The Minecraft music is a regular background noise in my house. I have three children and a husband who all play the game on a frequent basis. We even have a family server on the PC. You’d think this means I know my way around it, but you’d be wrong.
I have played Minecraft, but my knowledge is not the best. I can mine, build, and defend myself but the intricacies of the game still escape me as I’ve struggled to get into it.
On our family server, my role has mostly been as the person who gets expertly trolled by their own kids. The highlight of their trolling career has to be the time they hid all my items. Everything I had carefully mined and collected had vanished and I was left with a sign that informed me I had to go on a treasure hunt to find it.
This lovingly built quest took me no less than 20 minutes. It ended with me coming back into my storage room to discover everything I owned was hidden behind a wall, approximately eight blocks from where it was before.
Since the release of the Aquatic update, we have restarted our family server and I’m keen to try and get back into the game, so we can all play together. With this in mind, I asked my kids to help me out. So here are 30 things my kids think I need to know about Minecraft.
30 Parrots Are Awesome
Parrots are some of the most interesting animals I’ve found in game. Their first quirk is a new feature. You used to tame them using cookies, but since chocolate is toxic to parrots in real life the game has now changed to reflect this.
In game cookies are now also dangerous for parrots to eat.
Instead, carrots are now used for taming and making these pets yours. Trust me when I saw you will want to tame them. These feathered friends will follow other mobs around and mimic their sounds. They even dance to music if you have a jukebox.
29 Shulkers Are Useful
When I first saw a shulker I was really intrigued. They are hostile mobs, found in the end, which pop out of boxes to fire homing missiles at you. Once you have defeated them you have a 50% chance of getting a shulker shell which is the cool part of this process.
Two of these and a regular chest will make a shulker box. Not only does it look good but all the items stay inside it when broken, meaning it is ideal for transporting items from place to place.
28 You Can Live The Aquatic Life
The main focus of the aquatic update has obviously been the fish and what an amazing selection we have. Cod, Salmon, Pufferfish and Tropical fish can all now be found in game. You can even go fishing.
Fish can be put in a tank or bucket, fished up from most bodies of water and then cooked to sustain your health. Fishing itself is quite relaxing in Minecraft, you can go out on your boat and while away the days fishing over the side. Just watch out for the less passive new occupants of the water.
27 There’s A Rabbit From Caerbannog
I was very excited to discover that there is a bunny based on the infamous (and dangerous) rabbit from Monty Python and The Holy Grail. He is white with red eyes that seem to burn into your soul, which is incredibly fitting.
He no longer spawns naturally in game, but I believe may still be summonable using commands on the Java edition.
There was an argument in our house about if this is still possible. I could test it but I’m a little too scared to unleash this havoc on my brand-new world. It’s a cool feature, but I value my Minecraft life.
26 Endermen Hate Water
Endermen are tall purple eyed mobs who like to teleport and collect bricks from around the world. They are most commonly found in the Nether or The End but they do sometimes spawn in the overworld.
They are naturally neutral, but if you stare at them for too long they will teleport around the world chasing you. If you’ve accidentally made eye contact the best place to head is the water. Endermen hate water and will teleport away rather than into it to follow you.
25 Snow Golems Smile
Snow Golems are created by using pumpkins or Jack o’ Lanterns and snow blocks. They are player created passive mobs who wander around leaving snow trails in their wake. If they are in a warm biome they will melt into snowballs.
Snow Golems have a couple of quirky features.
The first is that they will fire snowballs at passing creepers. Secondly, if you shear a snow golem its pumpkin head is removed leaving a lopsided cheeky grin. Don’t take them to the nether though, they won’t make it back.
24 You Can Walk On Water
Lily pads are a neat feature which not only make rivers and lakes look nice but also have a couple of practical uses. The first is that you can build a bridge from them.
Lilypads can be instantly mined and then replaced allowing you to create a pathway across water. Not only is this practical but it’s much safer than building a bridge from stone as mobs cannot spawn in lily pads. You can also place blocks underneath them which is handy for building ocean monuments.
23 Llamas Are Incredibly Versatile
I’ve never really thought much about llamas beyond liking how they appear in game, but I’ve now discovered they are incredibly versatile.
If you attach a lead to one llama others will follow, making a caravan of up to 10 llamas.
If you equip a chest to a llama you can then use it to carry up to 15 slots of inventory space. Basically, llamas can move everything you own. You can also equip them with carpet which gives them a patterned appearance, so they look great as well.
22 Lava Flows Further In The Nether
This one was a very random one I discovered when the kids were showing me their building skills. I’m still learning about how some of the blocks work and I had no idea that lava was affected by the location you are in.
I’ve never built in the nether before, so I was intrigued to discover that lava flows for 8 blocks instead of 4. I guess this is the reason why there’s so much of it there. It really does go further.
21 You Can Turn Your Mobs Upside Down
This quirky feature allows you to literally turn your mobs upside down. If you use the name tag and anvil to name a mob Dinnerbone then it will immediately appear upside down. It will then stay like this and won’t despawn.
The only mob which is immune to this is the Ender Dragon.
I can only presume this is for safety reasons as I’m fairly sure an upside-down Ender Dragon would be even more of a hazard than a normal one.
20 Rabbits Can Change Appearance
The standard Minecraft rabbit has a brown, black, cream or black and white spotted appearance. However, if you name your bunny Toast then it will take on a whole new look.
Once named the rabbit changes texture so it resembles the black dutch breed. Rather than spots of color it will have black and white block colors, with more black fur around its face and ears. It behaves in exactly the same way as other rabbits but looks a bit different and very cute.
19 The Sheep Have Secrets
As we were discussing sheep I discovered a few things about them which I didn’t know. The first was that naming a sheep jeb_ makes it colorful. Once they have a name tag your new pet will frequently change colors, giving an amazing rainbow illusion.
I also discovered that pink sheep can spawn naturally. This I had no idea about as I’ve never seen anything beyond a white sheep, unless I’ve dyed it myself. It even gives you pink wool.
18 Different Blocks Can Affect Your Movement
Minecraft has a large number of different blocks, all with different purposes. Some are building blocks like stone and wood, while others are more obscure like nether rack. One thing I didn’t realize was that some of them affect your movement.
Ice blocks will make you slip, slime is bouncy and soul sand slows you down.
You can also hide these blocks under carpet, but the effect will continue through the carpet, allowing for some really creative builds and ideas.
17 Item Frames Are Versatile
Item frames are one of the most versatile blocks in game. They hold items and display their image in the frame. This feature can be used for decorative purposes as well as for storage. This is due to the fact that you can retrieve the item in the frame by breaking it.
They can be placed on cactus blocks, fences, trees, slabs, pressure plates, walls, chests and doors. Since the recent update, they can also be placed on floors and ceilings as well as underwater.
16 Beds Are Now More Exciting
Minecraft beds used to be red with a white pillow. There were no variations and no interesting features. You simply clicked the bed to make the night-time vanish. Recently, however, this all changed.
Now you can dye or craft beds in several different colors, allowing you to match them to your surroundings. I was really excited to see this as I love customizing things. Not only do they look nicer, but they also have another nice feature, they are bouncy. It’s a really nice touch that just adds a little realism to the game.
15 Mob Spawning Limits Don't Exist On PC
There are several inbuilt mob spawning limits and they all work differently. Random spawns are all calculated in different ways for different mobs.
Mob Spawners also have their own rules about not spawning more than 6 mobs in a 16x16x8 cube around the spawner, giving you a fighting chance of escape.
However, the biggest difference between games is that console versions have a mob spawning limit, but the PC game doesn’t. If you sit in creative mode on the PC you can literally spawn mobs until you fill your screen.
14 Ocelots Cause Chaos
When wandering around the world you may come across an ocelot, possibly even with kittens. These big cats can cause all kinds of chaos. They sneak around and attack chickens and baby turtles.
Even creepers know they are in trouble and will stay away from them.
Once tamed they become (slightly) less chaotic cats. They will take on the appearance of either orange tabbys, siamese or black and white tuxedo cats. You can also breed them to create more cats.
13 Evokers Evoke Trouble
Evokers are incredibly hostile village mobs, similar to illusioners and vindicators. They spawn in woodland mansion rooms and there are a limited number of them in the world. This is due to them not respawning after they are dispatched.
They have 3 spells and attack by producing purple particles. When not attacking they will randomly change blue sheep red in an easter egg which is a nod to Age of Empires where Evokers turned units from red to blue, changing their allegiance.
12 The Cake Is Not A Lie
Cake is the only food in Minecraft which must be placed on a block before it is eaten. It is also able to be eaten by several people at once as each click consumes one slice and restores 2 hunger. A cake has 7 slices in total.
When you eat your first in-game cake you will gain the achievement The Lie, in reference to Portal. This cake, however, is not a lie. It can be created from wheat, sugar, milk, and eggs on a crafting table.
11 There Are New Mobs Lurking In The Water
The aquatic update brought a range of cool things, as well as some terrifying ones. The later takes the form of the drowned, hostile mobs which spawn in oceans, rivers, and swamps. They also appear if a zombie drowns.
No longer will a zombie just fade way into the water, now they take on a new and terrifying form.
There is an upside to this new mobs however as they have a 15% chance to drop a trident, a cool new weapon which can be used in melee or ranged combat.