So, you decided to take your first steps in Minecraft. Your first world has generated, and you have absolute freedom to do what you want. Now what? With so many choices, it can be difficult to prioritize what you do in the beginning portions of your game. Here are some suggestions to get you started in your Minecraft world.
Starting a home base
Your first day in Minecraft can be exciting, but it’s good to keep in mind that once the sun goes down, the hostile mobs come out. That means you have a limited amount of time to find a starter home.
First, we recommend surveying your surroundings. Are you in a biome you want to build into a home? Maybe there’s a nearby Village you can move into? You can even dig into a mountain and make a home underground.
Take all of this into consideration before you build or renovate your quarters for the first night. You’ll want a bare minimum of four walls and a roof, but a bed to sleep in would be great as well. Find some Sheep to get some wool and combine three pieces with three wooden planks to have somewhere to sleep through the night and make a new spawn point.
Prepare plenty of food
Unless you are playing on Peaceful, your hunger bar is going to play a big part in maintaining your health. Just like anyone else, your Minecraft character needs some fuel to keep going. One of the best ways to ensure you always have some food on hand is to build a farm. We have a whole getting started article dedicated to farming here.
If you would rather hunt for your food, you have some options as well. Cows, Pigs, Sheep, and Rabbits all can be harvested for meat to eat. Be sure you cook it in a furnace before you devour it to prevent food poisoning. If you are completely out of food, defeat some Zombies to acquire rotten flesh. It's gross and will likely make you sick, but it can keep you alive in a pinch.
To make hunting faster and easier, you can craft tools that deal higher damage to these mobs. Swords are a favorite, but axes and bows get the job done as well!
Get to digging
As you might expect in a game with the name Minecraft, mining and crafting items are two key parts of getting the most out of your experience. You won’t be able to dig up everything right away, though. First, punch out some tree blocks so you can make a Wooden Pickaxe and a Crafting Table. Using that tool, find some stone to break apart so you can make Stone Pickaxes and dig faster and be able to keep iron ore when you find it.
When you are out mining, it’s always a good idea to bring plenty of torches. Not only to provide yourself with light while underground, but you can use them to make sure you don’t get lost while digging. Consider placing all of your torches on the left side wall while you move forward. Then, you can keep the torches on your right side to find your way home.
Another good practice when mining is to avoid digging straight up or down. If you dig directly above you, you could end up dropping some gravel or lava on yourself. If you dig straight down, you could fall into lava or a monster-ridden cave. Instead, try to make stairways while you go up and down so you can traverse your mineshaft safely.
Those are some starter tips to get you going in your new Minecraft world. For more, check out these beginner tips.