Minecraft has once again become the world’s most popular game, which is somewhat fitting given its tenth anniversary. For those who are new to the game, though, you may be wondering how to play Minecraft.
Minecraft isn’t like any other video game you’ve ever played. There are no clear objectives or tutorials to assist you in getting started. As a result, this beginner’s guide will assist you in preparing for your first Minecraft adventures.
The appeal of Minecraft is that it is an open, limitless universe in which you are free to do whatever you want. But, in order to do so, you’ll need to know the fundamentals.
In Minecraft, the Goal and Basic Controls
Visit Minecraft.net to purchase and download the game before we dive into how to play Minecraft. Minecraft is a popular game that can be played on a variety of modern platforms, consoles, and smartphones.
We’ll be focusing on Minecraft on Windows, Mac, and Linux in this post. However, if you learn the fundamentals, you can apply them to any version on any platform.
Although there is no primary goal in Minecraft, there is a gaming flow that is encouraged for all players. You start with nothing in this vast open world and must gather resources from beginning to build a house, obtain food, construct a bed, and survive till the next day.
After that, you can start mining for important materials like iron ore and diamonds in order to craft strong equipment, weapons, and armour. You’ll be able to explore the open world, find villages, loot hidden chests, and fight hostile creatures known as mobs as you play for longer.
But before we get started with any of that, let’s go over the fundamentals.
Begin by launching Minecraft. Create a new world by selecting Singleplayer and then clicking Create New World.
Toggle the Game Mode button until Survival appears. Survival mode is where the fun begins, when you must survive and grab everything for yourself. We advise that you use the usual controls. Here’s a quick recap:
- W, A, S, and D keys are used to move around.
- Jump by pressing the spacebar.
- Double-tap to run W
- Hold Shift when crouching/sneaking.
- Inventory access – E
- Look around with the mouse.
- F5 – cycle through several camera angles.
- Left click to break blocks or attack.
- Right-click to use or place things.
- Q – Toss the thing you’re holding to the ground.
- 1-9 number keys are used to cycle through the spaces in your inventory.
Let’s put it to the test with these controls in mind. By holding the left mouse button down, you can break a nearby tree. The tree block will drop a log once it breaks. When four tree pieces fall to the ground, break them up and collect them.
To access your inventory, press E. The four logs are on the bottom row of squares, as you can see. This is where you’ll find your fast slot tab. You can equip any of these by pressing 1 through 9. More goods will appear in your inventory, but you will not be able to quickly equip them. You can move goods in your inventory around by clicking and dragging them.
In Minecraft, everything must be mined or made. So, if you wanted to make tools, you’d have to mine the raw materials first, then manufacture them. It begins at the most fundamental level and progresses from there.
To manufacture a tool, for example, you start with a log, then build planks, then craft sticks, and finally combine sticks and planks to make a tool.
A crafting table is required for almost all crafting. You can utilize your logs to make one. First, in the inventory menu, click and drag your logs into the four small squares adjacent to your character.
There will be four new things in the output box, as you can see. Planks are what they’re called. To turn your logs into planks, right-click this four times and drag them into your main inventory. It might seem unusual at first, but stick with me.
Then, with the left click, choose the 16 planks you just made. Then, while hovering over each of the four boxes next to your character, right click once. In the output box, a new item will appear. It’s a table for crafts.
Left-click to return your planks to their original location in your inventory, then left-click to pick the crafting table. Next, drag your mouse to the toolbar at the bottom and drop it there with a left click.
After that, press E to exit the inventory. By tapping the number key matching to the slot your crafting table is in, you can now equip it.
After that, you can right-click anywhere on the ground to put it down.
After then, right-click on the crafting table. The new crafting table user interface will be shown. To access the extended crafting table menu, click the green book. You can observe how goods are made by clicking on them on the left side. You’ll learn additional crafting recipes as you play, or you can look them up on the internet.
For the time being, we must construct some fundamental tools. Tools in Minecraft can assist you in gathering materials more quickly.
The following are examples of tool types:
- Pickaxes are used to speed up the mining of rock and minerals.
- Axes for chopping down trees more quickly.
- Shovels are used to excavate soil quickly.
- Hoes are used to prepare the soil for seed sowing.
- Swords are used to attack enemy mobs.
Other tools are available for more specialized situations, but for now, we only require these. To do so, go to the crafting table and click on the stick. In the crafting user interface, you’ll note that to make four sticks, you’ll need two planks piled on top of each other.
We’ll need 8 sticks, so pick up your planks with the right click and add an extra plank in each box with the left click. Return your planks to your inventory, and gather the sticks from the output box with a left click.
We’ll now be able to build basic tools using new recipes that have been unlocked. In the crafting table inventory, go to the tools tab. After that, you can click on each of the tools to make them — for now, just make a shovel, pickaxe, and axe. To make them, follow the same steps we’ve already covered and add them to your inventory or tool bar.
After you’ve completed the task, your inventory should resemble the image above. By hitting E, you can leave the crafting table. You’ve finished your first set of tools. It’s time to start adjusting to your new surroundings.
Getting Through Your First Night
Enemy mobs will arrive at night and try to assault you. If you die, you will reappear nearby, but you must return and reclaim all of your belongings. In Minecraft, it’s better not to die because you’ll lose your items and your prior location. To avoid this, we’ll need to make a hasty shelter for the first night.
Simply equip the shovel by pressing the correct hot key number to make it as simple as feasible. It was 1 for us. Next, glance at the ground and press and hold the right mouse button to dig down three blocks.
Then, raise your head and equip the dirt you just mined. It should be on the number four key. After that, right-click to create a block. It’s about to get dark. However, the most crucial thing is that you are secure.
You’ll have to wait until the morning now. It should take around 7 minutes to complete. So you may either wait and hear the scary monsters outside, or you can take a little break and return in seven minutes. The time will be paused if your game is not kept open.
Look up and hold left click to dig the ground to unveil the morning light in 7 minutes. Place the soil down again and wait a little longer if it’s still dark. You can dig the bricks in front of you to make a small step to hop on so you can leave the hole you’ve been hiding in as soon as it’s dawn.
Now that you’ve constructed your first home, you’ll need to construct a proper shelter so you won’t have to hide in a hole covered in dirt again. Only a few items are required: walls, a roof, a door, and a bed. You can sleep in a bed and avoid having to wait all night. The night will be skipped automatically.
Anything can be used to construct the walls and ceilings. You could go all out and make it out of boards, or you could just make it out of dirt. With the tools you’ve already made, you can gather these materials from trees or the ground. You’ll require a large number of blocks.
Minecraft can be tedious like this at times — you’ll have to acquire a lot of blocks by cutting trees, digging, and mining.
By equipping the blocks in your tool bar, you may begin laying the foundation for your first house. The door is another craft able item that may be made with planks on the crafting table. Simply access the crafting table menu and select the door to create using the user interface on the left.
The bed is the final item and can be a little more difficult to construct. You must search the surrounding region for sheep. Attack sheep if you come across them. They will drop wool and mutton once they have been killed. This will be your very first sheep-hunting adventure.
You should be able to discover some within a few minutes of where you are now; just make sure you remember where you are going. To make a bed in the crafting table, you’ll need three blocks of the same color wool and three planks arranged as shown above.
You’ll be the proud owner of your first home. You can sleep in this bed at night to avoid having to get up. Furthermore, you will resurrect here on your bed in the future if you die.
Before we begin exploring farther in Minecraft, two more things are required. We’ll need to construct a chest to hold our belongings and a furnace to cook our meals.
Chests are easy to understand. To place a chest, use the same configuration as the crafting table in the image above. By right-clicking the chest and dragging objects into the chest inventory, you can then deposit items inside.
You’ll need cobblestone for the furnace. Under the ground, this can be mined using the pickaxe. To begin, dig down into the dirt with the shovel. You’ll rapidly run into stone. The best thing to do is dig down until you reach stone, which you can achieve by constructing stairs like those seen above.
After that, you can collect stone with your pickaxe. To construct a furnace, you’ll need eight cobblestones. The furnace crafting layout is seen above. Reduce the temperature of your home’s furnace. It’s now time to focus on the bars above your quick slots. These are your nutrition and health bars.
Your food will steadily deplete your energy, and if it drops too low, you may become ill. You’ll gradually restore health if it’s full. You must eat food to fill it up. You should have mutton left over from the sheep you killed earlier, but it has to be cooked.
Right-click the furnace to start cooking your food. Place the meat in the top box and the fuel in the bottom box. Any form of wood or coal will suffice.
If you don’t have any wood, you can easily harvest logs from trees. The meal will eventually be prepared, and you will be able to see it in the output box on the right. You can eat food by equipping it, placing it in your fast bar slot, and holding right click.
Exploring the Universe
You should now have all of the necessary survival equipment. You’ll have a place to live, a bed, tools, and a way to cook and store food. It’s time to start gathering better stuff at this point.
The crafting table can be used to create better tools that last longer and mine blocks faster. The quickest upgrade is to make stone tools out of cobblestone. However, if you dig a little further, you’ll uncover diamonds and iron. After stone, iron is the next step up, and diamond is even better. For the time being, stone will suffice.
To discover iron and diamond, you’ll have to dig deep, which may take a long time. In the meantime, you can explore the world and learn how to play Minecraft on your own. As you play, you’ll pick up additional information. Exploration and learning how to play Minecraft are the most enjoyable aspects of the game.
It’s entirely up to you what you do next. Will you delve deep into the earth in search of abandoned mineshafts brimming with loot and frightening foes? Will you explore the land above to find villages where you can exchange your riches or hidden temples where you may upgrade your gear? Will you look for a saddle in hidden chests to enable you to ride a horse, or will you focus on obtaining diamond gear?
The options are limitless. Watching YouTube videos or reading wikis like Minecraft Gamepedia are wonderful places to learn more about how to play Minecraft. For the time being, though, we hope that this beginner’s guide to getting started with Minecraft has been helpful.
