Minecarting Let's Play Is Out!

Minercus has just posted his first two Minecarting Let's Play videos! You can find them by clicking here! Or you can go to youtube.com and search for "minercus" on YouTube and enter his profile!

-Nick

An Awesome Minecraft Server

6SidedWorld is an amazing server! This is a family friendly server, so your whole family can play, no swearing is allowed in any shape or form. There are tons of plugins to have fun with!

Rules:

-No swearing

-No griefing

-Killing is allowed

You can apply for whitelisting at 6sidedworld.com forums. Sign up couldn't be simpler. Just make a 6SidedWorld account using your IGN as your username. Then go to the whitelisting page and put in your IGN and where you play from! It's as simple as that!

And the 6SidedWorld experience always get bigger and better! If this server gets more people this server's faction server is going back online! The faction server has the best faction experience you can get, so make sure to check it out!

-Nick

Minecarting Let's Play Series!

We'll be making a Minecarting Minecraft Let's Play series. I'll be the player, voice, and everything. So we got one video up (just search minercus on YouTube), but we're going to remove that one since it's a test video that wasn't that good.

minercus will be our YouTube partner with this. Minercus is Nick from the blog, but soon he'll be doing other videos as well, so his Minecraft Let's Play will not be the only thing from him.

We hope to have our first real Let's Play video up soon, and I'll let you know!

-Nick

Get Your Minecraft LEGOs Today!

Minecraft LEGO has been a dream of many people. Well a few months ago that dream became a reality. LEGO Minecraft became a reality through the wonder of LEGO Cuusoo, a website where anyone can take their ideas and, if enough people support your idea, you get a chance to talk to LEGO and make your creation a LEGO set, and you earn a small percentage of the proceeds.

If you order today, your LEGO Minecraft Micro World set will arrive the week of June 11th (three days from this blog post). You can check the page out by clicking here.

-Nick

New Minecraft Accessories Available

You can get new Minecraft gear such as a creeper mug, creeper plush, Minecraft hats, and more, right now at J!nx!

Click here to go to the Minecraft J!nx page, or go to jinx.com to see all their great items such as WoW, Portal, and other great game merchandise.

-Nick

Snapshot Week 23 And Other News

Hello everyone! Back with some more Minecraft news!

First off, this week's snapshot isn't that big since they have added almost everything they wanted to in order to release Minecraft 1.3. Yes, that's right! We're going to no longer be in three digit Minecraft!

All this week's snapshot did is add Enderportal frame blocks to the creative inventory, made enchantment levels slightly exponential, and fixed some bugs.

Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition will be getting a massive update in the near future. The famous "Adventure Update" for the PC will be coming to the Minecraft for Xbox, with a few features missing. This update will add Creative mode (yes, now we can goof off with TNT without having to kill creepers for it), and so much more.

-Nick

Minecraft Becoming a Sandbox RPG?

It's no secret that Minecraft definitely has some RPG elements to it. But with the new "Adventure" mode possibly coming out within the next update (and that is a good chance since it is in the snapshot) will it become a technical RPG game?

In the past the "Adventure" mode of Minecraft was made to be like an RPG experience in Minecraft, which is awesome, but there's lots of RPG elements being added to the game (which to this author's opinion is a good thing). The new temples with Zelda-like puzzles definitely add some of that RPG exploring feel, which is a good thing for Minecraft, a game about exploring.

But how do you feel about these changes? Leave your opinions in the comments below (comments with swearing will be promptly removed).

-Nick

Update on the Update

So the new redstone generator is a trip wire which you attach string to two of these trip wires in between them in a straight line. The trip wire will then generate redstone current. Nifty for traps.

There are also desert and jungle temples now that feature these traps. Check them out now!

-Nick

Update

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.

Anyways a lot of things have happened in the Minecraft world. The new snapshots are bringing in old wanted features of the game such as trading with villagers (requires emerald, a new ore), writing in books, and adventure game mode, and more.

There's now a better Creative mode inventory that separates things into categories and, if you still can't find it, a search bar.

There's now a new redstone activating block, that I as of yet have not tried, but I'm about to and will post later on today.

The enderchest has been put in the game, which is unexplodable, and indestructible, according to the commercial by PoliteGamer, which you can see here:

-Nick

Mojang to Start Community "Holiday"

Moving announced that they are going to start releasing videos and other content in celebration of their community. The first Mojanga, as they call it, is in celebration of Minecraft:Xbox360. Think of a true name for the weekly celebrations and put it on their Twitter page. Winners will get MBLA codes. You can also put pictures of creations pertaining to the new Minecraft for Xbox.

Check out mojang.com for more details.

-Nick

An Explosive Mod

Everyone loves explosions. The very definition of Creative mod for some is "TNT contraptions." But sometimes normal TNT just isn't enough. That's why you need the TNT mod for Minecraft 1.2.5 (click here to download).

It adds several new explosives, such as:

Napalm:

This makes a pool of lava.

Fire Bomb:

Does as the name suggests (cow in fire not included).


Miner's TNT:

Leaves 100% of the resources instead of normal TNT's 30%. (This crater is from several Miner's TNT).

Nuke:

Sets a massive area on fire with a medium size crater. Turns sand into glass and coal into diamonds. Causes massive lag, use with caution.

Scatterbomb:

Leave a massive crater. This was done by just two Scatterbombs. May cause Minecraft to crash. My personal favorite bomb.

This wondrous cave was caused by just three Scatterbombs.

Installation is easy here's the (PC) steps:

1. Navigate your way to minecraft.jar. (start,run(optional),search %appdata%, roaming, .minecraft, bin).

2. Open minecraft.jar with 7zip or WinRar.

3. Backup your minecraft.jar.

4. Install Modloader if it isn't installed. Just search Modloader Minecraft 1.2.5

5. Open your TNT mod package and unload all the .class files and the TNT mod folder. It's okay if the .png and .txt file gets in there. Make sure the mod_properties doesn't.

6. Close minecraft.jar.

7. Go to .minecraft/mods and put tntmod_properties in the mods folder.

8. Enjoy!

This mod works best with Too Many Items for easy bomb selection.

-Nick

Hello all! Nick here keeping you guys updated on Snapshot series 12w!

The newest snapshot is 12w19a and we get a new world feature, a new plant, and names for different blocks!

Cocoa plants are now introduced into jungle biomes, so no more looking for cocoa in dungeons!

A new world type was also introduced, "large biomes." Not much was said about it, but from the name (I hope) we can figure out the biomes will be larger.

Finally names were given to the different kinds of sandstone and smoothstone blocks.

-Nick

Today is a great day for many a Minecraft fans and Xbox 360 owners. Minecraft for the 360 is now out. 

Minecraft for the Xbox 360 Arcade will feature online and split-screen multiplayer, a crafting system much like the Pocket Edition (gather materials for the recipe and then select what you want made), and all you love about Minecraft! 

Pick up your copy today!

-Nick

Blogger got a "new look" so the blogs may not be as neat as I want them to be. I'll try to figure it out soon  :)

So, Minecarting has been a little slow due to a thing called Monster Hunter Tri, haha. I'm addicted to it and can't put it down.

Anyways, it seems like we're getting some old Notch ideas now with the new snapshots.

Snapshot 12w18a will add custom books to the game. You can now keep a Minecraft journal or make your own stories, which I'm looking forward to.

They also added fixes to the silk touch enchantment and block picking. Wooden tools will also now fuel your furnaces.

And to help with job loss, villagers spawned from eggs will now get a random profession (I hope they like it :P)

Pocket Edition finally got crafting (woot!). It works a bit differently from the computer version. This time you just have to find the ingredients for a recipe and then on the crafting screen, press what you want to craft. The Xbox version of Minecraft also will/does do this.

You lucky Xbox users also get Minecraft avatar gear and gamer pics.

-Nick

Minecraft's New Enemy AI

Creepers exploding is nothing new to Minecraft, but zombies being smart is. In Minecraft 1.2, the baddies got some upgrades, so many of us are wondering what's next. I'm going to be taking a few (not real) guesses at that.

Here's the (not real) enemy update logs:

1. Creepers will now grab you from behind, gag you, pistol whip you James Bond style, then explode.

2. Two words. Griefer zombies.

3. Zombies and skeletons will craft umbrellas to shield them from the sun (after stealing the stuff from you).

5. Villagers will commit a few real world crimes (stealing, destruction of o.p.p, and mugging, to be precise :) ).

6. Voldemort himself will now magically avada-kedavra you.

7. Don't be surprised to come back to your home to find it spray-painted.

8. Anti-Notch will now appear and make Minecraft crash... before saving.

9. Did not remove Herobrine.

-Nick


Please note these are not real and are awful, horrible figments of my imagination. :]

My Favorite Minecraft Videos

I'm bored so I thought I would share them with you.

They all have to do with killing your friends in Minecraft. 

That's nothing to be worried about, right?

Made by CreeperMovie. Amazing job!

By minecraftdotnet. 

-Nick

Minecraft For Xbox360

Yes you heard right! Minecraft is finally coming to the Xbox360! It will be released this spring with multiplayer options. You can check out this video courtesy of gamespot below:

\

As you can see it has multiplayer options, including a splitscreen mode. It is unknown yet if it will have PC server compatibility, but it does have Xbox Live compatibility with voice chatting. 

You can also grab some Minecraft avatars for Xbox360. 

Now I just want to see Minecraft for the PS Vita. :)

-Nick

Updates to the Blog

I've updated the Minecraftia Field Guide. It now has an updated fact list for NPC villages and a list of biomes.

-Nick

Yes, I Am Still Alive

Well... You probably did think I was holding out until June, didn't you.

I'd like to welcome our readers from Canada (and of course our regulars). I've never had any readers from Canada, so enjoy guys!

I've been super swamped with school and Duke TIP courses (which I'm starting another class tonight) and generally playing Minecraft... Okay a little Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, but mostly school... Okay... Mostly Monster Hunter.

Anyways guys in this addition I'm going to talk all about the new update, what exactly is new, and some ways to cheat in Minecraft (yes, it's possible).

Well the new update brought a lot of things, including some confusion on which version this Minecraft is (it's 1.2.3, by the way). So when looking for things like mods and stuff, make sure to see if the mod is for 1.2.3. If it just says 1.2, you ahead and look in the comments section (beware) and see if anyone has said it's for 1.2.3, if not ask away.

The new update brought a lot of cool things. Jungle biomes are amazing. Basically the jungle biome is, in one picture, this:

Jungle Biome

You can see a lake, which is common, and trees (though the ones shown are quite small for a jungle biome).

Also found in the jungle biome are ocelots which, with raw fish, can be tamed into cats. In Minecraft cats (NOTE: Nick has a general hatred towards cats. It has to do with childhood scarring... Both emotionally and physically) actually have a purpose: to scare off creepers.

Speaking of pets, wolves now attack creepers.

Here's a list of patch info:

-New world type: anvil. Makes the block limit taller.

-Zombies now break down doors on hard and hardcore.

-Zombies also launch raids on NPC villages, killing NPCs.

-Iron golems spawn in NPC villages to help protect NPCs.

-NPCs go in at night and when it is raining. They also "socialize" with each other (mainly by staring at each other). They also can have children (nothing is graphic) and little ugly caveman squidwards run around.

-Creepers now stalk you (yay).

-New lava sound affects.

-New items: fire charge and bottle o' enchantments. Fire charge releases a ghast-like fireball when launched out of a dispenser. Bottle o' enchantments give XP (only obtainable in Creative mode).

-Redstone lamps.

-Tames wolves can have puppies and can be bred with any sort of meat.

-Added rare drops for mobs (music disc if creeper is killed by skeleton).

-Zombies and skeletons look for darkness in sunlight.

-Removed Herobrine (:o)

Okay, when I said "cheating" I meant cool mods. Some you may know about, some you may not.

Too Many Items (TMI): Is an amazing inv edit that adds everything to your inventory (a nice little side bar) and even somethings you can't get in Creative mode (mob spawners, portal blocks, all the potions, etc.). It also can be used to switch between Creative and Survival and control the time (sunrise, noon, sunset, midnight).

TMI review: I personally use it and have fun. I only use it in one world since it does kind of remove the awarding sense of Minecraft. Installation does not require modloader (though you can use it) and installation is very simple. I give it a 5/5.

Humans+: This mod is simply wonderful. It adds other humans (AI grouped into good and evil and in those two factions many, many subcategories) whose teams you can join and fight against good and/or evil.

Humans+ review: I have had fun with this mod, but installation is hard. There's no way to get around such a massive installation process, but it is a bummer. It requires several mods and the whole ordeal can be troublesome. It requires modloader, but despite that it is an amazing mod that I give a 5/5.

Yes. I know that was short, but still, two great mods.

See you guys next time!

Nick

My Mistake (Minecarting Bloopers)

I'm not perfect. I've made tons of mistakes and this blog is no exception to that. I started this blog when I just got the hang of Minecraft. It goes even worse when I started playing on a server full of plugins , though I didn't know it.

So here are Minecarting's worse mistakes.

1. Plugins

Back then I thought this went for every server out there... I was wrong. Until I started dealing with servers I had no clue that they had plugins on them. So that talk about /home or /sethome or even /tpa*playernamehere* macro codes were completely off. That only applied to the server I was playing on.

Correcting it: Only certain servers have these plugins. You could suggest them for your server.

2. Wording mistakes:

My worst is probably this (talking about whitelist chat): "one being a type of chat where there is profanity or other things like that." You should know that whitelist chat blocks profanity, not allows it.

Correcting it: I'll take it upon myself. Just know that I meant there is no profanity.

3. Place Name Mistakes:

The irony of this one is I was correcting a name in this post. I called a cave a Stronghold. Well I corrected it and called it a Dungeon. In fact it was actually just a cave. It was also an Abandoned Mineshaft.

Changes To The Blog

We will be posting before June (to those who saw the message yesterday). My original plan was to make a website and save up for buying it, which wouldn't work. It ends up every tool I need is on Blogger, so I can keep my loyal readers instead of them having to flock to a new place. :]

I am adding field guides to the blog. Currently I have the "Mob Field Guide" up and I hope to have the "Minecraftia Field Guide of Blocks, Caves, and Dungeons." up also.

Thanks for your loyalty and I have posted all the posts from the website to this blog.

Thank you

-Nick

Snapshot 12w07b

Though it seems like random numbers and letters, this is actually a sneak preview of Minecraft's new update. This post will show you some of the features of this snapshot, and will tell you how to install it.

In this snapshot, there are several major feature updates. Such as jungle biomes, an ocelot mob, new items, and new mob AI. 

The biggest change is the jungle biome. 



As you can see, there is a large amount of lush, green trees and vines.There are many small trees on the ground to resemble bushes. You could also build a tree house if you wish because vines are now climbable. Hills are common and you can find many caves in this biome. A common seed to see piratically every feature of the snapshot is Jungleeez, which spawns you in a jungle.

Also you can find the new mob, ocelots, in this biome.

 

This mob can be tamed with raw fish and when tamed turns to a cat.

 

These cats can scare creepers away, making them extremely useful.

Quick Notes:

Wolves now attack creepers. It is unknown if this is intentional, but that means they now attack every Overworld mob.

There's also a Bottle 'O Enchantments (Creative mod only) that gives experience points to players and a Fire Charge which, when used in dispensers, shoots a ghast-like fireball. It is a single use item and can be used as flint and steel, but it destroys upon use.

Skeletons and zombies now hide in the dark at daytime and try to find water or darkness when on fire.


Zombies also break down doors on hard difficulty.


Villagers will now hide in homes at night and rain.


Villagers will repopulate the village based on houses.


New "anvil" world type that increases the block height.


Villagers will "socialize" with each other.


Some nights in villages will be worse than others.


Installing this snapshot is simple. This is for windows, though, so if you use Mac or any other operating system, check mojang.com for instructions.

Go to start and type in %appdata% in the search bar. You should be in the roaming folder. Click on the .minecraft folder. Then go to bin. After you download the most recent snapshot, replace your minecraft.jar with this snapshot minecraft.jar. Rename the snapshot minecraft.jar from minecraft.jar(2) to simply minecraft.jar.\

-Nick       

Surviving The Beginning

The Beginning may sound like a whole new dimension in Minecraft, but it's actually a stage in the game. The Beginning starts with you spawning and ends when you have enough knowledge so other people don't call you a noob. 

When starting a new world in Minecraft, you (should) immediately should think "punch trees, get wood." There's some options we need to go over before you do that, though.

It's recommended when first starting out to play on Peaceful, just so mobs, hunger, and other hindrances won't end your game early. (In Peaceful mobs do spawn, but are immediately removed when they do. Also hunger won't go down and you regain hearts back immediately. I know. Boring) It's recommended, though, to turn it back on normal after you get your house started.

After you find a perfect spot (I like to live just a little ways away from an NPC village), build your home the way you want it. You don't have to worry about mobs, so you can build at night. You CAN build a massive mansion, but it's recommended that you DON'T in The Beginning because the game will get boring after a while. 

When exploring caves, it can be useful to turn it on Peaceful while in the caves, so that creepers won't kill you prematurely. I do this and I thoroughly enjoy the game, but you don't have to do this.

That is pretty much the basics of surviving The Beginning.

Fun Server Ideas

There are all kinds of servers out there. Community servers, servers in which you live I'm generally the same area, non-community servers, opposite of community servers, and then there's creative servers, in which you build tons of stuff.

Let's talk about community servers. Ever wanted to play one of those "virtual life " MMOs? Well think of community servers as the Minecraft version of those. Usually everyone has their own house nearby, or there's several cities in which you can live in. Hence the name community.

Not all community servers are the same as a "virtual life" MMO. Some are faction based, which means it's a war or trade based server.

An interesting idea for community servers is allowing citizens to have shops in which they sell armor, wood working items, general items, etc. A good currency is gold ingots, since they are practically worthless in the game.

I admit, community servers can be dull if it's just one massive home. You don't get to build often in community servers. Though if you want to build your own city or village, you can do that.

Non-community servers is basically just survival/creative mode with chat. Typically your alone in the wilderness like single player, but sometimes you can team up with friends.

Creative servers are where the only objective is to build. Now rules depend on your server host, so talk to the staff there to find out the rules.

Please note that these terms really only apply to this blog. These are just server ideas.

-Nick

Surviving Your First Night

There are many ways to survive your first night. Many of them are basically the same, but some are better than others. Here's a few you can pick and choose from:

1. Underground:

This method is very easy. All you need is some latter pieces, a trapdoor, a crafting table, some torches, and a chest. Furnace is optional and recommended.

Then dig three blocks down and make a five by five or so blocks. Then put the trapdoor at the top of your base. Then put torches all around. Put your latter all the up to the trapdoor. Then unpack the rest of your stuff anywhere.

This method is excellent for gathering resources to make an amazing house.

Resources: None to Little

2. The Expanding Cabin:
When you first spawn, gather 73 wooden planks and build a four by four and four blocks high wall. With the remaining wood build a roof on the fourth block of the wall. Go get the resources for the following: a crafting table, a door, some torches, a chest, a bed (optional), and a furnace (also optional).

This method is awesome for starting out and editing the home to make it better. Then you can also expand it in shape, make expansions like a side farm, a backyard, a patio, and a basement.

Resources needed: Little

3. The Mansion:

Start with one room of the mansion. Use the expanding cabin technique until you have enough to build another room. Continue until you are co tent and make a wall. Also you can make an upstairs. Make sure to light everything and everywhere.

Resources needed: Meduim to Tons

4. The Gypsy:

This is for people who want the best of every biome. Use the expanding cabin technique every day until you're ready to settle down and start a home. Basically, it's camping.

Resources needed: Little

-Nick

Quick Tips: How To Make Your Server Creative!

Tired of Survival mode? Want to unleash your and your friend's creative side, just follow this simple guide's instructions!

First go into your server properties.

Next find where it says "gamemode=0"

Replace 0 with 1.

Log on to your server.

Check your inventory to see if it works.


If just you and yourself want to be in creative mod, leaving your friends to be amazed at your creations, follow this guide:

Go into your server file. (if you are already a server OP [operator], skip this and the next step).

Go into OP and type your Minecraft username.

Log on to your server.

Type in "/gamemode ------ 1" without the quotations. Replace the ------- with your Minecraft username.

Ta-da.


FAQS:

I'm not in Creative, why?!

Answer: You did something wrong. Go back and read the guide again.

I can't place blocks, YOU HACKED MY SERVER!!!

Answer: I didn't hack your server. That means your computer doesn't have enough RAM space or your not a server OP.

I want my second buddy to be in Creative, but not my third buddy. I don't really like my third buddy.

Answer: Nice going. Anyways, you can just do the same macro code as above, except in the ------, type his/her username.

-Nick

Quick Tips: Whitelisting A Server

A whitelist is a list of people that are allowed in certain events, servers, etc. You can whitelist your server in Minecraft, and it's super simple.

First go into the folder where you keep your Minecraft server data. Then go into the server properties. And where it says whitelist=false, erase "false" and type in true.

Here's a diagram:

Before:

whitelist=false

After:

whitelist=true



There should be no space between the equal sign and true.

Next go back to your server folder and open the "Whitelist" file. Put your Minecraft username and whoever else's on it like so:

Example:

njh3
hindmon
happycatfish1

So on and so forth.

You have now whitelisted your server! Congratulations!

FAQS:

I can't get in my server! I blame you!

Answer: Well, prepare to be blamed right back, because you probably didn't put your Minecraft username in the Whitelist or you spelled it wrong.

I did all the things in the last answer, but still can't get on! I blame you further!

Answer: Then you probably did something wrong in the server properties. Make sure there's no periods, spaces, yes's or no's instead of true's and false's.

-Nick

How To Make A (Free) Minecraft Server

Hey all! This is actually a very easy process! You can pay with your friends and completely control your world!

I'm just now learning some of this process myself, so bear with me, but I know this par by heart! I will make a video for this soon, so you can clarify anything your not sure about with that video, but you can also comment below and email at: minecarting@gmail.com.

Anyways, here goes nothing.

First you need to download LogMeIn Hamatchi at secure.logmein.com. Then make a new network. Congratulations! You have your server's IP address! The IP address is what will connect you to the server.

Next go to minecraft.net. Then click on download. Then at the bottom-most paragraph (in the middle) there should be a link in the next. Click on it and download it. It should say something about a server. Then make a folder somewhere and put that file in there.

Next run the file. Wait until it says Spawn 100% then go back to the folder. KEEP THE SERVER FILE RUNNING. This is your server, and you will need to keep it running in order for you or anyone else to play on it. Once your back into your server folder, click on server properties. Enter your Hamatchi network number where it says IP address.

Next enter Minecraft. Go to Multiplayer and "add server" enter whatever name you want and then enter that IP address. If all went well, you are in your Minecraft world.

To add your friends, they need to download Hamatchi. Then they need to join your Hamatchi network, therefor they need to know your network name and password. Also your Minecraft IP address. The they can join.

-Nick

Stop SOPA

Protest the SOPA and PIPA act and help the Internet become whole again!

Minecraft and minecraft.net will be affected, as well as several Wikis and most of the Wikia pages.

-Nick

Sign in the comments below, together we can bring information freedom back to the Internet!

A City Upon A Hill

Whether you're playing in single or multiplayer, cities are amazing. In servers running the Faction mod, cities are a must for Factions. On single player, they are just fun to make. So what makes an awesome city? What makes city walls so amazing? I'm going to tell you.

Architecture:

Architecture is basically an art form where you build buildings. Minecraft architecture is some the best in games, since gravity does not affect your blocks. Your architecture is your architecture. Everyone has a different style, whether it be Roman or modern. And no one should tell you how you build it. But make sure your city, old looking or modern, has good architecture.

Lighting:

Lighting is necessary if you don't want creepers and other creepy-crawlies running amuck. So if you need it, make it look nice. Like an NPC village's light system.


All it is is two fence posts with black wool stacked on top with torches placed around it.

How To Build:

A great, organized way to build your city is called the "block" method. You should have roads or pathways in your city with twenty by twenty spaces every four spaces away. Your city will look like it is made of several "blocks," thus naming it the blocking method.

Utilizing The Block Method:

Have four lamp post at each corner of the block. You can build buildings in these spaces, pavilions, and gardens. This makes a very organized space and, depending on the size of your city, will help you and whoever else navigate it better.

The Wall of Your City:

A fine wall needs a good gate. It also needs to be massive. If you are savvy with pistons and redstone, you can even make the gate go up and down with a touch of a lever.

In multiplayer you can prevent the use of Ender Pearls by placing lava in between your wall. Just hope they don't teleport over the gate.

You could also, of course, make it so high they die from falling damage, thus making it easier for you to collect your spoils of war.

In the end, cities in single player earn you bragging rights and in multiplayer it earns you protection. Everyone wins.

-Nick

How To Update Your Minecraft To 1.1

To update your Minecraft to version 1.1 (which includes spawn eggs in creative mode), you just simply can just open your Minecraft and select update Minecraft.

But if you play on servers, you may need a version of 1.0.0. In that case you need to do the following:

1. Open the roaming data folder. To do this go to start and put %appdata% in the search bar.

2. Open roaming then open .minecraft.

3. Open the bin folder.

4. Make a folder in the bin for the backup minecraft folder(s).

5. Backup your Minecraft to there.

Now you can just switch those out!

Note: this is also useful for when a mod goes wrong and you want vanilla Minecraft back.

-Nick

Mining Techniques

Mining can be very fun. It's also the most important thing in Minecraft. Well it is called Minecraft. So it's kinda obvious.

You obtain the best equipment through mining. The only equipment you don't get from mining is wooden things, and that stuff is to help you obtain stone materials, which helps you get iron materials which you can mine better and better stuff.

So here's some techniques:

1. Staircasing:

This is a great way to obtain materials. You start digging in a promising looking spot and then dig a stair looking hole downward. NEVER DIG STRAIGHT DOWN! If you fall into lava there's no hope for you. You may also fall into mobs or other horrors, so it's best to use this method to dig down to the bedrock.

Equipment needed:

Torches. Lots of them.

Two iron picks, or one diamond pick, or thee stone picks.


2. Spiraling:

This has the benefits of digging straight down without the dangers of straight down digging. Make a four by four or a six by six hole and start digging down. Leave blocks as stairs in a spiraling fashion.

Equipment needed:

Torches.

Three iron picks, or one diamond pick, or four stone picks.

3. Branching:

This mining technique is like having a home underground and may take several Minecraft days. So dig down using the staircasing technique until you get down to Y 16 or so. Check your Y, X, and Z coordinates by pressing F3. Y is your "floor level," so to speak, on your Minecraft map.

Once you get down to your desired level (note that 16 and below is where diamonds are more common), make a twenty by twenty space with a five by five squared off home for you. The reason for it being squared off is that monsters come in when the house isn't a perfect square. Then proceed to put torches up all over the place.

Then make a crafting table and place it in your home. Then craft a door, two chests, a bed, and a furnace. You want to sleep in your bed to make it your respawn point. The chests are for placing your goodies in. Make an extra large chest by placing the two chests next to each other. Make a cutout for the door. Now you have a home underground!


Now it's time to mine. Start by making a two-block high one-block wide tunnel. Make it about twenty blocks long. Make sure to put torches so you can see all the ores. Once you've made the tunnel, make another one two blocks away. Do this until you've covered the entire twenty by twenty space. Then make stairs and go right under or above your mine and repeat the process.

This is the coolest way to mine things, but it takes the longest and requires a lot of stuff.

Equipment needed:

Torches. About two stacks of 64.

Five iron picks. Two diamond picks. Or ten stone picks.

Three stacks of 64 wooden planks for crafting/smelting.

Mining can be tough, but it can be fun!



-Nick

A City Upon A Hill

Whether you're playing in single or multiplayer, cities are amazing. In servers running the Faction mod, cities are a must for Factions. On single player, they are just fun to make. So what makes an awesome city? What makes city walls so amazing? I'm going to tell you.

Architecture:

Architecture is basically an art form where you build buildings. Minecraft architecture is some the best in games, since gravity does not affect your blocks. Your architecture is your architecture. Everyone has a different style, whether it be Roman or modern. And no one should tell you how you build it. But make sure your city, old looking or modern, has architecture.

Lighting:

Lighting is necessary if you don't want creepers and other creepy-crawlies running amuck. So if you need it, make it look nice. Like an NPC village's light system(seen at the bottom of the post).

All this is is two fence posts with black wool stacked on top with torches placed around it.

How To Build:

A great, organized way to build your city is called the "block" method. You should have roads or pathways in your city with twenty by twenty spaces every four spaces away. Your city will look like it is made of several "blocks," thus naming it the blocking method.

Utilizing The Block Method:

Have four lamp post at each corner of the block. You can build buildings in these spaces, pavilions, and gardens. This makes a very organized space and, depending on the size of your city, will help you and whoever else navigate it better.

The Wall of Your City:

A fine wall needs a good gate. It also needs to be massive. If you are savvy with pistons and redstone, you can even make the gate go up and down with a touch of a lever.

In multiplayer you can prevent the use of Ender Pearls by placing lava in between your wall. Just hope they don't teleport over the gate.

You could also, of course, make it so high they die from falling damage, thus making it easier for you to collect your spoils of war.

In the end, cities in single player earn you bragging rights and in multiplayer it earns you protection. Everyone wins.

-Nick

How To: Build an Impenetrable Fortress

A good, sturdy home is very important in Minecraft. A squared off home prevents mobs from breaking in when you sleep. Obsidian discourages people from breaking in your home in multiplayer, unless they have a diamond pick.

Let's start with the basics. A good, sturdy home need to be squared off (in the shape of a square with no cutting corners), have a way of entry like a door or minecart ride (that sounds fun), and be sturdy enough to not be devastated by a creeper blast.

Why does it need to be squared off? Because when you sleep at night , monsters can come in. So you'll be fighting monsters all night instead of dreaming about you being king over the NPCs.

The best example of a great home is that of an NPC. A good squared off home, decorative, and, with some, a flat roof and a ladder do that you can snipe mobs. Some have gardens in the front with a fence around it. A good idea. Not only does it look nice, it helps protect creepers and other creepy-crawlies from getting near your home.

That being said, some NPC homes are not such a great example. With no doors and what-not. That's the perfect invitation for a mob to intrude upon your dreams of laughing at your NPC peasants.

In multiplayer, mobs are the least of your worries. Players will break into your home just to steal your goodies. Door or not. So make a home out of obsidian so only people with diamond picks can quickly break into your home. People with iron picks can break in, but it will take them one minute to break one obsidian block. That's one Minecraft hour. So for them to actually break in, it will take them two Minecraft hours. Not to mention obsidian is explosion-proof, so they can't blast their way in.

If you really want to be mean, you can make a secret entrance only you know about. Then make a big, obvious entrance with an iron door. Iron doors can only be opened by a switch. So place a button for the door on the outside, but not the inside. So they'll be trapped. Of course they can always dig out, but make a pool of lava underneath the blocks. Just the block they're standing on separating them from their fiery doom.

Of course all this would be useless if you are playing on single player.

-Nick

The Explorer's Guide: Settling In

Once you've found a suitable place to call home, don't rush the building. Make the home as nice as you want and when night rolls around, dig a hole three blocks deep and cover the top. Wait until night is over and come out of the hole, get materials for your home, and get to building. Once the walls are done, make a roof. Once the roof is done, make a door. Once you have a furnace and a crafting table, you can get to decorating. It's neat to have a kitchen, living room, and an outside porch.

Here are some ideas for decorating your home:

That dirt, sand, or rock underneath your home isn't the most decorative flooring. Destroy any existing floor and put a more a more decorative flooring.

Decorating your home is an art and can require lots of materials. For instance, to make a chair with arm rests, make a wooden step and two signs. Place the two signs on both sides of the chair and, BOOM!, you have a chair.

Put three wooden steps in a row and put signs on both sides and you have an extra long chair. Put a pressure plate on top of a single fence post and you have yourself a table.

Bookshelves are a great decoration, too. Next to the long chairs they look great.

Make a little corner for your kitchen and replace four of your floor with marble and place two blocks of marble outward so that you have a counter for your kitchen.

A porch is a cool edition to any home. Why not make one in Minecraft? Dig out the desired space for your porch and then fill it in its your favorite block. Next fence in your porch since there are no monsters welcomed near your home. Make sure to have a fence gate so you can get in and out. If you're going for a cozy cabin feel, make a chair or two and put it on your porch. If you're into gardening, get some flowers and plant them.

Those enchantment tables, cauldrons, brewing stations, and crafting tables look absolutely awful in the main room of your home. Make a side room for them.

Furnaces, believe it or not, actually do look good for some home's decoration. Put some (two blocks high) in the middle of one of your walls and they look great. Don't just put one column, though. Make at least two two block high columns. Though make sure there's an even number of wall blocks on both sides of your wall.

Paintings look great over furnaces or chairs.

Windows allow you to see the world outside your home. But don't use glass blocks. Use the window blocks made by glass blocks. You'll have some left over unless you're making a house made of glass. Windows look best when there is an even number of blocks on both sides of them.

-Nick