As the name implies, the replace item command in Minecraft can be used to swap one item with another, though the limits of this command are quite loose, allowing players to replace many things in the environment well outside their own inventory.
This particular Minecraft command is more useful than one might think from a cursory glance. Players can replace their equipped armor and weapons, replace items within chests, swap out items in one's toolbar, and even replace blocks on their character model or on different entities such as villagers or mobs. In Minecraft Bedrock Edition in particular, this command has a slightly different syntax compared to how it would be entered in Java Edition.
Minecraft Bedrock Edition: Entering and using the replace item command
The replace item command can even rename items that are swapped (Image via Mojang)
Since Minecraft Bedrock Edition runs on a different platform than its Java-based counterpart, a different command syntax is often needed when executing any form of chat console commands in-game. The replace item command's syntax and additional information on the command for Bedrock Edition can be found below:
The default command syntax for current versions of Minecraft Bedrock Edition is "/replaceitem block <position> slot.container <slotId> <itemName> [amount] [data] [components]" without quotations. This will replace a block with another item.
Players that wish to replace an entity's held item with a different item will use the command syntax "/replaceitem entity <target> <slotType> <slotId> <itemName> [amount] [data] [components]" once again without quotations.
Position stands for the x/y/z coordinates of the block or entity having its item replaced.
Target denotes a player or target designator (such as @a for all players) that will have their item replaced in a similar way to how the position argument works for blocks.
Slot type determines what kind of slot will replace the item. As an example, Minecraft players can use the type "slot.chest" to replace items within a storage chest.
Slot ID decides what number slot will replace the item. For example, using a number 1-53 will determine which slot number an item is replaced within a chest.
The item name is the designated name of the item in Minecraft that will be used as a replacement item. For example, "minecraft.apple" would replace the existing item with an apple.
Amount is an optional argument, allowing players to place multiples of an item in a stack into one slot.
Data is another optional argument that can place a specific variant of an item as a replacement instead of its default value. For example, Minecraft players could use the data value of 22 to use a variant of an arrow that is enchanted with Instant Healing, while using a value of 18 would instead inflict Slowness. Both items are arrows, but their data values distinguish their variance.
Components is an optional .json argument that isn't likely to be used in most cases of the command. This can be used to change the item's properties from their default values if desired.
There's a large number of different commands that can be made with replace item in Minecraft. Players should find some commands that are helpful for them and keep those written down for easy access.
