Minecraft:Gameplay

File:Survival.png

A fresh Survival game.

Gameplay in most game modes of Minecraft:Minecraft consists mainly of placing and breaking a variety of different Minecraft:blocks in a procedurally generated world.

With these blocks, Minecraft:players can manipulate the Minecraft:world around them, building and destroying structures. Since Minecraft is a sandbox game, there are many types of gameplay. Players can set their own goals and play the game however way they want to. See Template:Slink.

Core mechanics

Inventory

File:Inventory.png

A survival inventory pop-up screen Template:In.

The inventory is the pop-up menu that the player uses to manage items they carry. From this screen a player can equip Minecraft:armor, Minecraft:craft items on a 2×2 grid, and equip Minecraft:tools, Minecraft:blocks, and Minecraft:items. The Minecraft:player's Minecraft:skin is also displayed here.

The inventory is opened and closed by pressing Template:Key on PC, Template:Xbtn on Xbox, Template:Psbtn/Template:Psbtn on PlayStation, or Template:Wbtn on Switch, and ••• on mobile devices. This key or button can be changed from the in-game Minecraft:options menu. The inventory can also be closed with Template:Key on PC, Template:Xbtn most game consoles, Template:Psbtn/Template:Psbtn on PlayStation, and × on mobile devices.

The inventory consists of 4 armor slots, 27 storage slots, 9 Minecraft:hotbar slots, and the Minecraft:off-hand slot.

Items can stack up to 64, 16, or not stack at all:

• Most items can stack to 64. This includes all Minecraft:blocks, and most Minecraft:items.
• Some other items, such as Minecraft:snowballs, empty Minecraft:buckets, Minecraft:eggs, Minecraft:signs, Minecraft:hanging signs, and Minecraft:ender pearls, can stack up to a maximum of 16.
• Some items do not stack at all, notably anything with a Minecraft:durability (Minecraft:weapons, Minecraft:armor, and Minecraft:tools), filled Minecraft:buckets, and Minecraft:potions.

Crafting

File:Crafting Table.png

Template:Main Minecraft:Crafting allows players to create new Minecraft:tools and Minecraft:blocks using Minecraft:items from their Minecraft:inventory. A player can use the 2×2 grid in the inventory or the 3×3 grid provided by a Minecraft:crafting table to craft.

Smelting

File:Furnace.png

Template:Main Smelting can be done in a Minecraft:furnace, Minecraft:smoker, or blast furnace using fuel (e.g. Minecraft:coal) to convert an item into a more useful form, such as turning Minecraft:raw iron into Minecraft:iron ingots. Some Minecraft:food items can also be cooked on a Minecraft:campfire for free.

Enchanting

File:Enchanting Table.png

Template:Main Minecraft:Enchanting allows the player to upgrade Minecraft:tools and Minecraft:armor, with an Minecraft:enchanting table or Minecraft:anvil, but costs Minecraft:experience. Using the enchantment table also costs Minecraft:lapis lazuli. More powerful enchantments can be accessed by placing bookshelves around the enchanting table. Anvils can also combine existing tools and armor to Minecraft:repair them and make them stronger.

Brewing

File:Brewing Stand.png

Template:Main Minecraft:Brewing creates Minecraft:potions from various ingredients and Minecraft:water using a Minecraft:brewing stand. They are stored in Minecraft:glass bottles and then consumed by the player or thrown at a mob to give the player or mob a Minecraft:status effect.

Trading

File:Plains Villager Base.png

Template:Main Minecraft:Villages can be found throughout the world, in Minecraft:plains, sunflower plainsTemplate:Only, Minecraft:deserts, Minecraft:savannas, Minecraft:taigas, snowy taigasTemplate:Only, and Minecraft:snowy plains. Here, the player can trade with Minecraft:villagers for Minecraft:emeralds to get useful items, like Minecraft:food, Minecraft:explorer maps, Minecraft:ender pearls and enchanted tools and books.

Mobs

File:Mob Habitat Collage.png

Different mobs spawn in diverse habitats, depending on the light level, biome, and surface material.

File:Creeper in forest.png

A creeper in a Minecraft:forest. Creepers stalk the player and then explode once they get near.

Template:Main The world is populated with various Minecraft:mobs, including passive and hostile mobs, as well as 2 bosses. Most mobs can be defeated using a Minecraft:sword or any other Minecraft:weapon.

Mobs spawn in various ways. Most mobs spawn naturally, depending on the Minecraft:light level, Minecraft:biome, and their surroundings. For example, most animals are found in bright areas on the surface, while hostile monsters are commonly found in the dark (e.g. in a Minecraft:cave, a Minecraft:monster room, a Minecraft:woodland mansion, or at night). Animals and hostile monsters spawn and despawn in a certain radius around the player.

Some mobs, including most animals, and even Minecraft:hoglins, can be bred by the Minecraft:player, using their favorite food. Minecraft:Villagers cannot be directly bred by the player. Instead, they randomly breeding on their own, depending on the time of day and the number of Minecraft:beds, which allows players to manipulate their likelihood of breeding.

Combat

Template:Main Most hostile mobs actively seek out and attack the player. Minecraft:Endermen only attack the player if they make eye contact, and Minecraft:piglins attack players who are not wearing golden Minecraft:armor. Minecraft:Endermen also take Minecraft:damage in Minecraft:water and Minecraft:rain. A Minecraft:shield can be used to block most attacks from mobs, and is especially useful against Minecraft:skeletons.

Daylight cycle

Template:Main It gets dark at night, making monsters spawn on the surface. Sleeping in a Minecraft:bed lets the player skip the night. The day-night cycle lasts 20 real-life minutes, with 10 of those being day and 10 of those being night. There are no seasons, but the Minecraft:moon does have phases.

Game modes

Template:Main Minecraft has four basic game modes: Minecraft:Survival, Minecraft:Creative, Minecraft:Adventure, and Minecraft:Spectator. Java Edition and Bedrock Edition have one additional game mode, Minecraft:Hardcore, which is a variation of Survival, locked to Hard, where you won't respawn if you die, and has not been added to Minecraft China Edition or Minecraft Education.

Creative

File:Minecraft Creative.png

The Creative mode inventory showing the Search tab for the Java Edition.

Template:Main This mode is for creating structures and experimenting.

• The player has access to an infinite amount of all blocks and items available.
  • These can be accessed from the Minecraft:Creative inventory.
• Blocks can be broken instantly, and do not drop their materials.
• The player cannot die (except when falling into the Minecraft:void in Java Edition), because the health bar and other bars above the Minecraft:hotbar are removed.
• The player can fly.
• The player has access to items not available in Survival mode, such as Minecraft:spawn eggs.

Survival

File:HUD.png

The most common bars in the HUD. Clockwise starting from the bottom left: the experience bar, the health bar, the armor bar, the oxygen bar, and the hunger bar.

Template:Main In this mode, players must gather all their materials to build things and to Minecraft:craft their Minecraft:items and Minecraft:tools. Also, the Minecraft:experience, Minecraft:health, Minecraft:hunger, Minecraft:armor, and oxygen bars appear above the Minecraft:hotbar. The armor bar only shows when the player is wearing Minecraft:armor. The oxygen bar only appears when underwater, Minecraft:suffocating,Template:Only or in Minecraft:lava.Template:Only If a player runs out of hearts (health), the player dies and respawns at their Minecraft:spawn point.

There are also 4 Minecraft:difficulty settings:

• Peaceful: No hostile mobs spawn, and only some neutral mobs spawned. Also, players have natural regeneration, and don't get hungry, making easy survival.
• Easy: Hostile mobs spawn, but deal less damage. Also, Minecraft:villagers cannot be converted into Minecraft:zombie villagers.
• Normal: Hostile mobs spawn, but deal a moderate amount of damage. Villagers can be zombified when killed by zombies, but there is only a 50% chance. They despawn if zombification fails.
• Hard: Hostile mobs deal more damage. Villagers always zombify when killed by zombies. Also, zombies can sometimes break down Minecraft:doors and call reinforcements.

Hardcore

File:Healthbar Hardcore.png

The healthbar on Hardcore mode.

Template:Main In this mode, which plays in the same way as Survival mode, the difficulty level is permanently set to "Hard", and the player does not respawn after dying. Also, the health bar has different hearts in this mode. After death, the player cannot interact with the world again and must either delete the map or permanently switch to Minecraft:Spectator mode. Hardcore is not technically a game mode as it cannot be enabled with the Template:Cmd command.

• Template:IN, hardcore can be selected in the game mode selector.
• Template:IN, hardcore appears as a toggle, and can be found right below the difficult selector.

Adventure

Template:Main Players can interact with objects such as Minecraft:levers and Minecraft:buttons, and can interact with Minecraft:mobs. However, they can break Minecraft:blocks only with certain Minecraft:tools, and place only certain blocks, as determined by the designer. This mode is good for adventure maps.

Spectator

When in Spectator mode, players can clip through blocks and fly freely. The player can't interact with blocks, entities or their inventory.

Template:IN, the player can interact with functional blocks, like Minecraft:chest, Minecraft:crafting table, Minecraft:furnace, etc. But they can't move any Minecraft:items in it.

Template:IN, the player can enter the perspective of other entities by left-clicking on them, and are invisible to all players and mobs except for other spectators. When in third-person mode, a player appears as a transparent floating head. The player can use the scroll wheel to adjust the flying speed, unlike flying in Creative mode.

Game customization

Template:See also Players can use Minecraft:resource packs, Minecraft:data packsTemplate:Only, Minecraft:add-onsTemplate:Only, or Minecraft:modsTemplate:Only to augment the game and play the way they want to play. It should be noted that articles about specific mods or similar things are outside the scope of the Minecraft Wiki. However, the wiki does document various technical features about the data format used in resource packs and data packs.

Other ways to play

Minecraft can be played in a wide variety of other ways too.

• Players can use the game as a creative medium for story-telling and roleplay.
• The game can also be used as a competitive space. Some examples:
  • The Minecraft minigame, Minecraft:Spleef.
  • Player versus Player (PvP).
  • Various types of Custom maps.
• Mods, add-ons, and data packs and can also be used to make other games inside of Minecraft. However, Minecraft is not a "game engine". Anyone making Mods, add-ons, or data packs should make sure to follow the guidelines outlined in the End-User License Agreement.

Players

Steve player character model

Template:Main The player is the person (or player character) that the user controls in the Minecraft:world. When the user starts a game or save, the player spawns at the Minecraft:world spawn, with an empty Minecraft:inventory.

Each player can also have a Minecraft:skin, which determines what the player character looks like. A player can change their skin on their profile page on Minecraft:Minecraft.net or in the Minecraft:Minecraft Launcher Template:In, and in the pause or main menus Template:In.

Blocks

A building based on a Greek acropolis.

A building based on a Greek acropolis.

The world of Minecraft takes place within a Template:W, with each cube being occupied by a certain type of block. There are many types of blocks. For example, natural blocks, such as grass, Minecraft:stone and Minecraft:ores that generate randomly within the world. Or blocks that players can craft, such as the Minecraft:crafting table and Minecraft:furnace. Most of these blocks can then by mined, by hand or with Minecraft:tools. Some blocks cannot be broken in Minecraft:Survival, such as Minecraft:bedrock, Minecraft:end portal frames, Minecraft:command blocks, and Minecraft:barriers.

Mining

File:MultipleOreBlobs.png

Various ores (in proximity of Minecraft:lava) that can be mined with a Minecraft:pickaxe.

Mining is one of the main aspects of Minecraft and is done to extract ore and other materials mainly from below the surface of the map. These ores include coal, iron, gold, redstone, diamond, lapis lazuli, copper and emerald. Mining can involve Minecraft:digging a hole from the surface or going down through a Minecraft:cave. Minecraft:Mineshafts and Minecraft:ravines create extra areas that may contain resources, since they are usually rich in ores.

Health

File:Heart.svg

The player has Template:Hp hitpoints, called Minecraft:health. The player loses health upon taking Minecraft:damage, and dies when they run out of health. Health can be restored by keeping the Minecraft:hunger bar full enough, by drinking Minecraft:potions of Healing, or by eating Minecraft:golden apples. In Minecraft:Peaceful mode, health quickly regenerates on its own. Damage can be reduced by wearing Minecraft:armor or having the Minecraft:Resistance effect.

Armor

File:Armor (icon).png

Minecraft:Armor protects the player from damage by decreasing all incoming damage by a percentage. When the player is wearing armor, the armor bar becomes visible above the health bar, and displays how much armor the player has. Each Template:Armorbar chestplate on the armor bar represents 2 armor points.

Hunger

File:Hunger (icon).png

The player has 20 points of Minecraft:hunger, which can be seen on the hunger bar. Each Template:Hunger ham shank represents 2 hunger points. Eating food increases hunger points. Despite the name, having more hunger points means the player is less hungry (and therefore more satiated). 18 hunger (Template:Hungerbar) is required for natural health regeneration, and 6 hunger (Template:Hungerbar) is required in order to sprint, so keeping the hunger bar full is usually a good idea. Hunger depletes when the player does things (usually things that should require a lot of work), like Minecraft:jumping and Minecraft:sprinting.

The hunger status effect should not be confused with hunger points.

Experience

File:Experience Orb Value 37-72.png

Minecraft:Experience (EXP or XP for short) can be gained from defeating Minecraft:mobs or performing many kinds of other actions. Experience has no direct effect on the player character, but it can be used to enhance their equipment through Minecraft:enchanting, or by using an Minecraft:anvil to repair, rename, or combine enchantments on equipment. Most sources of experience are produced in the form of experience orbs. Template:IN, experience gained affects the player's score on the Minecraft:death screen.

HUD

File:HUD example.png

The HUD as seen in Survival mode Template:In.

The Minecraft:heads-up display is the GUI displayed over the game world. It includes a hotbar, and shows the player's held item on the right of the screen.

Hotbar

The hotbar is a sequence of 9 selectable Minecraft:inventory slots that the player can store items in. The player can use various buttons to select or cycle through these slots. The selected item is then displayed as the held item in the player's right hand, or an empty fist if the slot is empty. The selected can then be used, using the same buttons the player would use to mine a block or use a Minecraft:crafting table (on mobile, a special button might appear and the player can press that button to use the item).

Chat

Minecraft:Chat is a built-in messaging system used to communicate with other players, and to execute Minecraft:commands. By default, the player can press Template:Key or Template:Key on a keyboard, File:Chat button.png on touchscreen,Template:Only or Template:Xbutton on controllersTemplate:Only to open the chat.

Effects

The player can obtain various Minecraft:status effects in various ways. For example, Minecraft:golden apples give Minecraft:Absorption and Minecraft:Regeneration. Some status effects, like Regeneration, can buff the player to make them stronger, while others, like Slowness can debuff the player to make them weaker. Also, some mobs give the player status effects. For example, Minecraft:shulkers give Minecraft:Levitation and Minecraft:wardens give Minecraft:Darkness.

Riding

The player can ride various Minecraft:mobs, by using the same button they would to use a crafting table (or by pressing "Mount" on mobile). These include Minecraft:horses, Minecraft:donkeys, Minecraft:mules, Minecraft:camels, Minecraft:pigs, Minecraft:striders, and Minecraft:happy ghasts. Players can also ride in Minecraft:boats and Minecraft:minecarts in the same way. Most of these mobs and vehicles can be controlled by the player, but some mobs require a Minecraft:saddle, Minecraft:harness, Minecraft:carrot on a stick, Minecraft:warped fungus on a stick to ride or control. Additionally, some mobs must be tamed by the player in order to be ridden or controlled.

Achievements

Minecraft:Achievements Template:In and Minecraft:Advancements Template:In are ways to gradually guide new players into Minecraft and give them challenges to complete. For example, "The Lie" is given for crafting a Minecraft:cake. Template:IN, completing certain achievements rewards the player with cosmetics. There are many exclusive achievements and advancements that only exist in one edition of the game, while other achievements and advancements are shared.

Dimensions

Overworld

Template:Main The Overworld is the first Minecraft:dimension where the player spawns when the world is created. Most of the game's features exist primarily in the Overworld; it is filled to the brim with many Minecraft:biomes, Minecraft:features, and a variety of Minecraft:caves to explore.

The Nether

File:The Nether.png

The Nether.

The Nether is a dangerous, hell-like dimension with very hostile environment. It is accessible from the Minecraft:Overworld by going through a Minecraft:nether portal. It consists of five unique biomes: the Minecraft:nether wastes, the Minecraft:basalt deltas, the Minecraft:crimson forest, the Minecraft:warped forest and the Minecraft:soul sand valley. Each biome has unique generation and terrain. The Nether is populated with Minecraft:zombified piglins, Minecraft:blazes, Minecraft:ghasts, Minecraft:wither skeletons, Minecraft:magma cubes, Minecraft:piglins and Minecraft:hoglins. Ores in the Nether include Minecraft:nether quartz, Minecraft:nether gold ore, and Minecraft:ancient debris. The Nether also has large oceans of Minecraft:lava with Minecraft:striders walking on them.

The End

File:The End.png

The End.

The End is the final dimension of the game, where the player battles the Minecraft:ender dragon. The End is accessed by entering an Minecraft:end portal, found in a Minecraft:stronghold. The End is composed of Minecraft:end stone and is inhabited by Minecraft:endermen. It also contains tall Minecraft:obsidian pillars on top of which are Minecraft:end crystals that heal the ender dragon. Once the ender dragon is slain, the Minecraft:exit portal is opened in the center of the main island and an Minecraft:end gateway portal is created in the air near the edge of the island. Gateways transport the player to the Minecraft:outer End islands, which are have Minecraft:chorus fruit forests, and end cities filled with loot and Minecraft:shulkers. Also, some end cities have Minecraft:elytra. The gateway is 1 block tall, so it can only be entered by throwing an Minecraft:ender pearl, using elytra, or Minecraft:crawling via a Minecraft:trapdoor or some other means. There are no ores in the End.

Multiplayer

File:Players fighting.png

Player versus player (PvP) on a multiplayer server.

Servers

Template:Main Minecraft can be played with multiple players in one world using servers hosting a game. Players can connect to external servers through the Internet, or host a server themselves. Minecraft multiplayer servers have developed to include their own rules and customs, guided by their administrators and moderators. The term griefer, meaning a player who causes grief, is a typical term on the internet but has taken up its definition on Minecraft servers: a person who destroys or defiles other users' creations on servers.

One popular game on multiplayer servers is Minecraft:Spleef (a play on the word "grief"), a game where the player aims to make another player drop through the floor by destroying blocks beneath the opponent's feet. This is typically played in a designated area and is usually run automatically using server plugins.

Many popular multiplayer servers exist that may contain, PvP arenas, custom Minecraft:minigames or large Minecraft:Survival or Minecraft:Creative worlds. Template:IN, the player can access a few Minecraft:featured servers without needing to manually add them to quickly get started on multiplayer servers. An official server list has been made for well-known and popular other servers.

Minecraft Realms

Template:Main Minecraft Realms is an official subscription-based Minecraft:server hosting service that allows players to create and manage their own private Minecraft multiplayer worlds. Hosted by Minecraft:Mojang Studios, Realms provides an easy and fast way to create servers and allows the owner to manage them from inside the game, without prior knowledge of the concepts for hosting on the internet. However, Realms are not intended for large public servers, but for groups of friends or as a family server.<ref>Template:Tweet</ref> Private Realms servers are easy to set up and available 24/7 as long as the owner pays for it.

LAN and Xbox connections

Players can also play Minecraft together using Minecraft:LAN connections. When a world is opened for multiplayer (by default Template:In), other players on the same network can join the world without needing to add an address. This can be used to play Minecraft together locally with a smaller group of people.

Template:IN players can also join worlds from other players without needing to be connected to the same network or making a server, by using the Xbox friend system. A player can add friends through the Friends tab in the menus or in the pause screen of a world. A player may invite friends and friends of friends to a world when the player is logged in with their Microsoft account and connected to the Internet.

Videos

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