Imports Minecraft anvil (mca) files to zvcr
  • -dim={overworld/nether/end}
  • -in='/path/to/minecraft-world-folder'[...]
  • -out='/path/to/zvcr-files'
  • [-inputs=x.z or min_x.min_z,max_x.max_z[...] (defaults to all region files in the input directories)]
  • [-override-epoch=a unix timestamp (in seconds, to override the timestamp of all snapshots; defaults to the recorded timestamp of each chunk)]
  • [-zstd-level=zstd compression level]
  • [-zstd-threads=zstd compression threads]
  • [-threads=number of threads (defaults to number of threads on this system)]
  • [-backup-existing]
  • -reg='/path/to/registries' (defaults to value of ZVCR_CLI_MINECRAFT_REGISTRIES_PATH environment variable)

• -export: Exports zvcr files to Minecraft anvil (mca)
  • -dim={overworld/nether/end}
  • -in='/path/to/zvcr-files'[...]
  • -out='/path/to/minecraft-world-folder'
  • [-inputs=x.z or min_x.min_z,max_x.max_z[...] (defaults to all region files in the input directories)]
  • [-epoch=a unix timestamp (in seconds; defaults to current time)]
  • [-threads=number of threads (defaults to number of threads on this system)]
  • -reg='/path/to/registries' (defaults to value of ZVCR_CLI_MINECRAFT_REGISTRIES_PATH environment variable)

• -level-dat: Creates a level.dat file with custom parameters in a Minecraft world folder
  • -path='/path/to/minecraft-world-folder'
  • [-name='name of the world' (defaults to name of the world folder)]
  • [-spawn-dim={overworld/nether/end}]
  • [-spawn-pos=x,y,z] (defaults to 0, 0, 0)
  • -reg='/path/to/registries' (defaults to value of ZVCR_CLI_MINECRAFT_REGISTRIES_PATH environment variable)

Note: Windows is currently not officially supported. It will probably compile, however no guarantees are made on functionality.

This project is written in C++23 and uses CMake.

• Boost Iostreams

git clone https://github.com/2b2tplace/zvcr_utils.git
cd zvcr_utils

# choosing clang in this example. you may choose a different compiler if you need
cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=clang -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=clang++

# executable should appear at ./build/zvcr
cmake --build build --target zvcr_cli --parallel

Add the following to your CMakeLists.txt:

include(FetchContent)

FetchContent_Declare(zvcr_utils
        GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/2b2tplace/zvcr_utils.git
        GIT_TAG main
        GIT_PROGRESS TRUE
        GIT_SHALLOW TRUE
)
FetchContent_MakeAvailable(zvcr_utils)
target_link_libraries(my_project
        PRIVATE zvcr_utils
)