FAQ/Strategy Guide - Guide for Minecraft

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                           Minecraft (PC) Guide/FAQ
                                 Version 1.3
                        Copyright 2011 Stephen Garvani
                     destroyerofevil.666[AT]gmail[DOT]com

---------------
Version History
---------------

January 30th 2011: Version 1.3

Well. I admit I've been neglecting this guide, mainly because I haven't been
playing much Minecraft lately, but I'm back. Guide now covers everything added
to Minecraft since the last version of this guide (Minecraft beta version
1.2_02)(and yes, I know that number is lower than the last one - Notch reset
version numbering to 1.0 when the game went beta). I've also modified a few
reference entries, added a bit more to the walkthrough section and fixed a few
typos.

November 14th 2010: Version 1.21

Longest gap between updates yet... Guide now covers Minecraft version 1.2.2,
details on custom texture pack support added to appropriate FAQ question. Also
added GamesRadar as a site allowed to use the guide, and made some other minor
changes.

November 5th 2010: Version 1.2

Guide now covers Minecraft version 1.2.1_01, which is a bugfix release. Some
content has been changed to cover this. Also added some more to section 4
(building, liquid physics and navigation sections, expanded biomes section) and
made the contents more useful.

October 31st 2010: Version 1.1

Updated guide to include new content and features added in the 'Halloween
Update' (version 1.2.0_01 of Minecraft). Also massively extended section 4 to
cover more areas of Minecraft, and updated a few other reference entries.

October 26th 2010: Version 1.01

Added NeoSeeker.com and SuperCheats.com as websites allowed to use the guide.
Also added a new 'FAQ' to section 8, and some more information to some of the
reference guide entries (mob health, bit more on bow and arrow and spiders).

October 24th 2010: Version 1.0

First published version of this guide. Contains a full references to all items,
blocks and mobs in the game as of version 1.1.2 as well as a first night
walkthrough and other basic Minecraft info.

-----------------
Table Of Contents
-----------------

1. Introduction
2. Minecraft Basics
3. First Night Walkthrough
4. Further Minecraft Concepts
   4.1 Biomes
   4.2 The Nether
   4.3 Dungeons
   4.4 Farming
   4.5 Fishing
   4.6 Mining
   4.7 Building
   4.8 Liquid Physics
   4.9 Navigation
5. Block Reference
   5.1 Natural Blocks
   5.2 Manufactured Blocks
   5.3 Utility Blocks
   5.4 Mechanical Blocks
   5.5 Plants
   5.6 Ores
   5.7 Liquids
   5.8 Non Solid Blocks
   5.9 Nether Blocks
6. Item Reference
   6.1 Tools
   6.2 Weapons
   6.3 Armour
   6.4 Food
   6.5 Crafting Materials
   6.6 Vehicles
   6.7 Dyes
   6.8 Other Items
7. Mob Reference
8. FAQ
9. Legal/Contact/Thanks

---------------
1. Introduction
---------------

Minecraft is a sandbox construction game developed by Markus 'Notch' Persson, a
Swedish programmer. He started working on Minecraft in May 2009, and the game
gradually gained popularity, until in July 2010 it was mentioned on the
official Team Fortress blog, and promptly exploded in popularity. The game can
be downloaded from www.minecraft.net, for the price of 14.95 euros (about 13 UK
pounds, 20 US dollars). It is expected to increase in price to 20 euros when
the finished version is released.

The game itself will be discussed more in the next section, for now I'm going
to go through what this guide will cover. I implied above that the game is not
finished - this is true. The current version - referred to as the beta version
and as the Survival gameplay mode, is the only one being actively developed.
There is also a 'classic' or 'creative' mode, which is free to play on the
Minecraft website, and only features the building element of the game.

Multiplayer versions of both of these also exist, however I personally have
relatively little interest in them, and so I do not intend to cover them in
this guide. I will also not be covering classic in any further detail, instead
I will concentrate on the beta version. I will also note that this version is
recieving frequent updates, so this guide will also be updated as soon as
details of applied updates become available. The guide will only cover the
current version of the game, information about future updates will not be
included however well known that information is.

One thing this guide will not be, for the most part, is a traditional
walkthrough. I described Minecraft as a sandbox game, and I really mean this.
Compared to this, games such as Grand Theft Auto are as linear as a straight
line. In Minecraft, the only goal is to survive, and how you do that is up to
you. There are other things you can do in the game, such as build massive
structures and explore caves, but there is no set way to do this. I will talk
about things like this, but in a more general way, rather than giving specific
instructions. What is accepted, however, is a fairly standard way of starting
the game, so section three will walk you through this. You're welcome to ignore
and do your own thing, but you may find things hard going. First though, we
need to discuss some of the basic concepts of the game.

-------------------
2. Minecraft Basics
-------------------

When you start Minecraft, you will be presented with a world consisting of
various natural features, such as mountains, plains, oceans, lakes, beaches and
caves. Each world is generated completely at random and in theory is infinitely
big, although in practice it is limited, although this limit is still 8 times
the total surface area of the Earth. New areas generate as you explore the map,
and all areas are totally random.

The map is made up of 'blocks' or cube-like structures that make up everything
that can be seen on the map. These blocks represent anything from dirt, sand
and stone, to water, lava, and even the clouds that float above the world. The
blocks can be 'mined' by hand or with a variety of tools, and taken into the
player's inventory. From there, they can be placed back into the world, to
allow for building of anything from a simple house to a large castle, basically
anything the player can thing of. This will be explained in more detail and
through a guided example in the next section.

The game also implements a day/night cycle which lasts 20 minutes. There is 10
minutes of daytime, then a 90 second sunset followed by 7 minutes of night and
eventually a 90 second sunrise. This is crucial to the game because at night,
and any other area where it is dark, such as the vast natural caves that exist
underground, monsters can spawn and attack the player. Monsters can damage
health, represented as a series of hearts near the bottom of the screen. Health
can be regained by eating food, which will be explained later, as will the
different types of monster.

It is also possible to lose health as a result of fall damage, walking into
cacti or lava, having certain block types fall on your head and staying under
water too long.

If all health is lost you will die, and respawn at the original spawn point of
the world you are in. Any items you were carrying will be dropped at or near
the point of death, and you have a limited time (5 minutes) to return to the
location and pick them up again, or else they will simply disappear.

There are four difficulty levels in Minecraft - easy, normal and hard all
feature monsters spawning, and the amount of damage they deal increases with
harder difficulty. There is also peaceful, in which hostile mobs don't spawn,
aside from one which cannot deal damage, leaving the player free to explore at
night and in caves without getting attacked.

It is possible to switch between difficulties at any time, switching to
peaceful will cause monsters to disappear, although this is frowned upon as a
way of getting out of trouble.

The main controls for Minecraft are as follows:

WASD - movement
Spacebar - jump
1-9/scrollwheel - select items from toolbar
left click (hold) - mine block
right click - place block or use item
mouse movement - look around
left shift - sneak (prevents falling off ledges)
I - open/close the inventory

--------------------------
3. First Night Walkthrough
--------------------------

When you first spawn on a Minecraft world, you start with nothing, and have one
full day (10 minutes) before the first night starts and monsters can spawn. So
however you plan to continue in your Minecraft adventure, the first day should
always be spent building some sort of shelter in which to avoid being attacked.
This shelter also needs to have artificial light provided, as monsters will
spawn anywhere it is dark, including your shelter if you don't light it.

The first thing required to set about this aim is wood. More than likely, a
number of trees will be present near your starting point, although depending on
your starting biome you may need to walk a short distance to find some. Once
found, you need to approach the tree and you should notice a black highlight
box around one of the blocks that make up the tree trunk. Hold down the left
mouse button and your hand will start 'mining' the block. Once it is fully
broken it will disappear and what looks like a smaller version will drop. This
This is picked up simply be walking near it and may happen automatically. Also
note that the remaining tree above this block doesn't fall - only a few
Minecraft blocks obey gravity.

You'll want to mine all available wood in the tree, and also do so from one or
two more trees. You'll notice the block appearing in the toolbar at the bottom
of the screen. This is where you can select blocks or items to use in the
world. Certain things, like the wood blocks you've just collected, will stack,
up to a total of 64 in one slot. Others can only have one item per slot.

Once you've got enough wood, open your inventory. There are a few things to
note here - at the top left is a representation of your character, and slots to
place armour which can protect you from damage. At the top right is a
two-by-two grid which is used for the 'crafting' of various items.

We'll use this to turn the wood we've just collected into something more
useful. Wood in its natural state is virtually useless unless you use it as a
building material. Select the wood with the left mouse button, and click to
place it in one of the slots in the crafting square. You'll see a different
block appear in the output slot to the right of the grid. These are wooden
planks, and you get four plank blocks for each tree trunk (log) block. Click
continously on the output square to turn each successive log block into planks.

Once you have them all, you need to put one in each slot the crafting grid
(right click). This will create a crafting table, which you need to take and
put in a slot in the toolbar at the bottom of the inventory screen. This will
allow you to place it in the world. Close the inventory and select the crafting
table. Right click to place it somewhere in the world and then right click it
in the world to bring up its interface. You again have your inventory displayed
but now you also have a three-by-three crafting grid.

This can be used to craft more complex items. The first thing you want to make
is something that only actually requires the smaller grid - wooden sticks. To
do this, place two plank blocks one above the other in the grid. This will make
four stick items appear in the output slot. You'll want at least 8, but I'd
make 16 initially. It's up to you.

Once you've made your sticks, you can make some tools. There are a number of
different types, for now though we'll just make a shovel and a pickaxe. I'm
going to use ASCII diagrams to show the 'recipes' for these items.

Pickaxe:

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|Wood  |Wood  |Wood  |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |Stick |      |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |Stick |      |
----------------------

Shovel:

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |Wood  |      |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |Stick |      |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |Stick |      |
----------------------

These allow you to mine certain types of block quicker, and will be useful
going forward. It's worth noting that extensive use will make them degrade, and
so you will be constantly building new ones. As the game goes on you will also
gain access to better materials than wood for building tools. Once you've made
the tools, you should 'mine' the crafting table and take it with you, to save
you having to build another later and waste wood.

For now, the next thing you need is coal. Around the map you should be able to
see stone blocks, these have a grey, stoney texture and are commonly found on
the side of cliffs and mountains, and in areas at ground level, often entrances
to caverns. Mixed in with stone are blocks that contain coal. Coal appears the
same as a normal stone block, but with black markings within it - this is the
coal. I can't tell you where to find it, as your world is completely random,
but once you have you will need to select your wooden pickaxe and use that to
mine the coal. When you do it will drop lumps of raw coal, which are what you 
need to pick up.

You need to use the pickaxe because stone and coal blocks do not drop pickups
if mined by hand, or indeed with any other tool such as the shovel we built
earlier. Once you have a few lumps of coal, you'll need to open your inventory.
You can use the small crafting grid there to make torches, which require one
piece of coal above a stick. This will create four torches. Torches can be
placed on blocks to create light around it, preventing monsters from spawning.

If you are having trouble finding coal, try going into the game's options
screen and changing the render distance to 'far' (if it isn't already) to give
you more visible area to look for a cliff or other structure that may contain
coal.

If you still can't find any, then you can instead make charcoal, which has all
the same properties of coal. You'll still need to find some stone, when you do
you'll need to mine 8 blocks of it. Once you have them, place one in each of
the outside slots on the crafting table to create a furnace. Place this in the
world, and right click it to open its interface. You'll want to place some wood
in both top and bottom slots (above and below the flame graphic) and this will
create charcoal from the wood. Use this in exactly the same way as you would
coal.

You now have everything you need to create a shelter. Find an appropriate spot
(I personally like the side of a mountain or cliff for my first shelter) and
start digging it out. You'll want to use the shovel you built for dirt blocks,
and the pickaxe on stone. Once you've hollowed out a suitable area (it doesn't
need to be too big) place torches around it (right click on suitable blocks)
and use any available block type (I use dirt) to cover the entrance. My
personal preference is to cover all but one block, to give a way of seeing when
night has ended whilst preventing mobs getting in. If you do go down this
route, you'll also want to dig an area in the shelter where there is no line of
sight to the window, as there is a type ofmonster (skeletons) who use bows and
arrows and can fire through the window. The alternative is not to have a window
at all. As with pretty much everything in Minecraft, it's up to you.

-----------------------------
4. Further Minecraft Concepts
-----------------------------

The above section basically covers everything you need to know in order to
survive the first night. But what do you do during that night, and then when
the sun comes up again. Personally, I like to spend the first night digging
around in the shelter in the hope of finding more coal or other useful
resources, as well as building more tools and other equipment, and the next
morning exploring the area and deciding whether to build a permanent 'house'
there or somewhere else.

It's also worth noting that some monsters remain in the world after the sun has
come back up, so you'll probably want to make a sword to give yourself a better
chance of killing them.

But it's entirely up to you. Some of the other things you can do in the game 
include:

-Farming
-Exploring caverns
-Mining for different ores
-Building large structures
-Creating 'electrical' circuits

And much more. This section will talk about some of the other things you can do
in the game, as well as discuss game concepts such as biomes and 'The Nether'.

--4.1 BIOMES--

Biomes are separate areas within a Minecraft world that have different climatic
conditions. This refers to the colours of grass and tree leaves, the general
height and layout of the land, the types of blocks that are most common and
even the presence of snow and ice. The boundary between biomes is currently
quite harsh, although it is planned to make them smoother. Worlds started prior
to the update which added biomes will not have them in previously generated
ares, however as new world areas ('chunks') are generated whenever the player
moves near the current edge of their world, these areas can have biomes in the
same way as a new world. The biomes are as follows:

-Rain Forest-

A heavily wooded biome with abundant trees and lakes. Trees may grow with
leaves all the way to the ground, and are more likely to have branches.

-Swamp-

This biome will have a number of small pools, and has a greater than normal
chance of containing reeds.

-Seasonal Forest-

This will have more trees than Woods, but not as many as Forest or Rain Forest.

-Savanna-

Largely flat terrain, with few trees.

-Woods-

A biome with roughly an average amount of trees.

-Taiga-

Snowy biome with the same amount of trees as Rain Forest or Forest.

-Forest-

Has the same amount of trees as Rain Forest, but they don't have the extra
properties of Rain Forest trees.

-Desert-

This will have mostly sandy terrain, and will contain a large amount of cacti.
Can technically contain trees, however many fewer than Woods, but as trees can
only grow on dirt it is very unlikely to find a tree.

-Plains-

Large open grassy areas, with very few trees.

-Tundra-

Snowy terrain, with a similar lack of trees as in Plains.

--4.2 THE NETHER--

The Nether is a special world which can be visited by making a portal. A portal
can be made by making a 4 by 5 'door frame' made of obsidian. The inside of the
frame must then be set alight with a Flint and Steel item. It is possible to
leave out the corners of the frame, and so only 10 blocks of obsidian are
required.

Once the portal has been stepped through (or rather stood inside, as if you
simply walk straight through it nothing happens), a corresponding portal is
created in the Nether. There is a loading screen whilst the game saves the main
world and loads (or generates) the Nether. Like the main world, the Nether is
randomly generated, persistant, and can be built in with all existing blocks.

The Nether contains unique mobs and block types, and also has a large amount of
lava, making journeying accross it quite dangerous. Any distance travelled in
the Nether is equivalent to 8 times the distance in the main world, meaning
two portals 8 blocks apart in the real world will be side-by-side in the
Nether. As well as at the bottom, the Nether also has indestructible bedrock at
the top.

Currently there is an issue where leaving the Nether will not always return you
you to the same portal you came through originally, but to a different one
somewhere else in the main world. This occurs when the game tries to put the
Nether portal somewhere it can't go, such as in a wall. It will instead move
the portal to a safe location, however this will mean that when you go back
through the portal it will put you in the corresponding main world location of
where the Nether portal is, not where it should have been (i.e. your original
portal). Notch is aware of this and working on fixing it.

--4.3 DUNGEONS--

A dungeon is an underground 'room' which contains a mob-spawner block. This
block will regulary spawn either spiders, zombies or skeletons. It can be
disabled by surrounding it with torches, or can be destroyed by a strong
pickaxe.

A dungeon can be identified by the fact that the walls and floors are made up
of cobblestone, a block that doesn't usually appear naturally. Further, the
floor is often made of a special 'mossy' cobblestone block.

A dungeon will also usually (although not always) contain a chest, which will
contain items such as string, iron, buckets, and also saddles and apples, which
are only found in these chests.

--4.4 FARMING--

Most natural plants in Minecraft can be grown by the player, however there is
also a specific type of plant that can only be obtained by being farmed. There
is no set way to make a farm in Minecraft, but a general procedure is as
follows:

First, a safe farm area must be created. This is because any walking on the
crops, from either the player or a mob, will cause the crops to be ruined.
Either a greenhouse, or a fenced off area will suffice. Note that it is
possible to sneak (hold down shift) on crops without destroying them. Also note
that if you do use fences you should take further precautions to ensure spiders
can not get in, as they can jump over a fence.

Water must then be provided - crops will grow provided there is water no more
than four blocks away. A suitable walkway, made of any non-dirt material will
also be required to allow you to move around the farm safely. Finally, enough
light must be provided to ensure hostile mobs don't spawn at night.

Once this is done, seeds must be located. Craft a hoe, and use it to till grass
blocks, ideally outside of the farm. This will remove the grass from the dirt,
and sometimes drop seeds. Once you have enough seeds (you need one seed item
for each block you wish to farm) you need to till all remaining grass/dirt
blocks within the farm, and place the seeds in them. It is important you don't
leave any grass untilled, as animals could spawn on it and trample the crops.

If all this is done correctly, the crops will in time grow and can be harvested
to produce wheat. The wheat can in turn be crafted into bread, which can be
eaten to restore health.

--4.5 FISHING--

IF the player has crafted a fishing rod, they may fish in any body of water.
This is regardless of the size of the water area, or indeed whether or not it
is natural.

To cast the rod, it needs to be equipped and the right mouse button pressed.
The rod will be cast, and it can be reeled in by right clicking again. When
cast, the bobber will eventually sink into the water before coming back up. The
rod should be reeled in at this point. If done correctly, a fish will be thrown
out of the water and land nearby on the ground. If the timing is wrong no fish
will be caught. The bobber must also be free-floating; if the water is too
shallow it may get caught on a block and not catch any fish.

--4.6 MINING--

There are many different ways of mining in Minecraft. My personal method
involves digging a 3 by 3 shaft down into the ground all the way to bedrock,
and then digging a tunnel coming away from this with further branches. I'm not
here to tell you how to mine, or to list all the different methods people use.
There are a few general tips that can be useful however:

-Never dig straight up or straight down unless you know what is there. I have
died after both digging down when there was lava underneath, and digging up and
having sand fall and suffocate me. There could also be a deep drop underneath,
or even a monster filled cavern or dungeon area.

-If you do have no option but to dig straight up, try putting a torch at your
feet. Any sand or gravel falling on to it will be destroyed, saving you from
suffocation. This won't protect you from other hazards, however. (thanks to
squirrels4ev for this tip)

-Underground dirt/gravel pockets could be an indication of nearby ores. It can
be a good idea to clear these pockets out, as it is an easy way to find ores.

-A chest and crafting table at the bottom of your mineshaft can be useful. Rare
ores can be put in it so you don't risk losing them if you die, and extra tools
or food can also be stored so you don't have to return to any other storage
area you may have. Similarly, if you have some sticks in the chest you can
easily make more tools without having to return to a 'main' crafting table.

--4.7 BUILDING--

It is possible to build a large variety of structures in Minecraft, from simple
houses to towers or castles, or anything your imagination can think of. Like
with the mining section above, I'm not here to tell you what to build or how to
build it, but there are again some tips I can give:

-By sneaking (left shift) it is possible to effectively hang off the edge of a
block. This can make building easier when there is no other way to reach the
side of a block you want to build on, and can reduce the need for some form of
temporary 'scaffolding'. Sneaking also means you won't fall off the edge of
blocks, which can again be useful for building tall structures.

-If you look straight down and jump, you can place a block below you. This can
be useful for building structures or for making a temporary 'scaffolding' tower
that can be removed later.

--4.8 LIQUID PHYSICS--

There are two types of liquid in the game - water and lava. Both have slightly
different properties depending on whether or not they are flowing.

Water will slow a player's movement, and if flowing will carry the player with
the current. It is possible to replace water or block it's flow by placing
blocks in it. Still water can be picked up with a bucket, which cannot be
placed back in the water. If placed somewhere else it will create a water
'source block' and flow for up to seven blocks, this will reset if the water
level changes. A placed source block can be picked up again, causing all water
it genereated to rapidly disappear.

An 'infinite spring' can be created by making a two-by-two hole and filling
opposite corners with water. Whichever water block you then pick up, it will
always be refilled.

It is possible to swim in water (although you have a limited air supply) and it
is also possible to swim up waterfalls. A fall into water that has a depth of
two blocks or greater will negate fall damage.

Lava has similar characteristics. Flowing lava works in the same way, but only
three blocks before it stops, and at a slower rate. Lava flows also take longer
to disappear after a source block is removed. The infinite spring trick does
not work with lava.

Lava's most notable characteristic is that it will deal damage to either the
player or a mob if they come into contact. IF this happens, you will burn to
death unless put out with water. Lava will also destroy any item dropped into
it.

The interaction of water and lava can create either cobblestone or obsidian.
A lava flow (horizontal) meeting with water will generate cobblestone, and
still lava will generate obsidian if provided with water.

--4.9 NAVIGATION--

Whilst there is no directional compass in Minecraft, just one that points to
your original spawn point, it is still possible to navigate using certain world
features.

-Both the sun and the moon will always rise in the east and set in the west.

-Clouds will always drift to the north.

-Cobblestone and Netherrack have a notable 'L' on the top of the block. If this
is aligned so it is on the left side of the block, facing the way it would be
if you wrote one on paper, you are facing north (thanks to squirrels4ev for
this tip)

Navigating natural cavern systems can also be tricky, especially as some can
get quite confusing. I would advise some sort of system to try to avoid getting
lost along these lines:

-Put torches on the same side (let's say right) of the cavern as you go through
it, so when you are trying to get out you always keep the torches on your left.

-Always follow the same rule when the cavern branches, for example always
explore the right hand branch first.

------------------
5. Block Reference
------------------

I am defining a 'block' as anything which either appears naturally in the world
or can be placed in it by the player after being crafted or otherwise made.

--5.1 NATURAL BLOCKS--

-Stone-

Stone, described in the walkthrough above, is the most common naturally
occuring block in a normal Minecraft map. It should be mined by use of a pick,
which is the only way of collecting it. Stone actually drops a different type
of block, cobblestone, which has a different texture.

Once reclaimed by smelting cobblestone in a furnace, stone is used in two
crafting recipes, to make a button or a pressure plate. It is also a common
building material. 

-Dirt-

Dirt, which appears with a brown texture, and can have grass growing upon it,
is a very common block, forming a layer of ground above the stone that makes up
most of the world. It can be mined easily by hand, and always drops a 'resource
block', but can be mined quicker with a shovel. It can also be destroyed by
explosions.

Dirt is not a common block for building, and has no crafting uses, but is used
for customising the landscape, and for farming.

-Sand-

Sand is a reasonably common block, being found next to bodies of water, whether
small like lakes or ponds, or large like a full ocean. Like dirt, sand can be
mined by hand, and always drops a resource block, but can be mined quicker with
a shovel. Sand can be destroyed by explosions, and also is one of the few
blocks to be affected by gravity, meaning it will fall if the block under it is
removed. If the player is standing under it, it will fall on them and suffocate
them, this is one reason it is inadvisable to mine straight upwards.

Sand is not commonly used for building due to its weakness, however it can be
smelted in a furnace to make glass, and it is part of the crafting recipe for
TNT.

-Gravel-

Gravel, which has a grey, grainy texture, is usually found in cliff sides, pits
and caves. It shares a number of its characteristics with sand - it can be
mined by hand, but faster with a shovel, and is also affected by gravity.
There is also a small chance (about 8.5%) that instead of a gravel resource
block, gravel will drop flint when mined (flint is not a block, and so will be
covered in the next section). Gravel has few practical uses - it isn't a common
building material, and is not used in any crafting recipes. It can however be
placed back in the world in order to have another go at getting flint.

-Clay-

Clay is a relatively rare block, sometimes being very hard to find, although it
is generally found near water. It has a fairly smooth grey texture, and is best
mined with a shovel. Instead of a clay resource block, it drops four pieces of
raw clay, which can be crafted back into a clay block with the following
recipe:

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |      |      |
----------------------
|clay  |clay  |      |
|piece |piece |      |
----------------------
|clay  |clay  |      |
|piece |piece |      |
----------------------

Clay can also be smelted in a furnace to create clay bricks, which can in turn
be crafted into a brick block. Other than this, clay has few practical uses.

-Obsidian-

Obsidian, which has a dark purple texture, is a very rare block which is found
where water and lava interact. It takes a long time to mine even with the
strongest type of pickaxe (diamond), which is the only tool with which it can
be mined. Obsidian can be used as a building material, and is also used to
create portals to the Nether.

-Snow and Ice-

Under the biome system, certain areas will be snow areas. A layer of snow will
generate on top of all exposed blocks. This layer has to be removed before
mining the block underneath, however this can be done easily with any tool. If
mined with a shovel, however, it will yeild a snowball, which can be thrown at
things or crafted to make a full-size snow block - four snowballs are needed,
with the recipe being the same as for the clay mentioned above. These have no
pratical use aside from building.

Ice will form on any exposed water, and it is possible to walk on it, although
the ice is slightly slippery. It cannot be mined, instead ice either returns to
being water or is simply destroyed. Tools are not usually required, however
when underwater you will want to use a pickaxe.

Both snow and ice can be melted by placing a source of fire, such as a torch or
lava, near them; however a crafted snow block cannot.

-Bedrock-

Bedrock is an indestructible block type that appears at the very bottom limit
of a minecraft map. As with all Minecraft blocks, the pattern in which it
generates is random, which means holes in it can appear, leading in to what is
referred to as 'the void', an area outside the map. Should the player fall into
it, they will rapidly die. When they do, all their items will be irretrievable,
due to the instant disappearance of all items that drop into the void. It is
not possible to build blocks in the void.

--5.2 MANUFACTURED BLOCKS--

-Wood-

Wood, as discussed in the guided walkthrough above, is a block that is crafted
from log blocks. It itself has a number of properties - it is vulnerable to
being burned, and yet is still a popular building material. It is also used in
a large number of crafting recipes, as well as being potential fuel for a
furnace. When placed, it can be re-mined, an axe being the best tool with which
to do so.

-Cobblestone-

As mentioned in the Stone entry, Cobblestone is the resource block dropped when
Stone is mined. It does occur natually, however only in areas known as
dungeons, which will be explained later. Like stone, it is best mined with a
pickaxe.

It is a common building material, as well as being usable in a number of
crafting recipes - most notably the furnace, as well as stone tools and swords.
It can be turned back into normal stone by smelting it in a furnace.

-Brick-

Brick blocks are formed from four indivdual clay bricks (using the same
crafting recipe as shown in the clay entry), the bricks themselves being
smelted in a furnace from pieces of clay. This makes brick relatively hard to
come by, as clay is itself rare.

As would be expected, brick is used as a building material. When placed, it can
only be mined with a pickaxe. Brick has no other practical uses.

-Glass-

Glass is created by smelting sand in a furnace. It is a clear block, and as
such it is mainly used for creating windows or glass ceilings in various
building projects. It is also transparent, allowing it to let light through -
the only block that has this property. Glass cannot be re-mined once placed,
instead it will break, doing so easily without the use of tools.

-Bookshelf-

Bookshelves are purely decorative blocks that can be crafted in the following
recipe

----------------------
|Wood  |Wood  |Wood  |
|      |      |      |
----------------------
|Book  |Book  |Book  |
|      |      |      |
----------------------
|Wood  |Wood  |Wood  |
|      |      |      |
----------------------

As said, they serve no practical purpose. They are flammable, and cannot be
re-mined once placed, they will instead be destroyed. The books required will
be discussed in a later section.

-Wool-

Wool is a block that can be obtained naturally by attacking sheep, which will
cause them to drop Wool blocks (represented by them losing their wool) or by a
full crafting grid of nine pieces of string, which are dropped by spiders. It
is a very weak block, being flammable and vulnerable to explosions. Other than
as a potential building material, or for dying, its other main use is to make
paintings.

These are low-resolution images, taken from various sources, which can be
placed on a flat, vertical surface. They do not interact with the surface or
any other block in any way. There are a variety of images, one of which is
randomly chosen when a painting is placed. The recipe for a painting is as
follows:

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|Stick |Stick |Stick |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|Stick |Wool  |Stick |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|Stick |Stick |Stick |
----------------------

-Iron-

A full Iron block is created by filling the crafting grid with iron ingots. It
can be used as a building material, however is more commonly used as a more
compact 'storage' solution for iron ore, as by putting an iron block in the
crafting grid it can be turned back into the nine iron ingots which made it. It
currently has no other uses.

-Gold-

Like iron, gold blocks are created from nine gold ingots, and can be converted
back, again in the same way as iron. They can also be used to make golden
apples, by placing an apple in the center of the crafting grid and surrounding
it with gold, similar to the painting recipe above. This can then be eaten to
restore all your health, however the large amount of gold needed makes it very
uneconomical.

-Diamond-

Like gold and iron, diamond blocks are simply made from nine individual
diamond gems, and used as either building material or storage, as it again can
be converted back to the gems.

-Lapis Lazuli-

As with gold, iron and diamond, Lapis Lazuli blocks are made by combining nine
pieces of Lapis Lazuli. The created block can be used in a similar way as these
other items - for a building material, or for storage, as again the conversion
can be reversed.

-Stairs-

Stairs, made of either wood or cobblestone, are, as the name suggests, used for
making staircases in building projects. You have to be careful when placing
them, as they take a large amount of time to remove, and the orientation
depends on how many blocks are next to the space in which you are trying to
place it. The crafting recipe for stairs involves placing either wood or
cobblestone in the places marked on the diagram below:

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  x   |      |      |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  x   |  x   |      |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  x   |  x   |  x   |
----------------------

This recipe produces four stair blocks.

Stairs, once placed, allow for the player to walk up them without jumping.

-Stone Slabs-

Stone Slabs, like stairs, allow the player to change level without jumping.
They are made from cobblestone, and are only half the height of a normal block,
allowing them to be placed in such a way as to allow smooth walking between
levels.

They are crafted from a horizontal line of three pieces of cobblestone, which
produces 3 steps. If a step is placed on top of another existing step, it will
be treated as one single block, and only drop one slab when mined. Gravel and
sand will be destroyed when falling onto slabs, although gravel will not drop
flint when destroyed in this way (thanks to squirrels4ev for confirming this).

-Fence-

Fences, made from wooden sticks, can be used as a building material to surround
areas. They have the interesting property that, whilst one block high for most
purposes, they are considered one-and-a-half blocks high for the purpose of
collision detection. This means that they cannot be jumped over. Fences will
automatically link together when placed, and can be re-mined best with an axe.
It is not possible to place fences directly on top of each other, but by
placing a fence on top of another block, then destroying that block and
replacing it with another fence, the same effect can be achieved. Fences are
crafted by placing one stick in each slot of the bottom two rows of the
crafting grid, for a total of six sticks. This will create two fence blocks.

--5.3 UTILITY BLOCKS--

-Crafting Table-

The crafting table was discussed in the walkthrough section. It is crafted from
a two-by-two square of wood, and in turn provides a three-by-three crafting
grid, making it essential for the vast majority of crafting recipes.

-Furnace-

The furnace is used for smelting various block types, and also for cooking
pork. It is created from cobblestone in the following pattern:

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|   x  |   x  |   x  |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|   x  |      |   x  |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|   x  |   x  |   x  |
----------------------

Once created, the furnace can only be picked up with a pickaxe. It requires
fuel to run, with coal, wooden planks, sticks, logs, buckets of lava and even a
crafting table or a chest being suitable. Once the fuel is placed in it (by use
of a right-click accessed interface) items can be placed in it to smelt or
cook.

Once an item is placed in the furnace, then providing it has enough fuel it can
be left to do its job over time. The exception to this is when cooking pork,
which doesn't stack, and so individual pieces must be removed before another
piece can be cooked.

Items that can be smelted or cooked in a furnace will be mentioned in their own
entry.

-Chest-

A chest, crafted from wood in the same pattern as for a furnace, is a device
used to store other items, functioning in much the same way as the player's
inventory. It has the same size as the normal inventory, and two chests can be
placed next to each other to create a large chest with double the capacity. If
a block is placed on top of a chest it cannot be opened.

Chests also have a crafting use, being used to make storage minecarts, which
will be explained later.

-Jukebox-

A Jukebox is a block which, when provided with a record (a hard item to come
by) will play the music on that record. It is crafted from eight wood blocks in
the same formation as a chest, with a single diamond gem in the middle. If
records cannot be located, the jukebox serves no other purpose.

-TNT-

TNT, as would be expected, is used to create an explosion. It will explode
(after a short 'fuse' wait) when hit by the player after being placed in the
world. It can be used as a quick method of landscaping the world, or for traps.

It is crafted from four sand blocks (SA), and five pieces of sulphur (SU) as
shown in the diagram below:

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  SU  |  SA  |  SU  |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  SA  |  SU  |  SA  |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  SU  |  SA  |  SU  |
----------------------

-Mob Spawner-

A mob spawner, which appears as a transparent 'lattice' like block with fire in
the middle, is a type of block which appears in special areas known as
dungeons. The mob spawner block will be in the middle of the room and will
regularly spawn either Skeletons, Zombies or Spiders, regardless of the general
lighting conditions of the room.

The Mob Spawner can be stopped by completely surrounding it with torches, and
can be destroyed, although not picked up, a strong pickaxe (iron or diamond)
being recommended to do this with.

-Jack-O-Lantern-

A Jack-O-Lantern, crafted by placing a pumpkin above a torch in the crafting
grid, is usable as a source of light. Unlike a torch, they will stay lit under
water. Like a pumpkin, they can only be placed with a block underneath it.

-Cake-

Cake is a special type of block, currently the only block which can be eaten to
restore health, healing 1.5 hearts per use. A cake block can be used up to six
times, for a maximum heal of 9 hearts. As it is a block, it must be placed in
the world before it can be eaten. The crafting recipe for cake is as follows:

----------------------
|      |      |      |
| Milk | Milk | Milk |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|Sugar | Egg  |Sugar |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|Wheat |Wheat |Wheat |
----------------------

--5.4 MECHANICAL BLOCKS--

-Minecart Tracks

Minecart tracks can be placed in the world as tracks on which Minecarts can
run. The full operation of minecarts and minecart tracks will be discussed
later in the guide. The tracks are crafted from six iron ingots and a single
stick, in the following recipe.

----------------------
|      |      |      |
| Iron |      | Iron |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
| Iron |Stick | Iron |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
| Iron |      | Iron |
----------------------

-Lever-

A Lever can be placed on a wall and is used as a switch to open doors or change
directions on minecart tracks. It can also be used in redstone circuits. It is
crafted by placing a single cobblestone block in the crafting grid with a
single stick above it.

-Pressure Plate-

Pressure Plates can be placed on the floor next to any object that requires
power, such as an iron door, or connected to an item via a wire, and will
activate when either the player or a mob walks over them. They can be made of
either wooden planks, or of normal stone (which has to be smelted from
cobblestone) by putting three blocks in a horizontal line accross the crafting
grid. To reclaim a placed pressure plate a pickaxe should be used.

-Stone Button-

Stone buttons can be placed on a wall and serve a similar purpose to pressure
plates, activating items it is placed next to or connected to by wires. They
are made of smelted stone by placing two blocks in the crafting grid arranged
one above the other.

-Door-

Doors allow for controlled entry into an area. They start off closed, and must
be opened before they can be walked through. There are two types of door - 
wooden, which can be opened manually by right clicking it, and iron, which must
be opened by means of an adjacent pressure plate or stone button. Mobs cannot
open wooden doors, but they can step on pressure plates and so open an iron
door. An open iron door will automatically close within a couple of seconds of
being opened.

Whichever kind of door you are making, the crafting recipe is as follows:

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  x   |  x   |      |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  x   |  x   |      |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  x   |  x   |      |
----------------------

-Redstone-

Redstone is a special kind of material which can be collected and used in a
variety of ways. It can be crafted into a compass or a redstone torch, and also
be placed on the ground to create 'electrical' circuits. The system for doing
this is very advanced, with many logic gates and other systems possible.

The specifics of redstone circuitry goes beyond the scope of this summary. A
more complete guide may be added in a later update. Currently, the minecraft
wiki has good information on the subject, and GameFAQs has a good redstone
guide by another author.

-Dispenser-

A dispenser is a special block type that can be used to store items and then
give them out when powered by redstone. Items are placed inside it in the same
way as with a chest, and any time it receives power it will dispense a random
item from those contained within it. Most items will simply drop out, however
arrows, eggs and snowballs are fired with usual effects. This can make them
useful in mob traps.

The crafting recipe is as follows:

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  CS  |  CS  |  CS  |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  CS  |  Bow |  CS  |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  CS  |  RS  |  CS  |
----------------------

CS: Cobblestone
RS: Redstone Dust

-Note Block-

A Note block is a musical block that plays a specific note when hit or powered
by redstone. Once placed, the note played can be changed by right-clicking the
block, two full octaves are available, starting at F# of the lower one and
ranging to a high F# at the top of the second, after which it will cycle back
to the start. Different instruments can also be played depending on what block
is placed under the note block:

Wood based: Double bass
Sand/Gravel/Soul Sand: Snare Drum
Glass/Glowstone: Clicks/Sticks
Stone based (inc bricks, Netherrack and Obsidian): Bass Drum
Other blocks: Harp

They are crafted by placing a single piece of redstone dust in the middle of
the crafting grid and surrounding it with wooden planks.

--5.5 PLANTS--

-Sapling-

Saplings, which take the appearance of small trees, are dropped ramdomly when
tree leaves are destroyed, whether naturally or by the player. They can be
re-planted by placing them on grass or dirt, and provided there is an adequate
source of light, will regrow into another tree. This allows for the supply of
wood to be replenished.

-Log-

Logs are natural wooden blocks that make up the trunks and branches of trees.
Whilst they can be mined by hand, the ideal tool is an axe. They are also
flammable, although a possible bug in the current version of the game means
they will burn indefinitely if only set alight on one side. Once mined, they
can be used as a building material or for crafting into wooden planks. They
have no other use.

There are currently three different types of logs, each with a different
texture. These different types will not stack with each other in the inventory,
but all have the same properties.

-Leaves-

Leaves are found as the tops of trees. They can be destroyed easily by hand,
and whilst a sword can remove them faster, the sword will be damaged faster
than it would be normally, so hands are the ideal way to remove leaves. Leaves
not connected to wood, or indeed any other block, will, over time, wither and
be removed of their own accord. As mentioned above, the destruction of leaves
in any manner can drop saplings. Leaves cannot be picked up when destroyed.

-Grass-

Grass is a covering that will grow on dirt when exposed to sunlight. It itself
cannot be mined or picked up, and in most cases cannot be removed separately
from the block. The exception is when tilled by a Hoe, which is required for
farming. Grass is also the only surface on which neutral mobs (cows, chickens,
sheep and pigs) will spawn.

-Cactus-

Cacti are plants that usually grow near the sea, given that they only grow
on sand. If walked into by the player or a mob, they will deal damage. It can
also be cooked in a furnace to get a green dye. Its only other purpose is to
grow more cactus.

-Sugar Cane-

Sugar Cane is a plant that grows on grass or dirt when it is next to water.
When harvested, cane can be replanted in order to harvest more, or crafted into
paper, which in turn can make books and bookshelves. A single piece of sugar
cane can be crafted into sugar. It also has the interesting property of being
completely fireproof.

-Flower-

Flowers are fairly common plants that grow on any exposed grass or dirt block.
They can be easily picked up by the player and replaced in the world. They come
in both red (rose) and yellow (dandelion) varieties. Each different flower can
be placed in the crafting grid to create two pieces of either red or yellow
dye. Their only other use is as decoration.

-Mushroom-

Mushrooms, of which there are two types - brown and red - are relatively rare
plants which grow in dark areas. These are most commonly caves, although it is
also possible to get them growing at night on the surface. They are useless on
their own, except for decoration, but if both types are found they can be
combined with a wooden bowl to make mushroom stew, a very potent food item.

Mushrooms are currently the only plant that can be found growing naturally in
the Nether, and are quite common in this world.

-Crops-

Crops, otherwise known as wheat, can be farmed in Minecraft. The farming
procedure is described in section four above. Once harvested, wheat can be
crafted into bread.

-Pumpkins-

Pumpkins, which currently can only be found as pre-carved jack-o-lanterns, can
be rarely found in the world. They can be worn as a helmet, however this offers
no protection, and also provides the player with a view of the world that looks
as if you are looking out of the pumpkin through the carved face. Pumpkins do
not obey gravity, however they cannot be placed without a block below them.
They can also be crafted into lit jack-o-lanterns.

--5.6 ORES--

There are six types of ore in the game - Coal, Iron, Gold, Redstone, Diamond
and Lapis Lazuli. All are found in the same way - appearing as a stone block
with different coloured areas representing the type of ore it is.

All ore needs to be mined with a pickaxe to drop anything, and gold, redstone
and diamond will only drop when mined with an iron or diamond pickaxe, iron
and lapis lazuli require stone or better.

Coal will drop a single unit of raw coal, iron and gold will drop ore resource
blocks which must be smelted in a furnace to produce ingots of the respective
material. Redstone will drop four pieces of redstone dust, and diamond a single
diamond gem. Lapis Lazuli will drop between 4 and 8 pieces of Lapis Lazuli dye.

The levels that different ores can be found at are as follows (note the 'void'
is level 0 and sea level is level 64):

Diamond/Redstone: Common to level 16, rare to level 19.
Lapis Lazuli/Gold: Common to level 32, rare to level 35.
Iron: Common to level 64, rare to level 67.
Coal: Common to level 128 (the top of the map).

As mentioned above, iron and gold ingots, as well as diamond gems and
lapis lazuli dye, can be combined to make full blocks of these materials.

--5.7 LIQUIDS--

-Water-

Water appears naturally in the world, forming static areas such as lakes and
the ocean, as well as flowing water created from springs. Water can only be
picked up in buckets. Picking up a spring (referred to as a 'source block')
causes all water flowing from that spring to rapidly disappear. Placing water
in an existing body of water has little affect, however placing it on another
block creates a fresh spring. You can also replace water by placing another
block in place of the water. This can be used to fill lakes, and to cut off
water currents flowing underground - a useful technique as flowing water can
hinder a player's movement if they try to move against the current.

It is possible to swim in water, however you only have 15 seconds before you
start to drown and lose health. Water deeper than one block will also negate
fall damage.

Buckets of water cannot be placed in the Nether.

-Lava-

Lava is a hazardous liquid block that most commonly appears underground,
although can appear at the surface. Falling into lava damages both the player
and mobs, and also destroys any item thrown or dropped in it. Like water, it
can be picked up through use of a bucket. It flows in a similar way, and shares
the properties of springs, however the rate of both flow and of disappearance
after a source block is removed is slower than water. Lava also emits light, so
hostile mobs won't spawn where there is lava.

Lava is common up to altitude level 16, and can rarely be found higher than
this, even up to surface level.

Lava is also very common in the Nether, especially in the form of 'lavafalls'.

--5.8 NON SOLID BLOCKS--

Non solid blocks, some of which have come under other categories (levers are an
example) can be placed on existing blocks and removed separately from the block
they are on. Further blocks cannot be built on them, but they don't obstruct
movement.

-Ladder-

Ladders can be placed on walls to allow for vertical movement up and down. They
only need to be placed on every other block allowing for conservation of the
wooden sticks used to create them. The crafting recipe is as follows:

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  x   |      |  x   |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  x   |  x   |  x   |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  x   |      |  x   |
----------------------

-Torch-

Torches are an extremely useful object used to provide light, which can be
placed on most other blocks. The light they provide prevents hostile mobs from
spawning near them. They are crafted from a single stick, and a single piece of
coal placed above it. This recipe creates four torches. Torches cannot be
placed underwater, and will go out and drop if they come into contact with
water. If placed on sand or gravel the torch will drop if the block it is
placed on moves due to gravity. They also cannot be placed on glass.

-Redstone Torch-

A redstone torch, crafted in the same way as a normal torch but with redstone
instead of coal (and it only creates one torch instead of four) is used as part
of redstone electrical circuits.

-Sign-

A Sign is a decorative block on which the player can write a message. Any text
can be entered by the player, and so they can be used for any purpose that is
desired. They are crafted from six wooden plank blocks (W) and a single stick
(S) in the following recipe:

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|   W  |   W  |   w  |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|   w  |   W  |   W  |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |   S  |      |
----------------------

-Fire-

Fire can be created by the player using the flint and steel item, and will
progress slowly to burn all flammable blocks adjacent to it, and can even jump
small gaps. The player and mobs can also be set on fire if they come into
contact with it, and cause loss of health. It can be put out by going into
water.

--5.9 NETHER BLOCKS--

Whilst any block can be built in the Nether, certain types of block occur only
within this world.

-Netherrack-

Netherrack, which has a red, vaguely cobblestone like texture, is a very
abundant block type within the Nether. It can be mined with a pickaxe, and has
the interesting property that it will burn indefinitely if set on fire, making
it a source of everlasting light. It has no current crafting use, but can be
used in building.

-Glowstone-

Glowstone, which has a golden appearance, is a block which naturally gives off
light. It will do this even underwater, so can be useful if underwater light is
required. It can be easily destroyed without a tool, although a pickaxe may
help. It will drop Glowstone dust, which can only be used to craft back into a
Glowstone block, by placing a piece of dust in each slot on the crafting grid.
Glowstone currently has no other practical use.

-Soul Sand-

Soul sand is a block which appears with a brown-ish texture with what appear to
be faces upon it. It has a number of interesting properties - it slows down any
mob or the player if they walk on it, and also does less fall damage if fallen
onto. It is best mined by hand, as no tool is designed for it.

-----------------
6. Item Reference
-----------------

An item is any non-block object that the player can have in their inventory and
use to interact with the world. Some are dropped by mobs when they are killed,
but most require crafting.

--6.1 TOOLS--

By my definition, a tool is any item that can be used for effective mining or
removal of a particular type of block. By this definition, there are four types
of tool in the game - Shovel, Pickaxe, Axe and Hoe. Shovels are used for mining
dirt, sand, clay and gravel. Pickaxes work on stone, cobblestone, all types of
ore, obsidian and stairs. Axes can be used on logs, wooden planks and chests
and hoes are used to till land for farming.

All tools have a durability, represented by the 'health bar' below the tool's
inventory image. When used on a block for which it is not intended, tools take
double durability damage. When durability runs out the tool is simply
destroyed.

Tools can be made out of wood, cobblestone, iron ingots and diamond. They can
also be made out of gold ingots, however gold tools have very low durability
(although they are faster on some blocks than diamond tools).The better the
material the quicker they work and the more times they can be used before being
destroyed.Also, some blocks can only be destroyed with iron or diamond
pickaxes.

The amount of uses provided by different materials is as follows:

Gold: 33 uses
Wood: 60 uses
Stone: 132 uses
Iron: 251 uses
Diamond: 1562 uses

The crafting recipes for the shovel and pickaxe are in the walkthrough part of
the guide, however will be repeated here for the sake of completeness, along
with those of the hoe and axe. In the recipes, S represents a wooden stick,
and M your chosen tool material.

Axe:

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  M   |  M   |      |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  M   |  S   |      |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |  S   |      |
----------------------

Pickaxe:

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  M   |  M   |  M   |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |  S   |      |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |  S   |      |
----------------------

Shovel:

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |  M   |      |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |  S   |      |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |  S   |      |
----------------------

Hoe:

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  M   |  M   |      |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |  S   |      |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |  S   |      |
----------------------

--6.2 WEAPONS--

-Sword-

A sword can be made to help defend yourself against hostile mobs, and also to
kill neutral mobs quicker. It is made out of the same selection of materials as
the tools described above, and has the same properties of durability, including
taking double damage if used for an unintended purpose. As would be expected,
better swords do more damage.

A wooden/gold sword does two hearts of damage, a stone sword three, iron four
and diamond five hearts.

The crafting recipe is below. Again, M represents your chosen material and S a
wooden stick.

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |  M   |      |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |  M   |      |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |  S   |      |
----------------------

-Bow and Arrow-

Bows and arrows allow for ranged attacks against mobs. Arrows are fired using
the right mouse button provided there are some in the inventory, they do not
need to be equipped or loaded into the bow (the bow must of course be the
active item). Arrows will do two hearts of damage to all mobs. If an arrow
misses its target it can be picked up again.

Bows do not have durability, so one bow is all you will ever need, provided you
keep it on you at all times (as I would recommend). They must be crafted from
three wooden sticks and three pieces of string, which are dropped by spiders.

Arrows can be crafted from a single stick, a feather (Fe) and a piece of flint.
They can also be dropped by skeletons.

The crafting recipes are as follows:

Bow:

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|String|Stick |      |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|String|      |Stick |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|String|Stick |      |
----------------------

Arrow (produces four):

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |Flint |      |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |Stick |      |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |  Fe  |      |
----------------------

-Snowball-

Snowballs can be thrown at mobs, and whilst they won't do any damage, they will
still knock them back and can knock them off cliffs. They will also remove a
sheep's wool without hurting it, and can kill slimes.

--6.3 ARMOUR--

Armour can be made and worn to protect from damage. There are four different
types of armour - helmet, which gives 1.5 armour points, chestplates (4 points)
leggings (3 points) and boots (1.5 points).

Armour can be made out of leather, gold ingots, iron ingots and diamonds. Like
with tools, gold armour is not very useful, and the other materials gain in
effectiveness and durability. Like tools, armour has durability and will need
replacing over time.

Armour is made solely of the chosen material, and the crafting recipes are as
follows:

Helmet:

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  x   |  x   |  x   |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  x   |      |  x   |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |      |      |
----------------------

Chestplate:

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  x   |      |  x   |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  x   |  x   |  x   |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  x   |  x   |  x   |
----------------------

Leggings:

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  x   |  x   |  x   |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  x   |      |  x   |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  x   |      |  x   |
----------------------

Boots:

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |      |      |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  x   |      |  x   |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  x   |      |  x   |
----------------------

Once crafted, armour must be placed into the dedicated armour slots in the
inventory (to the left of the image of your character) to have any affect.

--6.4 FOOD--

Food is any item that can be eaten by the player to restore health. It should
be noted that the current game contains items that appear to be food, however
cannot be used for this purpose, these will be listed in a later section.

-Pork-

Pork is found by killing pigs, which will drop between zero and two pieces of
pork on death. It can be eaten raw to restore one-and-a-half hearts, or cooked
in a furnace to produce 'grilled pork' which is more effective, restoring four
hearts. It is probably the most common food item in the game, due to how easy
it is to find. Grilled pork can be found 'naturally' by killing Zombie Pigmen
in the Nether.

-Apple-

Apples are only found in chests in dungeons (described above). When eaten, it
restores two hearts. It can be combined with gold (one apple in the middle of
the crafting grid surrounded by gold blocks) in order to make a golden apple,
which will completely restore your health. However the rarity of apples and
gold makes this not very economical.

-Bread-

Once you've farmed wheat (see above), it can be crafted into bread by placing
three pieces of wheat in a horizontal line in the crafting grid. Once crafted,
bread will heal two-and-a-half hearts. It is harder to obtain at first than
pork, but once you have a functioning farm it can be a more reliable food
source. Wheat also stacks, so it is possible to take a stack of wheat with you
when exploring, and either take or build a crafting table to make bread when
you need it, rather than filling an inventory with pork.

-Mushroom Stew-

If both types of mushroom can be found, it is possible to make mushroom stew.
For this you need to make a bowl, place it at the bottom of the crafting grid
and place one of each type of mushroom above it. Once made, it heals five
hearts. The bowl is reusable.

-Fish-

Fish can be caught by the use of a fishing rod. Any body of water can be
fished regardless of size or whether it is natural or not. They heal a single
heart when eaten, however they can, like pork, be grilled in a furnace, which
makes them heal two-and-half-hearts.

--6.5 MATERIALS--

Materials are items that are used in the crafting of other items.

-Coal-

Coal is produced by mining coal ore blocks, and is used to power furnaces and
make torches.

-Charcoal-

Charcoal, which has the exact same properties of coal, can be created by
burning logs in a furnace.

-Iron/Gold Ingots-

Both iron and gold ingots are created by smelting iron/gold ore in a furnace.
They are both used to create tools, swords and armour, as discussed above. Iron
can also be used to make numerous other items, including buckets and compasses.

-Diamonds-

Diamond gems are dropped by diamond ore blocks. They are extremely rare, but
make the most useful and durable tools, swords and armour.

-Sticks-

Sticks, used in a wide array of crafting recipes, are created from wooden
planks as described elsewhere in this guide.

-String-

String is dropped by spiders when killed, and is used to make bows and fishing
rods.

-Sulphur-

Used in the making of TNT, sulphur is dropped by creepers when killed, but not
if they blow themselves up

-Feather-

Feathers are dropped by both chickens and zombies in the main world, and by
zombie pigmen in the Nether, upon death. They are used in the crafting of
arrows.

-Bowl-

A bowl is required to make mushroom stew. It itself needs to be crafted to
obtain, it is made out of wood as follows (note the recipe produces four bowls)

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |      |      |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|   x  |      |   x  |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |   x  |      |
----------------------

-Flint-

Flint is obtained from some (but not all) gravel blocks when mined. It is used
in the construction of arrows and flint and steel.

-Leather-

Leather is obtained by killing cows, and can be used to make leather armour.

-Clay Bricks-

When raw clay obtained from mining clay blocks is smelted in a furnace, the
result is a single clay brick. They are used to craft brick blocks when placed
in a two-by-two square in a crafting grid.

-Sugar-

Sugar is obtained by crafting a single piece of sugar cane. Its only use is in
the crafting recipe for cake.

-Egg-

Eggs are laid at random by chickens. They can be thrown, which can cause a
chicken to hatch. They are also used in the crafting recipe for cake.

-Bone-

Bones are dropped by skeletons on death, and are used to make bone meal dye.

--6.6 VEHICLES--

-Boat-

Boats are used to travel across water within the game, most commonly the ocean.
They must be right clicked to enter or exit. They can be controlled by the
player by use of the WASD keys.

Boats are crafted using wooden planks in the following recipe:

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |      |      |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  x   |      |  x   |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|  x   |  x   |  x   |
----------------------

-Minecarts-

Minecarts are vehicles that run along pre-placed minecart tracks. A basic
minecart is crafted using iron ingots in the same formation as for the boat
above. Powered minecarts, which are propelled using coal as fuel, and storage
minecarts, which can be used to transport items, can also be crafted by placing
either a furnace or a chest above a standard minecart in the crafting grid.

The use of minecarts is hard to explain using just text and ASCII diagrams, so
I will instead link to some videos made by Youtube user 'AlmtyBob' showing how
they are used:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPls6LXlkGI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ayhg-yizLUI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v5cAFYouWY

Thanks to squirrels4ev for pointing me towards these videos.

--6.7 DYES--

Wool obtained from sheep can be dyed a number of different colours. In all
cases this is done by placing the wool and the dye in any position on the
crafting grid. The different colours of wool can then be used for decorative
purposes.

There are three different categories of colour the wool can be dyed: Primary,
Secondary and Tertiary.

-Primary Colours-

These are all created by using a natural object as the dye or source for the
dye.

Rose Red: Place a rose on the crafting table.
Dandelion Yellow: Place a dandelion on the crafting table.
Lapis Lazuli: Mine a Lapis Lazuli ore block. This is a blue dye.
Cactus Green: Cook a cactus in a furnace.
Ink Sac: A black dye dropped by squid. Also obtained from black sheep.
Bone Meal: Place a bone on the crafting table.

Secondary Colours:

These are created by combining primary dyes.

Orange Dye: Rose Red + Dandelion Yellow
Cyan Dye: Cactus Green + Lapis Lazuli
Purple Dye: Rose Red + Lapis Lazuli
Grey Dye: Bone Meal + Ink Sac (also obtained from grey sheep)
Light Blue Dye: Bone Meal + Lapis Lazuli
Pink Dye: Bone Meal + Rose Red
Lime Dye: Cactus Green + Bone Meal

Tertiary Colours:

These require at least one secondary dye to be created.

Magenta Dye: Purple Dye + Pink Dye
Light Grey: Bone Meal + Grey Dye (also obtained from light grey sheep)

--6.8 OTHER OBJECTS--

-Flint and Steel-

Created by an iron ingot and a piece of flint, the flint and steel object can
be used to create fire by using it on any flammable block. It is also used to
create portals to the Nether. The crafting recipe is:

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |      |      |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
| Iron |      |      |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |Flint |      |
----------------------

-Bucket-

Buckets, made of iron ingots in the same pattern as used for a bowl, are used
to pick up liquids like lava and water. They can also be used to milk cows if
used on them, this milk can then be used to make cake.

-Compass-

A compass, which can be constructed with iron ingots and redstone, will point
at all times towards the player's original spawn point. It will do this even if
stored in the inventory as opposed to the more accesible toolbar. The compass
will not work in the Nether. The crafting recipe is as follow:

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      | Iron |      |
----------------------
|      | Red  |      |
| Iron | Stone| Iron |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      | Iron |      |
----------------------

-Watch-

A watch, made using the same recipe as the compass but with gold ingots instead
of iron ones, is an item that will indicate the time of day. This is similar to
the compass, in that it will do so regardless of whether it is in the toolbar,
main inventory or a chest. Like the compass, it will not work in the Nether.

-Fishing Rod-

A fishing rod, made of sticks and string, can be used to fish in any body of
water. The recipe is:

----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |      |Stick |
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|      |Stick |String|
----------------------
|      |      |      |
|Stick |      |String|
----------------------

The rod can also be used to pull mobs towards you, and even activate pressure
plates if aimed accurately.

-Paper-

Paper, crafted by placing three reeds in a horizontal line, is used to make
books. Three pieces of paper are made from this recipe.

-Book-

Books, crafted by placing three pieces of paper in a vertical line, are used to
make bookshelves.

-Saddle-

Saddles are a rare item found in dungeon chests. Once found, they can be placed
on a pig to allow the player to ride the pig around the world. The pig cannot
be controlled and the saddle cannot be recovered once placed.

-Seeds-

Seeds are produced by tilling grass with a hoe. They can then be planted in
order to grow crops.

-Slime Ball-

Slime balls are dropped by slimes when attacked. They currently have no use.

-Record-

Records are dropped by creepers when killed by a skeleton's arrow. They can be
played in jukeboxes. There are currently two types, green and gold, which play
different songs.

----------------
7. Mob Reference
----------------

A mob is any of the different types of animal and monster that spawn in a
Minecraft world. There are two types - neutral or passive mobs, which only
spawn in good light and on grass, and hostile mobs, which spawn in the dark and
on any type of block aside from glass and slabs. All mobs can be killed by
hand, or by a weapon. Mobs will sometimes drop useful items when killed or
attacked.

--7.1 NEUTRAL MOBS--

It is worth noting that neutral mobs, whilst they will not attack the player,
can bump into them and push them off cliffs. Aside from the chicken, which has
two, neutral mobs have five hearts of health.

-Pigs-

Pigs can drop raw pork when killed. They can also be ridden by making use of a
saddle.

-Sheep-

Sheep are the only mob that don't drop something when killed, but they do drop
wool blocks when hit, represented by them losing their wool. They can be found
in four different colours naturally (white, black, and light and dark grey) and
can also be dyed different colours.

-Cows-

Cows can drop leather when killed. They are also notorious for their rather
loud moo.

-Chickens-

Chickens are the smallest mob, and are unable to push the player. They also are
the only mob not to take fall damage. They will drop eggs at random and can
drop feathers when killed.

-Squids-

Squids are found in water, currently the only mob found in that environment.
They drop ink sacs on death.

-Zombie Pigmen-

Zombie Pigmen, found in the Nether, are currently the only neutral mob found in
the alternative world. If attacked, however, all Zombie Pigmen in the area will
retaliate and likely kill the player. They will forgive after a period of time.
If you can kill one it will either drop grilled pork or feathers.

--7.2 HOSTILE MOBS--

In general, hostile mobs will always attack you on sight. All hostile mobs have
10 hearts of health, the same amount as the player.

-Skeletons-

Skeletons are armed with bows and arrows, and can drop arrows or bones on death
They will fire at the player on sight, however it is possible to dodge the
arrows. When daylight comes, skeletons will burn to death. They can be
identified by sound - they make a distinctive rattling sound, and the sound of
the bow shots can also be heard.

-Zombies-

Zombies will chase you if they see you and use exclusively melee attacks. Like
skeletons, they will burn to death in daylight. They will drop feathers when
killed. They can be identified by their moaning and groaning sounds.

-Creepers-

Creepers are a green creature, apparently the result of a failed attempt to
make a pig model. When a creeper sees you, it will approach you, and if it gets
within one block it will explode. There is a short 'fuse' time in which it is
possible to get far enough away to cancel the explosion.

Creepers do not burn in daylight, and so remain a danger after the sun comes
up. They also do not make a noise, until they start to explode, and so can
sneak up on unwary players. If killed without exploding they can drop
sulphur, and will drop records if killed by a skeleton's arrow.

-Spiders-

Spiders, like zombies, only have a melee attack. Unlike other mobs, the spider
is only one block tall but two wide. This means it cannot enter narrow
passageways, but can enter areas with low ceilings.

A spider can also jump higher than other mobs (2-3 blocks, thanks to
squirrels4ev for this information) and can climb walls. Any surface other than
soul sand can be climbed.

Like creepers, spiders don't die in sunlight. A spider will not attack the
player during daytime unless the player attacks the spider first, however by
using flint and steel to set them alight they can be killed without making them
fight back. When killed, they will drop string.

There is a small (1 in 100) chance of a spider spawning with a skeleton riding
it. These 'spider jockeys' can still climb walls.

-Slime-

Slime, which appears as varying sizes of green cubes, can be only be found very
deep underground. If attacked without a weapon, large slimes will split into
smaller ones. Slimes are the only hostile mob that will spawn on peaceful
difficulty, however this will only be the smallest of the four possible sizes,
which cannot deal damage to the player (although it can still push you around).

Slimes are currently the only normal world mob that can spawn regardless of the
light conditions. When killed, a slime may drop slime balls.

-Ghasts-

Ghasts, which have the appearance of large floating jellyfish, are mobs which
spawn in the Nether. They will do this regardless of light conditions and in
any area big enough for them to fit in. They normally have eyes and mouth
closed, however they can shoot fireballs, and will open eyes and mouth to do
this.

They can be hurt by any normal weapon, and it is also possible to reflect the
fireballs they shoot with any item or even your hand. They can also be hurt if
they float into a lavafall. If killed they can drop gunpowder.

------
8. FAQ
------

Who or what is Herobrine?

Herobrine was a hoax created by some Minecraft players who claimed to have seen
another player character model in a single player game. The story claims that
fourm topics on the subject were deleted almost as soon as they were created,
and that a pm from a user named 'Herobrine' was sent, containing the word
'stop.' The profile allegedly got a 404 error.

Supposedly other users contacted the story teller, and Herobrine was discussed.
The name was apparently revealed to be that of a Swedish gamer, and the brother
of Minecraft developer Notch. When contacted, Notch supposedly said that his
brother was 'no longer with us.'

The story, as I said, is a hoax, and Herobrine has gone on to be a meme in the
Minecraft community.

---------------------

Where else can I get Minecraft help?

The official Minecraft forums are located at:
http://www.minecraftforum.net/index.php

There is also a Minecraft wiki (a source of much information for this guide) at
http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Main_Page

---------------------

What mods or tools are there for Minecraft?

The Minecraft community has created a wide range of mods and tools for the
game, ranging from texture packs and player skins, to mapping tools, tools to
edit the world and player inventory, and mods to add new features or game
modes.

Whilst encouraged by Notch (except where his own code is redistributed), these
are generally unofficial and so not a part of this guide.

The current exception to this is third party Minecraft texture packs, which can
be installed by placing them in the appropriate folder (a link to which can be
found in the Minecraft client by clicking on the 'mods and texture packs' main
menu item) and then selected in game from the same menu item. A good list of
texture packs can be found on the Minecraft forums:
http://www.minecraftforum.net/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=12352

Other mods and tools for Minecraft can be found on the forum and wiki.

---------------------

Why is this game so buggy?

The game is still currently in beta by playing it now it could be argued we
are acting as not only as unpaid beta testers, but in fact paying ourselves.
Notch does plan to make it a more complete game, and most bugs will in time be
fixed. For now, just remember it is not claiming to be a finished product.

---------------------

Do the scary noises in caves mean anything?

Yes. The various scary noises that can be heard underground mean that there is
an unlit cave in close proximity (specifically a 3 by 3 by 3 area that is
completely dark, between 10 and 20 blocks away). This could be an already
visible area, and can be heard when above ground. It could even be a player
created area, if no torches have been placed within it.

Contrary to popular belief, the noises have no direct relation to dungeons, ore
deposits, or nearby mobs.

---------------------

Can I play my saved world on another computer?

Yes. First, you need to retrieve the save file off your original computer:

Windows: Start -> Run -> Type in %appdata% -> press enter -> folder .minecraft
Mac: Finder -> [YOUR NAME] -> Library -> Application Support -> Minecraft
Linux: ~/.minecraft

Once in the Minecraft folder simply go into the saves folder and copy the
folder for the world you want, and then put it in the same place on another
computer with Minecraft installed.

---------------------

Other questions will be answered here as I get them.

------------------------
9. Legal/Contact/Thanks
------------------------

This guide is Copyright (c) 2011 Stephen Garvani

The following websites have permission to host this guide:

GameFAQs.com
NeoSeeker.com
SuperCheats.com
Gamesradar.com

If you want to host it on your own website then please email me using the
address at the start of this guide. I will not unreasonably deny requests from
legitimate websites.

All use of this guide for profit is also strictly forbidden, including but not
limited to the placing of adverts on the same page as the guide. Adverts on
pages linking to the guide are fine.

If you do find this guide on any website not stated here please email me on
the address at the start of the guide.

Also please email if you spot any mistakes, including spelling mistakes, in
this guide, or if you have any further suggestions for additions or different
or better ways of doing things. Anyone who gets their contribution included,
even if it is just a typo correction, will have their name in the credits.

There are some things I would request you don't contact me about:

-Future updates. This guide is designed to only cover the currently available
Minecraft version. However well known a future update may be, I will not be
adding information about them to this guide. This also applies to updates that
have been applied but that I haven't yet updated the guide to cover. That said,
updates that are covered in the guide may not be covered fully, so once I claim
to have covered an update please DO contact me to let me know anything I may
have missed. For convenience, the version number of Minecraft to which the
guide refers is included in the guide's version history.

-Multiplayer/Classic versions. As said at the start, this guide is about the
current singleplayer beta version of the game. I may decide at a later date to
extend it to these other versions, but for now I won't be.

My one request when contacting me about this guide is that you reference the
guide in the subject of the email. If you don't I will likely delete it without
reading it. I would also note that I cannot guarantee a reply, so you may have
to check for an updated version of the guide to see if your contribution was
included.

And yes, the email address has been deliberately obfuscated in order to prevent
spambots picking it up.

Finally, thanks are due to the following:

Notch, for creating Minecraft
squirrels4ev, for providing a number of useful tips.
All the websites that host this guide
You, for reading!

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