Minecraft:Moon

File:Moon Phases.gif

The moon, showing its phases (viewed on the eastern sky)

The moon is a celestial body that appears in the night Minecraft:sky in the Overworld.

Nighttime

Minecraft:Nighttime begins after the Minecraft:sun has fully set in the west and the moon has risen in the east. As time passes, the moon moves westward across the sky. Overall, Minecraft:nighttime lasts about 7 minutes (in real-time). Minecraft:Players can track the moon's position in the sky using a Minecraft:clock.

During the night, the moon illuminates the surface in the same manner as the Minecraft:sun; however, Minecraft:light levels fall to a minimum of four.

File:Moonlight Vibrant Visuals.png

Moonlight with Vibrant Visuals.

With Minecraft:Vibrant Visuals, the moon is considered a directional light source, which can create pixelated shadows and bright reflections on Minecraft:water and smooth textures. A pixelated blue glow appears around the moon depending on the moon phase.

The moon is not visible during Minecraft:precipitation, even in dry biomes Template:In. Disabling "Beautiful Skies" Template:In (Simple or Fancy Minecraft:graphics) completely hides the moon. The moon also disappears in Bedrock Edition during daytime, where it is still visible below the void in Java Edition.

Minecraft:Grass blocks and Minecraft:saplings do not grow in moonlight, nor do they decay. To grow them at night requires the use of light sources such as Minecraft:torches. On the other hand, Minecraft:crops can continue to grow with sufficient Minecraft:client light, even if not lit up by torches.Template:Only

Nighttime can be skipped entirely using a Minecraft:bed, provided there are no monsters nearby.

Stars

Together with the moon, the night sky also consists of Minecraft:stars. Stars appear as bright points, and the starfield rotates with the moon, rising in the east and descending in the west, as the night progresses.

Phases

File:Moon.png

The full moon phase

The moon is always opposite of the sun, but still goes through eight lunar phases, and changes phase at the end of every sunrise. This allows the player to keep rough track of the passage of time, even after spending a few game days underground.

The phases of the moon are (in chronological order as they appear in-game, which are in the direction of real moon phases in the southern hemisphere except in Template:BE where it's in reverse):

1. Template:EnvSprite Full Moon
2. Template:EnvSprite Waning Gibbous
3. Template:EnvSprite Third Quarter
4. Template:EnvSprite Waning Crescent
5. Template:EnvSprite New Moon
6. Template:EnvSprite Waxing Crescent
7. Template:EnvSprite First Quarter
8. Template:EnvSprite Waxing Gibbous

The pixels of the first quarter phase moon and waxing gibbous moon present a more rounded, organic shape than the corresponding waning phase moons that show a more squared-off appearance. It can help a player in timing a slime hunt in a swamp (see below).

There is no explicit Minecraft:command to change the moon's phase, but using Template:Cmd advances time by one day toward the next phase. To go back one phase, using Template:Cmd advances time by 7 days, which is one full lunar cycle minus one moon phase.

There is an equation to calculate the moon phase on any given day in Minecraft: phase = (day mod 8) + 1. The day can be found in the F3 screen Template:In, or by enabling the "Show days played" world setting Template:In, and the phase matches to the list shown above.

Effects on mobs

File:SlimesAtNight.png

Slimes spawning in a swamp during the full moon (view of eastern sky; moon rising)

The phase of the moon has three subtle effects on mob spawning:

• The number of Minecraft:slimes that spawn in Minecraft:swamps is proportional to the moon's fullness: They are most numerous during the full moon and none spawn during the new moon. (The moon's phase does not influence the normal spawning of slimes in designated chunks at Minecraft:altitudes below y=40.)
• The moon phase affects the Minecraft:regional difficulty, increasing the chance that (1) Minecraft:skeletons and Minecraft:zombies have the ability to pick up items and spawn with weapons and armor, (2) their natural equipment is Minecraft:enchanted, and (3) any equipment enchantments are higher. Regional difficulty also gives Minecraft:spiders a greater chance to spawn with random beneficial Minecraft:status effects, including invisibilityTemplate:Only in Hard Minecraft:difficulty. All of these effects combine with the world's difficulty, and higher difficulty levels increase the chance of mob buffs.
• Only during a full moon, black Minecraft:cats have a 1/11 chance of spawning.

History

Trivia

• One Minecraft lunar cycle (from full moon to full moon) takes 2 hours and 40 minutes of playtime. This means there are approximately 9 lunar cycles in one real-world day (24 hours) of play.
• There is a patch of the full moon that is off color, being Template:Color instead of Template:Color. This can be found 1 4×4 patch above the bottom right corner.

Gallery

Screenshots

• The full moon and the stars in the night sky
  The full moon and the stars in the night sky
• Moonrise in the forest
  Moonrise in the forest
• The moon shines through the trees of a dark forest.
  The moon shines through the trees of a dark forest.
• A crescent moon rises over the hills.
  A crescent moon rises over the hills.
• The moon peeks through the opening of a cave.
  The moon peeks through the opening of a cave.

Mojang screenshots

• The separate moon phases in Minecraft.<ref>Template:Tweet</ref> (viewed in the eastern sky; rising)
  The separate moon phases in Minecraft.<ref>Template:Tweet</ref> (viewed in the eastern sky; rising)
• The separate moon phases in Minecraft:Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4 and Minecraft:Beta 1.9 Prerelease 5.
  The separate moon phases in Minecraft:Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4 and Minecraft:Beta 1.9 Prerelease 5.
• The old round and square sun and moon textures
  The old round and square sun and moon textures
• File:Magenta Sheep reinforcements 2.jpg
• File:Magenta Sheep reinforcements 3.jpg

In other media

• File:Steve and wolves howling.jpeg
• Minecraft:Alex, Minecraft:Efe, and a Minecraft:cat during a full moon.
  Minecraft:Alex, Minecraft:Efe, and a Minecraft:cat during a full moon.
• The moon in Minecraft:Minecraft x Marketplace Pass
  The moon in Minecraft:Minecraft x Marketplace Pass
• File:Three Creeper Moon JINX.jpg
• The moon as it appears in Template:AMCM
  The moon as it appears in Template:AMCM

See also

• Minecraft:Sun
• Minecraft:The Moon (April Fools' dimension)