diff --git a/src/dat/nbt.c b/src/dat/nbt.c
index 95773b9..db52bca 100644
--- a/src/dat/nbt.c
+++ b/src/dat/nbt.c
@@ -33,7 +33,44 @@ int nbt_primsize(u8 tag) {
 	}
 }
 
-size_t nbt_tagdatlen(const u8 *restrict buf) {
+const u8 *nbt_nextcompound(const u8 *restrict cdat) {
+	return NULL;
+}
+
+const u8 *nbt_nextlist(const u8 *restrict ldat) {
+	const u8 *ptr = ldat + 5;
+	i32 len = be32toh(*(u32 *)(ldat + 1));
+
+	switch (*ldat) {
+	case NBT_I8:
+	case NBT_I16:
+	case NBT_I32:
+	case NBT_I64:
+	case NBT_F32:
+	case NBT_F64:
+		return ptr + nbt_primsize(*ldat) * len;
+
+	// loop for each compound, whilst `ptr` isn't `NULL`
+	case NBT_COMPOUND: {
+		for (u32 i = 0; i < (u32)len && ptr; i++) {
+			ptr = nbt_nextcompound(ptr);
+		}
+		return ptr;
+	}
+
+	// TODO: implement list/array/string handling
+	case NBT_STR:
+	case NBT_ARR_I8:
+	case NBT_ARR_I32:
+	case NBT_ARR_I64:
+	case NBT_LIST:
+	default:
+		return NULL;
+	}
+}
+
+const u8 *nbt_nexttag(const u8 *restrict buf, u16 naml) {
+	const u8 *ptr = buf + naml + 3;
 	size_t mems = 0;
 
 	switch (*buf) {
@@ -43,29 +80,19 @@ size_t nbt_tagdatlen(const u8 *restrict buf) {
 	case NBT_F32:
 	case NBT_I64:
 	case NBT_F64:
-		mems = nbt_primsize(*buf);
-		return -(mems >= 0) & mems;
+		return ptr + nbt_primsize(*buf);
 
 	case NBT_ARR_I64: mems += sizeof(i64) - sizeof(i32); __attribute__((fallthrough));
 	case NBT_ARR_I32: mems += sizeof(i32) - sizeof(i8); __attribute__((fallthrough));
-	case NBT_ARR_I8:  return ++mems * (i32)be32toh(*(u32 *)(buf)) + 4;
+	case NBT_ARR_I8:  return ptr + ++mems * (i32)be32toh(*(u32 *)(ptr)) + 4;
 
-	case NBT_STR: return be16toh(*(u16 *)buf) + 2;
+	case NBT_STR:  return ptr + be16toh(*(u16 *)(ptr)) + 2;
+	case NBT_LIST: return nbt_nextlist(ptr);
 
-	case NBT_LIST:
-		mems = nbt_primsize(*buf);
-		if (mems > 0) return mems * (i32)be32toh(*(u32 *)(buf + 1)) + 5;
-		return 0;
-	default: return 0;
+	default: return NULL;
 	}
 }
 
-const u8 *nbt_nexttag(const u8 *restrict buf, u16 naml) {
-	size_t len = nbt_tagdatlen(buf);
-	if (!len) return NULL; // TODO: compound tags should be handled here
-	return buf + naml + len + 3;
-}
-
 // TODO: not actually doing anything
 /* readies the output data for export, returns the new buffer position, or `NULL` upon an error (may be out of bounds) */
 static const u8 *nbt_proctag(const u8 *restrict buf, u16 slen) {
diff --git a/src/dat/nbt.h b/src/dat/nbt.h
index cffab7a..1e76614 100644
--- a/src/dat/nbt.h
+++ b/src/dat/nbt.h
@@ -41,6 +41,20 @@ struct nbt_path {
 	i16 len;                   // specifies the length of the NBT elements
 };
 
+/* searches for the end of a compound tag without processing data, the final pointer is returned.
+ * `NULL` is returned upon failure, the otherwise returned pointer is not guaranteed to be valid.
+ * `cdat` is assumed to be the start of the **compound tag's data**. */
+PURE NONNULL((1)) const u8 *nbt_nextcompound(const u8 *restrict cdat);
+
+/* searches for the end of a list tag without processing data, the final pointer is returned.
+ * `NULL` is returned upon failure, the otherwise returned pointer is not guaranteed to be valid.
+ * `ldat` is assumed to be the start of the **list tag's data.** */
+PURE NONNULL((1)) const u8 *nbt_nextlist(const u8 *restrict ldat);
+
+/* searches for the end of a named tag without processing data, the final pointer is returned.
+ * `NULL` is returned upon failure, the otherwise returned pointer is not guaranteed to be valid. */
+PURE NONNULL((1)) const u8 *nbt_nexttag(const u8 *restrict buf, u16 naml);
+
 /* returns the name length of a specific tag. `buf` is the pointer to start of the tag */
 atrb_pure atrb_nonnull(1) static inline u16 nbt_namelen(const u8 *restrict buf) {
 	assert(*buf != NBT_END);
@@ -55,9 +69,6 @@ atrb_pure atrb_nonnull(1) const u8 *nbt_nexttag(const u8 *restrict buf, u16 naml
  * returns a boolean value. */
 atrb_const int nbt_isprim(u8 tag);
 
-/* gets the byte size of an NBT tag's data (excluding id and name), returns `0` upon error. */
-atrb_pure size_t nbt_tagdatlen(const u8 *buf);
-
 /* gets the tag size of primitive types, returns `>0` on success, `<0` on failure */
 atrb_const int nbt_primsize(u8 tag);