Tutorials/Mapping

NB Significant changes with snapshot 12w36a seem to render much of this tutorial obsolete.

The Map page explains how to craft maps and how they automatically draw themselves as you move through the world. That page also explains maps' limitations and pitfalls. For example, crafting a batch of maps all at once is not helpful because they'll all be duplicates of one another.

Map Sets
When crafting sets of maps, there are two approaches. The first is to travel well outside the current map's edge before crafting a new map, which will conserve map-crafting resources and keep confusingly redundant map space to a minimum. The other method is to deliberately ensure an overlap so that it's easier to find the same landmarks on multiple maps.

Map Numbering
When using the 'overlap' technique, it's helpful to be systematic in the order you craft the maps. For example, you might make map_0 at the centre of the area you want to cover. Move to the top left-hand corner of map_0, then make map_1. Move to the top right-hand corner, make map_2. Bottom left, map_3, bottom right, map_4. That covers a 2&times;2 area. For a 3&times;3 area, make maps 5-12 at the outer edges of maps 1-4. For 4&times;4, make maps 13-24 at the outer edges of maps 5-12, and so on.

Overlapping maps in this way guarantees a large overlap (at least a quarter-map) for every map. That means every area you might want to explore will be well away from the map edge on at least one of your maps.

If you want to map a long straight-line journey, make map_0 first, map_1 when you reach the edge of map_0, map_2 when you reach the edge of map_1 and so on.

Track Maps' Relative Positions
It's helpful to keep track of the relative positions of the maps. This can be done by a rough diagram on scrap paper, or by making an in-game map room that uses signs or color-coded wool or something to show the map positions.

As another option, use a map chest, and store the maps in slots in the chest that correspond with their in-world positions. If you use this trick, be careful to put them back in the right place once done with them.

It can also be useful to place a bunch of item frames on a wall in a rectangular fashion, and place each map in the item frame that corresponds to its relative location.

Avoiding Overlaps
To avoid overlap and have maps that exactly join up, record the x-y-z position of your startpoint by pressing F3 and logging your coordinates. The next map needs to be precisely 64 chunks away from the previous one. A 'corner map' needs to be 64 chunks away in both the x- and z- directions. Even if you don't understand how chunk boundaries are determined, placing the crafting table for the new map exactly 1024 blocks from the old one will produce the required outcome.

Note: It's the position of the crafting table itself that's important, not your own position.

Tip: When you use a crafting table to make a map, leave the crafting table behind as a permanent marker of the map centre. As extra fallback, make a nearby sign labelling it with the map number, and light it up or mark it in some way so that it's easier to re-find.

Tip: The Time-Saving Tips page has some extra suggestions for making mapping quicker and safer.