Minecraft Tips & Tricks For Beginners

You are probably reading this guide because you have either just started playing the game or bought it and have no idea how to get started.

Well, before we move on to all the tips and tricks you can learn, you should know that Minecraft is probably the most popular game of all time. It was released in 2009, and since then, it has gained around 173.29 million players monthly.

Not only this, but it has been considered the most-played video game for a decade now and continues to be. Speaking of the game, Minecraft’s charm lies in its endless possibilities—you can be a fearless explorer, a master builder, or a survival expert. But starting out can be tricky. With dangers lurking around each corner and countless items to craft, it's easy to feel overwhelmed.

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This is where this guide comes in. After spending thousands of hours on this game, we are here to share our expert advice and tricks that even seasoned players might not be aware of.

Let’s check them out below.

1. All The Gaming Modes

The first thing you will encounter once you enter the game is choosing the right gaming mode. Here are all the ones to choose from in the game.

Survival Mode

Most players, whether beginners or experienced, prefer playing on this. In Survival, you’ll gather resources, build shelters, and battle against hostile mobs (enemies) as you explore the world. It’s a balanced mix of exploration, crafting, and survival skills, making it a great way to learn the core mechanics of Minecraft.

This is where you have to worry about your health bar getting depleted, such as taking damage from the mobs, falling from high ground, getting caught in lava, etc. The mode is about survival and keeping yourself safe from the zombies, skeletons, and creepers.

Creative Mode

As you might already know, Minecraft is a Sandbox game. And the creative mode offers true justice to the theme. Here, you’re free from survival concerns like health, hunger, or hostile mobs. With unlimited resources, the ability to fly, and instant block placement, this mode lets you focus entirely on creating, exploring, and experimenting.

If you are not ready to jump directly into the survival mode, Creative Mode might offer a stress-free way to learn the game’s mechanics and familiarize yourself with different blocks. Furthermore, you can prepare yourself for the survival mode by practicing to build structures, create custom maps, etc.

Adventure Mode

Next up, you have the Adventure Mode. You can try this as a beginner if you are looking for a more specific objective and play in custom maps created by other players. In fact, you can also create your own map and invite other players to enjoy the vision and design you have behind it.

This mode is best enjoyed in multiplayer. You can create a world, add custom settings, and enjoy the game with friends.

Hardcore Mode

Hardcore Mode is Minecraft’s most intense and unforgiving gameplay experience. It’s a variant of Survival Mode, but with a significant twist: if you die, your world is permanently deleted. This mode pushes your skills, resource management, and decision-making to their limits, making it the ultimate test for Minecraft players.

As a beginner, this might not be the best way to start your journey. Instead, spending a few hours or even days with the game to understand the mechanics might be a better way forward.

2. Day 1 Essentials

Now that you have chosen the right mode, let’s start building your foundation. Since it's all about survival here, you must be ready for the nighttime, when the hostile mobs will be spawning and can do significant damage.

Day 1 is all about gathering resources, crafting tools, and securing a safe spot to spend the night.

Step 1: Collect Wood

Start with collecting wood, one of the most critical resources for many other tools such as the workbench, weapons, etc. Look for the nearest tree and start punching it. Keep repeating this with multiple trees around and collect them in a good amount.

Now, you must open the inventory and use these logs to make planks. Four planks come from each log. Next, you will need four planks to craft a Crafting Table, which is essential for crafting advanced items further in the game.

Step 2: Craft Necessary Weapons

The next step should be crafting some primary weapons that will come in handy to fight off the enemies. If you have enough logs, you can use the inventory to craft a Wooden Sword, your first weapon for primary defense.

Similarly, you can also craft a Wooden Pickaxe that will be extremely useful in mining stone and ores, which is the game's purpose.

However, carrying stone tools is best since they are much more efficient. For this, look for exposed stone in hillsides or caves and mine some stone blocks. Using this, you can craft stronger weapons and a furnace.

Furthermore, if you are able to find coal, mine that too; they will be useful in crafting torches, which light up your surroundings and prevent mob spawns.

Step 3: Gather Food

The game is about survival, and you need food for it. Since this is your day 1, farming is not something you should look into. Rather look for animals such as pigs, cows, chickens, etc, and kill them to get raw meat.

On your first day, you can simply kill about 3-4 of these animals, which should be enough. Now, do not eat raw meat, as it can poison you. Use stones to build a furnace and then cook these to get some food.

Step 4: Create A Shelter

If you are short on time, find a hillside and dig into it. Make sure to block off the entrance so that the hostile mobs are unable to reach you. Now, the underground area might be pretty dark; hence, it's best to craft a torch using sticks and coal. This comes in handy throughout the game since you will be mining a lot.

Other than this, if you have enough resources, you can build your own structure or home to spend the night. Also, ensure you have a door and that the place is well-lit since mobs can spawn in the dark.

Step 5: Survive The Night

Once it’s nighttime, get back to your shelter and spend the night. Meanwhile, you can keep digging underground to get more resources, such as iron, coal, and stones, to build better tools.

Build a furnace to cook food that will increase your hunger matrix and also can be used to smelt iron. Take time to organize the inventory as well and be ready for the next day.

3. Day 2 Exploration

You have successfully survived your first night. It may look a bit easier, but there is a lot more waiting for you, and it won’t be easy.

We will be focusing on farming and building a better shelter that includes a bed.

Farming

Farming is an essential part of the game since you cannot simply sustain days of killing animals for food. Establishing a farm will ensure that you never run out of food.

For this, it’s best to set it up near a water source since you are just a beginner. If you have already crafted a bucket, then you can create a farming ground anywhere near your base.

Now, clear the area around the water using your tool.

Craft a hoe using two sticks and two planks (or cobblestone if available). This tool is required to till dirt into farmland. Then, prepare the ground for laying down the seeds.

To get seeds, start punching tall grasses found on the ground. You’ll typically get 1–3 seeds from each patch of grass. Aim for at least 10 seeds to start. Then, lay down those seeds on the farmland and wait for some time while the seeds harvest into wheat. You can then collect the crops and use the furnace to make bread. You can continue this cycle to have enough food for days.

Build A Basic Shelter

You will also need to build a proper shelter where you can lie down. Simply mining every night may not be feasible in the long run.

Expanding your shelter isn’t just about aesthetics; it improves your efficiency, storage, and safety, laying the groundwork for advanced activities like farming, crafting, and exploring. To expand the shelter, you will need some basic resources such as wood, stone, glass, and Torture.

For your first home, do not worry much about building a marvel structure. Rather keep it simple and use your imagination. You can lay down the blocks and make them tall enough for you to walk in and out.

Some of the items you can include in the shelter are Storage boxes, a Bed, a Furnace, a Mine entrance underground, and more. Other than this, you can make it visually appealing too such as by adding windows, installing doors, stairs, more rooms, etc.

You can also find a ton of tutorials on YouTube that will help you create a more structured and good-looking home. Make sure to go through them.

4. Villagers and Trading

Day 2 is over now, and you still have a lot to explore in Minecraft. There are a lot of different biomes that we will learn more about in the next section.

Let’s talk about the Villagers. They are one of the most valuable resources in Minecraft, offering trades for rare and useful items. Understanding how villagers work can significantly boost your survival and crafting efficiency.

When you visit any village, you might come across different villagers, and each has a specific task assigned to them, such as farmers, Librarians, Cartographers, etc. These villages can be found in specific biomes such as plains and desert biomes.

If you ever find villagers who do not have a job, you can assign to them anything you wish for. However, some villagers cannot be assigned any job, and they are known as Nitwits (green coats) or Unemployed.

Speaking of trading with these villagers, they want emeralds and are willing to trade items with you in return. Simply approach any villager and open the trading menu. Here, check out the list of items they are selling.

For example, if you are short on Emeralds, you can search for farmers and sell them wheat in exchange for Emeralds. You can then use these to buy maps, pickaxes, iron, etc from other such villagers.

Here are some tips you can follow with villagers and trading:

  1. If a villager’s trades don’t suit you, break and replace their workstation. This resets their job and gives new trades.
  2. Always protect your villagers! Zombies and other mobs can kill them or turn them into zombie villagers.
  3. You can also create a Villager Trading Hall later in the game, making it simple to trade and guaranteeing you have all the professions you need in one place.

5. Look For Diamonds

Let’s find diamonds in Minecraft. Well, this is one of the most valuable resources you can collect in the game, making the process pretty difficult.

If you are unaware of the locations and the right method to mine diamonds, it might take you forever to have enough of them to craft weapons, tools, etc.

The first thing you need to know is that the diamonds are found between Y-Level -15 to -59. The best chance of getting the diamonds is at Level -59. Ensure you have the right tools, such as Iron Pickaxe, Diamond Pickaxe, and Netherite Pickaxe, for maximum output.

There are multiple methods to mine diamonds. Here are a few that are the most effective with maximum yield.

1. Branch Method

This is a highly popular method and you might find multiple gamers and YouTubers talking about it. It involves creating a main tunnel with side branches to maximize the number of blocks exposed, allowing you to find ores quickly and safely.

Before starting the mining excavation, make sure to bring enough torches, a water bucket for lava, food, a chest, a crafting table, and a furnace if needed.

Build a staircase to Y-Level -59 and place torches as you go down to avoid the mobs that might be in the tunnel. Now, dig a 2x1 tunnel horizontally and make it as long as you like. Next, every 2 blocks along the main tunnel, dig side tunnels that are 1x2 blocks wide and extend 20-30 blocks out.

Leave a two-block gap between each branch to avoid redundancy—this spacing ensures all ores are visible. Make sure to add as many torches spread out to make the tunnel more visible.

2. Water Cave Mining

Another mining method that will probably give you a lot more diamonds than you might have anticipated.

You simply have to look for oceans, rivers, and lakes around and use a boat to find the cave. The biggest challenge you might face during deep underwater mining is breathing limitations. For this, there are a few things you can carry with you.

Carry a door with you to create a temporary air pocket whenever you are around diamond deposits. Or you will often find a ton of Magma blocks in these caves that create air pockets that will help you catch your breath. You can mine 1-2 of these blocks and carry them with you, and you will never be out of breath.

3. Crawl Mining

Now, this method is considered the fastest and much more efficient than branch mining. This method allows you to crawl or fit into tight spaces. By mining in a 1-block-high space, you minimize unnecessary excavation while maintaining a large mining area.

There are two ways you can crawl in Minecraft: using a trapdoor or creating a small pool of water. The best and easiest is to carry a trapdoor since it helps to re-enter crawl mode easily.

Mine two blocks before you and place a trapdoor to enter the crawl mode. Here, start mining in a straight line, creating a 1x1 tunnel. This exposes 5-6 blocks per mined block: the one you mine plus the ones on the sides, top, and bottom. Every 10-15 blocks, dig small 1x1 side tunnels to cover more ground. This ensures you don't miss ores near your path.

There are other methods too for mining diamonds such as the Strip method, buying diamond armor directly from the villagers by looting them from chests found in the game.

6. Nether Exploration

As you move further in the game, you will come across an exceptionally difficult dimension to conquer. The Nether world is filled with lava oceans, hostile mobs, and rare resources.

To access it, you must create a Nether Portal by constructing a rectangular frame of obsidian blocks and igniting it with a flint and steel.

The biomes found in this world are Nether Wastes, Crimson Forest, Warped Forest, Basalt Deltas, and Soul Sand Valley. Each has a unique property and set of mobs that are extremely difficult to tackle.

Well, there are tons of things to explore in the Nether world, so be prepared for a rough ride ahead.

7. The Endgame

So, we have covered a lot of groundwork here that you can do on the game. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg we can say. There is so much more to explore. The new 1.21 update added many new features you can check out that will keep you busy for hours.

Keep upgrading your weapons and armor, build a better home, and gather as many resources as possible to prepare for the endgame. Furthermore, Minecraft has another world known as End, which will be the ultimate test of your survival.

But before you can reach there, you need to spend significant time learning the game since it will not be as easy as it sounds.

8. Multiplayer and Servers

Lastly, if you are bored playing the game alone, you can join community servers or host your own server. Multiple options are available online, the best being Zap Hosting which offers excellent support and services.

You can create a shared survival world where you can build bases and trade resources, making playing a lot more fun. Multiple mini-games are available on the public servers, such as the BedWars, SkyWars, etc.

Don’t miss out on some of the most popular servers on the internet and an exceptional Minecraft community that will help you learn and explore a lot more about the game.

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