Tutorials/Things not to do

Most tutorials are about what to do. This one is about what not to do.

Video
For those of you who don't like to read, and would rather learn using visual information, check out this video for most of these things not to do click here for seventeen of the most common things you shouldn't do.

Don't dig straight down
This one is obvious. If you mine the block you're standing on, you're quite likely to fall straight into a cave system and take potentially fatal (or extreme) falling damage, killed by mobs, dig into lava and lose your inventory, or fall into a dungeon and be massacred. Notch has even added a splash text to this effect. It is always safer to mine in a staircase pattern, or simply to find an open-mouth cave on the surface.

A 2×1 hole straight down is still not great nor totally safe but it will reduce the problem significantly, since you won't have to stand on the block that you're removing. Another way if you want to dig straight down is mine 4 blocks in a square shape, stand on one and break the one next to it, hop onto that, and do the same for the next. Make sure you don't dig two down from the one you step onto, you have to be able to jump back up. This will take more resources, but will let you dig a hole down that you can return with. Note that in order to get back into your mine/hole, you need to descend a ladder, and in a large hole you are liable to miss said ladder, fall down the hole, and die from fall damage.

An even safer method is to dig a 3×1 hole, with a ladder down the middle. (multiple ladders may also work) It's worth (re-adding) some side blocks every 5 to 8 levels, in case you fall off the ladder (if necessary). The wider hole gives you room for both those side blocks and torches, and means you always have someplace safe to stand when digging. Such a shaft is also a good start for shaft mining the area.


 * Note: If you happen to find a cave this way, it would be wise to go back to the surface and get better supplies if you don't have any with you, as the odds of coming across a dungeon are much higher than some would think.

Digging straight down can also lead to getting stuck in the hole you've dug -- but pillar jumping can help there.

A safe way to dig straight down is to get a stack of ladders and dig a pit 3 down (without standing on it!) then build ladders down one side of it. jump in, and hit shift. This will cause you to hold on to the ladder, where you can safely dig under you (if you're still holding shift). If it is still safe to drop down, do so, building more ladders. Repeat until you reach an ore or an obstacle, taking measures to collect ores or removing the obstacle, then continuing your pit. Your mining will be decreased from being on a ladder, but it's a small price to pay for your life.

Be careful not to dig straight down while mining ores! This is a video that illustrates that.

Don't dig straight up
This isn't quite so obvious. However, if you mine the block above you, all sorts of nasty things could fall onto you. Water, lava, or hostile mobs can kill you by drowning, burning, or attacking you to death. Gravel and sand can also suffocate you, although this has been slightly nerfed. Placing torches underneath where you dig up can prevent suffocation, but you may still drown or burn. Placing ladders, if you have any, will protect against everything but mobs (in a single-block-wide shaft, the ladder may slow the mobs down somewhat). Be extremely wary if you hear noises above you, as you may happen upon a dungeon. As of the 1.9 beta, if there is a fluid one block above you, you will observe a dripping effect (assuming particles are turned on); blue means water, red means lava and green drips mean there's a slime above you. If you see this, be very careful! Remember that you will not see a drip if you're digging up next to the edge of a lava or water lake, but the fluid may still pour out over you. Always have somewhere safe to retreat to.

Don't stand right in front of the block you are mining
This isn't quite so obvious either, But if you mine the blocks in front (while being very close to the block) all sorts of things could happen, You could walk into a ravine, or walk straight into a monster spawner, or even worse, have lava flow right onto you. Use the ambience to your advantage. If you hear a weird noise, lava, or water, proceed with caution.

Don't look at Endermen
If your cross-hairs touch any part of an enderman's upper body, it will attack you. If you want to go Enderman hunting, do this with a pumpkin on your head. That way you can look at the enderman without him attacking you. Another, although slightly harder way to kill an enderman is by attacking its feet.

Don't turn all your Bones into Bone Meal
You want to keep some bones in case you come across some wolves.

Don't try to kill Creepers without a bow
Creepers aren't quite like other monsters, as they explode when they get too close to you. This means that you should get a bow and kill them from a distance. If you are inexperienced or have not developed mob fighting skills or do not have a bow, do not attack them with a melee weapon unless there is no other choice or have a diamond sword-Be extremely careful, however. If you do, try critical sprint-hitting them to knock them back and do extra damage. The creeper should be knocked back a fair distance, enough for you to launch a second attack.

Or build a 5 block tall structure and attack them from there. If you do decide to do this, try to use a sword or tool so you can do more damage to them. If you are fighting close range with a creeper near an area of importance (your house, rare ores etc.), you should lure it away to a safe area before engaging it. If that fails, try hitting the Creeper, then back away. Do this until the Creeper dies. If your sword has Knockback enchanted then you will not have to move back. In relation, if the Creeper is in water, it will be knocked back further, hopefully enough to cancel the countdown.

Another method is to place obstacles in the path of the creeper, although this doesn't work in recent snapshots, which feature enhanced mob pathfinding (As of 12w05a, Creepers will find a way through obstacles, so unless you're 12w04a or lower obstacles may not work as intended). Building a pillar at least three blocks higher than the surrounding terrain beneath yourself and remaining on top of the pillar may prevent the creeper from getting close enough to you to detonate, although it may be best to pillar up a few extra blocks for safety. Be careful, though: one skeleton can quickly ruin your fun. Digging a hole at least two blocks deep in front of the creeper can trap it, but since the creeper's AI was improved, creepers will most likely just walk around the hole unless you put a sign in the top-most block, which will trick it into falling in.

The very simplest solution for encountering a creeper if you are ill-prepared is to simply run away. Creepers are slower than the player, even when the player isn't sprinting, making a getaway feasible. You may not have this option in caves or other tight spaces, but this tactic works well in wide-open spaces such as plains or deserts. Be careful, however, not to run into even more trouble, such as other mobs (especially other creepers), deep pits, or pools of lava.

If all else fails, try to get the creeper to explode as far away from you as possible. Ironically, this is the easiest to do on the "Hard" difficulty setting, since creepers can "count down" to detonation when they are further away from you than on other settings. It is even possible in some situations to persuade a creeper to explode without causing any damage to the player at all.

If you should ever face a creeper and you only have a wooden sword or axe, just hit it, take one step back and repeat until it is killed. The loot will come in handy for future encounters and, with practice, can even be done with bare fists, which means you can beat one even if you just entered a newly created world.

Don't try to kill zombies or Endermen with a bow
Until you build a mob farm or skeleton dungeon grinder, use your arrows sparingly. They are best saved for more dangerous mobs, such as skeletons, creepers (look above), and spiders. Zombies are easier to kill with a sword, and safer as well, because the high attack speed will keep them away from you. The exception is when the zombie is burning or your sword is enchanted with Fire Aspect, in which case, you will be set on fire when hit. This also applies to passive mobs. Endermen are completely immune to arrows, and you should avoid shooting them entirely. If you have a wolf or two, why bother wasting your sword's durability on the zombie? Just punch the zombie and the wolves will take care of the rest. Meanwhile you can get on with killing creepers and skeletons.

Don't venture outside on your first night
Unless you are an experienced player or are on Peaceful mode, venturing outside during the night is very dangerous. You will almost certainly be killed by mobs. Deserts and plains are the safest places to be outside at night, because you can see monsters coming from a distance; forests and jungles can be extremely dangerous, because you can easily be cornered, or surprised by a creeper coming around a tree.

Don't mine valuable blocks with low-level equipment
If you don't have an iron pickaxe for gold, diamond, redstone, and other valuable ores, they won't drop their contents. Instead, they'll just break (eventually). Likewise you need a diamond pickaxe for obsidian. A good indication is the amount of time it takes for them to appear to be destroyed. If you have been mining a block for more than 4 seconds (with the exception of Obsidian, for which it takes 9.4 seconds with a diamond pickaxe), then it is very unlikely to drop resources when destroyed and you will just lose the item you tried to mine.
 * Wooden planks have better uses than tool crafting, and should only be used as such when there is no alternative or when you are just starting. When you start, you should make a wooden pickaxe, mine 19 stone blocks, and then you will never again need the wooden pickaxe, or any other wooden tool.  11 of the 19 can be used for a full set of stone tools, and the remaining 8 for a furnace. You can then burn the wooden pickaxe in the furnace.
 * You should use golden tools only if you need especially fast gathering of resources for a short period (for example, working underwater). Gold also enchants very well, so gold tools are useful if you want any enchantment which would otherwise be difficult to obtain, such as silk touch.  However, note that gold pickaxes can't mine the advanced ores, regardless of enchantments.
 * Cobblestone tools are fairly slow, but they are so cheap as to be disposable, and two of them will last as long as an iron tool. (Longer, with Item Repair.)  These are good for branch mining, digging out lakes, harvesting jungle trees, and other bulk work.

Don't waste valuable equipment on low-value jobs
Diamonds are worth their weight in... well, DIAMOND! Using your diamond pickaxe for bulk mining may be faster, but will notch the pickaxe a little more every time. Using it for digging dirt won't even be faster. Pretend that every diamond you have is the last one you will ever have - plan for the worst, be pleasantly surprised by everything non-bad that happens. Diamond items last long enough that they're as likely to be lost to a "bad death" as they are to wear out, so the other question is when and where you're willing to risk them. Never use iron, gold or diamond for hoes, as the only gain is durability (and for gold, not even that).
 * Iron is faster than stone and lasts twice as long. The sword and armor are also noticeably more powerful.  Iron ore is fairly common, but not unlimited, so don't get careless about spending it.  These should be your go-to tools "in the field", that is when travelling or adventuring.  Enchantments can make them much more useful, and getting "the wrong enchantment" is much less annoying when it's just iron at stake.
 * Diamond tools are for special missions -- when you want stuff that will last a long time (but not forever), and work fast. However, the supply is strictly limited, so choose carefully how you use them and risk them!  Given that you want to get the most out of your diamond items, you should enchant them as powerfully as you can.
 * Branch mining with a diamond pickaxe can easily use it up before you find enough diamonds to replace it. This goes double for using it for large excavations or building, or digging your way around the Nether.
 * Similarly, a diamond axe will be used up by a few jungle trees
 * Shovels also get used up, but are much cheaper than other tools, only one diamond apiece. If you have many diamonds, an "eterna-shovel" may be a decent time-saver.
 * Swords only cost two diamonds, and can give you a key edge in fights, so they are worthwhile, but remember they also increase the possible cost if you do die.
 * Diamond armor should pretty much be saved for the Ender Dragon, until you've got enough diamonds stockpiled that you can risk losing your investment. (24 for a full set of armor!)

Of course, if a villager blacksmith sells diamond tools, that changes things! You can trade renewable resources for store-bought iron and diamond tools, so use those to your heart's content.

Don't play with fire
This is a no-brainer. Fire, wood and leaves result in even more fire! Though as of Beta 1.6 that wildfires no longer burn indefinitely, this can destroy chunks of forests, as well as accidentally burning down part of your house. Follow what Smokey the Bear says: "Only you can prevent wildfires."

Also, never, ever carry a bucket of lava in the hotbar unless you're about to use it! You should even avoid carrying flint and steel (or a Fire Charge) in the hotbar, at least when you're in a forest or other flammable area. If you are making use of lava or flint and steel, have a bucket of water handy. Then, if you make a mistake (we all do), you can quickly put out the flames. You can also try to punch the fire when it's created, and it will be immediately extinguished (hopefully it hasn't spread already).

Try not to sprint in your first days of game
Sprinting depletes the hunger bar at a rate of 1/2 a food unit every 40 meters, or 7 seconds, and at the beginning of the game, food is essential. Sprinting with no food can prove deadly.

If you feel up to it, you could hunt zombies during the night, or wait at dawn until all the zombies and skeletons have died and collect the rotten flesh and bones. The rotten flesh may poison you, but it will still heal more than you will lose by poisoning (on Easy & Normal, if you have been poisoned), and the bones can be crafted and used to create your first little wheat patch.

Now that you have a steady food supply it's safer to sprint.

Do not explore caves in Hardcore Mode without a ton of equipment
The moon does not prevent the spawning of mobs, meaning mobs can spawn outside, and at night in unlit caves, as well. If you do not have a bow and a bunch of arrows as well as a high-damage sword, don't mine. If you do it, it won't end well. Dig a quarry. You shouldn't be playing Hardcore if you can't fight mobs. Remember that it if you die once in Hardcore the world gets deleted, so there is absolutely no point to safe-keeping items far away from dangerous places because you won't be respawning to collect them if you die.

And don't even try Hardcore until you're familiar with the game mechanics by playing a few games on lower difficulties first.

Don't dig underwater
In survival mode, blocks take a longer time to break while the player is underwater. That's why there is a high risk of drowning while digging underwater, if you are not close to the surface. Placing signs, ladders, iron bars, glass panes, a door or fence on nearby blocks can be used to produce air pockets where you can catch a breath and recover your air supply. Since all blocks displace a full block of water as long as there is something in the block space, placing a "partial" block (such as an iron bar or a sign) will create a full block air pocket. You can also create air pockets by digging out dirt or sand under an overhang (the block above must not be sand or gravel). You can also breathe under water with the aid of a bucket.

Don't build an unused or poor large wall around your house
If built correctly, walls can be used as excellent defenses and sniping points. However, if not built correctly, they are nearly useless, and spiders can get over. To deter spiders, make the wall 4 blocks high with an overhang on the outer side. Spiders cannot climb through overhangs and cannot jump higher than 3 blocks. The overhanging blocks (or signs, if you have a lot of wood) can be spaced one block apart laterally, as spiders are 2 blocks wide.

Avoid building a weak house
Dirt, sand, snow, and Netherrack are weak materials with a low blast resistance, so they are quite easily destroyed by creepers. Avoid building your main base out of dirt. Instead, use cobblestone, which is a cheap, abundant, and tough alternative.

Later on in the game you may wish to make your main base out of bricks, stone brick, stone, and possibly, obsidian. You could also use End Stone if you make an Ender chest, or go to The End, and kill the Ender Dragon and mine some End Stone.

A list of low blast-resistance materials can be found here. Also, if you use an inventory editor, be extremely careful not to use stone, stone bricks, or cobblestone with silverfish in them (also known as Monster Eggs, silverfish blocks, or "Block 97").

Don't build houses mainly out of wood


Yes, wood may look pretty, and everyone loves the texture. It also, however, has a great number of practical disadvantages, compared with other materials.


 * Wood has about half the blast resistance (15) of cobblestone and most stone-based blocks (30). This means that explosions will do far more damage to a wooden structure.


 * Wood is flammable, and other than wool, is the only building material where this is the case.
 * Because wood is flammable, Netherrack can't be used as light sources in a wooden building, and building fireplaces is dangerous as well.
 * Aside from the fires you provide, lightning can set a wooden roof afire. While walls might be set afire by an adjacent strike, this is rare, and can be made more so by an overhang on the roof.  Of course, this is no hazard in a desert biome.


 * Wood is however, efficient to collect in large quantities. A stack of wood blocks can be harvested in the same time as a stack of cobble: but yields four times as many wooden planks. For large constructions, such as mob traps, wood planks are a good choice. (Be careful around fire and lava!)

Wooden roofing may be easy and look nice, but it is vulnerable to being set afire by lightning. Either do the roof in a fireproof material (brick is classic), or have a fireproof layer beneath to limit the spread of fire. If you do use wood walls, consider buttressing or trim with either smooth stone, cobblestone, sandstone, or obsidian. It will not only look better, but will have better blast resistance against explosions.

Don't goof around in the Nether
If you're in the Nether, come well-prepared with a bow, a few stacks of arrows, lightly enchanted iron armor, and iron or diamond sword, unless you're playing on Peaceful or Creative (you can only die in Creative by the /kill command or falling into the Void). However, unless you're on Hardcore, leave your really valuable equipment at home: an inventory-incinerating death in lava is more likely in the Nether than it is in the Overworld.


 * Do not dig straight down—this is even more important in the Nether, where one-block thick overhangs above lava or high drops are the rule, rather than the exception. Be careful on gravel as well—you may dig one block and discover you were standing on a gravel outcrop over a chasm.


 * Do not carry full stacks of diamonds or valuable diamond gear in the Nether, unless you've set up a secure nether base or are playing in hardcore mode. And even if you are, a diamond or Efficiency-enchanted pickaxe can be more trouble than it's worth, as it will blast through netherrack floors and walls entirely too fast.


 * Do not build structures out of anything weaker than iron doors (25). Ghasts can and will blow up and set fire to lesser materials.


 * Do not mine Glowstone unless it's near the ground without first constructing a cobblestone platform underneath it. Otherwise a Ghast might blow up the Glowstone and send you falling to your death.


 * Do not venture into the Nether without flint and steel. Ghast fireballs can deactivate portals, and you'll need to relight them or suicide will be your only ticket out of the Nether. Ghasts' fireballs can also relight them, but this is dangerous. This is now slightly less dangerous as Fire Charges can be obtained in the Nether, although Wither Skeletons are still dangerous.


 * Do not plan on using a water bucket as your defense against death in a lava pool. Water, in any form except for hacked in water blocks, doesn't work in the Nether. Try to gain the necessary materials for Fire Resistance potions as soon as possible and use the potions as your defense instead.


 * Do not attack Zombie Pigmen without ample preparation for the consequences. Zombie Pigmen work as a team; attack one, and all the Zombie Pigmen in the area will become aggressive. They're harder-hitting and faster than regular Zombies, so it's better to kill single, isolated Zombie Pigmen unless you're well-equipped and experienced enough to take on large groups. A building of sorts to retreat in is advisable at all times, preferabely with firing holes in the walls, even if you don't have a bow, you still can see through them. If you can't get away fast enough if you hit one, your best chance of survival is to hit them away with a sword with a knockback enchantment. ( don't try to hit them in lava though. Zombie Pigmen don't burn in lava)


 * Do not try to sleep in the Nether. If you right-click a bed in the Nether, it will explode and possibly kill you. If you are on an overhang, you could fall into lava. If you die in the Nether (other than Hardcore mode), you will wake up in the Overworld. This is a good thing—in single-player or with no other players near where you were, the Nether chunk will unload, and you'll have plenty of time to re-equip yourself and maybe even go back to retrieve your stuff.

Don't build TNT traps out of dirt
It is time consuming to rebuild dirt traps. Instead, try a more explosion-resistant material, such as obsidian. Cobblestone also works, but some blocks will be destroyed. Or you can use water to avoid terrain damage.

Water has the ability to absorb the destructive aspect of an explosion, but generally not the physics or health damage, which means that your target will probably get launched. (Or killed, if it was a mob or a non-creative-mode player.)

Don't use non-weapon tools for damaging mobs
Carry a sword with you until you craft a bow. Other tools cause less damage to mobs, and they lose durability faster.

An axe has the added advantage of the ability to chop wood faster as well as being a decent weapon. At some point you WILL want to replace it with a stone or better sword though. A diamond axe does more damage in the long run than a iron sword, but only do this if you are desperate (i.e. your sword breaks in the middle of combat.)

An axe is one tier worse than a sword. A pickaxe is two tiers worse, meaning a stone sword does as much damage per hit as a diamond pickaxe.

Don't leave gaps in your shelter
You've got a shelter. Shelters protect you from the outside world. Unless your shelter requires the outside to, well, be a shelter, don't leave gaps. Who knows what might get inside?

If you really feel the need to see what's going on outside you can put in a window made from glass or glass panes. A tile (or half a block) can be used as well, as long as it is on top of at least 2 blocks from the floor, or skeletons may hit you. Also be aware of your surroundings, hills and such, for the same reason.

Don't set off TNT from up close
TNT explosions are very deadly from close by, especially chains of explosives set up. Whenever possible, use redstone wiring and detonate from a distance to ensure safety. After the Beta 1.7 update, it is no longer possible to set off TNT by using your hand. If you decide to set off some TNT from a distance it is advised to use repeaters to give more time to get away from the explosion/explosions. Running is a good suggestion as well.

Going around a corner will put said corner between you and the blast, and for underground mining this is the easiest method if you haven't found any redstone yet.

Don't make a fireplace in a wood house
Fireplaces look very nice, especially in homes made of logs or planks. However, you are discouraged to do so, because of the chance of the fire spreading. You can, however, build a fireplace and make sure no flammable blocks are around (at least six blocks away) unless they're well-shielded by non-flammable blocks. However, be aware this is not foolproof and your house may still catch on fire. As of Beta 1.6, fires don't spread forever, but fire can still destroy a good chunk of your home.

If you really want to make a wood house and still have a nice fireplace, make it in a swamp biome. It turns out that in swamps, fire doesn't actually spread. It's a neat trick to try out!

Hint: Make a fireplace ONLY with blocks of bricks, Nether Quartz, Nether Brick or cobblestone/stone/stone bricks. They look nice and don't burn.

Don't kill passive mobs with a sword if you have flint and steel
If you're already carrying flint and steel while you're hunting, save yourself some time. When hunting a mob that yields meat (pork, chicken, steak), using a flint and steel cooks the meat for you. This is especially useful on chickens, since they are easy to kill, and raw chicken can inflict food poisoning. You'll save coal and time you would have spent cooking it, and a flint and steel costs less to make and has fewer uses than your trusty iron or diamond sword. However, be careful not to set fire to yourself, or to try it on mobs near water; if the mob extinguishes himself, he will not drop cooked meats when re-lit. Try and set as many on fire at a time to maximize efficiency, and watch out for wooden houses or trees. Lava also works, and it doesn't have durability, but it kills mobs quickly, so be sure to remove it. Plus, remember that lava will destroy any items that fall into it, so be careful if you decide to use lava to hunt mobs. Another alternative is to use the Looting enchantment, as it provides a higher drop rate than regular weapons. Some may deem this far more useful due to the massive amounts of fuel they may possess. Coal is easily obtained anywhere, and blaze rods are easily obtained through a blaze farm. The time required to cook it could be bypassed by farming, mining, etc.

Solution: Fire Aspect.

Be careful using these methods if it concerns a chicken, cow or pigfarm, since you might kill all your flock/cattle and you need at least 2 of each for reproduction.

Beware of the durability level, too. If it goes down, you'll need to waste another iron ingot on it, not to mention a flint, too.

Don't kill sheep if you have shears
Sheep drop only 1 block of wool when you kill them. If you have shears, you can right-click on a sheep with shears which will give you 1-3 blocks of wool. Not only that, if you right-click a sheep with a dye in your hand, the color of the sheep will change to that color. Sheep eat grass to re-grow their wool, and will have the same color they had before. This makes wool of all different colours renewable. Note that baby sheep cannot be sheared.

Don't make too many planks
Think of your stack of logs as a "compressed" version of a stack of planks. As soon as you make planks, your wood takes up four times the room. You could also need to make charcoal if there is a coal shortage and a low supply of logs, however this is pointless if there is a forest nearby.

Similarly, don't make too many sticks. If you have a lot of extra planks, turning them into sticks will double the amount of space they consume.

Don't run around with a bucket of lava in your hand
Lava is one of the worst ways to die since you usually lose everything you were carrying. It is easy to accidentally right click laying the lava spring right in front of you leading to a horrible death. Even if it doesn't kill you, it may destroy whatever you were working on, or perhaps trash your lair. Do not keep lava in the hotbar unless you are immediately (or very shortly) going to use it, for exactly the same reason (perhaps unless you're playing PvP).

Don't forget to carry a bucket of water at all times
If you are going to carry anything with you at all times, it should be a bucket of water. A bucket of water is more useful and more vital than any other item you could ever carry. Leaving it in your inventory simply is not sufficient as in a life or death situation you don't have time to find it in your inventory. Always leave your bucket of water on the hot bar. Water buckets rarely come into use, but are instrumental as life-saving devices when they do. If a player falls into lava, placing water will extinguish the fire and allow them to climb out. Water can also create obsidian walkways over pools of lava. Water buckets provide a fast method of safely descending cliffs: players may place water, wait, then reclaim the water and fall into the disappearing waterfall. If falling near a wall, players may even save their lives by placing water on that wall and holding the jump key. Pick up your water after using it, so it can keep saving your life.

You can also use them to cross dangerous lava fields in deep caves - just place the water on a surface other than lava (such as stone) and then you can cross the lava field happily! Remember: you only need 1 bucket, just pick the water back up after. You can also use them to place above you to climb up walls. Don't underestimate water's ability to help you out of a tough situation.

You'll almost never need more than 2 or 3 buckets of water at any time -- one full of water, one empty to pick up springs, and perhaps a spare to take home some lava. Remember that a 2×2 "infinite water" pool works both ways -- you can bucket springs and empty the buckets into it.

Another use for a water bucket would be repelling Endermen. Endermen are hurt by water, and if they come into contact with it, they teleport away.

Don't start a sugarcane farm right outside or near your home
It's hard to identify a creeper hiding in sugarcane in the fraction of the second you have before he starts his timer, and by the time you've gotten your sword out, your house will have a hole in it. However, it is completely safe if you use double fences, light up your farm, close the gate(s), and remove any higher ground near the farm.

Don't forget to bring at least one full stack of gravel or sand if you're mining deep
Lava is the biggest problem when mining. Find yourself trying to mine through a large lava pit? Mine up until you're above it, then sneak to the edge and keep dropping gravel or sand into the pit to fill it. No need to reorder your mine plotting or mess around with obsidian and no worry about accidentally tunneling into a hot spot.

Don't risk your life for diamonds
If you see diamond ore, especially on the ground, mine away the blocks around it. If you see lava, take care to completely remove it and ensure you won't come into danger while attempting to extract the diamond. Though Diamond is rare, it's not worth losing iron and gold ores. This goes for gold, Lapis Lazuli, redstone, obsidian, mossy coblestone and to a lesser extent iron, coal, and emerald. Everything else should be gathered where it is safe, on the surface (dirt, gravel, stone), and lava should be collected up to 36 at a time from the Nether or from surface lava pools. If you wouldn't risk your life in real life for it I don't recommend risking your Minecraft life for it!

Don't break into the void
Don't try breaking in the void. As if, once you die, you can't get your stuff back. Athough you can fly in the void in creative, it is very hard to do it, due to the darkness.

Don't surround your bed with blocks
If there is not a free space next to your bed, you're gonna wake up standing on your bed. If there is only one block of free space over your bed, you're gonna wake up inside a block. When you are inside of the block, you lose your health. Redstone may kill you too. You can remove the block where you are, but must be quick. If you are too slow, you will die. After your death, you will respawn in your original spawn point. A notification comes up when you get there, reading "Your home bed was missing or obstructed".

Don't live near the spawn in multiplayer
If you are in multiplayer, live away from the spawn in a hidden area. It is easy for a newcomer to come in and see your house and just grief it or come into your house, kill you and steal your stuff. Try to remember the way to the spawn and the way to your house. Ideally, you should always build your home underground or underwater on a multiplayer server (when you can't protect your home from griefing using a plugin), especially if you're playing on a server where griefing is allowed.

Don't attack more than one creeper at a time
Even if you have a diamond sword and can get in enough hits before the creeper blows, don't do it (unless you have enchanted diamond armor)! Especially in hard mode where you won't be able to get away fast enough to escape the blast. This isn't especially obvious, but if there's a creeper behind another creeper and you do this, you will very likely be blown up. If you have a (diamond) sword with knockback, it's safer to fight more monsters at one time. But still be (very) careful!

Although, it can be useful to use a creeper's explosion to kill other hostile mobs attacking you, including other creepers.

Don't use gold as your Tools or Armor
Even though gold tools do work much faster than diamonds, they have low durability. So rely on iron tools and armor. Iron tools and armor are important for Survival Mode until you find enough diamonds to craft diamond tools and armor. Other than that, you can rely on gold for golden apples, Golden Carrots for potions or food, powered rails, and a clock.


 * Unless you have a gold farm in the nether. If you do, then gold becomes an infinite resource.

Avoid eating poisonous foods without Milk on hand
When eating rotten flesh, it is wise to drink milk after eating it or you have chances of losing some of your hunger. Likewise, use spider eyes to make splash potions instead of eating them. However, if you stay completely still after eating, you can eat rotten flesh with a complete benefit and only half a hunger joint taken away from what you gained on normal difficulties.

Exception: Spider Eyes have a great nourishment value. They will quickly reduce two hearts upon consumption, but the hearts will be quickly restored and your food bar will not deplete as quickly. In non-threatening situations (daylight, at home, well lit mine) eating a spider eye will do more good in the long run. It's not advisable to eat a spider eye while battling mobs. Another alternative is to eat a lot of rotten flesh at once, because it just resets the timer to 30 seconds, so the hunger effect doesn't stack.

Don't grief up your spawn place
If you want to play with TNT, please don't use your spawn place for this. If you die and have not made or slept in a bed, you will spawn at this place, so if you dug where you spawn, you may take fall damage when respawning there. And always remember to mark the spawn point when spawning into a new world! You can always create a new world in creative mode to prevent this.

Don't PvP without the right equipment
It is dangerous to fight players without armor or weapons. And even worse, they can take your hard earned valuables such as diamond, gold, and iron. In a PvP battle players normally take the best equipment to fight the other player like enchanted diamond armor or diamond swords. Don't take gold weapons as well and use lava to burn the player if he has no fire resistance potion on him.

Never ever leave home without a sword or bow
Monsters like Skeletons and Zombies like to hide in the shade. They will not be hurt because the sunlight will not hit them directly, making them invincible to being burned. Unless it's on peaceful, get a sword. Once you have string, craft a bow.

Don't attack Iron Golems
Iron Golems sound like a reliable source of iron, right? Think again. Iron Golems only drop 3-6 iron ingots (a rose too) when they're killed, have 50 hearts (compared to your 10) and have an attack strength of 7.5 to 11 hearts of damage per attack. Also, killing Iron Golems will lower your loyalty by five points, and if your loyalty goes below -15, Iron Golems will permanently be rendered hostile towards you until you trade with villagers.

Don't use an axe on leaves
Using an axe on leaves is a bad idea, because it will drain the uses your axe has. If you use it on all of the leaves on a tree, not even an iron axe will last very long. It is just as fast to use your fists, or any non tool items, so never use an axe on a leaf. However, the one tool that is made for leaves is shears, which can be used to collect placeable leaf blocks. However, these leaf blocks could potentially hog up your inventory, so you may not want to do this, unless you wish to make a structure out of leaves. If you'll be cutting through a lot of leaves, you may choose to make a few disposable stone swords to use as machetes; this also works on the cobwebs you find in abandoned mineshafts.

Don't attack tiny slimes with a sword
Tiny slimes have the lowest health on the game and do no damage- so low that they can be taken down with a single punch. Knowing this, you shouldn't waste your sword on them because it's not necessary, and will waste your sword's durability. Tiny magma cubes have more health, meaning you can't kill it with one punch. And since they can hit you, a low tier sword could be handy.

Don't use a wooden door on Hard mode unless it's protected
On Hard mode, zombies can easily break down wooden doors and attack you in your base. You can either use an alternative (fence gates, iron doors,) protect your door (e.g. making a courtyard around it with fences and a gate, or place a door from inside the door-hole and open it.

Don't shoot paintings, boats, minecarts or Item Frames
Don't shoot these; the arrow will disappear. Also be careful with fishing rods, as they will destroy paintings.

Don't hit a skeleton with a sword enchanted with Knockback
This knocks it away and gives it more time to attack and knock you back so you can't kill the skeleton. This could kill you too so watch out when near a cliff, fire, or lava. Sharpness (preferably 5) is good for this. With the new 1.5 skeleton AI (shoot faster, shoot farther) this is more important.

Don't make a hoe out of anything other than cobblestone or wood
Although it may be tempting to have a diamond (or gold) hoe, DON'T BUILD ONE! Any hoe can till a dirt block at the blink of an eye. The only thing you can gain with making hoes out of minerals better than cobblestone is durability, but since wood and cobblestone are both renewable, making a hoe out of rare materials is a waste. In the early game, cobblestone is the optimum material for hoes. If you are like many players, you may find yourself with a surplus of iron after several hours of game play. If you intend to build a VERY large farm, making an iron hoe will save you a lot of time, running back and forth to make hoes. In this case, an iron hoe is a good idea. But if you are building a small or medium sized farm, stick to cobblestone.

Don't heal a Zombie Villager if there are other Zombies around
If you heal a zombie villager when other zombies are around, when the villager goes back to normal, all of the zombies will gang up on that one villager, and kill it, reversing what you just did. This does, however, buy you time to escape, as the zombies will be distracted by the villager.

Don't use Fortune on low-value blocks
Why would you use a Fortune-enchanted diamond pickaxe on stone? You will not get any extra cobble and you waste your pick's durability. A good idea is to bring an iron pick into a mine to get stone, iron and gold, which are not affected by Fortune.

Don't get too cocky
You may be doing well in that Hardcore world or Super Hostile map. However, all it takes is one careless mistake to see it all be for naught. Always make sure to wear the best armor available, and have some emergency armor, usually the second-best you have. Try to keep some stone tools, and put away your tools when they get worn out. You never know when you will buy the farm. The only exception is if you are in a big fight - say, the Wither boss. Iron armor will work fine and it is good not to risk diamond armor.

Try not to live in certain biomes
Some biomes are better to live in than others. Oceans are, of course, not advisable to build a beginner house in, due to the lack of trees, materials, or caves, however for advanced builders the flat aspect and monochrome surroundings might fit into their design. This also goes for the desert, which while devoid of trees is generally a flat biome, and is the perfect setting for pyramids and other exotic builds. The swamp and extreme hills biomes are not recommended as build sites due to witch and slime spawns in the former and long drops and few trees in the latter. The snow biome will periodically develop a layer of snow over dwellings, so build at your own risk. The jungle biome, while full of trees, is hard to build in due to crowding, and can be very dangerous to navigate at night. The plains or standard forest biomes are typically recommended for beginner players due to the availability of resources and spawn rates of friendly mobs. If you spawn near a mushroom biome, by all means, settle there! No monsters can spawn, and mooshrooms make infinite food sources with bowls.

Don't fight mobs in water (except creepers or endermen)
If you try to fight a skeleton in water, it will shoot really fast and try to knock you away. This could kill you if unarmored. If you are fighting zombies, even in the daytime, they will have the advantage of not burning. Creepers can still hurt you, but the damage is reduced when fighting them in water, and you will benefit from increased knockback. However, remember that your movement is hampered too.

Don't ride horses carelessly in the Nether
Horses are a great way to get around, whether you're in the overworld or the Nether. However, one must be careful in the Nether when riding, otherwise he'll ride into lava, set his horse on fire {either by riding into lava, being shot by a ghast or Blaze, and get it blown up by Ghasts. To minimize these dangers, here are some tips:
 * Splash potions of Fire Resistance: These can keep you and your horse safe from being burnt and if you accidentally ride into lava.
 * Horse armor: This reduces the damage taken by your horse if a Ghast shoots at you.
 * Splash potions of regeneration or instant healing: These can heal both you and your horse, and harm any Wither Skeletons or Zombie Pigmen that you encounter.
 * Armor for yourself: Wear this, for obvious reasons.
 * Food for the horse: This will heal your horse whenever he gets hurt.

One good thing about riding on horses is that you can outrun Zombie Pigmen if you accidentally attack one.

Don't build a Nether Portal at bedrock in survival mode
If you build a Nether Portal at the bedrock layer you will have a very good chance of spawning on small island near the lava ocean meaning that shelter area may be limited to only a few blocks of space and since there is likely a lot of room around you. This type of area can also hide ghasts trying to snipe you from the lava and deactivate your portal. Also glowstone and quartz may be very rare in this type of spawn and ladders will easily be destroyed by ghasts. It is reccomended that you build your portal above layer 20. You may even spawn on top of the lava and your first steps into the nether will be your death.

Don't build a portal underground
This will make a chance you will spawn under ground in the nether.

Don't fight bosses without the right equipment
If you find a End Portal or have the blocks to make the wither, get enchanted diamond armor, a sword, a bow, golden apples, useless blocks or ladders, and a pumpkin (Ender Dragon) or milk (wither) before fighting a boss. Also it's easier with more than one person.

Don't fight the Wither near important land
The Wither is a very easy way to grief your beautiful world or diamond castle. If you are planning to fight the wither, move very far away from important land or buildings. Withers make huge explosions when spawned and shoot out wither skulls that explode. Even your protection IV diamond armor or sharpness IV diamond sword wont stop the wither from destroying the world. The wither still takes a number of hits to be defeated from the most powerful of your weapon supply. The safest area to fight the wither is underground, in a cave. That way you can easily hit the wither without it going too far. When planning to fight the wither, pick the area carefully!

Don't be careless with your new pet wolf
A tamed wolf can be very useful. It can give you a hand when fighting mobs, create guards, or just keep you company when lonely. It can be easy to forget to make your wolf sit down when not using it since it will kill any mob you punch possibly resulting in your farm that was once teeming with animals to end up empty. Also when you are attacked by a mob or player, the wolf will stand up and come to you. That can be annoying when you are miles away from your house. After you spend enough time with your wolves, you are less likely to make those mistakes but still don't get too careless!

Don't immediately throw away your less valuable items
None of us want our chests hogged up with less valuable items right? All of us just throw it into lava right? All of us are making a mistake yes! Less valuable materials still have their uses! Say a creeper blew a hole in your animal farm and you are left without meat and then think about all that rotten flesh you just threw away? Rotten flesh makes a great emergency food as it's easy to get, still fills your food bar more than the hunger effect drains it. All that cobblestone that created 500 chests in your storage room has its uses! Cobblestone can fit really well with some blocks when building and can make cheap emergency tools! Even though its less valuable it still has some use in it. Think about what you are throwing away before you do.

Don't turn all of your cobblestone into stone bricks
Don't do this, just in case an your pickaxe broke and you have no cobblestone. Stone bricks cannot be crafted into a pickaxe and just think about all of your cobblestone you wasted. You need them to make stone pickaxes.

Don't overload your enchantments
Speaking about tools and armor, over-enchanting them can risk being unable to repair them. (In survival mode, anyway.) The anvil has a limit of 39 levels. Even if you have enough levels, an anvil will declare the repair work "too expensive". You can get into this fix by not renaming your items early (the repair penalty adds up), or by adding on more enchantments from other items or books.

Don't use silk touch on all blocks
Silk touch is a very useful enchantment for mining some blocks, such as glass and glowstone. However, do not use it all the time. For example, ores mined with a silk touch pickaxe will drop as ores and have to be smelted to get the material. Using a silk touch tool on items that drop itself when mined (e.g cobblestone, dirt, wood) will waste the tool's durability as using silk touch will not affect the item drops. On the other hand, using it to stockpile diamond or emerald ore, can let you later use a Fortune pick to get more drops from them. (This also works for redstone, lapis, and coal, but is less worthwhile.)

Don't follow any of the rules on this page blindly
These tips were made by players, just like you. Some of them make sense, some are exaggerated, and some forget that Minecraft is just a game designed to be fun. If you find some of these rules boring, break them! Always keep in mind that having as much fun as possible is the ultimate goal in Minecraft. But don't throw your diamonds in lava!