Hardcore



Hardcore mode is a much more difficult variant of the Survival game mode.

Features


The key feature of Hardcore mode is that the player is not given the option to respawn upon death as they would in other game modes. Instead, there are two buttons on the death screen: "Spectate world" and "Delete world". "Spectate world" sets the player to Spectator mode and respawns the player at the world's spawn point. "Delete world", obviously, will delete the world file from.

Worlds with Hardcore mode enabled will be locked to Hard difficulty. The world's difficulty cannot be changed through normal means.

When creating a Hardcore mode world, the "Enable Cheats" and "Bonus Chest" world options are greyed out and locked to OFF. On the world selection screen, worlds with Hardcore mode enabled will display dark red text reading "Hardcore Mode!".



While in Hardcore mode, the hearts representing the player's health change their appearance, as shown to the left.

Hardcore mode is specific to worlds, not players; the variable determining whether the world is in Hardcore mode is saved in. Thus, the player can use (if cheats are enabled) to set themselves to Creative mode. Players in Creative mode while on a Hardcore mode world will still see Hardcore mode's death screen upon death.

It is impossible to change the current gamemode to or from Hardcore mode in-game, though it is possible to use external programs such as NBTExplorer to change it by setting the  tag to either 1 (hardcore) or 0 (normal).

However, it is possible to enable cheats through the Open to LAN feature in the Pause menu. From here, the player can, while spectating the world after death, type to bring themselves back to survival mode, therefore being able to play even after they die.

Multiplayer
Hardcore mode is an option for multiplayer, and its functions are similar to those in singleplayer. All players will have Hardcore enabled - it is impossible to have a server in which some players are Hardcore and some are not.

Upon death, the player will automatically be set to Spectator mode.

Server operators can use the command to change the game mode of themselves or another player.

Video
Note: This video is outdated - after death, the player now has the option to either delete the world, or go into Spectator mode.

Trivia



 * There are various ways to set the player to Survival mode after dying in Hardcore mode.
 * Opening the world to LAN and enabling cheats allows the player to use the command to set their game mode.
 * When Notch announced Hardcore mode on Twitter, he jokingly posted an image of an 'ultra hardcore' mode where the premium status of the player's account is revoked on death.
 * When a Hardcore mode world is loaded on a version released prior to Hardcore mode, the world is converted into a Survival world. Loading this world in a version featuring Hardcore mode will not revert the world back to Hardcore mode.