Talk:Map/Archive 1

Why this page has been deleted ?
Notch really said "[...] I worked on a map item for minecraft today[...]"

Sphax 15:16, 21 April 2011 (UTC)

Valuable info, but one twitter post is not enough to warrant its own article until we have more information. It's on the upcoming features page though. --Theothersteve7 15:20, 21 April 2011 (UTC)
 * Have you seen his blog? He is getting pretty far on it.Cool12309(T 02:32, 28 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Have you seen the date of that post? A week ago. Notch had only said "I'm playing with maps" at that time. – ultradude25 ( T at 03:37, 28 April 2011 (UTC)
 * What have you been smoking? The post was made YESTERDAY. Cool12309(T 21:03, 28 April 2011 (UTC)


 * 21 April 2011 (UTC) was not yesterday. – ultradude25 ( T at 03:23, 29 April 2011 (UTC)


 * This is the link to the latest post I think cool12309 is referring to. The Word of Notch: The Maps! ACoefficientOfTwelve 05:28, 29 April 2011 (UTC)


 * What has Notch's blog post got to do with this? I'm talking about this page... – ultradude25 ( T at 05:44, 29 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Notch said so himself that he's adding maps (and they're confirmed), and they're the only new item in 1.6 On his tumblr page; that's what cool was talking about. --R ocĸetor talk  06:05, 29 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Theothersteve7 said 1 twitter post isn't enough for an article on the 21st, when Notch had only made that single tweet about playing with maps, then Cool12309 says "have you seen his blog" on the 28th. My point was at the time Theothersteve7 posted Notch hadn't made the blog post Cool12309 was referring to... – ultradude25 ( T at 07:21, 29 April 2011 (UTC)


 * This wiki is not wikipedia. If you wish to impose their stringent rules, go there. For the rest of us, it is entirely appropriate to ready a spot for upcoming items.  --BreenWhitman 22:46, 29 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Muoahahaha! Breen solves everything. --R ocĸetor talk  09:44, 8 May 2011 (UTC)

French version
Hi, in the French wiki we have made quite a nice page for the map item since the last post from Notch. Feel free to translate it (Google translation). It also has a temporary item image that can be reused. --Jimeowan 22:51, 27 April 2011 (UTC)

Ideas
I know this isn't a suggestion page or anything, but i need to get rid of some thoughts somehow. For once, i would welcome it if a you could erase a map to set zoom/center again. Additional to that, if the last map item using a set of map data is erased, the map data should be deleted as well (that would be lighter on the limit on maps, and allow much room for experiments). A map item getting destroyed in a fire or otherwise removed should "delete" it, too. –The preceding unsigned comment was added by BlueLegion (Talk 16:06, 28 April 2011. Please sign your posts with

If you wanted to get rid of your thoughts, use the minecraft forums. --R ocĸetor talk  20:55, 28 April 2011 (UTC)

Can we please change the item picture?
It slightly resembles a penis and I witnessed several people post about it on the forums. It should be changed to a less distracting image. –The preceding unsigned comment was added by Krunchyman (Talk 03:25, 30 April 2011. Please sign your posts with


 * Oh grow up. Next you'll be asking us to remove creepers. – ultradude25 ( T at 18:15, 29 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Must be horrible going thru life seeing penis's in everything. Myself, I see.... a map. --BreenWhitman 22:48, 29 April 2011 (UTC)


 * Maybe we should put a warning or something:
 * --Jimeowan 07:34, 10 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Um. I hope that's a joke. I don't even see what everyone is complaining about.- Alphap T ~ C 21:53, 10 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Um. I hope that's a joke. I don't even see what everyone is complaining about.- Alphap T ~ C 21:53, 10 May 2011 (UTC)

i still cant believe notch did that. there is no way he did that on accident and didnt realize what it looks like.--Higbey 01:23, 30 April 2011 (UTC)


 * "Some of you have really dirty minds. Any resemblance to anything at all is coincidental." 「 ダイノ ガイ 千？！ 」? · ☎ Dinoguy1000 17:14, 30 April 2011 (UTC)


 * When 1.6 comes out I'll get a fully mapped map item for us and re-upload. --R ocĸetor talk  09:46, 8 May 2011 (UTC)


 * Penis?? to me it looked like a map but now that i think about it, it could also be a used piece of toilet paper Domi Digger 17:12, 8 May 2011 (UTC)


 * What the hell? Grow up... "i still cant believe notch did that." Did what? Mapped an path he took in a forest? Serious. It doesn't even look like a penis. God save the poor guy having such mutated genitals. Topic closed, gods's sake. -- TheKax 14:11, 26 May 2011 (UTC)

more ideas...
A couple of randomly-generated thoughts, paralleled on the forums but added here as well...

These should be a no-brainer. Maybe limited to a certain amount of pages? Right-click on a book in your inventory to open a GUI allowing you to choose which page to look at. Maybe use the player's current X-Y position to automatically open to the right page in your book? Once placed into a book, maps can not be updated/edited/added to. And the ability to title books would be invaluable. Book of Northern Sea Charts, anyone?
 * Map Books

Is there some way a map could include a Cartesian notation, say a small watermark in the corner giving the map's center-point in integer X-Y values? This would make serious cartography a little more organized, and map selection wouldn't be based on trying to recognize a particular terrain form...
 * Map Co-ordinates

The ability to manually add up to (say) 6 or 8 'tool-tip' points to a map while creating it would be another invaluable tool. Perhaps a certain key pressed while holding the map could open up a GUI for the addition of a small amount of text, which would then appear as a 'point' on the map at that location.
 * Map Points-of-Interest

These should be chosen from a set number of pre-defined values at creation, IMHO. Although, I don't necessarily know what those values should be to create (for example):
 * Scaling, Zoom
 * a local-area map of (say) 100&times;100 blocks
 * a mid-range map of 500&times;500
 * a long-range map of 1000&times;1000
 * a 'super map' custom-scaled to show all explored surface terrain

Right-click on a map displayed in an open book to show a larger version of the map as a separate GUI, to allow for Point-of-Interest selection (see: Maps as Waypoints, below)
 * Map Interactivity

Selecting a Point-of-Interest on an open map would over-ride the Compass from showing the original spawn-point to showing the heading from player to the POI, making the humble Compass far more useful than it is now. Include a 'reset' function to reset the current waypoint to the Original Spawn point.
 * Map Points as Waypoints

/ramble

any feedback on this would be appreciated! Aethir 15:14, 11 May 2011 (UTC)


 * The wiki isn't the place for random speculation/suggestions for in-game stuff; it needs to be kept to the forum. 「 ダイノ ガイ 千？！ 」? · ☎ Dinoguy1000 00:11, 12 May 2011 (UTC)


 * - and yet, the discussion page previous to my post was mostly filled by random speculation about 'penis maps', which didn't earn a similar reprimand? And what else would a 'discussion' be about, if not to throw about ideas relating to the topic? It's not, for example, a 'bug report' page. I fail to see how a reasoned discussion about implementing new ideas is somehow not relevant to a discussion page. Aethir 03:04, 12 May 2011 (UTC)
 * The chances that someone from Mojang will read this talk page are about a trillion to none, therefore this is not the place for new ideas. The previous topic wasn't speculation; it was a ridiculous complaint about an innocent image marginally resembling something suggestive. The discussion page is usually best used for working on the article itself, to some extent theorycrafting, or confirming with other players about a feature or bug. - Alphap T ~ C 03:32, 12 May 2011 (UTC)
 * - See, that wasn't so hard to outline, was it? Your point is duly noted. Aethir 03:42, 12 May 2011 (UTC)

Naming maps?
I've noticed in Notch's new trailer with maps that the map he uses is labeled "Test" at the top. Has there been any prior speculation as to wether or not naming maps would be enabled? If so, I think it would be extremely useful, and also when writing books and making paintings in the future. Alien holiday 19:52, 24 May 2011 (UTC)


 * I don't think anyone considered the possibility (and I didn't notice any name myself; I'll have to rewatch the trailer and pay attention), and so there wouldn't be any relevant speculation. 「 ダイノ ガイ 千？！ 」? · ☎ Dinoguy1000 20:05, 24 May 2011 (UTC)


 * Can someone link to this trailer? I haven't heard of or seen it myself and it sounds worth watching Deanm 20:59, 24 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Official Minecraft Youtube Hub <- it's on there. Nothing spectacular but it does show off maps in use.  --Warlock 21:16, 24 May 2011 (UTC)


 * He mentioned that the naming of maps will be implemented later. --McTwist 05:30, 28 May 2011 (UTC)

No zoom level?
Well, after a bit of testing, it appears that the map has no zoom level options. I'll leave the discussion to whoever sees this, because it's fairly late (early?) where I am. Megabobster 09:35, 26 May 2011 (UTC)


 * I can't change the zoom level on mine either when I make them. I also can't change the name of it from map_01 or something like that Deanm 10:14, 26 May 2011 (UTC)


 * Does each map you make just pick a random zoom?Toadbert


 * Right now each map has a set zoom(scale) level. It is discussed here how it really works. --McTwist 05:38, 28 May 2011 (UTC)

Nether maps
Do they work? Any bugs? I don't currently have any worlds with portals, so I thought I'd ask.
 * Not...really. The pointer goes all out of wack, the pixels are really hard to read, but it does update the map (slightly). It's just not very useful in the slightest. Fruckert 21:01, 26 May 2011 (UTC)

I beg to differ. The pointer does go out whack and the pixels are hard to read, yes, but it still has (a) purpose. I use it for finding my way back to the portal I came from. They have bugs and they're all listed in the Bugs section of the original page.
 * We should have a picture of a nether map in the page, I'll start working on one.

Glitch?
Dunno if anyone else is getting this but when exploring with my first map I couldn't be bothered to switch away to a spade so just removed some dirt with the map and the dirt block was still visible afterwards but I could walk through it, and any others I removed with the map. Anyone else getting this? This may not be related to just maps as I seem to be getting more visual problems with this update. --Watson690 16:32, 26 May 2011 (UTC)

Was your inventory full? If there's not enough room in your inventory, the item or block will be left on the ground. --Technoman7 16:08, 7 July 2011 (UTC)

Placeable on Walls?
Did this make it in? Just curious as I can't check myself at the moment :) --Warlock 17:07, 26 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Not in! Sorry to disappoint :) --Flippeh 19:31, 26 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Boooo, that's a shame. My plans for a hollowed-out volcano evil villian secret lair will have to go without a map from which to plot world domination :(  --Warlock 19:33, 26 May 2011 (UTC)

Internal representation / map data
So I wanted to use the stored map data to draw pretty pictures of it. Because why not.

This is what I found:

{   TAG_Compound("data") {       TAG_Byte("scale"): 3 TAG_Byte("dimension"): 0 TAG_Short("height"): 128 TAG_Byte_Array("colors"): [ <128x128 flat array of colors> ] TAG_Int("xCenter"): -228 TAG_Short("width"): 128 TAG_Int("zCenter"): 642 } }
 * Maps are stored inside / /data/Map_.dat, gzipped NBT (as usual)
 * The internal structure of those files is...
 * The color values do not resemble blocks (didn't expect that either since 1 block on the map is an 8x8 in the real virtual world and deeper water would still be water)

Does anyone have an idea what those values could mean? I found out that 50 = one of the many blue shades.

For now I suspect that they have hardcoded the colors in a table or map inside the engine. --Flippeh 19:48, 26 May 2011 (UTC)


 * I made a quick check of how it worked and instantly said no to it to be color values. Both because it's in-game data, need less space to store at, and that it is too small to store color in one byte.


 * It isn't block types either, wonder why he isn't doing that, so it must be a color-table that is built-in in the game. Either someone decompiles the game and fetch the values, screenshot existing map while in-game, or use their own values. Even though, someone needs to add this to a page where it tells how it works. I might do that. --McTwist 09:13, 27 May 2011 (UTC)


 * He isn't storing the block types because water has more than one blue shade depending on water depth, so a lighter blue, a normal blue and a darker blue all represent the same block ID of water. At least that is my theory, I think that makes sense, since on my test map, 48, 49, 50 all represent water, and there are also multiple shades of sand and just about every other block. I'd too go with the built-in guess. --Flippeh 16:59, 27 May 2011 (UTC)


 * I suggest that we move this small conversation to the created Map Item Format article I created, and that I see you have edited as well. --McTwist 18:12, 27 May 2011 (UTC)

Names
How do you change the map name? Is that a multiplayer thing, or is it not in the game yet? Fruckert 21:07, 26 May 2011 (UTC)


 * There is already a section of this above. Even though, you should move this to the talk page of Talk:Map Item Format as that might answer you questions.
 * Also, naming maps was a feature Notch were supposed to add, but he did not for now but he said he will probably add it in next version. --McTwist 05:24, 28 May 2011 (UTC)

Colors
Gonna start getting these Blue - Water

Light Blue - Ice

Tan - Sand, Slowsand

Brown - Dirt, Wood & products

Gray - Stone, Cobblestone, Sandstone, Obsidian, Lightstone, Metal Blocks, Bedrock, Spawner, Sponge White - Snow, Snow block

Light Green - Grass

Dark Green - Leaves

Bright Red - Lava, TNT

Leetskillz 23:44, 26 May 2011 (UTC)


 * I would suggest you take this to Map Item Format as that have a table with colors but needs descriptions. Also take a look at the talk page where we discuss what color is what. --McTwist 05:22, 28 May 2011 (UTC)

Void Glitch
Alright, I just encountered the glitch where having void in the map crashes the game whenever I get near the area with the map open. Surprisingly, this seems to happen even though the 2X2 hole that I edited into the bottom layer of bedrock is far underground and completely covered by several layers of solid blocks. (?) Now, I tried fixing this by plugging up the bottom layer hole, but the game still crashes when I pull up the map anywhere nearby to update it. Is there anyway to fix this, or do I need a whole new map? Do I need to plug up the hole with bedrock for it to work? Thanks.

--Cralex 09:33, 27 May 2011 (UTC)

The whole void crash thing makes me think that Notch is using a for loop that checks every block down from the sky that doesn't terminate until it finds a block (so the void puts it into an infinite loop since it never finds a block). Not very clever, and there's an easy solution (check down until Y:0 then skip). Kookas 19:32, 27 July 2011 (UTC)


 * Yeah well since Notch intended the void to be an innacessable area (Killing you while inside it, and reprogramming the bedrock generation to reduce accessable void instances) he doesn't need it to be mapped. I'm sure with the Sky Dimension update he will simply change a couple lines of code and yay hey we have void maps. --HexZyle 23:27, 27 July 2011 (UTC)

Videos
Ok, I've not really any idea what to do here, being a relatively new contributor to the wiki. I've been using it for as long as I've had Minecraft and it's been smashing, so when the new release came out I decided to contribute some tutorial videos to this page and the Trapdoor page. Minutes later the one on this page had been replaced, then removed when I put it back. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong by putting a tutorial video up, I'm complying with Rule16 and making sure there's nothing wrong with the video. I don't yet know how to get the video up on a thumbnail, but first of all I'd like to ask why my video has been taken down, yet again. Toby1066 13:15, 27 May 2011 (UTC)Toby1066

Icons
Aside from the paper, it also has an image file for the icons, "minecraft.jar/misc/mapicons.png". Featured are a white 'x' and 4 multicolored cursor icons, white, blue, green and red. So far I've only seen the white cursor, but am I to assume that the remaining 4 icons are placeholders for future features? I'm guessing that the X is either spawn or your bed, and the other cursors might be for other players or perhaps mobs. I've also noticed that the cursor, which shows which way you're pointing is off by about 22 degrees clockwise, or 1/8th of a turn. Each Icon is also off-center by a couple pixels too, though the map code might compensate for this. Ghost2 20:50, 28 May 2011 (UTC)

Marking locations
I found a decent way of marking locations. What you do is make an 8x8 area of lava(finding enough lava might be difficult, I find that I need at least 8 buckets worth). The only problems I've found with this is natural pools of lava above ground also being marked.


 * The colour of lava on a map does indeed provide the best contrast to use as a marker for the above-world landscape. However, I've been playing with how the pixel on the map is chosen and you don't need that much lava.


 * Each pixel represents an 8x8 square (at this current level of zoom). The map will choose a colour corresponding to the most abundant surface block.
 * I.e. In a quarter of a chunk you have 17 blocks of lava, 16 sand, 16 grass, 15 stone. Since the most abundant is lava, the pixel will come up as red.


 * I don't know how it chooses when there is a tie, but I think it goes by block id# (lower is prefered by the map)
 * Qcdynamics 06:13, 29 May 2011 (UTC)

Update?
Do maps update as you place new items? Or do you have to make a new one? 21:02, 29 May 2011 (UTC)
 * They update, but they have a "fog of war" which means you have to hold the map near the update to register it. --Yurisho 21:05, 29 May 2011 (UTC)
 * Okay, thanks. That makes sense.7.png

Direction of map
It seems to me that any map would be (by default) with north as up. However, I have a map which has east as up, and suspect that this is due to the angle at which I crafted it. I would guess that each map "snaps" to one of the 16 angles on the map to use as "up" on the map. Confirm/deny? Darkid 21:50, 31 May 2011 (UTC)
 * They should always be east. There isn't a variable for it: Map Item Format. Jaxad0127 02:56, 1 June 2011 (UTC)
 * The Sun rises in the North. IE North is up on the map. Assassin10

Vanilla only, right?
"It is already possible to clone maps with the /item and /give command (for example, "/give player1 358:2 1" will give 1 map_2 to player1. If an admin gives themselves a new map (using /give player1 358) then that map will be the default map but if there currently is no crafted map_0 then that map will be blank. Also other plugins/commands that allow a damagevalue such as fullchest allow you to clone maps. "

While I have no problem with mentioning that mods and plugins that allow damage values will let you clone maps besides 0, this led me to believe the vanilla server had been changed to allow damage values. /item does not exist on my 1.6.6 server, and /give does not allow an itemID:damagevalue notation, returning a "There's no item with id 358:2" error when tried exactly as written in the article currently. Need to be edited or clarified?

Cannot Create
Okay, ya see, I have tried to make the map. But when I attempt to create the map, it doesnt show up. I have the compass surrounded by 8 paper. I am also updated to 6.6. WHAT IS UP?! D: --CrusaderDeleters 10:08 PM (EST) 6/5/11
 * Tried re-installing minecraft? Updating it again? -- TheKax 07:30, 2 July 2011 (UTC)

Confusing
This page seems to spend a lot of time discussing how maps *should* be, rather than how they actually are in game, or how you'd go about doing the tasks described. In need of a rewrite? CMaster 15:31, 13 June 2011 (UTC)

Bugs fixed?
I've tried to reproduce the bug which crashes the client when there's void abyss visible from the top of the map (I've used WorldEdit with SinglePlayer Commands to remove few chunks and then used a map, it only shows yellow/gray pixels) and the bug which increments the counter of the map if you break something with it. I couldn't reproduce both. Are they fixed? I542 16:42, 15 June 2011 (UTC)

Clone maps?
The page says that you can clone maps by holding shift when you click is this inaccurate as I've tried that and it does nothing but move the idem between bag and belt. Daropedia 13:11, 16 June 2011 (UTC)

Map bug?
Is it buggy when you create the second map when you're off the map area of the first map and it continues to create the first map no matter how far away you are from where the first map is? Multiplayer continued to do that to me.

I'm also having this, reproduced the same problem 4 times by running off the "original" map while having other maps in the inventory. Result was a clone of the first map. --Llamatron 12:04, 25 November 2011 (UTC)

"Enlarged Map"
Under "Bugs":

"Walking into water on a server with a map in your hands or inventory enlarges it and also prevents the grey icon from moving. This can be corrected by disconnecting and reconnecting."

This isn't true. If it were, the entire world would "enlarge" when you're underwater. It's simply you view of it that changes, making it see bigger. Am I wrong? HappyEmoKid1 18:09, 11 July 2011 (UTC)

Map Clones
Update 1.6.6: "Shift-clicking an item in the crafting window now only moves the crafted item into the player's inventory"

This prevents maps from being cloned legally anymore without inventory editors. (Cloned maps all update together and display other players on the map) Editing Map to show past tense. Should that paragraph be moved to the trivia section? --HexZyle 04:39, 15 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Oh, it seems Notch is going to re-add the shift-clicking ability in 1.8. Looking forward to it :D --HexZyle 05:49, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

Map Breaking Bug
The bug about breaking a block with a map changing it's name makes sense (if the damage value increases, the map will change), however this bug seems fixed by now. Safe to remove? Grissess 15:06, 18 July 2011 (UTC)

Maps broken when mapping chunks from a different world?
Hi... I created a small private, dedicated server for some of my family and friends.

I merged together my single player world with the multiplayer world using mcedit, and so far everything has been just fine. I created a map in the custom placed world, but now whenever I make a map it is ALWAYS map_0, I can't see my location, some parts have already been explored, and it never updates.

Neonnicko 01:41, 1 August 2011 (UTC)

Map centre: YOUR location on crafting, not that of table
I had worked this out on my own: I found the corner points of my map and did some easy arithmetic to find the centre coordinates, and they corresponded to a block a few away from my crafting table. As I was editing the page, however, it occured to me that this might be due to the 8x8 size of the map pixels, and possible inaccuracy: would a map crafted less than 8 blocks away from a previous one be identical, or would the pixels correspond to different but overlapping 8x8 block areas, and so might my "centre point" just be the centre or corner of the 8x8 block pixel that my workbench is on? I haven't investigated this, but someone else might (or maybe I'll get curious enough).

At any rate, if it's a coincidence it's a pretty unlikely one, so I decided to be bold and edit the page with my information. Machegav 06:38, 11 September 2011 (UTC)


 * To test this, you could ride a minecart (or flowing water) passing by the crafting table, and click on it as you go past (as you can use a crafting table quite a distance from it before your window closes) and then craft the map where your minecart stops --HexZyle 23:41, 13 September 2011 (UTC)

home
i cant find my house is there a way to get pointed in the right direction? please answer!!!!!


 * This is an encyclopedia, not minecraftworld helpdesk. Click here to go to the site where people will help you out --HexZyle 18:38, 30 September 2011 (UTC)

Cloning Question
Hey is there a way to clone it now? (1.9PR4) According to the aricle you're spose to shift click. I tried that with both the ingredients in the left and the map on the left. Nothing seems to clone it. Any help of what I'm doing wrong guys? Geonightman 15:45, 21 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Try making another map at the same location as a previous map.


 * Confirming this, seems to work.

Mod Idea
Who would like a map system where, starting from the center of the world, spirals outwards in a grid based pattern. Then, the map that gets crafted in a particular grid is what all people receive there. Also, the zoom would be 1:1. –Preceding unsigned comment was added by 121.218.162.35 (Talk&#124;Contribs) 08:09, October 23, 2011. Please sign your posts with

Creative Mode
Maps seem to no be able to be used in creative mode. perhaps this should be mentioned in the wiki?

Release 1.0.0
I have just tested creating maps with vanilla minecraft release 1.0.0 single player and have adjusted the text in the behaviour section. For this test I used a minecraft cleanly installed from the latest minecraft 1.0.0 jar from minecraft.net/download, generated a survival mode world from seed 2581923 and gathered resources to create several maps. I then traveled to the corner of each region (x 512 z 512; x -512 z 512; x -512 z -512; and x 512 z -512) and created a map there without using the shift key when picking up the map. After each map I immediately created a second map at the same exact location but held the shift key down to try to clone the map just created. Each non-shift pickup created a map centered at the player's location, as expected. However, each second map picked up holding the the shift key resulted in a clone of the same map_0, and not the map previously created - see sample images at right. All these tests were done in normal mode, no nether portals, no mods, no third party edits of any kind. -Aurelius 14:31, 22 December 2011 (UTC)

map of the end dimension
Is it possible to map the end? If so someone needs to add a picture to the article. Darkychao 19:10, 23 December 2011 (UTC)

Draw on the map
Which program can do this?23:18, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

Is this really a bug?
On the "Bugs" section for maps, it says that the arm is rotated to show the back of the arm. But is this really a bug? If you held a map in real life, you would hold it with the palms of your hands, not the back of them. I think this should be moved from the "Bugs" section to the "Trivia" section. Does anyone else agree? Stillinpreschool 07:07, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Having several maps in creative
I was really frustrated, that i couldn't find out how to create a map_1 in creative, because when i took it from the selection list, it just made a copy of map_0. Now i realized you just need to craft it on a crafting table.

Feel stupid about this but,
I was reading the article about maps. Under usage refers to SSP and SMP. there is no info on this website that I would find that told what this meant. after Googling it I was like oh duh.. however maybe we can make the pages or provide a link to a external wiki that would explain what these abbreviations meant

Usage
 * Maps are mostly used to give the player a sense of direction when lost. In SSP it can also be used to re-locate mineral deposits. In SMP, players are able to view others' maps and explorations by giving one another different maps.