“Chunk editor” is a loose label: it covers bulk world-maintenance tools, a 3D world editor, an in-game building mod, a raw data editor and even a renderer. Recommending one “best” tool without asking what job you have would be dishonest, so this page works the other way round — five common jobs, the right tool for each, and a link to the guide or comparison that proves the fit. Two of the five picks are not MCA Selector, and one is not an editor at all.
Prune, reset or delete chunks in bulk → MCA Selector
This is the job the label fits best. MCA Selector shows your Java world as a top-down map and lets you select chunks by hand or by filter query — DataVersion, InhabitedTime, biome, block palette and more — then delete, reset or export them in one pass. It is free and MIT-licensed, runs externally on Windows, macOS and Linux, and adds maintenance extras like region defragmentation and CSV selections. Start with the pruning workflow or the world-size guide if the goal is a smaller, update-ready world.
Edit or convert a Bedrock world → Amulet Editor
MCA Selector cannot open Bedrock worlds — the author has stated Bedrock support is not planned. Amulet Editor can: it edits Java 1.12+ and Bedrock 1.7+ worlds in 3D and converts between versions and editions. Compiled builds cost $10+/year (source builds are an option). Read the Bedrock situation explained first if you are not sure which format your world is in, then the head-to-head comparison.
Build, copy or terraform inside the game → WorldEdit
WorldEdit is a free mod/plugin (GPLv3) that runs inside a live Java world or server: selection tools, copy/paste, fills and terrain brushes, with instant visual feedback. If your “editing” means building, it is the right pick — MCA Selector cannot place a single block visually. The trade-off is scale: WorldEdit works where you stand, while whole-world operations belong to an external tool. See MCA Selector vs WorldEdit for the server workflow split.
Fix player data or a single file → NBTExplorer
A broken player file, a setting inside level.dat, the raw tags of one region file — these are single-file jobs, and NBTExplorer (free, MIT) is the tree editor built for them. It has no map and no bulk selection, and needs neither: you open the file and edit the tags. For the same kind of data across many chunks at once, that is MCA Selector’s NBT Changer instead — the comparison draws the line precisely.
Deep-edit one chunk’s NBT → MCA Selector’s Chunk Editor
The in-between job — one chunk, but all of its data — is already covered inside MCA Selector: select exactly one chunk and the Chunk Editor opens its full region, poi and entities NBT tree for editing, written to disk when you press Apply. It is the one place in MCA Selector where an explicit apply step exists.
Render your world as an image → Chunky
Chunky is included because people keep searching for it among editors — it is a free, GPL-3.0 renderer that path-traces Java worlds into realistic images. It edits nothing. If your end product is a picture of your world rather than a changed world, Chunky is the pick, ideally after a cleanup pass so the render shows the world at its best.
The shortlist
| Your job | Pick | Price / licence |
|---|---|---|
| Prune, reset, delete or export chunks in bulk | MCA Selector | Free / MIT |
| Batch-edit chunk fields (biome, blocks, entities…) | MCA Selector (NBT Changer) | Free / MIT |
| Edit or convert a Bedrock world | Amulet Editor | Compiled builds $10+/year |
| Build or terraform inside the game | WorldEdit | Free / GPLv3 |
| Fix player data, level.dat, single-file NBT | NBTExplorer | Free / MIT |
| Render a world as a realistic image | Chunky | Free / GPL-3.0 |
Whichever tool you pick, back up first: world editors change your save files directly. Close Minecraft (and stop your server, if the world is on one), copy the whole world folder somewhere safe, and only then start editing.
Download MCA Selector 2.9
If MCA Selector is the tool that fits your job, get the current release from the MCA Selector download page — the Windows installer, the cross-platform .jar, the macOS .dmg and the Linux .deb/.rpm, every button pointing at the official GitHub release files with the SHA-256 checksum listed, plus a clearly labelled site mirror as a fallback. It is free and open source under the MIT licence.
One last backup reminder: keep the copy of your world you made before editing until you have loaded the edited world in Minecraft and confirmed it looks right. Deletions and NBT changes in MCA Selector are permanent once applied.
Related guides
The full alternatives overview and the remaining head-to-head: