# Scoreboards

> A guide for managing scoreboards in a Minecraft datapack using Kore.

Updated 2026-09-23. Canonical: https://kore.ayfri.com/docs/concepts/scoreboards

Scoreboards track numeric values for players and entities. They're one of the two runtime variable containers in a
datapack (the other being [data storage](https://kore.ayfri.com/docs/concepts/data-storage.md)), and are essential for game mechanics, timers,
and
counters. If you're unsure when to use a scoreboard versus a Kotlin variable,
read [Runtime Logic](https://kore.ayfri.com/docs/concepts/runtime-logic.md)
first. For the full scoreboard command reference, see [Commands](https://kore.ayfri.com/docs/commands/commands.md#scoreboard-command).

You can manage scoreboards with the `scoreboard` command:

```kotlin
scoreboard.objectives.add("my_objective", ScoreboardCriteria.DUMMY)
```

## Creating objectives

You have multiple forms of the `scoreboard` command:

```kotlin
scoreboard {
	objectives {
		add("my_objective", ScoreboardCriteria.DUMMY)
		// this form lets you manage multiple objectives at once
	}
}

scoreboard {
	objective("my_objective") {
		add(ScoreboardCriteria.DUMMY)
		// this form lets you manage a single objective
	}
}
```

## Managing objectives

You can add, remove, set display name, set display slot, set render type of objectives:

```kotlin
scoreboard {
	objective("my_objective") {
		add(ScoreboardCriteria.DUMMY, displayName = textComponent("My Objective", Color.GOLD))
		setDisplaySlot(DisplaySlots.sidebar)
		setRenderType(RenderType.INTEGER)
	}
}
```

## Manage players

You can manage players with the `players` block:

```kotlin
scoreboard {
	players {
		add(allPlayers(), "my_objective", 1)
		remove(self(), "my_objective", 5)
		reset(self(), "my_objective")
		set(self(), "my_objective", 10)

		operation(self(), "my_objective", Operation.ADD, self(), "my_objective")
	}

	player(self()) {
		add("my_objective", 1)
		remove("my_objective", 5)
		reset("my_objective")
		set("my_objective", 10)

		operation("my_objective", Operation.ADD, self(), "my_objective")
	}
}
```

You can also manage an objective for multiple selectors at once:

```kotlin
scoreboard {
	players {
		objective("my_objective") {
			add(self(), 1)
			remove(self(), 5)
			reset(self())
			set(self(), 10)

			operation(self(), Operation.ADD, self(), objective)
		}
	}
}
```

Or also manage an objective for a single selector:

```kotlin
scoreboard {
	player(self()) {
		objective("my_objective") {
			add(1)
			remove(5)
			reset()
			set(10)

			operation(Operation.ADD, self(), objective)
		}
	}
}
```

These methods offer a more readable way to manage objectives, and avoid repetition operations invoking multiple times the same selector/objective.

## Sidebars

To show custom text lines on the right of the screen, like on servers, use the
[Sidebars helper](https://kore.ayfri.com/docs/helpers/sidebars.md) from the `helpers` module.