Creative



Creative mode is one of the main game modes in Minecraft. There are two separate versions of Creative mode, one only available in the full game, whilst the other, Classic Creative mode, is available for free on the game's main website. Creative mode strips away the survival aspects of Minecraft and allows players to easily create and destroy structures.

Creative mode allows players to destroy all blocks instantly and the ability to fly. Players are given an infinite number of blocks to build with and no health bar thus rendering the player immune to all damage. The only possible ways to die are to use the command, or to fall into the Void. Taking advantage of this, players can create large constructions more easily. Creative mode is also often used in mini-sports, such as Spleef.

Gameplay
Once a singleplayer Creative mode level is created, if cheats are enabled, it can be changed to a Survival world (or vice-versa) with the  command. In multiplayer, players can be individually changed between Creative and Survival mode with the  command available to operators. 0 signifies Survival, 1 is Creative, and 2 is Adventure (works only on vanilla server). This means that individual players can play Creative mode (at the operator's discretion) on a Survival map, or vice-versa. The game mode can also be changed by typing for Creative mode,  for Survival etc.

In Creative, the normal inventory screen is replaced by the item selection screen, which contains almost all blocks and items in a tabbed interface. There is also a search feature. One tab provides a Survival-like inventory, including armor slots and a 2x2 crafting grid. Some items behave differently than in Survival mode; for example, empty buckets will never fill with water or lava, and water and lava buckets never empty, no matter how many times they are used.

Dropped items can be picked up by the player, but if the hotbar is already full, the items will go in the Survival inventory.

Flying is enabled, activated by double tapping then single pressing  to go up and  to go down and the  keys (default) to move. The player can disable flying in mid-air by double-tapping again, causing them to drop to the ground. Touching the ground when flying also disables flying. However, getting into a minecart or bed whilst flying will not disable flying when the player gets out.

Flying very close to the top of a block without touching it will generate footsteps sounds. As flying is much faster than walking, it will generate a lot of footsteps at once. It is also possible to hear wood footstep sounds when hovering right over some non-solid blocks like torches or signs.

The player can obtain items using the pick block key by pressing middle-click (by default). This lets players obtain many other blocks that are not in the item select menu, items like Nether portal, monster spawner, End portal, and the dragon egg. In SMP, any item not in the Creative inventory, including both the items above and enchanted items, will briefly appear in the Creative inventory upon being placed in the player's regular inventory, allowing players to duplicate enchanted items.

Mobs will still spawn like in Survival (including from monster spawners), but are neutral and will not try to attack the player unless provoked. Even then they will do no damage. Creepers are still a hazard, as they might explode near structures.

Normally indestructible blocks like bedrock and portals can also be destroyed. Going too far into the Void will still kill the player, but the player can fly around in the Void provided they do not descend below the y coordinate of -64. This, along with the command, is the only way to die in Creative mode.

Blocks that are destroyed by means other than clicking on them (destroying a block it is attached to) can still be picked up. However, paintings, minecarts, powered minecarts and storage minecarts can be picked up when destroyed by punching.

If the player flies very high above the clouds, it will seem as if there are two suns, when in fact, both the sun and the moon are visible. This is due to the game's limited render distance; changing it will only increase/decrease the height needed to see this. Some items and blocks are only available in Creative mode, such as sponges and spawn eggs.

In Xbox 360 Edition, creating a new Creative Mode world or opening an existing world in Creative Mode will permanently disable Achievements and Leaderboard updates for that particular game. In other words, Achievements and Leaderboard only work in games that have always been in Survival mode.

Representation in level.dat
To change the GameType in the  it has to be opened with something like NBTedit:

As of 1.2.1, the code is now different. You'll find the String "GameType" in clear text followed by 0x000000:

Missing blocks and items
There are several in game blocks and items that do not appear in the item select menu:

Note: Most of these (that are blocks) can be obtained with Pick Block. However, mob spawners do not spawn the right mobs (resulting in only pigs spawning) and huge mushrooms do not give the right type of mushroom block.
 * Nether Portal block
 * Huge Mushroom blocks
 * Farmland
 * Monster Spawners
 * End Portal block
 * Command block
 * Unlimated Water and Lava buckets

Classic Creative


Classic Creative can be reached by going to minecraft.net and clicking on the 'singleplayer' or 'multiplayer' links.

For obvious reasons, any blocks added in the full release, Beta, Alpha, Infdev, or Survival Test cannot be accessed. In order to play classic creative multiplayer you must be logged into your Minecraft account.

Many of the blocks have been retextured since. Many abilities on servers were lost as Creative and Survival became separate. (, etc.)