Thomas Stay

Article / Updated 04-25-2023

The availability of enchantments in Minecraft ranges from low to high and requires Experience points and bookshelves. To reach the highest levels of enchantment, 15 bookshelves need to surround your enchantment table. (However, the bookshelves don’t have to be connected.) To achieve a lower enchantment, you should place a block, such as a piece of carpet or a torch, between the enchantment table and a bookcase. Unfortunately, you don’t fully control which enchantment is available. Steps for enchanting a tool or armor After constructing an enchantment table, here’s how to enchant a tool or armor: Open up your enchanting screen by right-clicking the enchantment table. The enchanting screen will show, with a place where you can place items, and three buttons. Select the tool or armor or other item (like a book) to be enchanted. Hoes, shears, and horse armor cannot be enchanted on a table. Power the enchantment table with lapis lazuli. In the latest version of Minecraft, in order to enchant things, your enchantment table must be powered with lapis lazuli. You do so by placing lapis lazuli in the second block on the enchantment table. Place the same number of lapis lazuli as you have numbers on the right. Then you’re given three options, displaying only the Experience points required for the spell, and, by moving your mouse over the option, one of the enchantments that you are guaranteed to get, with a one, two, or three as your price. You aren’t given any indication if you will gain any other enchantments for the item you are enchanting however. Choose one of the three options randomly. The options are labeled using a special language (with characters called “runes”) but even when ciphered, the combination of runes doesn’t disclose the enchantment. The higher the level option, the higher level enchantment you will receive. To know what the item was enchanted with, mouse over the item in your inventory and the enchantment will appear under the item name. To get around the problem of not knowing what an item will be enchanted with, many players choose to enchant a book, revealing the enchantment, and then use the book on an anvil to apply a specific enchantment to the desired item. (For a list of enchantments, see the table below.) The one, two, and three are your cost. Choosing one means you will have to pay one experience point and one lapis lazuli. Paying three means you will have to pay three experience points and three lapis lazuli. List of enchantments Enchantment Effect Item Protection Reduces damage Armor Fire protection Reduces fire damage Armor Feather falling Reduces fall damage Boots Blast protection Reduces explosion damage Armor Thorns Damages attacker Armor (helmet, boots, leggings only on anvil) Projectile protection Reduces projectile damage Armor Aqua infinity Increases underwater mining speed Helmet Respiration Increases underwater breathing Helmet Depth strider Increases underwater movement Boots Looting Increases mob drops Sword Knockback Increases the range that a mob is thrown when hit Sword Fire aspect Sets items on fire Sword Bane of anthropods Increase damage to spiders, silverfish, and endermites Sword and ax (ax only on anvil) Sharpness Increases damage Sword and ax (ax only on anvil) Smite Increases damage to skeletons, zombies, and withers Sword and ax (ax only on anvil) Fortune Increases block drops Sword, shovel, ax Silk touch Mined blocks drop themselves Pickaxe, shovel, ax, and shears (shears on anvil) Efficiency Increases mining speed Pickaxe, shovel, ax, and shears (shears on anvil) Lure Increases rate of fish biting Fishing pole Luck of the sea Decreases odds of junk when fishing Fishing pole Infinity Shooting uses up no arrows Bow Punch Increases knockback Bow Flame Sets arrows on fire Bow Power Increases damage Bow Unbreaking Increases durability Armor, sword, bow, fishing pole, axe, shovel, and pickaxe; using an anvil —shears, flint and steel, carrot on a stick, and hoe How to craft an anvil in Minecraft An anvil is useful in Minecraft to repair items without breaking the enchantment. An anvil can also combine enchantments and rename items. An anvil is more complicated than a crafting table, and it requires experience points (earned by completing tasks in the game, and by killing mobs) and materials in order to repair an item. Like many of the items an anvil repairs — including tools, weapons, and armor — an anvil becomes damaged with use and lasts, on average, for only 24 uses. After you craft an anvil, it opens its own menu when you right-click it. To repair or enchant an item, follow these steps: Place the item in the first slot. Place the sacrifice piece in the second slot. For enchantments, you place the enchantment book in the second slot. For other items, you place an ingredient (such as iron ingot to repair an iron sword) in the second slot. The game calculates the cost of the repair and determines whether you have enough experience points (seen as the bottom bar below the hearts) to complete the repair. (This statement does not apply to Creative mode.) Repairing on an anvil is generally only desirable to preserve enchantments. You can drop an anvil and inflict considerable damage on mobs and players (the anvil will not be damaged). An anvil is one of the more expensive items to craft, because it requires more iron than a complete set of iron armor. To craft an anvil, place three blocks of iron on the top horizontal row, three iron ingots on the bottom horizontal row, and 1 iron ingot in the middle square. Then you have a total of 31 iron ingots (blocks are composed of nine iron ingots apiece).

Article / Updated 10-18-2022

Minecraft is a virtual open world video game where players can dig, mine, build, craft, and enchant things. The game is typically described as a “sandbox game” because players can create their own worlds and experiences where the possibilities are truly limitless. Unlike normal video games, Minecraft allows you to be in control of the game, and it even has options allowing players to act as moderators and build their own coding/modding directly into the game! Getting started Getting started with Minecraft is super easy. First, you need to purchase and install the game. After installation is complete, simply start the game by running the launcher you downloaded from the Minecraft homepage, which also gives you the option to play from your browser. Now it’s time to log in, navigate the main menu, and select your game type. See our guide for beginners below. Logging in and the main menu The launcher opens the News screen, which displays game updates and links. Enter your username and password in the lower right corner and click Log In to continue to the main menu. This list describes what you can do after you click the buttons on the main menu: SinglePlayer: Start or continue a basic game. The remaining portion of this article covers the options for starting a game in SinglePlayer mode. MultiPlayer: Join other players online. Languages: Change the language of the text in Minecraft. Use the tiny button, just left of the Options button, showing a speech bubble containing a globe. Options: Manage game options such as sound, graphics, mouse controls, difficulty levels, and general settings. Quit Game: Close the window, unless you’re in In-Browser mode. Starting your first game in SinglePlayer mode To start your first game in SinglePlayer mode, follow these steps: Click the SinglePlayer button to view a list of all worlds. If you’re just starting out in Minecraft, this list should be empty. Click the Create New World button to start a new game. The Create New World page appears. In the World Name text box, type whatever name you want and click the Create New World button at the bottom of the screen. To turn on cheats, click the More World Options button, and then click the Allow Cheats button to turn cheats on or off. Turning on game cheats increases or decreases the level of difficulty as you play and switches between Creative mode and Adventure mode. Cheats give you more control over the world when you’re just getting started. When you finish creating your world, the game automatically starts by generating the world and placing your avatar (character) in it. Selecting the right game mode in Minecraft Minecraft offers several different game modes that allow you to experience the open world in a unique way. The following types of Minecraft game modes are available: Survival — after randomly being spawned in a new world, players have to try to survive by gathering material, building shelter, gaining experience, and fighting off hostile mobs. Creative — a game mode where players have immediate access to almost all blocks and items, are invulnerable and immune to death, and have the ability to fly. The purpose of this game mode is to create/design unique worlds. Adventure — players interact with objects (levers, buttons) and mobs to complete an adventure. Spectator — invisible to everything and cannot interact with blocks, entities, or your inventory. This mode is typically used to observe other players' created worlds. Hardcore — similar to survival mode, Hardcore is set to the “hard” difficulty level permanently and players cannot respawn; once you die, the map is deleted (or you permanently become a spectator). Your first day in Minecraft When selecting SinglePlayer and Survival mode in Minecraft, your first day can be very exciting but also very stressful. You are immediately thrown into a world with little resources and have to prepare yourself to ensure you survive your first night, when hostile mobs are more likely to attack you. Typically, your first day in Minecraft involves things like collecting resources, punching woods, killing animals, building or finding shelter, gathering food, etc. Now that you know how to play Minecraft, enjoy building and exploring the limitless virtual worlds available to you!

Step by Step / Updated 01-18-2022

You can do many things with natural elements in Minecraft. You will have several types of bricks, stones and rocks at your disposal. Here are just a few ways you can use them to your advantage.

Article / Updated 10-29-2021

Minecraft has a dye for every color in the rainbow. (You can even use dyed blocks to build rainbows, among other things.) Here, you will find recipes for each dye. Starting with bonemeal Bonemeal is the color white in Minecraft. Because wool is commonly white, bonemeal is usually used as a dye ingredient in other dyes (such as lime green or pink). To craft bonemeal, place a bone (acquired from a killed skeleton) anywhere on the crafting grid, yielding 3 bonemeal. Going gloomy with light gray dye Light gray dye, which is used only as a color, can be crafted in multiple ways, such as using one of three flowers that grow randomly. Azure bluet, oxeye daisy, and white tulip all produce light gray dye when a single flower is placed anywhere in the crafting grid. Another way is to place 2 bonemeal and 1 ink sac (from killing squids) in the grid, yielding 3 dyes. Finally, gray dye can be crafted with bonemeal to produce 2 light gray dyes. Getting gloomier with gray dye Gray dye is considered a secondary color in Minecraft. Though gray sheep naturally occur for gathering gray wool, gray dye can be crafted only by mixing 1 ink sac and 1 bonemeal, yielding 2 gray dyes. Mixing up black with ink sacs Sheep can naturally be black, and an ink sac can be used as black dye (without crafting or smelting it in a furnace). Ink sacs are gathered from killing squids. The ink sac is a common ingredient in dyes. Ink sacs don’t exist in Survival mode in the Pocket Edition (PE) version, making both black and gray unavailable. However, you can find ink sacs in Creative mode. Popping out rose red Red, as its name implies, is obtained by crafting a poppy, red rose bush, or red tulip similar to the flower recipe in light gray dye. Simply place one of those flowers into a crafting grid to yield 2 red dye. In the PE version, red is crafted in the same way, because these flowers have been added in the latest update. (In earlier versions of Minecraft PE, you made red dye from beetroot.) Alternatively, the PE version enables you to make red dye by placing a red mushroom into a furnace. Red, a primary color, is a common ingredient in making secondary colors. Prettying with pink You can mix together pink dye in one of two ways: Use 1 pink tulip or 1 peony (flowers) placed anywhere in the crafting grid. Doing so yields 2 pink dye if created with peony, or 1 pink dye if created with a pink tulip. Place 1 red dye and 1 bonemeal into the grid. It yields 2 pink dyes. Making dandelion yellow dye The primary color dandelion yellow dye is crafted by placing a dandelion or sunflower into the crafting grid, yielding 2 dyes. Crafting orange dye You can create orange dye by crafting orange tulips. You can also make orange by combining a rose red dye with dandelion yellow dye, yielding 2 orange. Making cactus green dye Green is considered a primary color in Minecraft and is therefore a crafting ingredient in other dyes. You craft green by smelting cactus in a furnace. Mixing lime dye Lime, a secondary color, is crafted by placing cactus green dye and bonemeal anywhere in the crafting grid, yielding 2 lime dyes. Mining blue lapis lazuli Lapis lazuli is obtained by mining. When you mine lapis lazuli with a stone pickaxe (or better), you get four to eight pieces for your inventory. You can use lapis lazuli immediately as dye or craft lapis lazuli into various items, including a block for building or decorating. Although lapis lazuli doesn’t need to be smelted or crafted as a dye, you can use it in other dye recipes. Making light blue dye Light blue can be created by crafting a blue orchid anywhere in the crafting grid. Light blue is also created by combining lapis lazuli with bonemeal, yielding 2 light blue dyes. Aquafying things with cyan Cyan, a blend of green and blue, is a secondary color that’s commonly used to achieve an aquatic look. To craft, place 1 cactus green and 1 lapis lazuli anywhere in the grid to yield two cyan dyes. Preparing purple dye Purple, a secondary color, is created by placing 1 lapis lazuli and 1 rose red anywhere in the crafting grid to yield 2 purple dyes. Purple is commonly used to create a royal effect when applied to decorative blocks. You can also use purple dye to create magenta dye. Coloring with magenta Magenta can be crafted from allium (yielding 1 dye) or a lilac (yielding 2 dye) placed anywhere in the crafting grid. It’s also created by placing 1 purple and 1 pink dye anywhere in the crafting grid, yielding 2 dyes. Because purple can be broken into lapis lazuli and rose red, and pink can be broken into rose red and bonemeal, placing those 4 ingredients together (2 rose red, 1 bonemeal, 1 lapis lazuli) also produces magenta, without having to craft the intermediate ingredients of purple and pink. Finding brown dye Similar to black and blue, brown isn’t crafted. You just need to find cocoa beans in the jungle biome. Cocoa beans can also be farmed. Though also a food item, cocoa beans are recognized as a dye when you apply them.