Question

Is it somehow possible to make a MySQL command doing this:
UPDATE FROM players WHERE column1 > column2 SET column2 = column1

Any ideas how this can be done?
Or do I have to run 2 mysql commands? One selecting, and one updating?

Answer 1

It can be done, you just need to fix your syntax, it should be:

UPDATE players SET column2 = column1 WHERE column1 > column2;

MySQL 5 manual on UPDATE Syntax:

Single-table syntax:

UPDATE [LOW_PRIORITY] [IGNORE] table_reference
    SET col_name1={expr1|DEFAULT} [, col_name2={expr2|DEFAULT}] ...
    [WHERE where_condition]
    [ORDER BY ...]
    [LIMIT row_count]

Multiple-table syntax:

UPDATE [LOW_PRIORITY] [IGNORE] table_references
    SET col_name1={expr1|DEFAULT} [, col_name2={expr2|DEFAULT}] ...
    [WHERE where_condition]