Welcome to Minecraft’s Survival mode! Before you begin, it’s important to understand the different game modes available to you. In Survival mode, you are thrown into a world and must gather resources to survive. You can also choose the difficulty level, from Peaceful to Hard, which affects the amount of damage dealt by hostile mobs and other factors.
Another important aspect to consider is your Field of View (FOV), which ranges from 70 Degrees to 110 Degrees. A higher FOV allows you to see more of your surroundings, but it can also be more demanding on your computer.
Once you’ve made your selections, it’s time to generate your world. The terrain and resources available to you can vary greatly, so it’s important to be prepared to adapt to your surroundings right away. Be mindful of your surroundings as you explore, as you can fall into caves and other hazards.
It’s important to note that 1 day in Minecraft is equivalent to 10 minutes in real-time, so make the most of your time and start gathering resources as soon as possible. Your spawn point is where you first start the game, so if you die, you will reappear there.
By understanding the basics of Survival mode and being aware of your surroundings, you can increase your chances of survival on your first day in Minecraft. Happy building!
Gather Wood
In Survival mode, one of the first things you should do is gather wood. This versatile resource can be obtained by punching trees with your fist. When punching trees, sometimes they may be too tall to break all the blocks from the ground.
A trick you can use is to skip the first (bottom) block and break the two above it. Then you can stand on that block and look up and continue to break all the blocks of the trunk. When you are done, hop down and break the block you were standing on. Breaking all the wood of the tree can also result in the leaves disappearing and can drop saplings for planting and even apples.
Another way to gather wood from tall trees is by creating a Nerd Pole. A Nerd Pole is a technique where you look straight down, jump, and then place a block beneath you as you fall. This will create a pole you can stand on. Use dirt blocks as they are easy to re-destroy. To get down, look down and break the dirt blocks until you are on ground level.
With enough wood, you can use it to create a crafting table. To make a crafting table, simply put one piece of wood in the 2×2 crafting grid of your inventory. This will create wooden planks. Then, use four planks to create a crafting table. Once you have a crafting table, you can use it to create more advanced items such as tools and doors.
Creating Shelter
When you have acquired enough wood, your next goal should be to establish a safe place to call home. One simple way to do this is by excavating a hole in a dirt hill, as dirt is a relatively easy material to break with your bare hands. You can also mine into stone, but you’ll need a pickax for that.
As darkness falls, it’s vital to ensure that you have a secure shelter to protect yourself from the dangers of the night. You have several options to choose from:
- Fully enclose yourself with materials such as wood, dirt, or stone.
- Create a door using 6 wooden planks arranged in two columns side by side to craft a wooden door.
- Leave a small opening that is just big enough for you to fit through, while ensuring that larger mobs cannot.
- Use glass to block off the entrance while still allowing you to see outside. To make glass, you’ll need to smelt sand.
It’s worth noting that wooden doors will keep out all mobs in Easy and Normal mode, but in Hard mode, zombies can break through wooden doors. If you decide to leave an opening, make sure that you have a safe place in your shelter where you can hide if anything comes through the opening. Also keep in mind that mobs like cave spiders and baby zombies can fit through small openings if they can reach it.
Creating and Using Tools in Minecraft Survival Mode
In order to survive in Minecraft, it is crucial to craft various tools. These tools serve different purposes, such as protection and resource gathering. To make these tools, you will need materials such as planks and sticks. Remember that the placement of these items in the crafting grid is important, otherwise, the desired tool will not be made.
Crafting
To craft wooden items in Minecraft, you’ll need to gather wood and use it to make planks. One block of wood can be turned into four planks. With two planks stacked on top of each other, you can create four sticks.
To make a wooden pickax, you’ll need to place two sticks in the middle of the crafting grid and three wooden planks along the top row. This tool is useful for collecting stone. Alternatively, you can use two sticks stacked with one wood plank on top to make a wooden shovel, which makes it easier to break dirt, gravel, and sand.
To craft a wooden sword, you’ll need to place one stick in the bottom of the crafting grid and two planks stacked on top. This weapon can be used to protect yourself from mobs and to kill animals for meat.
Lastly, you can make a chest by placing eight planks in all spaces except the middle of the crafting grid. It is important to note that wooden tools have a lower durability than others, so eventually you will need to upgrade to stone, iron, gold, diamond tools.
Mining
Mining in Minecraft is a critical aspect of survival, especially as you progress further in the game. On your first day in Minecraft, you may not need to concern yourself with mining, but if you come across coal, it’s wise to gather some. Coal can be used to make torches for light, and as fuel for a furnace. Additionally, if you come across stone, it’s good to gather some as it is used for stronger tools and building materials.
To mine coal and stone, you will need a wooden pickaxe. Once you have collected stone, you can use it to make a stone pickaxe, which will allow you to mine iron. Iron is a valuable resource that can be used to create stronger tools, weapons, and armor.
As you continue to mine, you may come across different types of ores such as gold, diamond, and redstone. These ores can be used to create powerful tools, weapons, and other items.
When mining, it’s essential to be aware of your surroundings. Caves and mines can be dangerous, so it’s important to bring a light source like a torch, and to be prepared for the possibility of falling into a pit or encountering hostile mobs. Additionally, having a sword on hand can be useful for defending yourself. Remember, safety should be your top priority when mining in Minecraft.
Lighting Up The Place
Light plays a crucial role in Minecraft, not only for illuminating your surroundings but also for keeping hostile mobs at bay. Monsters can’t spawn in well-lit areas, so it’s essential to have plenty of light in your shelter.
Depending on whether you’ve been able to find coal on your first day, you have a few options for creating light sources. If you haven’t found coal yet, you can make charcoal from wood using a furnace. To create a furnace, you’ll need 8 cobblestones arranged in a square shape, leaving the middle spot empty. You can also make sticks by stacking two wooden planks on top of each other.
To make charcoal, place any type of wood (raw wood, planks, sticks, etc) in the furnace, with one piece of wood in the bottom for fuel, and one in the top spot. Keep in mind that wood burns quickly, so you’ll only be able to create one piece of charcoal per piece of wood.
Once you have your charcoal or coal, stack a piece of either on top of a stick to create 4 torches. Furnaces will immediately start burning whatever you put in as fuel, and it will continue to burn regardless of whether you have something to cook or smelt. So it’s a good idea to be prepared with multiple items to smelt or cook.
Also, if you want to smelt different types of items in a row, make sure to remove the previous item before adding the new one, or it will simply disappear. On the other hand, if you have a stack of items, you can just put it in the top and walk away, and it will continue to smelt until either the fuel or resource runs out.
Eating to Survive
As you progress through Survival mode, it’s crucial to keep your hunger levels in check. The more running and working you do, the more your food bar will deplete. There are many things to eat in the world, but in the early stages of the game, your options will likely be limited to apples and meat.
One way to acquire food is by harvesting apples from trees. When leaves disappear from a tree (after you’ve destroyed the trunk), they sometimes drop apples. However, the chances of obtaining apples from a tree are slim, making it difficult to survive as a vegetarian when you first start the game.
Another option is to hunt for meat. Find an animal such as a cow, pig, or chicken (sheep only give wool), and punch it until it dies. It’s not the most pleasant way to acquire food, but it’s necessary to survive. If you don’t have a weapon, it will take several punches, and the animal will flee after the first hit, so you may need to chase it down. Try to avoid hitting it in a hole as it will be hard to kill. Killing the animal will give you raw meat. You can eat raw meat, but if you eat raw chicken, there’s a chance you’ll get food poisoning.
To cook the meat, put it in a furnace like you would to smelt an item. Use wood or coal to cook the meat in the fuel spot, and put the raw meat above. Different foods will refill your hunger bar by different amounts.
For example, an apple will revive 4 hunger points (two icons on the hunger bar), while a steak will revive 8 (raw beef will only fill 3). It’s essential to keep track of your food and what you need to make the most of what you have.
Surviving Your First Night
As the first day in Survival mode comes to an end, it’s important to retreat back to the shelter you’ve built and secure it for the night. Utilize the darkness to craft items and continue to expand your shelter, if you’re in a mountainous area. If you find yourself with nothing to do, simply wait for the sun to rise. But if you’re feeling brave, you can venture out and take on the mobs that lurk in the darkness.
If luck is on your side, you may come across sheep on your first day. These creatures can be killed to collect wool, which can be used to make a bed.
To craft a bed, simply arrange 3 wool in a row on the crafting grid, and place 3 planks above it. The color of the wool or planks doesn’t matter, as the resulting bed will always be the same.
Once you sleep in a bed, it becomes your new spawn point, so if you die, you will respawn there instead of at the original starting point.
