Miller - The Ultimate Unofficial Encyclopedia for Minecrafters: An A - Z Book of Tips and Tricks the Official Guides Dont Teach You

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Brian Peterson

Cover photo credit: Megan Miller

Print ISBN: 978-1-63450-698-4

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63450-699-1

Printed in Canada

NOTE

The information provided in this book refers to features in the PC edition of Minecraft 1.8.3. If you are using a different version, you may find some differences in gameplay. The Minecraft wiki at Minecraft.gamepedia.com is a great place to look for more information on the game. Also, if you are interested in playing with any of the mods, maps, or resource packs described, be sure to read all of the creators instructions. Mod makers for Minecraft provide their mods for free, and they dont have the same support resources as a game manufacturer. That means they arent able to update or address everybodys problems installing or working with a mod. Its pretty easy to mess up your version of Minecraft, and even your computer, when you download and install unofficial files, so make sure your current games are backed up.

A

Abandoned mineshafts can be mazes of corridors, cobwebs, and fences reaching all directions. They are also a great source of loot.

ABANDONED MINESHAFTS

Abandoned mineshafts are generated randomly with each world, and you typically find them underground. The easiest way to find a mineshaft is to look in areas where they might be exposed, like ravines. Look for oak wood planks and torchlight to spot them. Also keep an eye out for them when youre traveling in the ocean. Parts of a mineshaft may be exposed, and you can spot them by the torchlight.

Mineshafts actually generate with a starting point. This is a plain squareish room with a curved ceiling, a dirt floor, and exits often on all sides.

Mineshafts are a great source for rails, especially in early game when you may not have much iron. You can also find chests in minecarts that hold rare items. They may hold pumpkin or melon seeds, bread, coal, gold, iron, lapis, and redstone. Rarely, you might even find more rails, horse armor and pickaxes, saddles, and even enchanted books or diamonds.

When youre in a mineshaft, be on the lookout for cave spiders. Mineshafts are the only places youll find cave spiders. Youll probably hear them screeching before you see them, but also be on the lookout for the masses of cobwebs that signify a cave spider spawner.

Mineshafts can be incredibly big, especially if several mineshafts generate side by side, so have a plan for finding your way back out when you explore them.

ACHIEVEMENTS

Minecraft has a series of about thirty achievements; in console versions these may be called trophies. Achievements are a great way for a new player to start learning to play. Often you have to accomplish one achievement before you start another. The first is Taking Inventory, which you achieve by pressing E. In multiplayer, your achievement is shown in chat. You can find your achievements screen by opening up Options and choosing Achievements.

If youre new to Minecraft, building up achievements can be a great way to get started playing. Most random achievement? To achieve When Pigs Fly, youll have to fly a pig off a cliff.

ANIMALS

Most animals in Minecraft are also called passive mobs, because they dont attack. (Wolves are neutral: theyll attack if they are attacked.) Almost all animals provide helpful drops when they are killed. For example, when a cow is killed, it drops beef. Different types of animal tend to spawn more in certain biomes. For example, youll find more horses in open fields with grass. Dont kill all the animals in an area. They spawn rarely, so leave at least two so you can breed them.

Each animal also has its favorite food. You can feed two adult animals their favorite food to make them breed. You can feed a baby to make it grow up faster. If you hold the food in your hand, the animal will follow you. (They get distracted easily though, so you have to keep at it when you are leading them.)

When you design your animal pens, add in a second, exterior pen to work as a double gate system. If an animal escapes their pen through the gate, this will stop them from getting far. Also, for chicken pens, you will need to make a pen that is two blocks high, as chicken can jump over one-block fences.

Build a double-enclosure pen to stop animals that escape from their pen from getting any farther.

ANVIL

You use anvils to enchant, repair, and name (or rename) weapons, tools, and armor. You name items by typing in the text box under Repair and Name in the anvil screen. This is the only way to assign a name for a name tag. Naming costs one experience level, plus more levels if you have worked on the item before.

You repair items by combining them with their base material. For example, you can repair an iron axe with iron ingots. You can enchant items with the anvil by combining an item with an enchanted book. This is the only way to get enchantments on a shear (Silk Touch, Efficiency, Unbreaking). You can also combine similar items that are already enchanted (an enchanted diamond sword with another enchanted diamond sword, for example) to create one weapon or tool that has the enchantments from both of the first two items. (Tip! When you are combining two enchanted items, try them in both slots. The experience cost can be different depending on which one is the sacrifice item, in the rightmost slot.) Anvils are the only way to get some of the most powerful enchantments. For the strongest (Level V) enchantments for Efficiency, Power, Sharpness, Smite, Bane of Arthropods, you must use the anvil to combine two items that each have a Level IV enchantment.

Besides their practical uses, anvils can be a great decorative element, by themselves or stacked up together.