Xbox 360 Your First Three Days in Minecraft

[Sawerin]

Minecraft: Your First Three Days


Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition is an optimized version of the popular sandbox indie game originally created by Swedish programmer Markus "Notch" Persson. It has been available on PC and some other platforms since November 18, 2011. A bit modified and optimized version of Minecraft was released alongside a free trial version on May 9th, 2012 and since then can be purchased for 1600 Microsoft Points/ $20.00.
In general, the Xbox 360 Edition of Minecraft is pretty much the same one can enjoy on the PC but for a bit more comfortable and brightened gameplay 4J Studios in conjunction with Mojang and Microsoft Studios have changed a few things. Those changes offer a simpler crafting system, in-game tutorials, online multiplayer for up to eight players over Xbox LIVE and split-screen multiplayer.

Minecraft’s uniqueness is in its open world where you, without any particular goal, are supposed to survive by collecting different items and combining them with the help of different skills like crafting, brewing enchanting and else. You are the master of your game and no matter what you do it still will be the righteous choice. Well, there is an optional achievement system but, frankly speaking, it changes almost nothing. The core gameplay revolves around breaking and placing different blocks. By default, Minecraft is a First Person game but players are allowed to play in third person mode as well. The world itself mostly consists of cubes and other 3D objects of a cube like form. They represent different materials and can be used for different goals in different ways. The game mechanics allows you to move freely through the game but objects and items you have or want to have can be picked or placed only at/on fixed locations relative to the grid.
Minecraft primarily consists of two modes:
- Survival Mode;
- Creative.
However, some other modes have been added to make things a bit more spicy and a lot more interesting:
- Adventure mode;
- Multiplayer Mode.

1. Survival Mode.
Survival Mode is, probably, the most popular mode among players because it offers a little challenge and forces you to gather natural resources found in the environment and use them for different purposes including crafting, smelting, brewing and else. Survival mode requires you to be more patient, attentive and encourages using your imagination and skills in order to survive the next day, protect yourself from dangerous creatures. Depending on the difficulty you choose, different monsters will spawn at different places and the harder mode you choose, the more intelligent they will get.

A few of the hostile mobs displayed in Minecraft creative mode from left to right: Zombie, Spider, Enderman, Creeper, Skeleton

Monsters become very dangerous at night because they start spawning in greater numbers, so it is important and obligatory to build a shelter and stay there at night and never leave the house without weapon, otherwise you are likely to be killed. Every monster has a health bar that can be depleted by attacking monsters or causing them to fall, drown and else. However, the character is endangered to suffer from the very same impacts as well. On the top of that you are supposed to take care of your health and hunger status. If not taken care of, you can simply starve to death. Well, usually that’s not the way you end your game because countless notification won’t let you do the stupid thing but if you wish so… No matter the difficulty, you are still supposed to feed your character. Though, when playing on the easiest difficulty, your health will regenerate regardless of fullness in the status bar. On harder difficulties you need to have a nearly full hunger bar to start your health getting better.
The variety of items one can craft in Minecraft is pretty wide. Also, the better materials are used for crafting items, the longer and the better those are going to be. For instance, tools like axes, shovels or pickaxes can be used to chop trees, dig soil and mine ores correspondingly. And if you craft those items from tougher materials, they will last longer and do the regular boring stuff faster.
Minecraft offers an inventory system but players are still limited with the number of items they can carry. Also, when the player dies, items from his inventories are dropped. The player himself respawns at the current spawn point. Spawn Points are set by default but can be reset if players sleep in beds in-game. And now – the most important part:

Dropped items can be recovered if players can reach them before they despawn (5 minute time limit). If not – you will have to start collecting them all over again.

Of course, this is not fatal as far as a greater part of items can be obtained easily after but still – kind of unpleasant.
For killing monsters, mining, smelting ores, cooking food and doing lots of other things you are going to be granted with experience points. They can be spent on enchanting tools, armor and weapons that will make them better and stronger. And, if you are ready for a real challenge, you can attempt to play in hardcore mode. This is a variant of the survival mode and its main idea lies in the fact that if you die – you die forever and everything that has been obtained, built, changed and whatsoever will vanish forever.

2. Creative mode
Creative mode is called so for a reason because in creative mode you have almost unlimited possibilities and opportunities. First of all, you are going to gain access to all the resources and items in the game through the inventory menu. Secondly, they can be removed or placed instantly at any suitable moment. In creative mode players are not affected by hunger and can fly freely around the game world. This helps to focus on planning, researching, creating and building large projects that will be limited only by your imagination.


3. Adventure mode.
Adventure mode has been designed specifically for dedicated players who are interested in sharing their architectural achievements and those players who would like to try them out. Gameplay in Adventure Mode is no different to the one offered in Survival mode. However, you are likely to face some restrictions created by the owners of the particular map. The most common restriction is the disabling to place and destroy blocks without the appropriate tools. This was made in order to allow the random players to enjoy the adventure the way it was intended. Also, with the help of command block mapmakers can expand interactions with players through server commands.

4. Multiplayer Mode
Of course, Multiplayer mode allows you to play with other players through player-hosted servers and interact with each other on a single world. Working as a team in Minecraft is a real pleasure and with enough players you can create a little community and survive the severe virtual reality together. Also, working on big projects and creating castles, skyscrapers an even the whole cities will grow faster with a few helpers working by your shoulder. Multiplayer servers offer players a wide range of activities, with some servers having their own unique rules and customs which makes the game even more challenging. You can either join the game or create one on your own and invite your friends. Up to 8 players can play with you in cooperative mode and trust me – it is a lot more fun to play together than to play alone.

[video=youtube;-20XuP0TLcI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-20XuP0TLcI[/video]

Differences from PC edition
For those who wonder about the differences between the PC and the Xbox versions of Minecraft, here’s a list of things that do not make them look alike.
- Unlike the original PC version, the Xbox 360 Edition uses a bit different crafting interface. Well, it is still recognizable and does the very same thing – crafts items. For that matter you will be using the PC's 2x2 and 3x3 crafting grids. However, the simplified interface allows you not to bother about placing items in particular slots. Just on the contrary: it shows the required number and types of blocks to craft the selected item and if you have enough – it will do what has to be done.
- The first Xbox 360 Edition of Minecraft was based on an earlier version of the PC edition (Beta 1.6.6). Since then both versions have been going different ways. The first major update for Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition occurred on June 15, 2012 and fixed lots of bugs and added new features. Some of those features do not have a PC equivalent. The second major update occurred on October 16, 2012, adding features from Beta 1.8. The last known update under number 1.3.1 has been released on January 30, 2013.
- Unlike the PC version, the Xbox 360 Edition includes a tutorial mode. These tutorials give you a general understanding of the game, things you are supposed to do and things that can’t be done even if you really want to, the basics of digging and placing blocks, crafting, fishing, enchanting, brewing and building the house to survive the night and not only.
[video=youtube;fc2DJczzYZ0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc2DJczzYZ0[/video]
- The game also features split-screen functionality that can be used for playing in cooperative mode. In order to do that you will have to have an HDTV with a Component or HDMI cable. Split-screen also works great with a VGA connection to a PC monitor and with HDMI-to-DVI cables connected to the very same PC monitor. If you have enough controllers, you can enjoy playing with up to 4 players at the same time as well as the possibility to play 8-person online multiplayer game modes in split-screen.
- You are not allowed to change a world's difficulty while in game but you can do that when you select the world that you want to play.
- You always begin a new world with a map.
- Playing the Xbox 360 Edition of Minecraft you won’t be allowed to use any image file as your skin like the PC users do. However, you can change it by choosing from the skins available as default or from downloadable content.
- The Xbox 360 version currently contains End portals, but they cannot be used as of version 1.3. However, the player still receives Ender pearls after killing an Enderman.
- Unlike the PC version, each world in the Xbox 360 Edition is limited to 864 by 864 blocks. Well, technically it is 862 by 862 blocks that can be used because the outer-most block is unusable on each side of the map. Unfortunately, we have no idea if the world size will be increased or not in the future but it would be really appreciated by all Minecraft fans.

Minecraft: From the Very Beginning
Launching the game for the first time will definitely make you feel confused and lost. What should I do next, which way I go and what is that black block doing over there? Those and not only are the questions that will pop up in your head the very same moment you start wondering the map. Well, let’s go through some basics and help you get the general idea of your next steps. It is going to be complicated for the first time but trust me – rather sooner than later you will be glad to find yourself in the cubic world of Minecraft.

Xbox 360 Controller Controls
The first thing you need to know in every game including Minecraft is the controls. Of course, you can do it by yourself on the battlefield by pressing button after button and memorizing what this or that one did. Or, you can check the list below and kill two stones with one bird: save some precious time and start concentrating on making Minecraft your kind of place. But before you start exploring, let’s take a look at the Heads-up display (HUD) which holds all the important information about your character.


Crosshair: being on the center of your screen allows you to aim or point your tools in the desired direction.
Health Bar: Shows your health status. If you want to survive in the game as long as possible, it is highly recommended to keep it filled with the red hearts as long as possible.
Hunger Bar: is one of those bars that won’t bother you until you get busy doing creative things and totally forget about feeding your character. Ye, probably, the only downside side of Minecraft is that being a survival kind of game, it requires you to take care of your character and feed him from time to time. Well, you are not supposed to keep your hunger meter filled on 100% all the time but constant feeding will keep things easier and securer and here’s the reason why:
- if your health goes lover than 85% - your character will stop regenerating health. Now, whenever you do something wrong, fall from the big height (or not that big), get hit by a hostile creature or else, your health won’t restore automatically. Also, if you get lost digging underground for a long period of time, you might die if there is no food in your inventory;
- if your health goes lover than 30%, you will lose the ability to sprint. In dangerous situations, especially when dealing with the monsters, this might turn out to be fatal;
- if your hunger bar goes down to 0%, you will start losing health. It will deploy slowly but still – it might be an issue. So, just keep that in mind. Luckily, even if you do not find any food on your first night, you won’t die from hunger. You primary problem will be monsters that get very active at night. Without the proper equipment it is almost impossible to defeat the simplest one, even if you really want to. So, for that matter you will need a shelter. It does not matter what kind of shelter but as long as it keeps the mobs away and you safe – you have nothing to worry about.
Armor bar: obviously, shows your armor durability. If your character is protected with the armor, when under attack, every hit will deploy the armor durability first and only after you get it destroyed, will start deploying the health bar. Depending on a product the armor is made of, armor’s durability will differ. Also, you can enchant tools, weapon and armor to make it stronger and last longer.
Experience bar: you will gain experience for doing almost anything including successful brewing, crafting, finding great stuff and killing mobs. Afterwards, you will require experience points for enchanting and the more you have – the greater your chances are to get something useful from this magical process. Your experience level will be shown right in the middle of the experience bar.
Inventory bar: pretty much self explanatory. In order to save your time and make the process of accessing tools and weapons easier, the most commonly used items will appear in the inventory bar.


Controls in Gameplay
A - Jump
B - Drop/toss item
X - Opens up the crafting menu in Creative Mode
Y - Opens inventory
LT (left trigger) - Place blocks/use items
RT (right trigger) - Dig/use blocks/items
LB/RB (left bumper/right bumper) - Change the selected block
Analog Sticks - Look/move
Left Analog Stick (pressed down) - Lower your height while flying in Creative mode or change your camera angle.
Left Analog Stick Press forward twice in order to run.
Right analog stick Press down once to sneak/walk.

Interface (Crafting/Smelting/Brewing/Inventory)
A - Pickup/Drop item
B - Exit interface
X - Take half of the highlited stack/show information about the selected block/item
Y - Quick move
Analog Sticks - Move pointer/change selected item.


First Day in Minecraft
So, when you know how to move and what those status bars mean, it is the highest time to start exploring Minecraft. Though, spend another minute with me and listen to what I have to say. These are the basic rules this game works on. You will likely figure this out all by yourself but it is better to be prepared than dead, don’t you find?
- The number 1 rule you need to keep in your mind is to Never Dig Straight Down! Do that only in the most desperate situations. Well, I am not the one to forbid you something and I do understand that is sounds tempting but digging straight down can literary kill you. You can never know what awaits you after the next block. It might be just another block, iron ore or lava. Yes, lava, falling into which will definitely kill you. Or, you can simply find yourself in a cave and get falling damage first and mob attack damage second. Another big problem of digging straight down is that you won’t be able to come back easily. For that matter you will need either to start building another hole but this time up or place blocks under you and keep doing that until you get out. This will restore the hole you made immediately which is kind of illogical.
- Your primary goal on the first day of the game is to build a shelter. You can make it whatever you like but the tougher the building, the better your chances are to survive all the possible and impossible happenings.
- Minecraft’s day is about 10 minutes long as well as the night. Trust me – the bright one will disappear in a blink of an eye while the dark part will last forever with monsters crawling behind your windows. So, if you want to spend your night in at least some comfort, be prepared and ready: start collecting resources and building your shelter immediately. It is nearly impossible to build something decent on such a short notice but you can definitely count on something small but secure enough for defense. We will discuss different kinds of shelters a bit later.
- Every time you start a new world, the game time will reset to the early morning meaning you will have your legal 10 minutes to build a new shelter, gather resources or whatever you plan on doing.
- Keep your eyes on the sun. It will tell you if the night is close enough to start feeling worried or if there’s still time to search for something special you need. In Minecraft the sun always rises in the east and sets in the west.
- Now, the unpleasant thing: if, or better to say – when you die, all items you have had in your inventory will randomly scatter around the death point. If you happen to have a bed already, then you will spawn near it. If not, that is likely to be true, than you will spawn randomly somewhere on the map. Now, as any other dropped items, those left by your death will disappear in 5 minutes as long as you are not further than 180 blocks away from it. If you’ve gone too far from your spawn point on the big construction or whatever it is, it might be a good idea to mark the place. There are different ways to do that but I, personally, enjoy building a very high pillar that can be seen from almost anywhere. Also, if you build it near or in the water, you won’t have to die when jumping down from it as long as you land in the water. Though, you can get creative here and either set some directions, build roads and whatsoever. But, I am pretty sure that this is not what you are going to be busy with on your first night in Minecraft.
- It is highly recommended to build your first shelter not far from the spawning point. This will help you to locate it faster. Of course, it doesn’t mean that you are supposed to have one shelter only. You can build as many shelters as you need or want – it’s all up to you. But we are discussing your first night in Minecraft, so the first thing to be concerned about is a decent shelter protected from all sides.
- Usually, at your spawn point you are going to find a few sheep. If you have enough time, kill the sheep and get the meet. Also, if you have shears, use them to get 3 Wool items. This will allow you to build a bed later and beds are perfect spawning points. So, this is something to think about.
- While feeding your character is kind of important, you do not have to worry about it on your first day. Sure, if you have some food in your inventory, eat it from time to time to keep your character’s health on a required level, but again – this is something to think about on your next day.
- Hostile mobs spawn either in dark or at night. So, if you want to dig deep or explode some caves even during the day, be prepared to meet some Minecraft monsters.


Gathering Resources

While ruining things in Minecraft is kind of interesting, collecting the required resources as well as make a use of them is what really matters. When you appear in Minecraft for the first time, you will have almost nothing in your inventory. Luckily, even with “nothing” you can still be useful and productive. Well, do not expect to become Jack of All Trades but building a shelter and doing some other but important stuff won’t be a problem at all. In Minecraft things work pretty logically and the better tools you have, the faster you work, build, collect and protect yourself. Though, as it was mentioned before, on your first day you will have to concentrate on building a shelter because at night some crazy personalities will appear on the horizon.
No matter where you spawn on the map, trees are likely to be there. The strangest thing is that you can collect (harvest or chop – whatever you prefer) wood with your bare hands. So, get closer to the tree and start collecting the wood. The more wood you get – the more resources you will obtain for your future house or shelter. But do not get overexcited because there are lots of other things to do. For the first time a dozen of logs will be quite enough. But if you want to feel secured – 15 will work fine too.

At this point you can use wood for a few things. The first one, of course, is as a building material. Walls made of wood are tougher than walls made of sand or gravel. But, to become even more productive, I would recommend using some tools. Thanks to the simplified crafting system, you are not even obliged to set materials in the right order to make something. Just get the required number of materials and place them into your inventory Crafting Grid (2x2)

Crafting Grid (2x2)
If you know where your future house or temporary shelter is going to be, it might be a good idea to invest in productivity and make a few tools. For that matter you will need the Crafting table. Don’t worry – it is also made of wood and you won’t need to search for a dead opossum in order to make one. So, put 4 Wooden Planks on the inventory Crafting Grid and get yourself a very useful tool.

Crafting table
Unlike your inventory Crafting Grid, this one opens amazing opportunities and you will be using it more than just often as far as almost all tools require more than just 4 elements to be crafted.
Now, the next thing to do is to craft yourself the most important tools to optimize and speed up your working process.
Open Crafting Table’s Menu and:
- Use 2 Sticks and 3 Wooden Planks to craft a Pickax. It will help you to collect mining stone-type blocks faster.

- Use 1 Stick and 2 Wooden Planks to craft a Shovel. It will help you to dig snow, sand and dirt a lot faster.

- Use 2 Sticks and 3 Wooden Planks to craft an Axe. It makes chopping wood a lot faster.

- Use 1 Stick and 2 Wooden Planks to craft a Sword. It can be used for killing mobs and happens to be far more effective than using hands.

There are some other tools and weapons but they require either additional materials or simply are not important at the moment. Also, tools and weapons can be made of better materials but for the first night it will be more than enough for you to survive.
Now, when you have a basic set of tools, it’s the highest time to make things right and start working on your shelter. But, if you still have some time, you can wonder around a bit and search for coal. This will help you to make some additional items like torches. Get as much as you need but if you spot the coal location somewhere at the cave entrance, try not to go inside because mobs spawn in dark places only. Also, don’t get overexcited on collecting coal and get 5 or so. Again – this will be more than enough to survive one night. Use Pickax to collect it faster.
So, after you’ve got some of the precious materials, get back to your shelter. A nice thing to do is to mark the place so that you spawn the next time, you won’t lose the possibility to find your precious house. This can be done easily by building something extraordinary and recognizable. Also, learn the surrounding – this will help you to orient yourself better.

Shelter
Due to the fact that Minecraft is an open world where almost anything is possible, there is an amazing variety of buildings and shelters you can create even in a 10 minute time period. It is all up to you, resources you have and the creativity you are ready to show at your best. In the list below I will describe the most popular ways of creating a shelter. Some of them can hardly be called Shelters but as long as it keeps you alive for the night – it is a perfect place to stay.

1. So Called “Decent Shelter”
The way you build your first decent shelter is all up to you. Of course, you won’t have enough materials to make everything the way you want it at the first attempt but don’t worry – everything in Minecraft can be replaced, changed modified and improved. The only recommendation is to start building your shelter from the solid materials. Usually, you will start building using wood because it is easy to get and can be found almost anywhere. On the top of that, this is a basic material for lots of things and tough enough to keep the bad guys away.
The first thing to worry about is the place. Of course, for a temporary shelter it makes no difference, but if you plan to make it your constant living place, then here’s a good advice:
- Do not build your house/shelter in lowlands. First of all – this won’t allow you to spot enemies from the distance. Secondly – there is a great possibility that at a certain point a mob will spawn above you and will jump or fall inside your house, if you do not have a roof, or will find another way to kill you. So, to avoid that, try to find a proper spot in the uplands. Of course, this is not obligatory but rather important. If you want to settle in the cage – it will work too, but you still will lose the perspective of seeing the bad guys approaching from the distance.
- Building your first shelter out of dirt is OK, but if you have enough time, try to use something else for this matter. Wood or stone will work just great but as far as wood is more likely to be in your inventory – try to concentrate on using it.
- Your first shelter does not have to look like a castle and be like one from the inside as well. So, make it just big enough to feel yourself comfortable. For instance, my first shelter was like 3 blocks wide and 5 or 6 blocks long. Start building walls around you and make them two blocks high. Leave a one block passage two blocks high free to pass. This will be your door. Now, get rid of another layer in your house by digging into the ground one block deep. If you get overexcited – use some blocks from your equipment to solve the problem.
- As far as mobs very often spawn on highlands and some of them (spiders) can climb walls, for your better protection it is recommended to build a roof. This will definitely protect your character from any possible impacts and danger.
- As for the door, you can either do a real one, which is kind of easy, or just block the exit with the blocks. In order to make a door you will have to have 6 Wooden Planks in your inventory. Again – this is not necessary but makes things look fancy.

If you choose to block your exit with the blocks, you can either block both holes or leave one for the improvised window to see when the night is over. The very same thing can be done with the roof.
- And here’s the most important part: do not forget to use your torches. As it was mentioned before, mobs spawn in dark places only meaning that if you make your home shine from the inside, there is no way they will spawn inside. So, put one or two torches inside your shelter and wait for the night to end.
If you complete building your shelter fast, you should start walking around collecting resources and when the night comes – practice some crafting. By the way – kill a pig with your sword and get a piece of meat. Even when eaten raw, it will still restore your health.
Having a house on a hill always gives you an opportunity to spend the night usefully and, if you are bored, grab a shovel and dig down for resources.

2. Make Your own Cave
Probably, one of the easiest ways to create a shelter, even if you have no tools in your inventory, is to dig a hall in the wall. Come closer to the wall (by saying “wall” I mean any vertical construction be it a mountain, a simple bump or else) at least 3 cubes high and start digging. Make a room 3 cubes wide, 3 cubes high and 4 cubes long. Get inside and close the entrance with the blocks from your inventory leaving a window at your head level. Of course, you can make your room inside as big as you want as long as you are protected from all sides with the walls. As for the window – you will need it to see if the sun is up and the danger is gone. I do understand that it is kind of boring to sit for at least 8 minutes in the improvised cave, so you can start digging in different direction but be careful because you can either dig a hall from the other side or simply find a secret cave with the mobs or fall into lava. Also, the more you work/run/jump and do all the other physical stuff, your hunger bar will drop quickly. So, as for the first time in the game, it would be very nice of you to stay calm and either stand still or explore your inventory and possibilities better.

3. Hello, Sailor
Luckily, you do not have to obtain any swimming skills because you can swim as a fish 24/7. Spot an island (the further the better) and swim there before the night comes. Mobs do not spawn on islands which will make it easier for you to survive. Also, if the island is far enough from the solid ground, they are not likely to see you, which means – no need to worry about getting into trouble. It also might be a good idea to make a boat. First of all, it will help you to get to the island and back a lot faster. Secondly, if a mob still spots you and tries to sneak up on, you will be able to get away in a boat from him pretty fast. In order to make one all you have to do is to get 5 blocks of wood planks and craft them on a Crafting Table.

4. Steal a Cave
While building a shelter of your own is a nice thing, finding a proper place for that will work too. And, there is nothing more exciting than a Cave. it is very unlikely that there will be a bear living inside the cave meaning that you can borrow it either for a few days until you build one outside the cave or for as long as possible. First of all, get inside the cave and take care of the exit. It would be very nice of you to make a door but if can’t or do not want to, leave a two block passage instead of entrance and when the night comes, block the lower one leaving just a window. By all means, start exploring the cave and dig in whatever direction you find is suitable. And don’t worry about the mobs – you will still hear them crawling, walking and roaring behind the walls. When exploring the cave, try to find its other end and create a back door, well, just in case. But still – make sure it is secured enough and never leave it unsecured because it might turn out to be fatal for you.

5. Tree House
Find a tree big enough to leave you out of reach from monsters. Usually, any kind of tree will work just fine. Build a dirt pillar close to the crown of a tree and stay there for the night. Mobs are not likely to spot you but even if they do – try to get to the opposite corner of the tree so that they can’t see you. You can expect some troubles from the spiders but let’s hope that they will stay away and won’t see you. And, as far as trees contain wood, you should definitely gather it and use afterwards.

6. Survival Cell
If you panic and have nothing else in mind and the night is already here, the best idea of securing your character is putting him in a cell. You can either make it 3 blocks high by building an improvised cross with you in the center. Put 3 blocks in front of you, 3 blocks behind you, 3 blocks to your left and 3 blocks to your right. Protected from all sides not a single mob will be able to get you. Also, a greater part of mobs not only won’t be able to attack but also won’t even notice that you are there. However, Spiders and Endermen will still sense your presence but with your creative construction they are not likely to get inside your little house.

7. Cactuses Will Save Your Life
It appears that you can turn your temporary shelter into a real fortress and here’s how it’s going to work. There is a chance that you will spawn in a desert and every desert is known for cactuses. Well, collect as many as you can and build a wall around you. Your wall has to be only two blocks high and it will definitely prevent any kind of mob from attacking you. But even if you get spotted, the good thing is that when attacking your Cactus shelter, mobs will get hurt too meaning that sooner or later cactuses will kill the intruders. But you also need to keep in mind that cactuses are dangerous for your character as well and if you get to close, they will deplete your health and while playing the Hard Mode, you can even die.

8. The Fastest Shelter Ever
The lack of time and creativity can force you to act fast and when you are in the craziest situation with nothing else around and no tools to continue a decent exploration, here’s what you can do: look down and start digging under you. Dig 3 blocks down and then put one over your head. My congratulations: you’ve just built the smallest but the fastest shelter ever. While inside, you can either wait for ten minutes and then get out to see the new day or, if too bored, start making the place wider by digging in different directions. I do understand that staying underground is, probably, not the most interesting activity but at the same time it is the simplest way to survive all kinds of danger. Well, except the hunger.

9. Build a Pillar
Instead of going down you can always go up. Building a pillar is also a decent idea that will likely save you from being killed on the very first night. The process of building pillars is more than simple: pick a material from your inventory (it is highly recommended not to use sand or gravel because creepers will likely destroy them with the explosion), look down, press the Jump button and when in the air, place a cube. Repeat the process of building a pillar under you for 12 times. It is a perfect height for keeping you safe from anything that happens on the ground and, at the same time, even if you accidently fall down, you won’t hurt your character. Of course, a one cube square is a dangerous place to balance between life and death. You can either fall down (again - accidently) or be killed by a skeleton with his bow. So, in order to kill two birds with one stone, it is highly recommended to build a little platform. Watch tower is a perfect description for this kind of structure. You can make it as big as you like but do not forget to put parapets to prevent you from falling down accidently. Also, they will protect you from being shot by skeletons or, what is really important, from spotting you from the distance by any type of enemy. It is important to use some solid materials for the pillar otherwise it can be destroyed by creepers if they explode somewhere nearby.

Hostile Mobs
I bet you wonder why building a shelter is such a big of a deal. Well, there are at least 20 reasons why this is important and all of them are connected with the monsters. While spending a day in Minecraft is all exciting and interesting, it is far more different at night. Technically, you still can do all the stuff you do during the day but with monsters constantly spawning nearby it will be quite a challenge. As far as you are not likely to get something more powerful than a stone sword, it is highly recommended to avoid any hostile contacts on your first night (and not only first). Well, if you do meet someone, do not panic but either try to escape and hide, or stand up and fight.
- While you are not likely to run away from almost any mob, it is a good idea to run as fast as possible and hide in your shelter. If you do not have one or the situation you are in is too serious, refer to the information above describing different kinds of shelters, including the emergency ones. The easiest way is to dig three cubes down and then place one block above you. This will save you from any kind of danger. After that you can simply dig a tunnel and get out somewhere else. The only downfall of this method is that you won’t be able to know if the mob is still there or he’s gone doing some other stuff. However, you are likely to hear him roaring for you, so just pay attention to the sounds and if you hear nothing – it means that the creature is likely to be somewhere else and not near you. The second downfall of this method is that you won’t be able to know if the night is over already and if it is safe to get out and continue building the amazing world of yours. Of course, this is not fatal but is kind of inconvenient.
- If you are not dealing with creepers, you can build a pillar and also escape the inevitable. But if those are skeletons you have to face, do not forget to build a platform in order to avoid being shot from the distance.
- You can also dig yourself into the wall (2x1 cube space is more than enough) and then block the exit by placing two blocks behind you.
- Mobs can also be stopped simply by placing a cube before them but this will work only in closed spaces that are two cubes high. Otherwise – it will likely jump over it. This literary opens you a window for attack and while you are not likely to have a bow so far, you can hit the mob either with a sword or anything else in your hands. I do remember me hitting it with glass in a state of panic and you know what – it worked just well. Though, I would still recommend you to stick to the weapon because it takes them down a lot more effectively. But remember – if you come closer to the mob with the intention to hit it, it will definitely fight back. Yes, he can’t reach you but it doesn’t mean he can’t kill you.

1. Zombies

Zombies are not likely to be the most dangerous mobs in the game but the biggest problem about them is that they spawn in groups meaning that usually you will have to deal with a few of them at once. This is not a major problem because they move rather slow but at the same time it is harder to get away from them when they approach like this. Zombies spawn in dark or even dimly lit areas and if something can give even a little shade, it is a great possibility that zombies will spawn there even in daylight. Zombies are not concerned about their health much and make no attempt to stay out of water or avoid cliffs so you can use this to your advantage. Also, zombies are vulnerable to the sun and in a minute or so spent out of shade will die from the sun burns. If you are dealing with a lonely zombie or just a few of them, you can run on a decent distance and dig a hole in the ground 3 blocks deep. Well, two will be enough too but 3 is better. Stand behind it and wait for the zombie to come. He won’t notice the trap and will likely fall into it. After that the sun will do the rest.
Usually, zombies look like your own character except for the green skin and hungry eyes. However, zombies can attack villagers and infect them by turning those into zombies too. So, if a zombie gets into a village, there is a great possibility that he will increase the army of dead. Village zombies look more like villagers but also tend to kill you and eat your brains. You won’t see much of those because the percentage to the whole zombie family is 5%. If you’re playing on Easy difficulty, you are not going to see Village Zombies at all because the change of a villager being killed by a zombie is 0%. On normal this chance rises up to 50% and on hard every villager killed by zombie will turn into a zombie himself.
For killing a Zombie you will get 5 points of experience. They also drop different stuff including Rotten Flesh, Carrot, Iron Ingot or Potato. In rare cases you can also expect them to drop Iron Shovels, Iron Swords and Random Armor.

2. Skeletons

One of the main features that makes a Skeleton different from any other monster is its ability to shoot you from the distance with his bow and arrows. This makes things a bit complicated, especially when you want to get closer and kill the mob. They also move quickly and hitting them with a projectile won’t be an easy task. Of course, the best way is to come closer and kill him with a sword but, as I’ve already mentioned, you still might get hit with an arrow. If you appear in a 16 block radius to the Skeleton, it will start chasing you immediately. If he covers half a distance and is only 8 blocks away, he will start shooting at you. If you try to get away, the purchase will be renewed. The best way to kill a Skeleton is to wait for him to shoot, dodge the arrow and get closer while he’s recharging. But, if you have a bow, you can try to shoot the mob back. It might get tricky at first but you will become a lot more skillful with time.
As well as zombies, Skeletons spawn in dark places which includes natural constructions that drop shadows and caves. Usually, every treasure chest is protected by a bunch of skeletons. Obviously, Skeletons also spawn at night. The good news is that Skeletons are very vulnerable to the sunlight meaning that if they spot you during the day in the cave or on the surface when you have nothing in your inventory to fight with, simply run away from them and rather sooner than later the sunlight will kill them. Usually, Skeletons drop Arrows and Bones but from time to time you will get either a Bow or a Random Armor.

3. Spider

Unlike other mobs that are vulnerable to the sunlight, spiders act differently and take no damage no matter the weather outside. The good news is that they are not likely to attack you even when they spot you during the day unless you provoke them to. Spiders are kind of big creatures and measure 2 x 2 x 1 blocks. This little fact turns them into pretty good targets from the distance. But, you shouldn’t expect things to get a lot easier because spiders are kind of tricky mobs:
- First of all – they move really fast. They can cover 2 - 3 blocks in a bound which makes it a lot harder to get away from those spiders;
- Secondly, when attacking, spiders might start jumping around and hitting a jumping target is not always an easy task.
- Thirdly – spiders can climb walls. This means that hiding just behind walls might not help;
- Fourthly – spiders can and, probably, even will attack from the above. So, if there is no roof above your head – either make one or get ready for the air attack.
Luckily, things are not as bad as they sound – just on the contrary! Despite spiders’ ability to climb – they won’t be able to do that nonstop. Spiders are pretty careless climbers and usually fall down even when climbing a regular wall. Also, they are not able to climb the celling and when reaching it in a cave or wherever it is – they will definitely fall down. You can use this to your advantage if the situation allows you (and even if it doesn’t).
As it was mentioned before – Spiders are not hostile during the day and won’t touch you unless you provoke them. However, if the light level goes to 9 or less – they will turn into pretty nasty mobs. Their detection radius is 16 blocks and if you get inside it, spiders will start chasing you until you get away or kill the poor thing. And one of the most unpleasant things – spiders can sense you even when you hide behind the walls and will likely ambush you or will try to do something else to get closer. So, if you want to get away from it without killing the arachnid – try to get out from his detection radius which is 16 blocks.
Believe it or not, there is a very nice strategy against spiders. First of all – try to find the high ground and if this is not possible – make sure that the spider you are about to fight with is not using high ground on his own. This strategy should prevent you from the unexpected jumps from above. Also, if you are approaching from above, you will be able to control spiders giving them almost no chance for attacking you. At night the best way to spot a spider is to search for the red glowing eyes.
Together with the regular spider, when wondering in the caves you are likely to find another kind of spiders known as Cave Spider. Those are pretty much alike their grownup brothers but happen to have a bit more interesting set of features. Frist of all – they are smaller, meaning that it gets a bit more harder to shoot them off from the distance. Secondly – their bite is venomous and you will lose health under its impact. Well, they are a bit easier to kill because they have only 12 Health Hearts instead of 16 Health Hearts offered by a regular spider but still – their venom nature makes everything look a lot more challenging. When bitten, Venom will cause 0.5 Health Heart damage every second for:
- 7 seconds on Normal difficulty;
- 15 seconds on Hard difficulty.
You will know if you’ve been bitten or not by the yellow-green health bar. The good thing is that even if your math tells you that you are going to die from the bite anyway, you can relax and say “No Way!” The thing is that venom won’t kill you even if you have 0.5 Health Heart left. Of course, it makes you very vulnerable but still – not dead. So, in this case either try to do your best and recover your health in any possible way or hide somewhere and wait for the things to calm down. When killed, both Spiders will likely give you String or Spider Eye. Also, killing a spider gives you 5 points of experience. And the last thing you need to know is that once in a while (1/100) a regular Spider can spawn with a Skeleton on his back. This strange and strong creature is known as Spider Jockey.

4. Spider Jockey

It is not likely you are going to see one soon but if you do – get ready to face some serious resistance. Spider Jockey combines the dangers of both mobs: Spider and Skeleton. You are not likely to meet them on your first night but if you still do – just stop, turn back and run like hell. Even with the armor, sword, bow and all the other possible stuff it won’t be easy to deal with those two. While Spider will be moving and jumping from place to place, Skeleton will shoot at you with his bow. Also, while the Spider might stay calm during the day, Skeleton will still start shooting at you if you get into his spotting radius. Because of the fact that spiders can detect a player through solid blocks, Spider Jockeys can ambush unsuspecting players in sufficient darkness. You can and definitely should use the sunlight to your advantage. It won’t solve the problem but at least will burn Skeleton leaving Spider alone. But if you are fighting it at night, try to take down Skeleton first with a bow (if you have one). After that – get back to Spider.
As well as any other Spider, Spider Jockey will sense you even behind the walls and is likely to ambush you or shoot through a window even if it is protected by a glass cube. The best way to take down a mob like this is to have a single cube window above your head. Well, this is not a 100% chance winning strategy but if you hide at your house and Spider Jockey goes after you, get inside the house and make a hole in the roof. Obviously, Spider Jockey will try to get you through it but it won’t be able to do that because he is too big to fall in. This opens you an amazing opportunity to kill it without taking any damage. This kind of scenario is not likely to happen so easy but in Minecraft impossible is nothing. If it helps – Spider Jockey is vulnerable to falling, fire, lava and contact with cacti. Use this to your advantage at any possible way. The drop inventory is no different from the one offered by Skeleton and Spider separately but this time you are simply going to get all the stuff in one package. When killing both you are also going to obtain 10 experience points (5 for Skeleton and 5 for Spider).

5. Enderman

I do not find any of the Minecraft mobs scary but Enderman always gives me creeps. The devastating secret hides in Enderman’s nature and I would rather meet a few skeletons than this kind of Humanoid-like thing. And you know what the strangest part is? This mob is neutral during the day and only gets angry in the dark or at the light level 7 or less. But I bet you still want to know what’s so creepy and special about Enderman. Well, sit down and listen: Enderman is kind of a rare mob and is likely not to be seen than otherwise. Also, it won’t attack you during the day unless you provoke it. And here comes the strange part: you can provoke Enderman by simply looking at upper legs, torso or head. Even if you do this from a 25 cube distance – Enderman will still react to your curiosity. Now, please, welcome – the creepy part: if you simply look at Enderman – it will just look back at you doing nothing. But the very same moment you turn back to go away, he will chase you whispering scary words with no meaning and if you look back – Enderman will be standing a lot closer than before, again, just watching back at you. Endermen are not known for giving up purchases meaning that it is almost impossible to run away from them. So, you should either kill the mob or make him concentrate on somebody else. By the way – this is something to keep in mind: Endermen are very vulnerable to any kind of water including rivers, lakes and rain. Use this to your advantage if possible. I do understand that right now in your head the best way to get rid of Enderman is to look at him and come closer to hit with a sword. Technically – you’re right but when you come closer to the mob – he will teleport instantly, usually behind your head. However, you can easily spot him by the trail he leaves. Just be attentive and watch your six.
As a rule, Endermen are occupied with carrying blocks of a different kind. At first I was more than sure that they will throw those blocks at me when feeling hostile but, luckily, this is not the case. Probably, one of the main reasons why Enderman have such long hands is because they carry blocks a lot.
By the way – if you happen to have a pumpkin, put it on your head. This will prevent you from turning Enderman into hostile mob even if you look at it or shoot it with your bow. This is very useful and very effective. But the most effective way, of course, is to lure it into the water trap. As mentioned before – it can be any kind of water, even brought with yourself. Use a bucket of water to create a puddle around you and provoke Enderman to come after you. He will come into the water, get some damage, teleport from the place and will come again to take some damage until he dies.
Killing Endermen might not be easy, especially if you have a few on your tail. But, if you do not provoke them in any possible way and do not search for a trouble on your first day at Minecraft – things will work just fine.
Endermen drop Ender Pearl and will grant you with 5 experience points for being killed.

6. Creepers

Creepers are the most hated mobs in Minecraft and they have all the right to be hated that much. The trick is that Creepers have one of the most unpleasant abilities that not only causes severe damage to a player but also blows off everything around in a certain radius. Yes, my dear: this means that if you hide at home and a Creeper gets pretty close to you and your house, you are likely to lose a part of your home. Logically, when not at home of yours, it will still explode nearby causing damage to you and the surrounding blocks. Also, Creepers are immune to the sunlight and won’t burn during the day. They always act hostile and are especially dangerous because of the fact that they move very quietly. Creepers are not afraid of any physical damage and are always ready to climb steps, traverse complex obstacles and do whatever it takes to kill you. If you appear in their detection radius, that is 16 blocks, you are likely to be chased unless the Creeper explodes, causing severe damage, or you kill him making the world a better place to live. A Creeper will also stalk the player, making it very hard to escape when the player is busy doing something else.
Creeper's explosion is pretty wide but it depends on the difficulty level you’re playing on. Though, if you meet a Creeper on your first day of the game, you are very unlikely to survive its explosion. To give you a rough idea of the explosion radius, here’s what’s left from a Charged Creeper and a regular Creeper.

Yes, on the top of all, beside regular creepers there are Charged Creepers. They do not differ from the original ones in movement and killing strategy but happen to be a lot deadlier and trust me – you do not want to meet any of them, but the Charged one especially. Charged Creepers can be distinguished from normal Creepers by the blue aura surrounding them.
Taking into consideration an important fact that creepers explode when they come closer to the player, it would be logical to assume that there is nothing better than keeping a creeper at the distance with the help of your bow. Unfortunately, it is very unlikely that you are going to have one on your first day in Minecraft. But, at the same time, if you’ve been acting well, I do believe that there is a sword in your inventory. So, the next thing to do is to take out your sword and approach the Creeper. Now – the most important part: hit the mob and get away from it as far as possible. You see – Creepers detonate when you are around but they won’t do that as long as you keep the distance. In other words – you can come closer > hit it with a sword causing a Creeper to start charging > run away right after the hit on the safe distance (usually, three blocks away is more than enough) > this will cause the charge to stop. Repeat this strategy and rather sooner than later you are going to kill the guy. But, if you are not interested in showing some strategic skills, you can simply use the environment as your allies and make a Creeper fall into the lava.
If you are still afraid of meeting a Creeper (as a matter of fact – you should be), here’s something you can use to save your life and your house. The trick is that Creepers are afraid of cats and ocelots and when one is around – they will do their best to avoid meeting it. You can and should use this to your advantage. Well, if you get to the Creeper it will still explode but as long as you stay with a cat or ocelot and the mob is blocks away – there is nothing to worry about.
Creepers are the easiest obtainable source of gunpowder which makes them dangerously important. So, if you plan to go wild and create something from the list below – you should teach yourself to kill Creepers without being killed. Powder is good for creating TNT, Fire Charges, Splash Potions, Firework Stars and Firework Rockets. Creepers share 5 points of experience after you kill them.

7. Ghast

Ghasts. Frankly speaking, I do not even know what to start with. Those are pretty strange creatures living in the Minecraft world but at the same time I find them sad. At least, that’s what they make me feel – sad. Ghasts are ghost-like mobs floating in the air. Their special ability is to shoot fireballs from the distance. Ghasts are also very big mobs and their bodies are 4 x 4 x 4 blocks with 9 tentacle-like limbs hanging from the bottom and they spawn only in the Nether and it is very unlikely to see those outside the place. One of the most dangerous things about Ghasts is that they are hard to get mobs and it is almost impossible to kill one with a close combat weapon and here’s the reason why:
- Firstly – they easily flow in the air, usually above lava;
- Secondly – they never intend to get closer to the character. At the same time they do not run away either. They simply keep the comfortable distance.
- Thirdly – while keeping the distance, Ghasts constantly shoot fireballs. Well, when shot from the distance you can easily dodge the projectile but still – things get pretty tough when you approach the whole group of Ghasts.
- Fourthly – Ghasts have the most unbelievable search range and can target a player up to 100 blocks away. While this gives you a plenty of time to dodge the upcoming projectile, it can approach you from behind and deal pretty severe damage (if you come to the Nether unprotected).
- The Fifth thing that makes Ghast one of the most hated mobs for me is the way it behaves or, to be exact, the way it sounds. Even when not acting hostile, it produces extremely strange sounds that I would prefer not to hear. I am not even sure with what this can be compared with but trust me – you will know what I am talking about and you are definitely not interested in hearing it. Mark my words. Of course, this can be easily improved by turning the volume down, plus the sounds that Ghasts make have a minimum intensity regardless of their distance, so they often sound closer when they are actually far away.
As it was mentioned above – Ghasts are pretty hard to get mobs because they usually float in the air and can’t be reached with a sword. That is why it is recommended to have a Bow in your inventory before you enter the Nether. Shooting at Ghasts might get tricky but with just a little bit practice, you can change it all. The other great method to get rid of those is to send their own fireball projectiles. Well, this is both amazingly useful and dangerous and if you are not sure about being perfect at timing – then there is a great possibility that you are going to get a direct hit from Ghast. However, the biggest advantage of doing so is that fireballs are infinite unlike your arrows. So, I would recommend you to practice a bit and become a kickback fireball master. The last but not the most comfortable method of killing Ghasts is killing them from behind with the melee weapon. That is not an easy thing to do unless a Ghast is floating low above the ground and doesn’t see you. But, you can show some creativity and use your fishing road to draw Ghasts into a sword range. And boy, I have to tell you, this looks kind of amazing.
When killed, Ghasts will drop Gunpowder or Ghast Tear. As well as other mobs, Ghasts will grant you 5 points of experience.

8. Wolf (Wild)

Wolves are very specific mobs because they can be either hostile or turned into the best friends of yours. They spawn On Grass, in Forest and Taiga biomes. They are not vulnerable to the sunlight but are not likely to survive drowning, suffocation, falling, contact with cacti or lava. I am not sure if you really need this but in order to turn Wolf into a hostile one simply come closer and hit it. If you want to do otherwise, find a bone and give it to a wolf with the “Use” key. You will need a random number of bones to turn it into a tamed wolf. Each bone has a 1 in 3 chance of taming the wolf meaning that you might need up to 12 bones to successfully tam a wolf. However, once a wolf turns hostile, it can no longer become friendly and be turned into a tamed wolf.
There is not much logic in killing wolves because they are neutral mobs and can be turned into really helpful allies. Also, even when killed with your character, they won’t drop any items and the experience you gain for killing a wolf varies from 1 to 3. In other words – try to do your best and get as many bones as possible to turn as many wolves into tamed wolves (dogs) as possible. This will not only help you to secure your house (when at home) but will also increase your chances to survive at the battlefield. Tamed Wolf will follow you no matter where you go and will protect you when someone attacks. If you get too far from your pet, wolf will teleport to your character unless he was said to sit down and wait for his master. It is not recommended to order a wolf to attack an untamed member of its own pack. Well, being a faithful pet he will kill the target but will turn hostile towards the character.
The good news is that so far there is not limitation set to the number of wolves you can train meaning that it is possible to create an amazingly huge army that will do all the job for you. Wolves are extremely effective against Zombies, Skeletons (though, Skeletons can still shoot a wolf), Zombie Pigman but less effective against Spiders and will have some serious troubles dealing with Endermen (which can be solved with lots of Rotten Flesh that will restore their health). Unfortunately, tamed wolves (dogs) have no or just little effect on Creepers, Slimes and Magma Cubes.
As a rule, tamed wolves (dogs) follow the player no matter where he goes and will teleport if he gets too far. All kinds of wolves now have AI and with that glorious feature comes the ability to find paths to the targets and get out even from the most unpredicted and hard geographical situations. However, they can still take damage from gradual descents.

9. Slime

What’s green and slimy? A Green Slime) These are gelatinous, green and jumpy mobs that always act hostile and are willing to jump on you whenever there is a possibility. They also have very underestimated ability to divide themselves into smaller slimes and here’s how it works. The biggest Slime is 4 cubes big and splits particles when feeling jumpy. After killing one, another 4 but smaller in size Slimes will appear. These will be 1 block big and, of course, will cause lower damage. After killing the middle one – the last and the smallest 3 Slimes will appear. They cause no damage unless you jump on them.
When dealing with Slimes, you need to remember a few simple things. You already know that big Slimes will be divided into middle sized slimes and middle sized Slimes will be divided into even smaller ones. As a matter of fact, this can be used to your advantage and here’s the reason why: the number of hostile mobs is strictly limited for a certain area and the more little Slimes you make, the smaller will be the number of other mobs.
Slime’s detection level is 16 cubes and its health is equal to its size squared. When Slime spots a player, he will likely come after him no matter what meaning that it will fall into lava or deep holes without any possible attempt to find another route. Slime’s damage level equals to the number of cubes it is made of but, as it was mentioned before, the smallest ones cause no damage, though they can push you over the cliff.
The best thing about fighting Slimes is that they are very rewarding and you can gain up to 19 points of experience for killing Slimes and all his stages. For the biggest one you are going to get 4 points, the middle ones will give you another 6 (2 points each) and the smallest ones will grant you with 9 points (1 point each). Also, after killing the mob he will likely drop Slimeball which is kind of useful item for making potions and not only.

10. Zombie Pigman

Zombie Pigman is a creepy combination of an actual zombie and a pig. They usually spawn in the Nether and often appear near nether portals. Also, in rare situation they can be created when lightning strikes within 3-4 blocks of a pig. Zombie Pigmen are not usually hostile but will attack you when provoked. These mobs are humanoids covered in both Pig’s flesh, zombie flash and bones. As a rule, they are going to come at you with a Golden Sword in their hands. Zombie Pigmen spawn in groups of four. Their movement speed is kind of slow but at the same time when being provoked – it will increase significantly. One of the most dangerous things about Zombie Pigman is that when under attack, it will alarm all his “friends” in 32 block radius and if any, they will join the group and will attack you as well. So, try to be careful and do not provoke them if this is not a necessity. Unlike regular zombies, Zombie Pigmen are immune to the sunlight, so they won’t disappear when the day comes. They also happen to be immune to any kind of fire meaning that pushing them over the cliff into the lava river won’t make a difference as well as won’t kill them (though, they are likely to take some damage from the falling). Being more a pig than a zombie, Zombie Pigmen will act like a one being led by a carrot. In other words – when going after you they won’t try to go around objects or ambush you in any possible way. Being immune to any fire damage, Zombie Pigmen are capable of drowning and it is advised to use this to your advantage, especially when dealing with the whole group.
As it was mentioned before, Zombie Pigmen are neutral mobs and won’t attack you unless you provoke them. The biggest problem is that when at least one Zombie Pigman is attacked, all the other Pigmen mobs in 32 block radius will be alarmed and turned into hostile ones. Also, when going after you, they will move the alarm radius and all the new Zombie Pigmen that accidently get into it are also going to turn hostile. So, if you are not ready to fight the whole horde of Zombie Pigmen or simply do not want to get into the fight – try to retreat in a Zombie Pigmen free direction. I know that it won’t be an easy task but at least try it. You can always fight back either with a bow or a sword. It won’t be easy considering the quantity of upcoming enemies but hit and run strategy have been working great for that matter and I am pretty sure it will work again. Zombie Pigmen move very slow and if you have enough arrows in your inventory, there is a great possibility to take them down from the distance. Also, if you manage to build a pillar fast and get on it – this will give you a great advantage, especially with a decent bow in your hands. If the pillar is only 3 blocks high, you can also use your sword to deal with Zombie Pigmen. So far this is one of the easiest tactics.
After killing a Zombie Pigman you are likely to get either Rotten Flesh or Gold Nugget. Also, in very rare situations they will drop Gold Ingot, Golden Sword or Random Armor. Killing Zombie Pigman will grant you with 5 experience points.

11. Blaze

You are not going to see Blazes often because they can be found in The Nether only, mostly inside Nether Fortresses. By all means, they are hostile mobs and due to the specific character build can cause severe damage to the player. Blazes are considerably difficult mobs to fight, due to their ranged, unblockable attacks and rapid rate of fire. They happen to have three types of attacks that turns them into kind of hard targets to get. The first one to be mentioned is a distance attack. When you get in the detection radius and Blazes spot you, they will start launching fire projectiles in your direction (3 at a time). When you get closer to a Blaze, it will attack you with the three rotating sections. Each rotating section contains four floating yellow rods. Also, it periodically turns itself on fire and, again, if you touch it – you will set yourself on fire too.
The best way to deal with Blaze is to shoot it from the distance. Also, as far as fire is its main power, Blazes are very vulnerable to the water and snowballs but take no damage from lava and fire. So, if you happen to have something alike in your inventory – do not be afraid to use it against a hostile mob, especially snowballs. They will deal 3 points of damage each which is kind of nice and effective. By the way: hiding in narrow tunnels will help a lot, so when you see a fireball approaching – dodge and hide behind, charge your bow, look out, shoot and hide again before the next projectile hits you. Of course – you are the one to choose your fighting strategy but first of all try to make as uncomfortable conditions for Blazes as possible: splitting water and throwing snowballs will work great as well as shooting the mob from the distance. Using tamed wolves (dogs) against Blazes won’t be effective and if you happen to have some, make them wait somewhere. However, you can use one for distraction but with a definite chance to lose the helper.
Killing Blaze will drop either Blaze Rod or Glowstone Dust. As far as Blaze is a tough mob, you will get 10 points of experience.

12. Witch

Witches happen to be one of the trickiest mobs in the game because their possibilities are pretty much unlimited. They look a lot like regular villagers but are usually dressed into purple cloths, witch hats and have a wart on their noses. Killing Witches is not an easy task because they can adjust to every combat situation and use whatever potion harms you most. Yes, witches ability is to throw potions at mobs and players making them weaker, slower and deadlier. So, when you approach the Witch and are at least 8 blocks away, this is what is going to happen next:
- if you do not have the Slowness status effect, the Witch will throw the Potions of Slowness;
- if your health is at least 8 and you are not poisoned, be prepared to enjoy a Potion of Poison.
Now, when you come closer than 3 blocks but still without the Weakness status effect, there is a 25% chance that the Witch will throw the Potion of Weakness. But if nothing of the mentioned above is true, you are likely to see the Potion of Harming flying at you. If you try to set him on fire, he will use the Potion of Fire Resistance. Also, sunlight has no influence on Witches which means that they are not going to disappear all by themselves even if you really want to.
The specifics of this kind of mob (who deals with magic potions) is pretty obvious: he can resist almost any kind of potion thrown at him. Using Potions of Poison and Instant Damage will do almost no harm as far as they will neutralize them with the Potion of Healing. So, the best way to get things done is to use tools that have never let you down! Use your bow to shoot the Witch from a 24 or less block distance. If that is not what you like to do or you are simply out of arrows, come closer and hit him with your sword. The best way to do that is in strategic combination: send a few arrows into the enemy and watch him drinking the Potion of Healing. At this moment the Witch will be very vulnerable being unable to do a thing. While the Potion of healing will restore his health, a few melee attacks with a sword in your hands will solve the problem.
Frankly speaking, I’m kind of surprised to see that after killing the bad guy you are going to get only 5 points of experience. Though, you will be granted with lots of great items which include Glass Bottle, Glowstone Dust, Gunpowder, Redstone Dust, Spider Eye, Stick and Sugar. But, this is not all! If you kill him during the process of drinking one of the potions (Potion of Healing, Potion of Fire Resistance or Potion of Swiftness), you are likely to get one for yourself.

13. Magma Cubes

The good thing about Magma Cubes is that they spawn in the Nether only, so this is the only place you are going to meet them. The most unique feature of Magma Cubes is that they divide themselves after being killed. Killing one Magma Cube will spawn another three but smaller Magma cubes. Killing those three will spawn another three but smaller cubes. So, if the math is right, you are going to deal with 13 Magma Cubes while planning to deal with one. The biggest Cube might be hard to kill but it is an easy target because of the size. The other three medium cubes are also pretty easy to kill because they have lower health but still are big enough in size. However, the last stage of the Magma Cube can turn into a real pain in the back because in a moment you are going to get 9 small cubes jumping all over the place trying to hit you. They are really small and while dealing little damage, they simply make the fighting stage annoying. So, if you are forced to deal with Magma Cubes anyway, try to make things easier and do not break the second (middle) set of 3 Magma Cubes at once. Separate one of them, kill it and then kill the smaller once that appear. The best way to kill the biggest Cube is to wait for him to jump, raise your head and aim for the belly. First of all – this strategy will help you to avoid any direct hits from the approaching enemy. Secondly – you are going to push it back a bit opening an opportunity for another proper hit. You can also try to take it down with a sword from the distance but due to Magma Cube’s jumpy nature, it will be kind of hard.
Magma Cubes behave a lot like Slimes but, of course, with a few exceptions due to their lava nature. First of all – they take no damage from fire or lava. On the top of that they never take fall damage which means pushing them over the edge into the lava river won’t change a thing. Also, their forward speed is twice that of other mobs which makes them pretty fast on the battlefield. They jump every 2 to 6 seconds which is one-quarter as often as Slimes do, but their jump height depends on their size.
The best thing about fighting Magma Cubes is that they are very rewarding and you can gain up to 19 points of experience for killing Magma Cube and all his stages. For the biggest one you are going to get 4 points, the middle ones will give you another 6 (2 points each) and the smallest ones will grant you with 9 points (1 point each). Also, after killing the mob he will likely drop Magma Cream which is kind of useful item for making potions and not only.

14. Wither Skeleton

While Wither Skeletons are likely to spawn in Nether Fortresses only, they are very dangerous mobs. Unlike regular zombies who are usually equipped with bows and are effective from the distance, Wither Skeletons come equipped with the stone swords. They are hostile by default and if you get into their spot radius, which is 16 blocks, they will start attacking you. The most dangerous thing about Wither Skeletons is that they deal extra damage thanks to the “Wither” effect. It will darken your health bar and will damage your character for the next 10 seconds. Obviously, Wither Skeletons are immune to lava, fire damage and take no harm from daylight (unlike the regular Skeletons). From time to time they can also pick up different items, weapons and tools as well as armor.
Wither Skeletons are very tough to deal with due to their high attack strength. On the top of that they will use their Wither effect to deal you extra damage and are likely to spawn near a Blaze. The good thing about Wither Skeletons is that they are too big to enter a two block high tunnel meaning that you can easily get away from them by digging up one quickly, if possible. If you manage to do that, killing a Wither Skeleton won’t be a problem at all. Despite all the expectations, killing Wither Skeletons with a bow is not as effective as it sounds. When you shoot at one that is more than 10 blocks away, you are likely to miss because they move really fast. At the same time, when in less than 10 block range, shooting with a bow will work a lot better but it might be a good idea to brace yourself and get ready to face the enemy with the sword in your hands. In this situation it is highly recommended to move into position where you have more than enough space for maneuver.
Wither Skeletons, as well as all the other mobs, can travel through a Nether Portal. This is not fatal but should be kept in mind and if you see a Wither Skeleton wondering near your house in the Overworld – don’t act surprised and do what has to be done.
Killing a Wither Skeletons can bring you either Coal or a Bone. In some rare situation you can get Wither Skeleton Skull or a Stone Sword. Wither Skeletons will grant you with 5 points of experience.

15. Iron Golem

Technically, Iron Golem is not hostile and just on the contrary – does whatever it takes to protect the poor villagers from zombies or any other mobs that are likely to attack them. He usually spawns near or at the village and simply walks around minding his own business. When the dark comes and zombies attack the village to have a decent brainy meal, Iron Golem approaches them and kicks all the bad thoughts with his mighty hands. Technically, Zombies have no strength to kill the Iron Golem because he has 50 Heart Health Bar. However, because of the fact that Zombies attack in big hordes and Iron Golem moves kind of slow, there is a great possibility that some Zombies will kill a few villagers and turn them into Zombies.
Iron Golem has the most powerful melee attack in the game and the only creature that takes the first place is the Creeper. If everything goes as planned, Iron Golem can deal up to 10.5 Health Heart damage in one hit. This is just insane considering an average health of an average Zombie. Also, even when hiding behind a one block wall, Iron Golem will still be able to cause damage even without seeing a mob. However, you can suffer from this amazingly powerful feature too. Naturally, Iron Golems are not hostile and no matter what you do – they will walk around minding their own business. However, if you accidently or purposely (I am not sure why you should do that but still) hit it with any kind of weapon – it will turn hostile and will attack you with all the possible inspiration and hatred not to mention – deadly hands. If that actually happens – try to do your best and avoid any close contact with the fellow. Iron Golems take severe damage from any kind of weapons, including bows (use that to your advantage), lava, fire, poison, suffocation and cacti. However, they won’t drown and won’t take any fall damage. The best option to kill the creature is to give the Iron Golem a lava shower.
By the way – you can create Iron Golems yourself. For that matter you will need 4 Iron blocks and a pumpkin. Put the blocks in a “T” shape and then use pumpkin to bring it to life. The good thing about Iron Golems is that you can actually use them to your advantage and make them near your house. When any hostile mob spawns nearby, they will attack them by default and considering their melee attack powers, all the bad guys are going to die really fast.
Killing Iron Golems is not effective because it requires a lot of effort and for that matter you are going to get 0 experience points. But, they are likely to drop Iron Ingot and Rose. It is better than nothing but still – it is a lot better to have an Iron Golem wondering nearby your house than to have a few Iron Ingots in your inventory instead. Well, I’m just saying.

16. Silverfish

Despite your expectations, Silverfish is not a mob that spawns in the water. Just on the contrary – this is a mob that appears after you break a certain kind of block. This has to be a Stone Brick located in strongholds. It is impossible to distinguish a regular Stone Brick from the one with the Silverfish inside. However, you can use you character’s hand to check for the trickery. You see – unlike a regular Stone Brick, it will take less time to mine the one with a hostile secret. At the same time, they require a bit more time when mined with a pickaxe.
Silverfishes are not tough enemies to kill and will cause only 0.5 Health Heart damage to the player. However, when a group of those approaches, it won’t be an easy task to kill them with a sword because they move really fast and attack the same way. Also, when under attack, Silverfish may alarm the nearby Silverfish mobs and awaken them causing the whole horde to attack you. When a Silverfish hits a player, it might change either yours or hers Y-coordinate. While it sounds like fun, this kind of attack can easily kill you as far as in confined spaces (and, usually, Silverfish spawns right in those places) it is really hard to dodge this kind of attack. Here’s how it works: Silverfish comes closer, you change your Y coordinate and fall down, very likely on Silverfish who will launch you back in the air. When dealing with the whole horde of Silverfishes, you might never fall down on the solid ground and die bouncing up and down.
It won’t take long to kill a Silverfish and as a reward you are going to get 5 experience points. Unfortunately, Silverfish drops nothing.

First Night in Minecraft: The To Do List

If you are familiar with the basics – here’s what you need to do to survive your first night in Minecraft:
1. Mark your spawn point. The best way to do that is to build a pillar and memorize the surrounding (For Example: sandy ground, big trees, caves on the South, water in the Northern direction).
2. Find a proper location for your future home or temporary shelter. If it is not a cave – try to settle on the highlands. This will help you to avoid spawns above your head.
3. Start chopping wood. This can be done without any tools.
4. Make a crafting table and use it for making tools and weapons from wood.
5. Use your tools to dig faster (shovel) mine faster (pickaxe) and chop wood faster (axe). For temporary protection you can also craft a Wooden Sword.
6. Start building your very first shelter. Use the environment to your advantage. For example, instead of building another wall level, you can simply dig one block level in the ground. Do not forget to make a roof!
7. You can either block your exit with the material blocks or make a door which is kind of simple. For that matter you will need 6 Wooden Planks.
8. If you still have some time, kill a pig for Meet and a sheep for Wool. You can also use Shears to get 3 Wool instead of 1. Now, take 3 Wool and 3 Wooden Planks to make a bed and place it in your house. This will solve the random spawning problem and will help you to skip the night quickly.
9. If you are not into sleep and want to explore, start digging down (if you are hiding in the highlands) or explore the cave (if you settle in one).


Your Second Day in Minecraft
Now that you’ve survived your first night and still are breathing, on your second day you should widen your exploration interests and concentrate on a few things:
- mining resources;
- fortifying your shelter/home;
- crafting items to make your life and existence in Minecraft a lot more interesting and exciting.

At this point you are supposed to have either a small shelter, a warm place in the cave or, at least, a small 3 blocks deep hole in the ground. If you missed the part when you were supposed to build a house, take a few mouse scrolls back and repeat the procedure. If there is at least something on the hill with a few walls – you can start making it better.
Well, before you get over attached to something, I want to tell you something: building in Minecraft is kind of easy as well as destroying. So, if you do not want to leave your shelter but at the same time it is no good for further existence, you can simply make it better. Or, if you are OK with exploring the world (which you should be) – search for better places with better views, a lot more interesting caves, pool and else. Minecraft is an open world where nearly everything is possible. That is why you can and even should experiment and be unpredictably creative. None will stop you from building a house whenever you want as well as none will be able to prevent you from building 10 houses, if that’s what you need. However, it is important to keep things safe and turning your house into one is the first thing to do.
The number of methods you can secure your house is limited only by your imagination. You want a castle with long corridors and deep trenches – please, be my guest. You want something simple and unnoticeable at the same time? Hmmm, why not?! But if you still plan to stick to the classy house on the hill – here are some tips.
1. Try to make your house of something solid. Of course, dirt and sand will work too but wood and stone will work a lot better. Of course, you will have to mine some first but with the number of caves and resources this won’t be a problem at all. Wood can be chopped from trees even with the bare hands but things are going to go faster if you use an axe (even a wooden one). As for the stone, you won’t have any problems getting enough of that too as far as Stone is the second most common block found in a normal map after the air. Almost in all cases every cave has stone blocks right at the entrance.

However, for mining Stone you are going to need a pickaxe. It can be made on a Crafting Table.

2. Now – the construction itself. There is no need to make your walls really high. As a matter of fact – a 3 block high wall will be more than just enough. The last and the third block level will be used for the roof level. If you are feeling claustrophobic inside, it is always possible to dig one level down inside your apartment and make id deeper, so to speak. But still – it is recommended to have a three block wall on the outside and here’s a reason why: spiders have an amazing possibility to climb the walls meaning that you can be attacked if there is no roof about your head. So, in this case put another block on the outside that will level with your roof. It should look like number “1” made of blocks or an upside down “L” letter, if you insist. This simple trick won’t let the spiders get inside your home. It is pretty easy but works better than anything else.

Of course, you might not bother building this kind of protection but you should know that in this case spiders will be able to climb the wall and get inside your house if you have no roof above your head.

3. I know that we’ve covered that before but it would be very nice of you to leave at least one empty block and use it as a window. This will help you to understand what exactly is happening outside and if it’s morning already or the dark is still here. It is not recommended to make this hole in your roof as far as hostile mobs are likely to get inside with the help of it. But, if you have the already mentioned spider/mob security system – this is not likely to happen.

4. You can also build your house two or even three blocks thick if you want to. This will take some time but thick walls prevent you from getting hurt by Creepers even if they explode which is kind of nice. Or, you simply can use tougher materials. But still – do not forget about the roof and mob protection.

5. No matter if your house is built on the highlands or you’ve settled in the cave, make enough room for yourself by digging down. You can call this a basement or whatever word suits you well. Obviously, this will help you to find some resources required for further progression, iron in particular.

Resources
While digging, you will come across different resources. As a rule those will be Dirt, Sand and Stone that do not seem to be valuable because there is too much of those. But, the world of Minecraft consists of lots of other useful and important resources. Well, to give you a general idea of what they look like and what for those can be used, here’s a short description for the Ores that are likely to happen on your way down (by saying that I mean digging and not killing yourself).

1. Coal Ore

Coal Ore is, probably, one of the most common ores in the game and can be found on almost any elevation. You can mine it with the help of wooden pickaxe or better. Coal is almost a perfect source of energy and can be used for smelting, crafting torches and other useful stuff. You can also acquire a great amount of experience by mining coal.

2. Iron Ore

Iron Ore is another useful resource that you are simply obliged to have in your inventory. It can be used for doing lots of things including making tools, weapon and armor. The most effective way to mine Iron Ore is with the help of stone, iron or diamond pickaxe. Anything else will work too but it might take a while. When smelted in Furnace it will make Iron Ingots.

3. Lapis Lazuli Ore

The good thing about Lapis Lazuli Ore is that you do not have to craft or smelt it as far as the block will yield the resource immediately after mining. It is used to make decorative blocks and blue dyes. It can be mined with a stone or better pickaxe quite effectively.

4. Gold Ore

Despite all expectations, gold is not something extraordinary in the game, yes, it has a certain value and is kind of hard to find. But, when used to craft tools and swords you will be surprised to know that it is not as good as it should be. For instance, a Golden Shovel will last only 33 digs while its wooden equivalent can do twice as much. However, Gold is a lot better in enchanting things, probably, because of its natural value.

5. Redstone Ore

Mining Redstone Ore will grant you with 4-5 pieces of Redstone Dust that further can be used for different kinds of things, mostly in brewing and crafting. You won’t need Redstone Dust on the second day of your journey but in the future it might get more than just useful. For mining this ore you will need an iron pickaxe at least.

6. Diamond

Diamond Ore is believed to be the most valuable ore in Minecraft. At the same time, it is very rare and it might take a while to find it. Also, you need to remember that it has to be mined with either an iron or diamond pickaxe in order to drop a diamond. Using different tools might cause no dropping at all. In most cases Diamonds are used for making better and long lasting tools, armor and weapons.

7. Emerald

As well as Diamond Ore, Emerald Ore is extremely rare mineral. You will find it only in Extreme Hills or Extreme Hills Edge. Getting Emeralds from Emerald Ore requires no smelting, though you will need either a diamond or an iron pickaxe to mine it properly. Otherwise, you might get nothing from the Diamond Ore. The number of items you can apply Emeralds for is rather limited and it can’t be used for crafting tools which is kind of sad.

Things to Have at Home
So far you are supposed to have at least a Crafting Table that is used for making tools and other items. If not – it can be easily made from your inventory crafting menu with the help of 4 Wooden Planks.


1. Chest

Crafting Table is not the only thing you should have at your house. It is not convenient to carry everything in your inventory, besides – your inventory is not unlimited and at a certain point you are going to have it stocked fully with different items and other stuff. So, in order to organize your inventory and free some space you might wanna craft a chest. It will hold 27 stacks of items. For this matter you will need 8 Wooden Planks.

2. Furnace

Another important thing to have at home is Furnace. You can use it for heating blocks and turning them into other items. It works with cooking food as well. But unlike Crafting Table, Furnace requires its own power source. In other words, you won’t be able to do a thing without fuel. Here’s the list of materials you can use as fuel: Coal, Charcoal, Blaze Rods, Lava Buckets Wood, Wooden Planks and Wooden Pressure Plates. Also, you can burn the items you do not need anymore like Bookshelves, Chests, Crafting Tables, Jukeboxes, Fences, Locked Chests, Note Blocks, Sticks, Saplings, Trapdoors and Wooden Stairs. No matter what fuel you are using, it will still burn for 10 seconds. The good news is that you are not limited in the number of Furnaces meaning that you can have as much as you want to speed up the process. Also, as long as you are not in the other worlds doing stuff and there is fuel in each and every of them – there is nothing to worry about. You can craft a Furnace on the Crafting Table. For that matter you will need 8 Cobblestones.

Food
Food is another important thing that will require some of your attention. You are not likely to become extremely hungry on your first day in Minecraft but this is more likely to happen on the second day. The easiest way to solve the Hunger problem is to take everything what Mother Nature gives you which includes products like apples, meet, fish and other fruits and vegetables. Also, if you have the required ingredients, you can make cakes, roast meet and cook other dishes. Usually, the more effort you give – the better the dish becomes and the better it restores your health. However, there are some food items that can be replaced with a lot simpler items and restore the very same amount of Food points. For example – a Cake. To make one you will need 3 Milk, 2 Sugar, 1 Chicken Egg and 3 Wheat. At the same time, you can cook 2 chickens and get the very same amount of Food points restored. Also, a greater amount of food items can be traded from NPCs or found in the chests.

Meat and Fish
1. Raw Porkchop: in order to get a piece just kill a Pig. Raw Porkchop restores 2 Food points. When cooked in furnace can be turned into Cooked Porkchop and restore 4 Food points. You can get the very same effect by setting the pig on fire.
2. Raw Chicken: in order to get a piece just kill a Chicken. Raw Chicken restores 1 Food point but you also get 30% chance of food poisoning. When cooked in furnace can be turned into Cooked Chicken and restore 3 Food points. You can get the very same effect by setting the Chicken on fire.
3. Raw Beef: in order to get a piece just kill a Cow. Raw Beef restores 2 Food point. When cooked in furnace can be turned into a Steak and restore 4 Food points. You can get the very same effect by setting the Cow on fire.
4. Rotten Flesh: in order to get a piece just kill a Zombie or a Zombie Pigman. Rotten Flesh restores 2 Food points but you also get 80% chance of food poisoning.
5. Raw Fish: in order to get one you will have to catch it in the water. For that matter you will need a Fishing Rod. It can be made out of 3 Sticks and 2 Strings. When cooked in furnace Raw Fish can be turned into Cooked Fish and restore 3 Food points.
6. Spider Eye: you can get one by killing either a Spider or a Cave Spider. Spider Eye restores 1 Food point but has 100% chance of food poisoning.

Fruits and Vegetables
1. Apple: in very rare situations can be found on trees. As a rule they can found in chests almost anywhere on the map. Apples restore 2 Food points. Also, with the help of crafting or proper looting in Dungeon or Stronghold chests you can find a Golden Apple. To craft one, you will need 8 Gold Nuggets and a Crafting Table. But the best thing about the Golden Apple is that while it restores the very same 2 Food points, this effect lasts for 5 seconds.
2. Potato: can be dropped by a zombie or harvested from potato plants. Potato restores 1 Food point. When cooked in furnace can be turned into Baked Potato and restore 3 Food points. While harvesting potato plants you can come across Poisonous Potato. They can also restore 1 Food point but also come with a 60% chance of food poisoning.
3. Carrot: can be dropped by a zombie or harvested from carrot plants. Carrot restores 2 Food points. With the help of Crafting Table and 8 Gold Nuggets you can turn it into a Golden Carrot. Usually, Golden Carrots are used in brewing to create Potions but you can eat it if there is nothing else in your inventory and you are in serious danger. Unlike the regular Carrot, it will restore 3 Food points.
4. Melon Slice: can be obtained by harvesting a melon block. Melon Slice restores 1 Food point.
5. Red and Brown Mushrooms: they grew almost anywhere in Overland but can’t be consumed raw. However, you can make a Mushroom Stew aka Mushroom Soup. For that matter you will need a bowl. Use 3 Wooden Planks to craft one. Now, take one Red and Brown Mushrooms and craft them together with the Bowl. Mushroom Stew restores 3 Food points.

3. Baking
1. Bread: can be obtained with the help of crafting or found while wondering in Minecraft, especially by looting chests. In order to make Bread you will need a Crafting Table and 3 Wheat. Bread restores 3 Food points.
2. Cookie: can be crafted with the help of crafting table, 2 Wheat and Cocoa Beans. Cookie restores 1 Food point.
3. Pumpkin Pie: can be obtained only by crafting. In order to make one you will need a Pumpkin, Egg and Sugar. Pumpkin Pie restores 4 Food points. The best thing about Pumpkin Pie is that it can be crafted even from a regular 2x2 crafting grid and requires no cooking.
4. Cake: can be obtained only by crafting. In order to make one you will need 2 Milk, 2 Sugar, 1 Chicken Egg and 3 Wheat. Obviously, all this should be crafted on a Crafting table. Cake consists of 6 pieces and restores 6 Food points (1 Food point a piece).

There are also food ingredients that cannot be eaten but have to be used in order to make some dishes. They are: Bowl, Cocoa Beans, Chicken Egg, Brown Mushroom, Red Mushroom, Pumpkin, Sugar, Wheat, Gold Nugget and Milk.


Day Number Three

On the day three you are supposed to know enough to expand your territories and turn from a person who hides at night from every single rustle into a mighty landlord who keeps everything under control. For that matter you will have to concentrate on the following things:
- You will likely continue mining and collecting different resources. In order to do that faster, make your tools and weapons better as well as concentrate on making armor with better materials by working your way to Diamonds;
- You should fortify and expand your shelter/home;
- Start your own farm in order to avoid starving to death and simplify the process of feeding your character;
- Construct your portal to the Nether;

Getting Prepared for Exploration
Things haven’t changed even a bit and your main goal in Minecraft is to keep mining as long as possible and collect as many useful resources as you can find. After that you can use them in crafting in order to make better tools, better armor and better weapon. But mining is not only about resources and keeping you occupied for as long as possible. In most cases mining is a synonym to the world “Exploration” that involves lots of great things. Most of them are interesting and exciting but at same time you should always be prepared to get into trouble. So, for secured and proper exploration you need to do the next:
- Prepare your tools. As far as you are not likely to have diamonds in your inventory, a Pickaxe and Shovel made of Iron or Stone will work just fine. Also, do not forget to keep these materials in your inventory in order to fix your tools or make some more if those broke. Without tools you won’t be able to move any further;
- Prepare your weapon. At this very moment Minecraft is not known for the variety of weapons and you will be limited with a Sword and a Bow. But lots of things will depend on the materials they are made of. While bow is kind of limited in dependent materials and can be made out of wood only and will shoot arrows, you can use different resources to make a Sword which includes Wood, Cobblestone, Iron, Gold or Diamond. In order to make one you will need one of the resources mentioned and a Wooden Stick. To make a bow you will require 3 Sticks and 3 Strings. Also, do not forget to make enough arrows by combining Flint, Stick and Feather.
- Always keep torches in your inventory. They are likely to be one of the most commonly used items in the game (after a pickaxe and a sword, I guess). Torches give the 14 level of light and prevent mobs from spawning. If you secure the area you leave or work in, there is no way a mob will spawn there. While exploring, you will need torches to lighten your way through the deepest and the most sacred places.
- Before leaving the house, make a bed (if you still do not have one). It will help you to solve the spawning problem and skip the night if mobs are not nearby.
- As far as your inventory is not unlimited, it is recommended to make a chest. You will be able to keep all the necessary things there and even if you die – they won’t disappear.
Optionally, you can craft Clock (it will help you to orient in time when underground), Map and Compass (both things will be useful to find your way back home and for better orientation in the Minecraft world).
Now, when you are prepared to start your mining journey, do not forget to close all the doors in your house to prevent the mobs from getting inside and start working with your pickaxe.

Fortifying and Expanding Your Shelter
First of all – make sure your house is made of solid materials and if not – do not feel shy to renovate it. The best material to make your house of is the Cobblestone. It is quite enough of it in Minecraft’s nature meaning that you won’t have any problems collecting the required number of blocks for your purposes. Of course, it can be something else as long as it follows a rule “the tougher – the better.” You can also set traps or build fences to keep the mobs away from your property or you can combine doing both and make things even more effective. Expanding your shelter is not necessary if you are not sure what for you will need all the free space. But, to become a respectful landlord, you will have to expand your influence on the surrounding lands and use it for you own needs and one of those needs will be farming.

Farming
Farming is kind of an easy process but as far as it embraces farming animals as well as farming plants, the process in general requires unique attitude to almost every single culture or animal.

Farming Plants
The number of plants and vegetables you can cultivate in Minecraft is rather limited. So far you can do that with potatoes, carrots and wheat. But before you start planting vegetables, you will need to create a Farmland. This can be easily done with the help of hoe by using it on dirt or grass. In order to make one you will need 2 Sticks and two Wood Planks, Cobblestone or other resources that can be used for making tools. You can also use a Shovel to dig out some dirt and then make a farmland in a different place or for creating an automatic Farm for harvesting potatoes and carrots.

Hoe

As you already know, potatoes and carrots can be dropped by Zombies or found in villages and their own farmlands. Well, in order to start your own farm you will need at least one carrot and one potato. Nature will do the rest. If you have some problems finding those, by all means visit the already mentioned NPC village and dig out a few there. I am pretty sure the villagers won’t mind. Now, choose a proper place for a farm (usually, it is not far from your shelter/home) and plant both vegetables. Unlike Wheat, carrots and potatoes have only 4 stages of growing. It might take up to 2 days to grow a potato at the first time. In order to make things work faster, you might wanna create a water source nearby or place it in the middle of you farm. To plant a potato or a carrot all you have to do is to put one in the farmland and wait for it to grow. Every carrot or potato planted will drop from 1 up to 4 items when harvested after, so there is no need to be afraid about losing in profit.
Wheat can’t be consumed raw and won’t restore your health but it is kind of useful item that will help you in your further breeding and cooking different dishes. Wheat has 8 growing stages and in order to plant one you will have to find Seeds. Seeds can be obtained either by destroying Tall Grass or by harvesting fully-grown Wheat. Obviously, when you do not have any – destroying Tall Grass will work great. Wheat can be used for different things including the following:
- cooking (Bread, Cake, Cookies);
- farming animals.
While the first one is not that important because you can consume other items to restore your health, in breeding Wheat is just irreplaceable. Not only it can be used for attracting animals and driving them into the pen but also for feeding cows, pigs, sheep and chicken.

Breeding
Now, when we’ve figured that out, it is the highest time to start building the farm itself. So, here’s what you need to do:
- Build an enclosure. Its size should depend on the number of cows/sheep/pigs you want to have. But, as far as you can always make it bigger, you can start with a modest one and then expand its borders. You can build the enclosure inside your house but it is still recommended to have one outside. First of all – you want to keep those things separated because you are an honorable Minecraft landlord. Secondly – to keep the noises down, animals have to be 32 block from the player, otherwise – you won’t be able to go to bed.
- The next thing you would like to do is to build fences and gates. They will keep the animals inside and the mobs outside. Also, when breeding sheep, it will keep the wolves away. You can easily craft fences from wooden sticks and when placed on the ground – they are likely to connect together forming a decent defensive construction. Also, to enter the enclosure you should have Gates. They can be crafted with the help of 4 Sticks and 2 Wood Planks. As well as the Fence, Fence Gates are 1.25 Block high meaning that you or other mobs won’t be able to jump over it.
- When the enclosure is complete, go and find animals you want to breed. Choose whatever animal you find is better (cows, pigs, sheep) or get all of them but in three separate enclosures. I hope you understand the mechanics of population increase and for that matter you will need at least 2 representatives of a kind. While there is no male or female in the game, you won’t have to bother looking under the tail to pick a proper spouse. Just get two pigs/cows or sheep and lead them into the enclosure.
- In order to lead an animal, you will need the already mentioned Wheat. Equip it from your inventory and come closer to the animals. When they see the bait, they will follow you almost whenever you go. So, just make sure that they are looking at Wheat and follow after you to their new home.
- When inside the enclosure, simply equip something else from your inventory and animals will stop following you. Get out of the enclosure and close the gates. Now just sit and wait for things to happen.
- At this point your only concern is to make sure that you have enough wheat to feed your herd. When they are satisfied and do not feel hunger, you are going to see hearts flying around them. It means that they are about to increase the population of their kind. Don’t be afraid – nature will do the rest. In a very short time a new citizen of Minecraft should appear and it usually takes about 20 minutes (day and knight) for it to become a grownup. Until then a pair of two won’t attempt to make another child and you won’t be able to make them too. This mechanics works with almost all animals: cows, sheep, pigs and else. They all enjoy eating wheat and some privacy.
Usually, no matter the animal, players breed them to get some meat. However, cows and sheep can be used for some additional resources like Milk and Wool. They can be “harvested” pretty easily: to get some milk you will have to have a Bucket and for “harvesting” Wool you’ll need Shears. But, while Wool is kind of a valuable resource, Milk won’t change much in your game and can’t be used to restore health like an independent item. Also, I do believe that you will breed animals for a bit different purposes which is meat. So, in order to get some you can do the following:
- Come inside the enclosure and kill a few pigs/cows/sheep with your sword. This will get things done fast and effectively. But, do not forget to leave at least two of a kind. Otherwise, you will be forced to find another pair to keep the process of restoring the population running like a clock. Also, all the meat you pick up will be dropped in raw state meaning that you will need to cook it to make it a lot more productive;
- Another method of killing animals is setting them on fire. You can do it in different ways but no matter the method, you will be able to kill two birds with one stone and here’s the reason why: by setting animals on fire, all the meat they drop will be cooked already meaning that you won’t be forced to cook it again in a Furnace. This, actually, saves a lot of time and solves a couple of problems.

Portal to Nether
While this is not your number one priority and you are not obliged to do that on your third day in Minecraft, in the future consider building a Portal to Nether. The world itself is often referred to as Hell or the Slip. It is a dark hellish place with dangerous mobs, unique blocks and lots of interesting things to discover. However, entering the Nether unprepared is a suicide, so, unless you have a decent armor, a sword and a bow, it is not recommended to show your personality in the parallel world.
Portal to Nether is the only way you can get there. It is very unlikely to find all the required items to build one but if you do – why not? For that matter you will need at least 10 Obsidian blocks (14 is better but not necessary). Build a rectangle 5 blocks tall and 4 blocks wide. But this is not a complete portal so far. To activate it you will have to use something from this:
- Flint and Steel;
- Fire Charge;
- Lava.
This will open a 6 square purple glowing inside the portal and will make the travel between worlds available.


Conclusions
Minecraft is an open sandbox indie game where you are allowed to do almost anything one can imagine. Its main idea is to mine resources, collect items and craft things to make your existence a lot more comfortable and interesting. Minecraft has no particular goal and to some extend can be treated as a creative survival. It is recommended to follow some basic rules to keep things effective and secured but in general, and I will repeat myself, you can do whatever you find is good for you. Do not be afraid to experiment and express your creativity! This is exactly what makes this game so exciting and interesting to play. You can and even should invite your friends to play. Exploring the world with up to 7 bodies around has never been better.