Minecraft is a beloved game that, first and foremost, appeals to players because of its simplicity. At its core, it has two main aspects: mining, and crafting (shockingly enough). It’s straightforward enough that anyone can pick it up, while having enough features to keep players absorbed in the game for hours and hours. Its possibilities are endless, meaning you can do anything from try and survive, build your own farm, explore the world, or even create incredible structures—like the entire country of Denmark.
For new players, of course, there is a process of trial and error. As there’s not really a tutorial phase, you’ll learn as you go along, hitting trees for wood, punching the ground for ores until you’ve got what you need to mine, craft, and survive. Minecraft is, of course, versatile enough that there’s no wrong way to play the game, but there are many things you can do to make your experience easier and more fun. And, of course, there are things you shouldn’t miss in the game!
Minecraft doesn’t take itself seriously, and this article isn’t meant to be a list of things you must or mustn’t do, but rather, some guidelines (especially for players who are new to the game or who haven’t picked it up in a while) and hidden tricks. There’s so much to do, you’re sure to find things you didn’t know or better ways to play as you keep playing. Here are 25 things Minecraft players do wrong!
25 Not Trying Mods Or Texture Packs
Minecraft has seemingly endless possibilities, and yet, if you play it for a while, you might start feeling like you’ve done everything interesting there is to do. You’ve built things, beaten monsters, crafted intricate objects, mined rare ores, been to the Nether, vanquished the Ender Dragon… and you might start to be bored with the game. It’d be a mistake not to try some mods or texture packs to see what else the game has to offer! From Pokémon to magic to impossibly powerful weapons, you’ll be sure to find a mod you’ll like.
24 Playing Your First Game In Creative Mode
Creative mode is great if you want to build amazing constructions like these—building a replica of Westeros or Adamantis, the 60 million block city, would not have been possible in Survival mode. For your first game, however, when you’re just learning how the game works and what you can do with it, you should definitely play in Survival mode! That way, you’ll get a feeling of what the game is like. Afterward, experiment with all the modes you’d like!
23 Always Playing In The Same Mode
Talking about experimenting with different modes, it’d be a mistake to stick to just Survival mode, too! Are you a pro at Survival already? Try Hardcore mode for a challenge! Or go play God in creative mode. Adventure mode gives you so many different possibilities.
You should definitely try out a few adventure maps.
One of the best things in Minecraft is being able to switch modes, guaranteeing you a completely different experience. Whether your favorite is Creative or Spectator, you should definitely try all of them at least once.
22 Not Looking At Endermen Through A Pumpkin
Even for an experienced player, Endermen are a challenge. Inspired by the famous internet creepy-pasta about Slenderman, these spooky monsters will begin chasing and attacking you if you so much as glance in their direction. There’s an easy trick that will allow you to escape them, however.
Simply put a pumpkin over your head when you look at them, and they’ll leave you alone.
Playing with a pumpkin isn’t very practical, so we wouldn’t recommend wearing it at all times, but it’s definitely something you should have in your inventory.
21 Believing In Herobrine
Herobrine is Minecraft’s very own creepypasta. According to the stories, he’s supposed to be Notch’s deceased brother, a sort of virtual ghost haunting the game. He looks like the default character skin, but with white eyes, and is meant to either chase the player, saying menacing things, or attack him. And, of course, he’s not real. There are plenty of screenshots of Herobrine out there, as someone made a mod, but it’d be a mistake to believe he’s actually a part of the game!
20 Not Fishing Under The Rain
Fish are a great way to fill up your hunger bar if you can catch enough. If you’re not fishing in the rain, then you definitely should be! You’ll catch way more fish like that. In a game where hunger can seriously hurt you if you don’t pay attention, finding out the optimal ways to catch food is important. The next time you see rain in your game, grab your fishing pole and head out to the nearest lake! You’ll catch plenty of fish and save yourself some time, too.
19 Using A Tool For Something Other Than It Was Intended
Sure, it’s fun to use tools for random purposes. And sure, sometimes you don’t feel like switching from an axe to a pickaxe to mine the iron ore in front of you. But you really shouldn’t use tools for something other than their original purpose.
Your diamond sword will get used much faster if you use it to cut down a tree than if you use it in combat!
Minecraft tools already get used fast, and the ones made from rare ores are painfully long to craft. So, just like in real life, you should take care of your tools.
18 Going For The Baby Animals
Leave that piglet alone, you monster! No, but seriously, there is no point in attacking and taking out the baby animals in the game.
The developers made sure they didn’t drop anything to discourage players from doing that.
Unless you’re feeling particularly cruel and want to take out your frustration on pixelated baby animals, going for a baby animal in Minecraft will not be very useful. Besides, if you’re farming your animals, you want those babies to grow up into healthy cows, horses, pigs, or chickens.
17 Not Carrying A Bed With You If You’re Traveling Far Away
What do you do when you’re traveling far from your base and you find an interesting cave? You could either go down into the cave, but risk getting lost, or losing all your health points and respawning far away from all your stuff or give up and go home.
To make things easier, carry a bed with you so you can create a new spawn point!
You’ll be able to go on longer, more rewarding adventures. Of course, there’s still the matter of finding your original base afterward, but at least you won’t lose your stuff.
16 Not Putting Your Mobs Upside Down
Why? Because it’s fun! And, all in all, Minecraft is a game that just doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’d be a mistake not to experiment with some of the sillier things you can do in-game, like turning your mobs upside down! Give your mob a nametag and name it “Dinnerbone.” And there you go, your creepers, skeletons, zombies, endermen, and more are now upside down, for your amusement! It works with animals, too, so have fun with it.
15 Not Defending Your Home With Minecarts
On the subject of having fun with mobs: perhaps one of the funniest ways you can deal with pesky creepers and other monsters attacking your home is with minecarts. First of all, mobs can’t cross track, but most importantly, they’ll be immediately picked up and carried away by the minecart! All you need is a minecart, tracks, and a redstone mechanism, and you’ll have mobs whizzing around your house like kids on a carousel. Your house or base will be safer and more fun.
14 Not Enchanting Your Stuff If You’re Playing In Adventure Mode
Playing PvP is great, whether you’re playing with your best friends or with strangers on a server. Depending on which map you pick, you might have access to different weapons. However, if you get a chance to enchant your weapons, do it. You’ll stand more of a chance against your opponent’s diamond sword if your own sword has Sharpness III! For maps like Fallen Kingdoms, for instance, it’s going to be a definite strategical advantage—or, if your opponents enchanted their stuff too, the key to survival.
13 Picking Up Objects In A Stack One By One
It seems obvious, but of course, you don’t need to individually click on every single object in a stack to pick it up. You can, if needed, split the stack, or pick up the objects individually, but you could also just pick up all 64 objects and put them in your inventory. If you’re trying to order your home or your base, or moving chests around, you definitely won’t want to pick all those objects, ores, or resources, one by one.
12 Trying To Open A Chest That Has A Cat On It
Just like in real life, cats in Minecraft have a tendency to sit everywhere and anywhere they please. And just in real like, that somewhere is usually in your way.
Cats will sit on beds, but also on chests, rendering them un-openable.
If your kitty has decided to chill on your chest (double chests included), you’ll have to wait a bit to get your stuff! Of course, you could also get out some fish to make the cat get up.
11 Expecting Regular Mobs To Spawn In A Mushroom Field
The Mushroom Field is a very rare biome, and, if you’re lucky enough to find one, you won’t find the typical Minecraft mobs there. These biomes are usually isolated, and surrounded by ocean. The only mobs you’ll find there are mooshrooms. You can, however, place spawners and spawn your own spiders and other mobs, but you’ll never naturally encounter a creeper in this particular biome. That’s pretty useful for players who are looking for a bit of peace and quiet!
10 Creating A Complex Redstone Mechanism Without A Tutorial
Redstone is an amazing thing. You can use it to create anything from minecart systems, music, traps, and more. It’s not particularly intuitive, however, especially when you’re new to the game.
For complex Redstone mechanisms, save yourself the headache, use a tutorial!
You’ll get results faster. Except if you’re already a pro, of course. Did you know Redstone could be used for logical computer programming? There’s so much you can do with it, but tutorials will make your life so much easier!
9 Not Watching Out For “Illagers”
Illagers are villagers who will attack both the players and other villagers. There are five types: the pillage, the vindicator, the illusioner, the evoker, and the illager beast. From a distance, they look very similar to villagers—or witches. This means you should exert caution when approaching a figure that looks like a villager! The sounds they make are all slightly different, so you’ll be able to tell them apart if you get close enough. We definitely don’t recommend getting close to one, though!
8 Not Playing Around With The Super Secret Settings
Super Secret Settings were added to Minecraft with version 1.7, and they’re just as cool as they sound. They’re essentially filters for your game that enable you to look at the world in a different light. All you need to do is click Super Secret Settings in the menu and you’ll be able to play around with several different filters. My personal favorite is the Wobble filter, but you should go and try a bunch to see which one(s) you fancy!
7 Not Carrying A Bucket Of Water With You
Minecraft doesn’t always make sense, and, like in many games, what should have been a terrible fall can sometimes be cushioned by water. But what happens if you’re falling and there’s no water in sight?
The easy solution is to carry a bucket of water and drop it under your feet at the last second.
Provided there’s a space for the water to go into, you should be fine, as all you really need to survive the fall is a single cube’s worth of water.
6 Going To The Nether Without A Flint And Steel
You need a flint and steel to light a portal and get into the Nether—but don’t even think about leaving them in the Overworld. You need a portal to get back, too, and those pesky Nether Ghasts can and will “blow out” the portal, leaving you stranded. Well, almost stranded. You should be able to make your way back if you can set blocks on fire next to the portal using Nether lava, but a flint and steel is so, so much easier.