After You've Survived Your First Night in Minecraft

Some of you may have seen Minecraft videos where the players have managed to craft a home and diamond armor by the end of the second day, but I think most players will be happy to have made a safe shelter and some tools and weapons. 

So what do you do next? My suggestions:  

Make torches - A torch requires only a stick and a piece of coal, and you can make it in your 2 by 2 crafting table.  Torches are important because most hostile monsters spawn in darkness and you don't want to encourage them.

Make a torch with a block of coal and a stick.
Make a stick with two planks.

Make a furnace - you only need nine blocks of cobblestone to make a furnace, and you need one to smelt ore to make upgraded weapons and armor.  The first fuel for a furnace is usually coal, but you can also use wood, bamboo, sticks, wool, leaf litter, and dead bushes as well as wooden weapons and tools you don't need anymore.  

Make a furnace

Make A bed (moveable spawn site): Hostile monsters spawn in the dark when you stay up at night. If you sleep at night you aren't attracting more monster.  A bed also serves as a moveable re-spawn position so that you don't have to keep returning to your original spawn site if you should die. Making a bed requires only three wool and three planks.  

Make a bed. You can color the wool with dyes or
use naturally-colored wool. 

Now, I don't kill sheep, so I have to mine and smelt ore to get iron to make clippers so that I can shear sheep for their wool. You do what you want.

Make shears.
Note you can make this in your small crafting grid.

A sheared sheep - the wool will grow back pretty fast.

Make a garden: To start all you need is a hoe and some seeds*. Having a water source nearby is good, but seeds can grow without irrigation.

Make a hoe with sticks and planks.

Make a bucket

Buckets can carry water, lava, and milk.

Make a four-block water source.

More useful things to make:

Doors only require six planks.

Different woods make different door designs.

Make pressure plates: Use pressure plates inside the door. Put the pressure plates on the inside in front of the door so that you step on them as you leave, and the door will close behind you.

Make Windows: A hole in the side of your shelter will let in light. 

Make one or more boats - 

The type of wood determines the boat texture.
To make a pink boat use cherrywood.

Uses for boats:

- To sail and explore. 

- You can fish from a boat.

- Monster traps: Leave one or more boats outside while you stay awake and you may find them full of monsters in the morning. 

I stayed awake overnight. The drowned threw tridents in the morning
before they despawned. Zombies usually just burn up in the morning
without throwing things at you. Unfortunately, harmless mobs also
seem to like boating and you will have to evict then,

- Boats can be used on land to move kidnapped villagers, and can be used as a fast transport system.

- Sometimes you can get in a boat and go over a cliff and avoid fall damage, but there is no guarantee it will always work.

There are thousands more things you can do or make, but these are a start. 

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*get wheat seeds by punching grass. You may also start other crops (carrots, potatoes, beets, melons, pumpkins, etc..) from what you find foraging or from monster drops. Not all crops require you to hoe the ground first. Sugar cane needs a water block on one side. More info whenever I get around to writing an article about gardening.

Old Lady Says - Things I've Learned the Hard Way

Oops! I meant to put down a stair block.

Do not put buckets of lava in your hot bar until you are ready to use them. 

When dealing with suspicious sand, remember that sand is affected by gravity - if you remove the base of a sand stack, the rest of the column will fall and any suspicious sand over the block you removed will turn into regular sand.

Always use the right tool - it will save you time. 

Store the items in your hot bar in the same place every time - this may keep you from trying to kill a zombie with a baked potato. (You can use a few slots for rotating items).

When exploring, if you always keep the bed and the boat in the hot bar, it is easier to make sure that you haven't left them behind when you move on. 

When exploring, when you get out of bed in the morning you will be facing the opposite direction from when you went to bed.

Cats do not scare creepers. Leave the cats at home. 

When you put down a bed, be sure to touch it right away to make it a spawn site.

Do not set up camp right next to a big dark cave or in dark forests.

Do not despair when watching videos of Minecrafters who start the game and kill the Ender Dragon in five game days. The only player you are competing with is yourself, and besides, I think those other players cheat.

Don't let anyone else tell you are playing the wrong way. 

If it is cheating to "keep inventory after death" in Java, why isn't it cheating to "keep inventory after death" in Bedrock?

Memorizing some craft recipes can save you time; however, remember that (as all things Minecraft) things are constantly changing.*

Don't be afraid to try new things; however, you don't need to be the first to try the Beta versions, wait until the wrinkles are ironed out.** 

When following advice from a video or blog, check to make sure what version of Minecraft they are using, and when the advice was given.  If there are comments, read them.

Little bits of dust coming from the ceiling indicates that it is unstable and if you hit the wrong block it will all fall on you.

Little drops of water coming from the ceiling indicates that there is water above you.

Little drops of lava coming from the ceiling indicates that there is lava above you.

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*In Java Minecraft boats were crafted without adding a shovel as an oar, then they were crafted using a shovel as an oar, and then they changed back to the original way of making them without a shovel as an oar.   For a while I kept wondering why I had all those shovels piling up in inventory.

**"Definitions of ironing. noun. the work of using heat to smooth washed clothes in order to remove any wrinkles."

Preparing to Survive Your First Night in 'Survival' Minecraft

Never played Minecraft before and you're going to jump right in and start in Survival? I don't want to look.

Of course you can just jump right in to Creative or Peaceful Minecraft mode, but if you arrive in a new Survival Mode world unprepared, you are more than likely going to die at least once before the next morning. That's not fun. Think of it like landing in Paris without having maps, guidebooks, hotel reservations, or at least enough French to know how to ask "where are the restrooms"  etc...

I recommend practice in a Peaceful (not Creative) world. 

• Learn the controls: Learn how to move (walk, run, jump, look around, and crouch).
• Learn what you can gather without tools. Close loose objects will automatically move into your inventory until it is full. Learn how to move things in or out of your hotbar, how to hold an object in your hand, throw it, eat it, or place it on the ground. 
• Practice using your hands to chop a tree, make the wood into planks, and then use the wood to build a crafting box.
• Practice using the crafting box to make a few useful tools like swords, picks, axes, etc. 

Don't over-prepare*. Basically, your goal on your first full day in a new Minecraft survival world will simply be to assess the location, gather resources to make a crafting table, use the crafting table to  make tools, gather more resources, and find some way to avoid getting killed by hostile mobs. Part of the fun of Minecraft is gaining experience and improving.

When you are stuck, the Net has tons of information. 

Places like this Minecraft site have tons more information. 

 *OK, if you want to over-prepare, learn how to put a block on the ground and then, from on top of it, how to jump up and place another block under you.

If you are using keyboard commands, learn how to reprogram the "drop item" function from the 'Q' key.

Learn how to make crates or chests, doors, torches, boats, campfires, and furnaces.

Surviving the First Night in Minecraft

If you blog or vlog about Minecraft, it seems to be obligatory to talk about "surviving your first night".  Even though I've been playing Minecraft for a while, I am still not always successful in surviving  the first night in a new world, but this is how I try to do it in Normal Survival Minecraft.

Unless you are playing Hardcore, it is not 'Game Over' if you die, but dying before you've hardly started can be discouraging, so you want to prepare to protect yourself at night when the monsters come out.

Assessing your location. The odds are pretty good that you will spawn in a location with at least a few resources, but if you land on an 'impossible' spot* there is no shame in starting over. Don't try for perfection**- what you are seeing is just a small slice of a much larger world. After you've got the basics down, you can relocate to a better location.

What I do:

To me, making a safe shelter is most important, but to do that I need tools.

First I use my hand to punch a trees to get  a few logs and then use the nine-block space in my inventory to make the logs into planks. I then use the planks to make a crafting table. 

I put the crafting table down near where I think I will make my first shelter, then I make wooden tools (pick, shovel, sword, shovel, axe) and use them to gather more resources, protect myself, and make a place to survive before it gets dark and the monsters come out and do their best to try to kill me.

Making a Shelter:   An old forum post by SafeShot lists the most common options cited by Minecrafters:

• The Hole-in-the-Wall Gang 
• The Dirt Hut Squad
• The 3 Blocks Deep Mafia
• The Treetop Nation
• The Sky Platform Coalition
• The Village Squatters
• The 1st Night Cavern Exploration Team
• The Unfinished Build Project Defenders
• The Mob Spawn Outrunners
• Those Cowards over in the /time set camp and their Day/Night Cycle:OFF allies.

Here's my feelings about each of these options:

'The Hole in the Wall Gang':

If I can find a dirt wall, I will dig or punch a 2-block high by 3-block deep opening so that I can hide when it gets dark. After I'm inside I put a block on the top of the opening - that way I can see when it is daylight again.  

Hiding in hole in the wall

'The Dirt Hut Squad':

Got a little fancy here, but door only took six planks.

You can make this as plain or fancy as you want. I don't usually make these because they take longer to make than a hole in the wall or in the ground.

'The 3 Blocks Deep Mafia':

Good in a pinch

You dig down three blocks and put a block on top of you. I think of this as a last resort, because you can't really see what is going on above you. You can make the hole wider and then cover part of it, but you risk a monster falling into the hole with you.

'The Treetop Nation':

Ready to spend the night on top of a tree.

You can walk on tree foliage, but so can spiders. Zombies, skeletons, and creepers are not supposed to be able to walk or spawn on tree foliage****, but they can certainly spawn under them and wait for you. Zombies and skeletons will survive in the shade when the sun comes up. 

'The Sky Platform Coalition':

Standing on a pile of dirt blocks

Place blocks at the same time you jump up, to make a column where you can get away from zombies and skeletons. Hostile mobs will still spawn in the surrounding dark and wait for you at the bottom.  Don't stay awake all night for too many days or phantoms will also come flying after you at night..  

Modified sky platform

If you are coordinated enough to crouch and add blocks to the sides of the top, you can make this a little bit safer by adding walls at the side.***

'The Village Squatters': 

Better to borrow a bed than to stay awake inside and attract monsters.

If there is a nearby village, just use one of the villagers beds. Again, a last ditch method. Don't stay awake in a village, though, as your waking presence draws monsters.

'The First Night Cavern Exploration Team':

I'm going to need more torches.

I don't really understand this one. Caves may be full of resources, but you need to light them up to make them safe, and if you have enough materials, why not start making a base?  If I have the supplies to make torches, but not a spawn-anchor (bed), I will start gradual mining from inside my shelter to look for things like coal and iron ore until it is light again.

'The Unfinished Build Project Defenders':

This happens when you are building a shelter and it isn't finished before night comes. I think a simple finished shelter beats an elaborate unfinished shelter anytime.

'The Mob Spawn Outrunners':

After I took this snapshot the zombie caught up 
and killed my player character. Fooey!

Yeah, I've done this, but it is not recommended. Even if you outrun all the monsters there is still the danger of falling into a hole or over a cliff, and when morning comes you will be miles away from the spawn point. 

'Those Cowards over in the /time set camp and their Day/Night Cycle:OFF allies.'

I don't agree with Safeshot here, it is not cowardice to set your day/night cycle off, but it sort of spoils the fun of playing Survival mode.

Remember  that you can play Minecraft any way you want. If you start out in Normal Survival and then find that the monsters are too much for you, you can change the setting to Peaceful.  But I don't agree with setting the game to Survival Normal and then make it always daytime. 

'Peaceful' is a good option for those who just want to practice basic moves. 'Creative' is perfect for those who want to try their hand at building elaborate structures and Redstone devices, but I think that switching back and forth between modes misses the point of playing Survival Mode. 

Confession: I once changed a Survival world into a Peaceful world when a Wither got loose and started destroying a friendly village. I also have started Creative Worlds when I wanted to make building tutorials, but overall I try to take my lumps.

Play anyway you want: I think of Minecraft as the 'Swiss Army knife' of games - to quote Kipling

"There are nine and sixty ways of constructing tribal lays,
And — every — single — one — of — them — is — right!"

from Rudyard Kipling's poem, In the Neolithic Age, whose words I first heard sung by Leslie Fish (May she rest in peace.)

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This post is getting too long, I will make other posts about First Day Options and Tool Progression

* "impossible" spots are things like spawning in lava, in snow with not a tree in sight, or at the base of a Pillager tower. Some mine crafters love the challenge, but these spots are not recommended for your first day.

**"If you're waiting to feel ready before you start...you'll be waiting forever. "

***To make a safer "three blocks up" sky platform, make the top  9x9 and put in side blocks and a ceiling.  Here I suggest you google "How to crouch in Minecraft" and learn the procedure for your gaming device and platform so that you don't fall off when you are expanding the sides.

****Hostile mobs can spawn on bare wood, though, and I recently found that zombies can walk on top of tree foliage.

Zombie Spawner Farm - Java 1-21-11

While 'spawning' refers to mobs generating in various locations according to game algorithms, a 'spawner' refers to a particular block that generates hostile mobs in a specific area. (See Wiki).

I found a Zombie spawner in an abandoned mineshaft not far from my main base, and decided to make a farm.

Looking at various tutorials I decided to follow Oink Oink's  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emaOKPjDivs.  

The drop rate was significantly better than what I was getting from my XP tower near base.  I had to wait less time to get a complete stack of flesh and smaller quantities of other loot.  While the Blaze spawner farm got me only blaze rods and XP, the Zombie spawner farm got me lots of flesh, iron and gold bars, and carrots and potatoes.

Zombies go down chute, you kill the zombies, XPs come out, and drops are stored in chest.

I also got two dead chickens, which made me wonder if chicken jockeys had gone down the chute, so I replaced the three top solid blocks with glass so I could see what I was doing.

Blaze XP and Blaze Rod Farm in the Nether - Java 1.21.11

Blazes are a medium-difficult hostile mob that I have found hard to kill, but they are the only source for blaze rods, which are needed for brewing potions and for crafting Eyes of Ender.  You need Eyes of Ender to activate the portals in strongholds, if you want to get to the End to fight the dragon.  Potions like Night Vision and Water Breathing can be extremely helpful as well.

You also get XP points for killing the blazes.

I had never made a Blaze Farm before, so I watched a lot of YouTube videos before I tried it. I used a design based on one by RealJayden at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBl9OAaIbws 

I did not go into Peaceful or Creative modes, just  normal survival.

It was a learning experience.

Blazes live in Nether Fortresses, and I had almost given up finding a Nether Fortress when I saw a Blaze far below. It turned out that the whole fortress was pretty much underground. 

After I found a Blaze spawner I found that sticking torches and other light sources around the spawner did not completely stop blazes from spawning. Blazes spawn in any part of a Nether Fortress and when you fight one, they call their friends.

Before I made the walls I made sure to check the lava flow because I wanted to make sure I had the right measurements.

Checking the lava flow in the blaze trap.

The blaze rod and XP harvest was very satisfying. I no longer have to worry about dying a few times before I can get more blaze rods.