Updated 25 October 2026. Facts on this page come from minecraft.wiki, community sites named in the text and the live Artemis PvP server; sources are listed at the bottom.
WarGear and Cannon Fighting Communities
WarGear is a Minecraft cannon-fighting format: teams build fighting machines in Creative, copy them into an arena and battle them in Survival. Machine size is limited and some tricks, like dispensers and duplication bugs, are banned. Most cannon names on minecraft.wiki come from the WarGear community.
How does WarGear work?
minecraft.wiki's TNT cannon guide explains that cannon-PvP communities add limits to keep fights fun, most often on blocks with high blast resistance. In WarGear and Slime Block Robot Battles (SBRT), machines are built in Creative and copied into an arena where the fight happens in Survival. Their size is limited, dispensers and some entities are banned, and WarGear also bans duplication bugs. SBRT requires the whole machine to be movable.
How is it different from factions cannoning?
| WarGear | Factions | |
|---|---|---|
| Where built | Creative, then copied into an arena | In Survival (may be designed in Creative) |
| Dispensers | Banned | Allowed |
| Water shielding | Not stated | Allowed |
| Win condition | Tech-KO is one (the enemy has no working cannons) | Server-defined (raids, faction points) |
minecraft.wiki says these different limits are why cannons became so varied.
Why does it matter to factions players?
minecraft.wiki's cannon articles use WarGear's naming as their base, so words like booster, injector, tunneler, mortar and shotgun come from that scene. Learning them makes cannon guides much easier to follow; see cannon terminology and the glossary. Win conditions there include 'Tech-KO' (the enemy has no working cannons), which is why anti-Tech-KO cannons exist; see special-purpose cannons.
Why do cannon fights need rules at all?
Without limits, the side with the toughest blocks or the most duplicated TNT simply wins. minecraft.wiki notes that limits on blocks with high blast resistance are the most common rule, and its cannon armour tutorial adds that blocks with a blast resistance above 10 that cannot be moved are usually banned or weakened in fights, because shooting at something without making progress is boring. Rules like these push builders toward clever cannons, shields and formations instead.
Where is WarGear played?
SteamWar is one server built for it: its site lists WarGear, MiniWarGear, WarShip, AirShip and other modes, gives every player their own build server, and lists versions 1.12 to 1.21. See cannoning communities.
Frequently asked questions
What is WarGear in Minecraft?
A cannon-fighting format where machines are built in Creative and fought in an arena, with size and block limits.
What does Tech-KO mean?
A WarGear win condition where the enemy has no working cannons left.
Sources
Every fact on this page was checked against these pages; the wording is ours.