Sneaking

Sneaking is a feature introduced in the 1st Seecret Saturday update on September 18th, 2010 (Alpha 1.1.1). While holding the Shift key, the player enters sneaking mode. Sneaking was originally called crouching; however, the player's hitbox doesn't change from the normal standing height. Mobs will still notice the player no matter what.

Sneaking prevents players from falling off ledges, making it primarily useful for building horizontally outwards from high ledges by looking over the lip.

On a Macintosh computer, the hotkey can be changed from Shift to CapsLock to sneak without having to hold down a key. On a Windows the sneak hotkey must be held and then ALT must be pressed while still holding it. This will freeze the game, but if ALT is pressed again after the key is released then the sneaking permanent until the sneak hotkey is pressed (AND released) again. Bringing up the inventory or menu will revert the status to walking, as will pressing the chat hotkey or interacting with a furnace, crafting bench, or dispenser. This method works in both windowed and fullscreen mode. (Note: this applies to other commands too, like walking or jumping.)

Also, if the sneak hotkey is pressed at EXACTLY the same time as the chat hotkey, then you will be crouching in chat. This is very useful if you want to talk but remain hidden from players, because when chat is activated the mouse is released.

When you walk too far towards the edge of the block while sneaking, you will not fall down but your character will be outside the block you are standing on. Therefore if you release Shift, you will fall down. This is useful however for making bridges, since being outside the block allows you to see its edge, which you may easily click.

Also, when you are sneaking, you can still jump. This means that you can jump up levels, but if you jump on the edge of a block, you can fall down, effectively negating the effects of sneaking.

Note that players can still fall off slabs, stairs and beds while sneaking.

Effects

 * The character moves slower. Moving diagonally will allow the player to move slightly faster, but not at full speed.
 * The character appears to be bending over.
 * The character bends down one-eighth of a block. This can be viewed using F5.
 * No sound is made when sneaking.
 * Players cannot fall off ledges.
 * Stairs and steps cannot be walked up but can be walked down.
 * Players cannot sneak from Soul Sand and Cacti to any other material at the same level.
 * Crops won't be trampled.
 * The camera angle slightly lowers.
 * Other players in Survival Multiplayer cannot see your name through walls.
 * Other players in Survival Multiplayer cannot see your name when you are closer than when standing up.
 * In SMP your name will be slighty darker than normal.
 * As of Beta 1.4, you will stay on the ladder.

Bugs

 * If you are sneaking and you exit to the menu and then go back into your map, your character sinks into or falls off of the block you are standing on.
 * If you sneak into a corner to a hole, with enough precision, you will fall.
 * If you press F2 to take a screenshot while sneaking, Minecraft will attempt to take a TGA formatted screeshot, and the Minecraft window will glitch and eventually crash.