How to play Minecraft – the ultimate guide for beginners

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Once you get into the game, you’ll need to know what mode to play, the best strategies to survive and more. It’s all a little overwhelming.

Fortunately, we’re here to help you learn how to play Minecraft. Read on for our expert advice on the best tips for beginners of all ages and skill levels to get started in the game everyone’s still talking about.

How to get Minecraft

Before you can get around to playing Minecraft, you need to buy it and install it. As the game is available on many different platforms and appears in three different versions - Java, Bedrock, and Classic - you'll need to know what the differences are.

Minecraft: Java Edition is available on PC only (Windows, macOS, and Linux). Bedrock Edition is the console version. If your friend plays on PC, you will want the PC version to play with them and if they play on a console, you will need the Bedrock Edition to play online with them.

Classic is available to play for free and is a great place to start. It’s just the creative mode and is a web-browser version of the original release. There are no mobs to attack you or survival to worry about and just 32 blocks to use and craft. We recommend playing this free version at first for a taster session on the basics of the game’s movement and building.

To make things more complicated still is the availability of Minecraft: Pocket Edition on smart devices. It’s essentially a simplified and smaller version of the game.

If you have an Xbox or PC powerful enough to run the game, Minecraft is on Game Pass!

Once you’ve decided which version of Minecraft you wish to play, simply head to the digital storefront on the platform of your choice and buy the game to download and install it. You can also head to shops including GAME to pick up download codes or a copy of the strategy spin-off (and entirely different game) Minecraft Legends.

How to set up a world in Minecraft

Now you own Minecraft, you need to create a new world. Simply select ‘Create New World’ from the main menu after turning the game on and choose its size, type, and game mode.

Once you have set up your world, you will be dropped in the middle of the auto-generated space and left up to your own devices. This is why it’s key to know which mode to select first in Minecraft.

What mode to select in Minecraft

There are five game modes to choose from in Minecraft when setting up a world:

Adventure

• Complete tasks and quests to complete an adventure

Creative

• You cannot die in Creative mode and have unlimited access to nearly all crafting materials and blocks. Come here to create the blocky world of your dreams without any pressure

Hardcore

• Survival mode in hard difficulty, essentially. You can’t respawn if you die

Spectator

• Tends to be used to view the game worlds of other players

Survival

• The standard game mode is Survival. In this mode, you need to survive and fend off mobs (enemies) by crafting items, weapons, and other materials

If you’re a complete beginner, we’d suggest you start off with Creative mode to learn the ropes of the game’s systems before jumping head-first into Survival mode. Plus, it’s fun to create a world without the pressures of survival getting in the way.

What to do first in Survival mode

If you’re playing Survival mode for the first time, you will want to build a house as a safe base first and foremost. To do this, you will need to gather plenty of resources.

Your first port of call is to make a crafting table (an Enchanting table would be good next). To do this, you need to wander around and punch some trees to turn them into wood. Use the collected wood to make the crafting table which will allow you to craft better items.

Next, create your house/shelter. Gather up some blocks of dirt, brick, or whatever else, to make a home. Those bad guys come out at night, so get to building quickly before they attack you, and remember to add enough light to keep them away.

Now you have your shelter/safe space, head out into the world to mine for resources to craft and enchant better weapons - and other items, including potions - to keep on surviving. It's worth getting to know the villager jobs, too, to make your game easier.

How to take your Minecraft game to the next level

Once you've mastered the basics of Minecraft, you'll want to advance to the next stages of the game. There are loads of ways you can explore fun new ideas and make gameplay changes to the title.

Share your world with others

You can share your world with other players and play online with friends in Minecraft. It even has crossplay multiplayer, with different rules across the Java and Bedrock Editions.

To share your world with other players, follow these steps:

• Hit the 'Play' button
• 'Edit' button next to your realm you wish to share
• Then click 'Members'
• Then you'll see the 'Share link' button

If you want to keep solely to your friends, you're best off paying for a Minecraft Realms subscription.

Visit different servers

You can join other servers in Minecraft to have a look at what other players have created. The best servers include the Game of Thrones and Pokémon ones.

Check out our list of the best of them and enter the IP address and name of the server you wish to try out in the 'multiplayer' section of the main menu.

Explore different 'seeds'

If you're after a different Minecraft experience, you'd be best off using the best seeds in Minecraft to load up particular game worlds and styles.

Simply input a seed from our list into the 'Seed for the World Generator' section when creating a new world.

Encounter every 'mob'

After you've gotten used to Survival mode, you might want to try and encounter every mob. 'Mob' is short for 'mobile entity', essentially meaning every animal and enemy creature you come across. There are many in the game, including the fox, which you can tame.

More keep getting added, too, as they did in the 1.20 update following a public mob vote.

Take on the final boss

If you're looking to complete Minecraft Survival mode (if you can ever really complete it), you'll be wanting to take down the Ender Dragon - essentially the final boss of the game. To do this, you'll need to craft the Eye of Ender.

Play DLC packs

You can install and play loads of Minecraft DLC packs. Some are premium, costing Minecoins (you buy those with your real money), while others are free, including texture packs. You should find them all in the Minecraft Marketplace.

There are countless options in the Marketplace, including the How to Train Your Dragon, Dungeons and Dragons, and Frozen Planet II packs, with some great mini games, themed Adventure Maps and more to try out!

Installing and playing DLC packs is a great way to get more new skins, for which you can even make and upload your own designs.

Install mods and cheats

If you've rinsed the game by now and seen everything it has to offer, you can enhance your experience further by installing the best mods, which need Minecraft Forge to work more easily.

Using cheats and commands in Minecraft is more straightforward and is available on the PC version of the game only. Essentially, you need to press the 'C' key on your keyboard to bring up the command bar and type in the cheats you wish to use – you'll find them all in the link just above. You can use a cheat to teleport around the map, even!

Take our quiz!

Once you're done in-game, try out our Minecraft Quiz to see if you learned everything there is to know about the game.

Learn more about Minecraft: How to tame a fox in Minecraft | How to make a saddle in Minecraft | Is Minecraft free? | Minecraft cheat codes and commands | Best Minecraft servers | Minecraft Realms | Best Minecraft seeds | Best Minecraft Mods | Best Minecraft shaders | Best Minecraft skins | Best Minecraft texture packs | Minecraft Enchantments | Minecraft house Blueprints | Minecraft How to Train Your Dragon DLC | How to build a house in Minecraft | How to install Minecraft Forge | How to make a Minecraft map | Minecraft Villager jobs explained | Minecraft Eye of Ender | Minecraft versions explained | Minecraft skin editor | Minecraft toys | Minecraft advent calendars | How to teleport in Minecraft| Minecraft LEGO | Minecraft Legends | Minecraft quiz

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