diff --git a/src/dat/nbt.c b/src/dat/nbt.c
index 161a104..083cdba 100644
--- a/src/dat/nbt.c
+++ b/src/dat/nbt.c
@@ -29,60 +29,12 @@ static int nbt_cmpstr(char const *restrict matstr, u8 const *restrict buf) {
 	return strncmp(str, matstr, len);
 }
 
-/* acquires the array's byte size (excluding name + size spec)
- * returns `0` upon failure */
-static size_t nbt_arrbsize(u8 const *restrict buf) {
-	i32 mems = 0;
-
-	switch (*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 * nbt_arrlen(buf); // mems+1 multiplied by the array length
-
-	case NBT_STR: return nbt_strlen(buf);
-
-	case NBT_LIST:
-		mems = nbt_primsize(*buf);
-		if (mems > 0) return mems * nbt_arrlen(buf + 1);
-		return 0;
-	default: return 0;
-	}
-}
-
 /* returns the (expected) pointer of the tag following this one.
- * `NBT_COMPOUND` and `NBT_END` tags are not valid for this function and should be handled separately.
  * `NULL` is returned if anything went wrong. */
-static u8 const *nbt_nexttag(u8 const *restrict buf) {
-	u8 const *nxt = buf + 1;
-	nxt += nbt_strlen(nxt) + 2;
-
-	i32 tmp;
-	switch (*buf) {
-	case NBT_I8:  __attribute__((fallthrough));
-	case NBT_I16: __attribute__((fallthrough));
-	case NBT_I32: __attribute__((fallthrough));
-	case NBT_I64: __attribute__((fallthrough));
-	case NBT_F32: __attribute__((fallthrough));
-	case NBT_F64:
-		tmp = nbt_primsize(*buf);
-		return (tmp >= 0) ? (nxt + tmp) : 0;
-
-	case NBT_LIST:    nxt += 5; break;
-	case NBT_STR:     nxt += 2; break;
-	case NBT_ARR_I8:  __attribute__((fallthrough));
-	case NBT_ARR_I32: __attribute__((fallthrough));
-	case NBT_ARR_I64: nxt += 4; break;
-
-	default: return NULL; // failure on compound/end tags; these require more nuanced logic
-	}
-
-	tmp = nbt_arrbsize(buf);
-	return (tmp >= 0) ? (nxt + tmp) : NULL;
-}
-
-
-	default: return NULL; // failure on compound/end tags; these require more nuanced logic
-	}
+static u8 const *nbt_nexttag(u8 const *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;
 }
 
 int nbt_proc(void **restrict datout, u8 const *restrict buf, size_t len) {
@@ -112,6 +64,33 @@ int nbt_primsize(u8 tag) {
 	}
 }
 
+size_t nbt_tagdatlen(u8 const *restrict buf) {
+	size_t mems = 0;
+
+	switch (*buf) {
+	case NBT_I8:  __attribute__((fallthrough));
+	case NBT_I16: __attribute__((fallthrough));
+	case NBT_I32: __attribute__((fallthrough));
+	case NBT_F32: __attribute__((fallthrough));
+	case NBT_I64: __attribute__((fallthrough));
+	case NBT_F64:
+		mems = nbt_primsize(*buf);
+		return -(mems >= 0) & mems;
+
+	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 * nbt_arrlen(buf) + 4;
+
+	case NBT_STR: return nbt_strlen(buf) + 2;
+
+	case NBT_LIST:
+		mems = nbt_primsize(*buf);
+		if (mems > 0) return mems * nbt_arrlen(buf + 1) + 5;
+		return 0;
+	default: return 0;
+	}
+}
+
 int nbt_isprim(u8 tag) {
 	switch (tag) {
 	case NBT_I8:  __attribute__((fallthrough));
diff --git a/src/dat/nbt.h b/src/dat/nbt.h
index 2bba880..d13122b 100644
--- a/src/dat/nbt.h
+++ b/src/dat/nbt.h
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ int nbt_proc(void **restrict datout, u8 const *restrict buf, size_t len);
  * 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_const size_t nbt_tagdatlen(u8 const *buf);
 
 /* gets the tag size of primitive types, returns `>0` on success, `<0` on failure */
 atrb_const int nbt_primsize(u8 tag);