[MC-80856] Command syntax inconsistencies

I don't know if this is a valid report, but I hope so. Else I am pretty much fine with it, if you say it "Invalid" as long as your explanation would be this is a suggestion.

Notes:

This does not include the required changes from ~~MC-69822~~
This does not include "sub commands" like for example /scoreboard players ...
See this crowdin discussion (German)

It seems like the command syntax suggestions are inconsistent or irritating.

Considering:

<arg> = argument
text = literal
[] = optional
- [<arg>] = optional argument
- [<arg1> <arg2>] = optional arguments, either both have to be provided or both have to be omitted
- [text] = optional literal
| as or
- text1|text2 = either text1 or text2 has to be provided literal

Note: This implies that arguments never use one of these characters

General

achievement

/achievement <give|take> <stat_name|*> [player]
/achievement give|take <stat name>|* [<player>]

Note: The underscore is not needed as it doesn't exactly uses an argument called "stat_name". However something like <stat or achievement> would make more sense as the /achievement command was mainly made to interact with achievements (I guess, see also ~~MC-80826~~)

ban

/ban <name> [reason ...]
/ban <name> [<reason ...>]

ban-ip

/ban-ip <address|name> [reason ...]
/ban-ip <address|name> [<reason ...>]

clear

/clear [player] [item] [data] [maxCount] [dataTag]
/clear [<player>] [<item>] [<data>] [<maxCount>] [<dataTag>]

clone

/clone <x1> <y1> <z1> <x2> <y2> <z2> <x> <y> <z> [maskMode] [cloneMode]
/clone <x1> <y1> <z1> <x2> <y2> <z2> <x> <y> <z> [<maskMode>] [<cloneMode>]

debug

/debug <start|stop>
/debug start|stop

effect

/effect <player> <effect> [seconds] [amplifier] [hideParticles] OR /effect <player> clear
/effect <player> <effect> [<seconds>] [<amplifier>] [<hideParticles>] OR /effect <player> clear

enchant

/enchant <player> <enchantment ID> [level]
/enchant <player> <enchantment ID> [<level>]

fill (See also MC-80823)

/fill <x1> <y1> <z1> <x2> <y2> <z2> <TileName> [dataValue] [oldBlockHandling] [dataTag]
/fill <x1> <y1> <z1> <x2> <y2> <z2> <TileName> [<dataValue>] [<oldBlockHandling>] [<dataTag>]

gamemode

/gamemode <mode> [player]
/gamemode <mode> [<player>]

gamerule

/gamerule <rule name> [<value>]

give

/give <player> <item> [amount] [data] [dataTag]
/give <player> <item> [<amount>] [<data>] [<dataTag>]

help

/help [page|command name]
/help [<page>|<command name>]

kick

/kick <player> [reason ...]
/kick <player> [<reason ...>]

kill

/kill [player|entity]
/kill [<player|entity>]

particle

/particle <name> <x> <y> <z> <xd> <yd> <zd> <speed> [count] [mode]
/particle <name> <x> <y> <z> <xd> <yd> <zd> <speed> [<count>] [<mode>]

Note: I assume the "d" means delta (or difference), however then it is inconsistent with the arguments dx, dy and dz from selectors

playsound

/playsound <sound> <source> <player> [x] [y] [z] [volume] [pitch] [minimumVolume]
/playsound <sound> <source> <player> [<x>] [<y>] [<z>] [<volume>] [<pitch>] [<minimumVolume>]

recipe

/recipe <give|take> [player] <name|*>
/recipe give|take <player> <name>|*

replaceitem

/replaceitem <entity|block> ...
/replaceitem entity|block ...

scoreboard

/scoreboard <objectives|players|teams> ...
/scoreboard objectives|players|teams ...

setblock

/setblock <x> <y> <z> <TileName> [dataValue] [oldBlockHandling] [dataTag]
/setblock <x> <y> <z> <TileName> [<dataValue>] [<oldBlockHandling>] [<dataTag>]

spawnpoint

/spawnpoint [player] [<x> <y> <z>]
/spawnpoint [<player>] [<x> <y> <z>]

stats

/stats <entity|block> ...
/stats entity|block ...

summon

/summon <EntityName> [x] [y] [z] [dataTag]
/summon <EntityName> [<x> <y> <z>] [<dataTag>]

Note: For summon the current help is anyways incorrect as you cannot set only one coordinate, or at least it will have no impact on where the entity gets spawned

testfor

/testfor <player> [dataTag]
/testfor <player> [<dataTag>]

testforblock

/testforblock <x> <y> <z> <TileName> [dataValue] [dataTag]
/testforblock <x> <y> <z> <TileName> [<dataValue>] [<dataTag>]

testforblocks

/testforblocks <x1> <y1> <z1> <x2> <y2> <z2> <x> <y> <z> [mode]
/testforblocks <x1> <y1> <z1> <x2> <y2> <z2> <x> <y> <z> [<mode>]

time

/time <set|add|query> <value>
/time set|add|query <value>

title

/title <player> <title|subtitle|clear|reset|times> ...
/title <player> title|subtitle|clear|reset|times ...

tp

/tp [target player] <destination player> OR /tp [target player] <x> <y> <z> [<y-rot> <x-rot>]
/tp [<target player>] <destination player> OR /tp [<target player>] <x> <y> <z> [<y-rot> <x-rot>]

trigger

/trigger <objective> <add|set> <value>
/trigger <objective> add|set <value>

weather

/weather <clear|rain|thunder> [duration in seconds]
/weather clear|rain|thunder [<duration in seconds>]

worldborder

/worldborder <set|center|damage|warning|get|add> ...
/worldborder set|center|damage|warning|get|add ...

xp

/xp <amount> [player] OR /xp <amount>L [player]
/xp <amount> [<player>] OR /xp <amount>L [<player>]

spreadplayers

/spreadplayers <x> <z> <spreadDistance> <maxRange> <respectTeams true|false> <player ...>

<respectTeams true|false> would mean either respectTeams true or false as value. That is not correct. Maybe something like this would make more sense:

/spreadplayers <x> <z> <spreadDistance> <maxRange> <respectTeams> <player ...>

See for example effect as there hideParticles is an argument as well

Proof for the inconsistency

For example the /execute command has this syntax:

/execute <entity> <x> <y> <z> detect <x> <y> <z> <block> <data> <command>

According to all the other commands it should look like this instead:

/execute <entity> <x> <y> <z> <detect> <x> <y> <z> <block> <data> <command>

~~Another example is the /achievement command:~~

/achievement <give|take> <stat_name|*> [player]

~~This would imply that the second argument is either stat_name or * which is not correct. It is a stat name or "*"~~

Command syntax inconsistencies