This article explains how to get started playing Minecraft on a computer, mobile device, or console. Once you have purchased, downloaded and installed the game, you can create a new world to explore and in which to discover all the features of Minecraft.
Steps
Part 1 of 5: Setting Up a Computer Game
Step 1. Download and install Minecraft
Before you can play, you need to purchase, download and install the program.
If you already have Minecraft installed, skip this step
Step 2. Open the Minecraft launcher
Double-click on the launcher icon, which looks like a block of land.
If updates are available, they will be downloaded and installed automatically. Wait for the operation to finish before continuing
Step 3. Click PLAY
It's a green button at the bottom of the launcher. Press it and you'll start Minecraft.
If necessary, enter your Minecraft login credentials before proceeding
Step 4. Click Single Player
It is the first item on the main menu.
Step 5. Click Create New World at the top of the window
Step 6. Choose a name for the world
Write it in the text field at the top of the window.
Step 7. If necessary, change the world settings
Click Other world options … to view the configuration options, then change the ones you want (for example the type of world or whether to pre-generate structures).
Step 8. Click Create New World
You will see the button at the bottom of the window. Press it to confirm the settings and generate the game. Once the world loads, you can start playing Minecraft.
Part 2 of 5: Setting up a Game in the Pocket Edition
Step 1. Purchase and install Minecraft
You can do this on iPhone and Android.
If you already have the game installed, skip this step
Step 2. Open Minecraft
Press the app icon, which looks like a block of land.
Step 3. Press Play at the top of the screen
Step 4. Press Create New
You will see this option at the top of the screen.
Step 5. Press Create New World
This button is at the top: press it and the world creation page will open.
If you don't see this option, press the tab first New world in the upper left corner.
Step 6. Choose a name for the world
Enter it in the appropriate field.
The default name is "My World"
Step 7. Select a difficulty
Press the "Difficulty" menu, then press the level of your choice in the drop-down menu.
As the difficulty increases, monsters deal more damage and are more resistant to hits
Step 8. Change other world settings
Scroll through the "Game Settings" section of the screen and check the options. You can change the ones you like before starting the game and remember that some will no longer be available when you start playing.
Step 9. Press Create
You will see this button on the left side of the screen. Press it to confirm the game settings and create your world. Once the upload is complete, you can start playing Minecraft.
Part 3 of 5: Setting up a Game on Console
Step 1. Purchase and install Minecraft
You can do this on Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
If you have already installed the game, skip this step
Step 2. Open Minecraft
Insert the game disc, or select the app from the list of purchased games.
Step 3. Select Play
You will see this entry at the top of the Minecraft main menu.
Step 4. Select the Create tab
You can usually do this by pressing the right back button on the controller.
Step 5. Select Create New World at the top of the tab Create.
Step 6. Choose a name for the world
Select the text field at the top of the screen, then type your preferred name.
The default name is "New World"
Step 7. Select a difficulty
Scroll down until you see the "Difficulty" selector, then move it to the right to increase the difficulty or to the left to decrease it.
As the difficulty increases, monsters deal more damage and are more resistant to hits
Step 8. Change the game settings if you wish
Select Other options, then change as many as you want. You can exit this menu by pressing B. (Xbox One) or circle (PS4) when you're done.
For example, you could enter a code for a specific world in the "Seed" text field or you can uncheck the "Generate Structures" item if you prefer that there are no pre-spawned villages in the new world
Step 9. Select Create New World at the bottom of the screen
This will confirm the game settings and create the world. Once the upload is complete, you can start playing Minecraft.
Part 4 of 5: Getting Started in Minecraft
Step 1. Learn about the controls and how the game works
You can view the full list of commands for your version of Minecraft like this:
- Desktop: Press Esc, click Options …, then click Checks … to see the commands.
- Mobile: Press the "Pause" button at the top of the screen, press Settings, then Touch on the left side. You can also press Controller or Keyboard & Mouse if you want to see the commands for those input devices.
- Console: Press the "Start" or "Options" button, select Help & Options, select Checks to see the commands.
Step 2. Gather your initial resources
In Minecraft the collection of resources and their use are the main aspects of the game. Right after you start playing, you need to search for the following materials:
- Earth: Probably the most common block in the game. In the later stages the land is relatively useless, but you can use it to build a rather effective temporary shelter for the first few nights.
- Wood Blocks: By cutting down trees, you can get wood blocks. Wood is needed to craft a variety of items, such as weapons, tools, torches, and building materials.
- Gravel and sand: Both of these resources are similar to earth and can be used for flooring or walls. They have the particularity of falling to the ground, if they do not have blocks underneath.
- Wool: You can get it by killing sheep. It is a necessary material for the construction of the bed, a fundamental object to avoid one of the most common dangers of the early game of Minecraft.
Step 3. Create a temporary home
Using dirt, gravel and sand, build four walls and a roof. This way you will have a safe shelter for the night.
- Do not use wood for the home, as it is a much more useful resource for making other objects.
- Remember to leave at least one block hole in the house (for example in the ceiling), otherwise your character will suffocate.
Step 4. Build a crafting table
These objects can be used to create all the others. You can get one using the grid inside the inventory.
Step 5. Build a bed
The beds have two functions: they allow you to instantly overcome the dangers of the night by sleeping and represent the point where your character will come back into play. This means that if you die, you will not return to the beginning of the world, but to the last bed where you rested.
Building a bed as early as possible is incredibly important, especially if you've built your shelter quite far from the point of origin of the world
Step 6. Go to sleep as soon as night comes
As mentioned earlier, this way you can skip the night, the period when Minecraft monsters appear.
If you can't make a bed before night falls, stay safe inside your shelter until the sun comes up
Step 7. Create tools
Tools are the foundation of success in Minecraft, allowing you to gather materials and build better weapons, tools, and armor in the later stages. You need to start with the following tools:
- Pickaxe: used to dig stone. Start by making a wooden pickaxe, then switch to the stone one when you have 3 stone blocks available.
- Sword: You will use it to defend yourself from monsters. All swords, even wooden ones, are considerably better than your fists.
- Ax: Used to quickly chop wood. Although the ax is not essential for gathering wood, using one will be able to do it much faster.
- Shovel - Used for quickly digging up dirt, gravel and sand. You don't need a shovel to collect those blocks, but you can do it much faster with it.
Step 8. Learn about the various types of monsters
While you may be tempted to run away from all kinds of animals and monsters you encounter, most creatures won't attack you unless you do it first:
- Peaceful Creatures: They will never attack you, they will just run away. These are mainly farm animals (pigs, cows, sheep, etc.).
- Neutral Creatures: They won't attack you unless you attack them first. Some examples are Endermen and spiders (only during the day).
- Hostile Creatures: They will always attack you on sight. Some examples are zombies, creepers, skeletons and spiders (only at night).
Part 5 of 5: Surviving in Minecraft
Step 1. Find and get the coal
It is a very precious fuel to power the furnace you will build later, but it is also indispensable for creating the torches.
Step 2. Make some torches
You can make 5 of them with a stick and a unit of charcoal (or charcoal).
Once placed, torches cannot be destroyed or extinguished; they can only be removed, picked up and placed somewhere else
Step 3. Place lots of torches in the area where you camped out
In addition to illuminating the area, the flashlights increase the light level, preventing some monsters (creepers, zombies, spiders) from spawning near your home. This makes it safer at night.
You have to place a lot of torches to prevent monsters from spawning near your house. Try to create a kind of "ring" that completely surrounds it
Step 4. Build a furnace
In addition to the other functions they possess, you can use furnaces to cook food and melt iron ore into bars. Since food is critical to survival, and iron is arguably the most useful common resource you'll find in Minecraft, the furnace is very useful indeed.
You can use the furnace by placing a resource to be transformed (such as food or minerals) in the highest space of the interface, then some fuel (such as coal, wool, lava…) in the lowest one
Step 5. Start exploring the world and gathering resources
Stone, coal, iron, and wood are essential materials for your survival, so get as much of them as possible.
- If you find an area that is particularly rich in resources (such as a cave), mark the path with torches or a trail of inexpensive blocks.
- You can create chests in which to store the resources you have collected, so that you don't have to carry them with you the next time you go exploring.
Step 6. Build a new house
Your first shelter is probably crude and constructed of random materials. Now that you have enough resources at your disposal, you can create a well-fortified dwelling.
Materials such as stone (especially granite) and iron are more resistant to explosions than earth and wood. This is very useful for minimizing damage from creepers
Step 7. If necessary, move the contents of your temporary home to the new one
This step is easier if the two houses are close together. However, a safer solution than moving is to use the old house as a warehouse and fortify the new one independently.
- Move the contents of your home only during the day.
- Don't break a chest that contains items. Put all the items in your inventory first, then break the crate later to collect it.
Step 8. Find some food
You can get it by hunting animals and collecting the meat they drop (for example by collecting raw pork from pigs). You can eat to heal your character and fill the "Hunger" bar, which runs out over time.
- You can cook food by putting it in a furnace with fuel.
- You can eat by placing food in the equipment bar, selecting it, then pressing the button to dig (or by holding the screen in Minecraft PE).
Step 9. If possible, avoid confrontations with monsters
Minecraft is not a combat-based game; Even if you have the means to build objects with which to defend yourself, hunting monsters at night is likely to get killed. While there are always exceptions to this rule (for example, you have to kill spiders to get the thread), running away from conflict is always the wisest choice in Minecraft.
- If you have to fight, use a sword; if you have no other choice, consider that other tools are also more effective than your punches.
- Better stay away from creepers (green monsters that explode). If one starts chasing you, hit it once, then walk away waiting for it to explode.
- Endermen (tall, slender, black monsters) won't attack you unless you look at them and hit them first. If provoked, these enemies are extremely difficult to kill, regardless of your gear.
- If you have a bow and arrows, you can attack enemies while backing away. Note that some monsters (for example skeletons) also have this weapon available.
Advice
- Create a map to track your progress in the world of Minecraft.
- You can deactivate monsters to explore the world of Minecraft safely, if you prefer to play in Survival mode without running the risk of being killed by enemies.
- By looting the crates you find in villages, you can often get resources. Look for the blacksmith's shop: it has a flat roof and usually lava in front of the entrance. They don't always appear in villages, but when they do, you'll find a chest inside them.
- If you find a village of computer-controlled characters, you can trade emeralds for equipment, spend the night in a house, and use the villagers' resources (such as farms and anvils) to craft items.
- Use tools correctly. Swords are used to kill monsters (such as zombies, skeletons, creepers, etc.), shovels to dig blocks (such as earth, gravel, sand, etc.), axes to cut wooden objects (such as crates, logs, tables of creation etc.), pickaxes for digging stone blocks (such as stone, crushed stone, coal, etc.) and hoes for plowing the ground.
- If you have no other solution and need to find shelter ASAP, build a tower 20 blocks high and stand at the top. You should be safe and you will have the option to heal yourself or equip new weapons or armor. Just make sure you don't fall!
- There are two alternate dimensions in Minecraft: the Underworld, a hellish wasteland that hides precious resources, and the End, which houses the game's final boss.
Warnings
- Creepers and spiders are the most dangerous common monsters and can kill you easily. Avoid them both if you have the chance.
- Never dig down. The world of Minecraft is full of underground caves and lava pools.
