[REALMS-5539] Unable to change difficulty setting for realm.

as my ticket has been deemed a duplicate of this one,
I also have this issue and will be quick to check for replies.
i have tried changing difficulty while in the realm and while not in the realm (without anyone joined at the time)
I have tried changing difficulty on every device i have and have logged in and out multiple times and have even tried various /commands (my realm has achievements on so /commands don't work anyway I knew this)
I was really hoping that this new 1.16.220 update would fix my issue but it hasn't

migrated 2021-04-07T16:51:42Z

if you are referring to closing my realm as a subscription, I can do that but it will take time to prepare my now 60+ members for emptying their inventories and Ender chests into the world so that they don't lose it when I replace the realm which is almost impossible when some have connection issues and some can go months without reply
so is there any other fix other than literally shuuting the realm down and essentially starting a new one with the save and lose all backups that provide the much needed peace of mind?

8 more comments

[Mod] Umija5895M 2021-04-07T18:32:10Z

"Closing" the realm just temporarily takes it offline (ie, for "maintenance"). This will disconnect any players that are currently online, so you might want to log on first and send a warning so they can save and quit. Some actions on the realm do seem to work better while the Realm is closed. You can then "Reopen" the realm after making changes.

migrated 2021-04-16T18:48:16Z

so the update I have for you is that I am unable to have difficulty changes take effect even when closing the realm and now I cant even download my world for safety through either the download world option or through world back ups both with the realm active and closed so what's the next advice step? all of my 50+ players are anxiously but patiently awaiting mobs since just after the 1.16.210 update

migrated 2021-04-18T09:25:16Z

I have managed to get a world download after the 1.16.221 update but am still unable to change difficulty so will attempt the previous steps again hopefully at midnight tonight I will update you on the outcome.
the only reason I am unable to instantly check is having to give enough warning to other players

migrated 2021-04-21T10:52:44Z

I am having to run my realm as a world 24 hours right now because I still cant fix this issue due to the other bug of not being able to upload realms with the message lack of space/check internet or blank no progress with only the option to wait for the rest of eternity for ultimately nothing to happen or cancel and try again. I specifically just upgraded my home Wi-Fi network to see if the issue was my end or yours and its most certainly an issue in the game not with me internet connection
please fix this issue I cant afford to run hardware 24/7 but have no choice until this is fixed

[Mod] Umija5895M 2021-04-21T11:26:01Z

If you are unable to upload or replace your world on the realm, please see REALMS-474.
If you are unable to download your world, please see REALMS-419.

migrated 2021-04-22T21:33:20Z

still having this issue into the 1.16.221 hotfix

migrated 2021-04-28T11:09:11Z

why is this not being fixed I'm cancelling my subscription so I can wait for it to run out so I can try refreshing it that way but this needs fixing, its bad enough that realm owners don't have the ability to use certain commands to rectify this but not being able to change difficulty at all is making vanilla survival really boring really fast and people are stopping playing as days pass

migrated 2021-05-03T10:31:00Z

basically have the same issue date is 3/5/2021 and this still isn't being fixed or acknowledged

migrated 2021-05-04T21:05:07Z

I have cancelled my subscription.
I now must wait for it to fully expire before trying to reupload my realm to try and fix this I am really unhappy at the lack of support to this issue.
external servers will be my only remaining option and that means my money will be going to someone that is not mojang if its not sorted, not threat, fact. I've heard a lot of people say much of the same thing.

migrated 2021-05-04T22:48:04Z

as a alternate final resort before my subscription is closed I've managed to reupload a previous save, not a new non backup one, but the steps I took to upload the realm backup are as follows and the results are now being stuck from peaceful to normal difficulty but non reversable

1
make a save of your realm by downloading the most recent backup
2
open that save to make sure it works as it should as a world eg it opens for a start
3
reset realm (caution make sure you don't skip steps 1 and 2or you will replace your realm with a brand new random seed)
4
join new reset empty realm to again make sure it all loads in (I did a slow 360 turn on the spot)
5
save and exit and then upload the most recent backup before the reset (it should be clear as the sizes will be different eg min is a 1.4-1.7gb world so easy to spot after 0-0.50mb reset)
the only thing this changed for me is the difficulty was stuck on peaceful and now its stuck on normal so I am not entirely happy about it

migrated 2021-12-18T02:41:51Z

This bug is happening for the 1.18.2 hotfix as well.

migrated 2022-01-13T01:11:34Z

This is still happening as of 12 Jan 2022.

Why isn't this being addressed? When are you going to refund our Realms fees? Your product is inferior.

migrated 2023-04-15T06:20:18Z

Man, I am such a genius sometimes. So it seems that whenever you upload a world from your local to the realms service, there is a glitch that occurs that flips every cheat rule that is set by default to the world (when the "Activate Cheats" setting is off) such as daylight cycle, mob spawning, etc. When you upload a world, even if the world is completely survival for achievements, it will still allow you to unlock them, but the game will have its default 'cheat' settings flipped (from true to false or false to true), I know this because the game was on peaceful and keep inventory was on, even though my cheats were off, but I could still earn trophies, and the only way to go back to normal is to active the cheats to flip the settings back to normal, but removes the achievements from the world. So once this glitch occured, my simple fix was to download the world back on my phone, and simply reupload that same world (with the flipped settings glitch) onto the second world space in the realms to REFLIP the default 'cheat' settings back to normal, and it worked. You will know it worked because everything under the "Activate Cheats" toggle except 'keep inventory' and 'command blocks enabled' should be toggled on. This is a fix for those that don't want to screw their world by turning on cheats and keep them eligible for achievements, but the glitch happens in the upload and possibly in the download process as well (although i've only seen it happen in the upload process) where it flips the default cheat settings for no reason. Note: when you are going to try to reflip the settings back to normal, make sure you have reset the world on the realm slot, because those default settings will transfer to your uploaded world (at least thats what it seems like).

Update: ive done some testing, and it might do the settings flip glitch when its a world being uploaded to a slot in the the realm that DOESNT have a world on it (not even a new world; on the first time upload). The same fix will work if the glitch happened to your world as long as you download the world, then reset the world in the realm before the reupload.