Disabling Particles in Resource and Behavior Packs

When the game or an add-on tries to spawn a particle, it passes a string identifier—such as "minecraft:villager_happy" or "minecraft:mob_spell_ambient"—to the client particle engine. The resource pack stack is then searched from top to bottom for a particle JSON file whose internal "identifier" matches that string.

Unlike textures, which rely on file paths, particles are matched entirely by the "identifier" field inside the JSON file's "description" block. The actual filename inside the "RP/particles/" folder does not matter to the engine, though keeping the vanilla filename makes your pack much easier to maintain. Because the top resource pack wins whenever two files declare the same identifier, you can disable almost any data-driven vanilla particle by overriding its identifier with an inert definition.

If you simply delete a particle file or leave the "components" object completely empty, the Content Log will throw warnings and the emitter may stay alive in memory doing nothing. The cleanest way to silence a particle globally in a resource pack is to give it a valid, minimal component set that spawns zero particles and expires immediately.

In the example below, "minecraft:heart_particle" is overridden. The "minecraft:emitter_lifetime_once" component sets the active time to zero seconds, "minecraft:emitter_rate_instant" requests zero particles, and "minecraft:particle_appearance_billboard" sets the quad size to zero as a fallback. The texture points to a standard atlas so the engine does not complain about a missing texture resource.

{
  "format_version": "1.10.0",
  "particle_effect": {
    "description": {
      "identifier": "minecraft:heart_particle",
      "basic_render_parameters": {
        "material": "particles_alpha",
        "texture": "textures/particle/particles"
      }
    },
    "components": {
      "minecraft:emitter_lifetime_once": {
        "active_time": 0
      },
      "minecraft:emitter_rate_instant": {
        "num_particles": 0
      },
      "minecraft:particle_lifetime_expression": {
        "max_lifetime": 0
      },
      "minecraft:particle_appearance_billboard": {
        "size": [0, 0],
        "facing_camera_mode": "rotate_xyz"
      }
    }
  }
}

Overriding a particle file disables that effect everywhere in the world. If you only want to stop a particle on one specific mob—for example, removing the portal particles from your custom Enderman variant without breaking the actual Nether Portal block—you should edit the entity's client definition instead of the particle file.

In a client entity file ("RP/entity/"), particles are mapped under "description.particle_effects" using a short alias. Animations and animation controllers trigger the particle by referencing that alias, not the full identifier. If you point that alias to a custom blank particle—or remove the "particle_effects" block from the animation itself—only that entity stops emitting the particle.

Be aware that if a vanilla animation controller still tries to call a short alias that you deleted from "description.particle_effects", the Content Log will report a missing particle effect error every time the animation plays. Mapping the existing alias to a silent custom particle avoids those errors without forcing you to rewrite the vanilla animation controller.

{
  "format_version": "1.10.0",
  "minecraft:client_entity": {
    "description": {
      "identifier": "my_pack:silent_enderman",
      "materials": {
        "default": "enderman"
      },
      "textures": {
        "default": "textures/entity/enderman/enderman"
      },
      "geometry": {
        "default": "geometry.enderman.v1.8"
      },
      "particle_effects": {
        "teleport": "my_pack:empty_particle"
      },
      "render_controllers": [
        "controller.render.enderman"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Sometimes you want a custom particle to turn off dynamically based on game state rather than disappearing permanently. Particle emitters support Molang expressions inside their lifetime and rate components, allowing the emitter to check variables or entity queries before spawning anything.

The "minecraft:emitter_lifetime_expression" component takes an "activation_expression" and an "expiration_expression". When "activation_expression" evaluates to 0 (false), the emitter remains dormant and spawns no particles. When "expiration_expression" evaluates to non-zero (true), an active emitter immediately shuts down. Note that entity queries inside a particle file only work when the particle is attached to an entity, such as when it is spawned from an entity animation; world-positioned particles spawned via the "/particle" command do not have an owning entity context.

{
  "format_version": "1.10.0",
  "particle_effect": {
    "description": {
      "identifier": "my_pack:conditional_smoke",
      "basic_render_parameters": {
        "material": "particles_alpha",
        "texture": "textures/particle/particles"
      }
    },
    "components": {
      "minecraft:emitter_lifetime_expression": {
        "activation_expression": "!query.is_in_water",
        "expiration_expression": "query.is_in_water"
      },
      "minecraft:emitter_rate_steady": {
        "spawn_rate": 10,
        "max_particles": 50
      },
      "minecraft:particle_lifetime_expression": {
        "max_lifetime": 1.5
      },
      "minecraft:particle_appearance_billboard": {
        "size": [0.2, 0.2],
        "facing_camera_mode": "rotate_xyz"
      }
    }
  }
}

One of the most common reasons creators look up particle removal is to get rid of the colored swirl particles produced by potion effects like Invisibility, Speed, or Strength. You do not need a resource pack override for this if you are applying the effect yourself through commands, functions, or scripts.

The "/effect" command accepts an optional boolean parameter at the end called "hideParticles". Setting this to "true" suppresses the ambient mob spell swirls for the duration of that effect application. In the Script API, the "addEffect" method on an Entity takes an "EntityEffectOptions" object, which includes a "showParticles" boolean property that you can set to "false".

effect @s invisibility 60 0 true
effect @s speed 60 1 true

Not every visual effect that looks like a particle in Bedrock is controlled by a JSON file in "RP/particles/". A handful of older effects—most notably block breaking fragments, sprint dust at an entity's feet, and certain weather splashes—are generated directly by the C++ engine or pulled straight from "textures/particle/particles.png" using hardcoded UV coordinates.

If a particle does not have a corresponding JSON definition in the vanilla resource pack's "particles" directory, you cannot disable it with a JSON override. Trying to erase those pixels inside "textures/particle/particles.png" will hide the hardcoded effect, but it will also break every other vanilla particle that shares that same sprite sheet.

Applies to Minecraft Bedrock 1.10.0 and all later versions, including 1.20 and 1.21. No experimental toggles are required for particle overrides, client entity particle mappings, or the /effect command.

Read out of the game itself, so the ids match the version you are building for.