---

name: nbt description: Use the nbt! macro from mc_protocol for creating NBT (Named Binary Tag) data for Minecraft protocol encoding.

NBT Encoding Skill

Use the nbt! macro from mc_protocol for creating NBT data.

When to Use

Use this skill when you need to:

• Encode NBT data for Minecraft packets
• Create text components for chat, action bar, titles
• Build compound NBT structures

Basic Usage

Copyuse mc_protocol::nbt;

// Simple compound
let compound = nbt! {
    "text" => "Hello",
    "count" => 42i32,
    "flag" => true,
};

// Convert to network bytes
let bytes = compound.to_network_bytes();

Nested Compounds

Copyuse mc_protocol::nbt;

let nested = nbt! {
    "outer" => nbt! {
        "inner" => 123i32,
    },
};

Supported Types

• i8 - Byte
• i16 - Short
• i32 - Int
• i64 - Long
• f32 - Float
• f64 - Double
• &str / String - String
• bool - Byte (0 or 1)
• NbtCompound - Nested compound
• NbtList - List of same-type elements

Text Components (Chat/Action Bar)

For Minecraft text components (used in chat, action bar, titles):

Copyuse mc_protocol::nbt;

// Simple text
let text_component = nbt! {
    "text" => "Hello World",
};

// With color
let colored = nbt! {
    "text" => "Red text",
    "color" => "red",
};

Best Practices

1. Always use the nbt! macro instead of manual byte manipulation
2. Use explicit type suffixes (42i32, 1.0f32) for numeric literals
3. Use to_network_bytes() for protocol encoding (adds type tag, no root name)