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Minecraft is one of the most popular games out there right now. If you’re looking to get started, want to brush up on the basics, or you’re a parent who wants to understand this game, keep reading! In this post, we’ll dive into the basics of Minecraft. Let’s get started!

What is Minecraft?

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Minecraft, it’s a survival crafting game that can be taken at your own pace, but also has the ability to truly test your skills. In this post, we'll go over the basics of MInecraft you’ll need to know in order to begin your Minecraft adventure. In this guide we’ll go over different game modes, movement, key commands, and mobs.

Types of worlds

There are two types of worlds in Minecraft: Creative Worlds and Survival Worlds. A Creative World is simply a world where you do not have to worry about dealing with hostile mobs or having your character die. This mode is typically used in order to freely build or experiment with the game.

In Survival Worlds, you will be forced to deal with hunger - which means making sure you always have enough food. On top of that you’ll also have to deal with Hostile Mobs. An important feature to remember though is that Hostile Mobs will only spawn at night which means you don't have to worry about them throughout the day while the sun is out. The safest way to deal with mobs that you don’t want to interact with is to build a home and make sure to stay in it during the night (more on Hostile Mobs later).

Another detail to take note of is the Hardcore World mode. In a Hardcore World, you will lose the entire world if your character dies. This is for more advanced players who are looking for an extra challenge.

Movement and Key Commands

There are certain keys that you need to know so that you have the best chance of surviving possible. First things first let's go over how movement works. In this game you have the ability to move in any direction as well as to jump. In order to move forward you simply press W, to strafe left press A, to strafe right press D, and to backup press S. Finally to jump press the spacebar and you will jump one block high.

Another important key command to know is that if you click W twice, you will begin sprinting. This will increase your movement speed significantly. There is a drawback to this, however. Because of your sprinting, you’ll run out of food a lot more quickly, so be sure to pay attention!

You are also able to crouch in the game by holding the shift key. While this may not seem like a very important feature, it has a huge benefit. When you are crouching you are unable to fall off of an edge. If you walk towards an edge in Minecraft you will simply walk straight off of it. However, if you are crouching and you walk towards the edge you will instead stop once you hit the edge. This protects you from falling and potentially dying. Using the shift key when you are trying to cross a narrow passage over lava or on a cliff edge is a very good idea.

Pressing the left click on your mouse will allow you to mine or attack in Minecraft. Give it a try by looking at the ground and holding down the left click. If you would like to try attacking something, you may be able to find a slime in a Creative World where you don't have to risk losing anything. If you are in a Survival World, you can find mobs to practice attacking if you're not concerned with dying.

Now that you know how to destroy an item it's important that we also know how to place or use items. In order to place an item we must right click while that item is in our hand. For instance if you are holding a wooden block or a cobblestone and you want to place it simply look at the ground or wheverever you are trying to place the item and it right click.

Sometimes we will pick up items that we either did not mean to pick up or that we do not want anymore. We can and drop those items to free up inventory space for something more important. The way to do this is pretty easy. All you have to do is select the correct item in your hand and hit the Q key. When you do this, the item will leave your hand and you will see it floating on the ground. Just make sure not to run over it. If you do, you’ll pick the item back up.

On your Hotbar you will see that you have 9 open slots. That means you have easy access to 9 different items at all times. These slots are used to hold tools or blocks for building. You can quickly cycle through all these items either by using your the number keys (1-9). There's an even faster method where you simply use your scroll wheel to scroll through each of these items super fast.

The next thing we’ll go over is how to access your inventory as well as your basic 2 by 2 crafting menu.In order to access your inventory, you press e on your keyboard. By pressing e you will see 3 rows of squares. These squares are where you will be able to store items that you can carry on your character at any time. Later in the game you will be able to make chests where you can store these items so that you can free up inventory space for new items. In the top-right of your inventory screen you will see a small 2 by 2 square. This is where you will be able to craft your very first items. Then you’ll be ready to launch straight into the world of Minecraft!

Crafting

Your main goal in Minecraft is to beat the Ender Dragon. Once you've done that you can say you've successfully beat Minecraft. But, let's not get ahead of ourselves. The first thing we need to do is focus on surviving the night. In order to do this we need to learn some very basic crafting techniques. These techniques will make sure you can craft the resources required to build a home and some basic tools. Otherwise you may perish to hostile mobs or hunger.

Basics

The very first thing we need to do is gather some basic resources. The first resource you will gather is probably the most essential resource to almost everything in this game. You'll be gathering wood. If you're lucky, you may have spawned some wood in a forest. If not, it shouldn't be too hard to find some sort of tree nearby. You can mine some wood by simply punching the tree. You will see the wood slowly crack and eventually break which will allow you to pick up the raw material. Gather a few pieces of wood (maybe a tree or two). Once you've done this, access your inventory and place those pieces of wood into your 2 by 2 crafting square at the top-right of your inventory. You will see you're able to turn the wood blocks into wooden planks. Now these wooden planks are excellent pieces to use to create your first home. Place 4 planks into your 2 by 2 crafting square. One plank should go into each square. Once you do this you will be able to create a crafting table.

After you've done this you’ll have access to your crafting table. This crafting table will provide you with a 3 by 3 crafting area. In order to use a crafting table, first place it down. If you don’t remember to place an item, you’ll need to select it so that it is your hand. Then look for an area where you would like to place it and right click. Right click a second time on the crafting table and you should see the 3 by 3 crafting area come up.

Sticks

The first thing we're going to craft after a crafting table is sticks. Sticks are the basis for any tool or weapon.

Tools

Now that we have the basics, let's go ahead and start crafting some tools. You should be able to see on the left of the crafting table tab an Axe and Sword. Go ahead and click on this and it should show you all the weapons and tools that you are able to craft. You're going to want to craft a shovel, axe, and pickaxe.

Make sure to add your tools to your Hotbar so you can easily access them. Each of these tools correlates to the item they help you mine. A shovel will allow you to quickly gather dirt or sand. An axe will allow you to quickly gather wood and a pickaxe will allow you to quickly mine through stone.

You will find as you explore that higher tier metal will require a better pickaxe. However, our goal today is to survive the first night (and after making all these tools it can't be too far off), so you can worry about a better pickaxe later.

The first thing you're going to want to do is get your axe and start cutting down quite a few trees. Once you think you've gathered enough wood or it is simply becoming dark (you’ll need a place to hide soon), you can start building some form of a house. An important feature to remember is Steve is 2 blocks high which means in order to have a roof you must make sure your home is a minimum of 3 blocks high, otherwise it's possible for mobs to get in from above.

Hostile mobs

Creepers

The first mob we will talk about is probably the most well known and notorious mob in all of minecraft, the Creeper. Creepers’ main form of attacking is through blowing themselves up with a powerful blast when they get close to you. The blast is strong enough to kill you if you have no armor. So when you’ve first started, it's important to avoid letting one sneak up on you.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the blast from a creeper is able to destroy blocks. If you’re unlucky enough to have one explode near your home, be prepared to do some repairing. When it comes to fighting creepers, they are are two tactics. The first is to craft a bow and use arrows to kill the creeper from range which will keep it from exploding and prevent you from dealing with damage to you or any surrounding blocks. Another tactic is to hit the creeper with a sword, then run away, letting the creeper’s explosion timer reset.

Zombies

The next mob we will talk about is zombies. Zombies are the most common enemy in Minecraft. At night there will be many zombies who will attack you relentlessly if you're not inside. The only other time you will run into a zombie is if you are adventuring into a cave with no light. Fighting zombies is much easier than dealing with a creeper. Typically the best strategy is to let them run to you and hit them with a sword. You can repeat this tactic until the zombie has died.

Skeleton

Now we have one of the few ranged mobs in minecraft, the skeleton. A skeleton is not a very difficult enemy; the only real threat they pose is the fact that they have a ranged weapon well before you will get one. They will also attack you while you're already dealing with other mobs. For instance, while you’re fighting a zombie or two, a skeleton might shoot arrows at you and the zombies. This will make it hard to get close enough to the skeleton to kill it. The best strategy is either to run back to your base or into somewhere that mobs can't get you. If you're determined to beat the skeleton, you can run behind something so that the skeleton is forced to get closer so that it can get a line of sight on you. When it does this you may be able to charge the skeleton and attack it before it can fire at you.

Spider

The last mob you're going to run into a lot is the spider. The trick about spiders is that they will only attack you at night. During the day they will be passive and won’t attack you. However, if they do attack you, they attack in a very unique way. Spiders will leap at you once they get close which can make it challenging to hit them. Another thing they are able to do is climb over walls so it can be difficult to escape them. Unfortunately there are not any good strategies to fight spiders aside from trying to be prepared for when they leap and hitting them before they hit you.

Conclusion

Minecraft is a super fun game where kids can let their imaginations run wild! Now that you have learned the basics of Minecaft, you can get started on your own adventure! If you’d like some info on Minecraft Servers and Modding, click here. You can also join the Coder Kids Minecraft server for free here.