How to Use the /give Command
The /givecommand spawns any item straight into a player's inventory. Master the four parts, target, item, count, and components, and you can hand out a stack of diamonds or a fully enchanted, custom-named sword in one line.
Every /give follows the shape /give <target> <item>[components] [count]. The target is a selector (@p@s@a@r) or a player name. The item is a namespaced ID like diamond or diamond_sword. The count is optional and defaults to 1, with a hard cap of 6400. On 1.20.5 and later, square-bracket components replaced the old NBT tags, use custom_nameenchantmentsloreand damage to build precise items. A successful run echoes Gave 64 [Diamond] to Steve in the console.
Quick answers
+What is the exact syntax of /give?
+Why do I get 'Unknown or incomplete command'?
+How do I give an enchanted item?
+Can I give more than 64 of something?
+How do I name an item with /give?
+Does /give work on a multiplayer server?
/give at a glance
Syntax
/give <targets> <item> [<count>]Who may run it
What it does
Three things /give is actually used for
/give @s minecraft:diamond_pickaxe/give @p minecraft:oak_planks 64/give @a minecraft:cooked_beef 16/give sits with the player commands in Minecraft, 12 of them in total. The ones with a guide here: /effect, /enchant, /experience, /gamemode, /teleport, /tp, /xp.
Every command with its full argument list lives in the command reference.
Blocks and items in this guide
Oak Planks
Diamond
String
TargetAll 4 of these are named in the guide above, starting with Oak Planks. Look them up in the item database.