Mechanics

Mechanics represent various aspects of the complex behavior of the Minecraft world.

Basic mechanics
Basic mechanics consist of vital mechanics used commonly by players:

Movement

 * : Players can switch to a prone (face-down) 0.6 block high, position to fit into 1-high spaces.
 * : Entities can receive damage from players or the environment, and potentially dying or being destroyed if they receive too much.
 * : Entities and mobs to drop particular items or blocks (including items carried in their inventory) when they die or are destroyed.
 * : In Creative and Spectator modes, players can fly through a world.
 * : Players wearing an Elytra can glide through the world, optionally using Firework Rockets to gain speed and/or height.
 * : Players jump onto blocks above their current foot level.
 * : Players (and a few mobs) adopt a special 0.6 block-high position (prone, face-up) when sleeping.
 * : Players and many other mobs adopt a sitting position when riding an entity (boat, minecart) or mob.
 * : Players can sneak to hide their names from other players, reduce their hitbox to fit into smaller places, and reduce the range that mobs can detect them at.
 * : Players can shift from "walking" to a faster "running" pace at the expense of hunger.
 * : Players can travel quickly on or under water without falling to the bottom, and can travel faster if swimming is combined with sprinting.
 * : Players can travel any direction on a level surface.

Combat and Mining

 * : Players can block attacks using shields.
 * Attack cooldown: After attacking, players need to wait some time to deal full damage with their next attack.
 * : Players to break most blocks, sometimes requiring or benefiting from particular tools.
 * Instant mining: Players can break certain blocks instantly, sometimes requiring particular tools or enchantments to do so.
 * Critical hits: Players can deal more damage by attacking while falling.
 * : Players can wield 2 items, using both hands. This includes shield use.
 * : Some mobs will shift their attack to another player or mob when attacked, even if they were already engaged with another target.

Player status

 * : Players collect experience points from various sources, and can use them to enchant or repair items.
 * Game modes: Change the way to play and to interact with a world and its contents.
 * : Players, mobs, and some other entities have a specific number of health points (shown in a GUI gauge); when these are all removed by damage, a player or mob is killed, while other entities are broken or destroyed.
 * : Players, mobs, and some other entities can recover health points after damage.
 * Heads-up display: The HUD appears on screen while the player is in the game. It is superimposed on their view of the game world.
 * : Players have a partly-hidden stock of "hunger" points; they can naturally heal damage (at the cost of hunger) if their hunger meter is full or nearly so, and sprinting requires a minimum hunger level.
 * Eating: Players replenish their hunger points by eating various food items.
 * Status Effects: Various conditions (good, bad, or neutral) with limited duration, which can be inflicted on a player in an assortment of ways.
 * : Emotes are a part of the character creator that allows players to perform animations.
 * Third-person view: Allows the player to view the nearby environment from an "outside" perspective.
 * Inventory: Is the pop-up menu that the player uses to manage items they carry.
 * Language: A feature that allows changing languages for people who prefer to play in a language other than English.

Interactions and items

 * : Players can use gold ingots to barter with Piglins.
 * : Players can breed certain mobs, producing "baby" versions that grow up over time.
 * : With a brewing stand, players can brew Potions.
 * : Players can craft a variety of objects and materials, using the GUI for their inventory or a crafting table.
 * : A guide for players to learn or check recipes, recipes being unlocked when they get specific items or ingredients, or occasionally when they meet other conditions.
 * : Experience can be used to enchant Tools and Weapons, granting them improved performance and/or special abilities.
 * : Players can use a fishing rod to catch fish, and other items (some quite valuable), or to pull mobs and other entities closer to the player.
 * : Many tools have a limited number of uses, the degree to which they are "worn out" is displayed in the main GUI and inventory.
 * : Players can repair items in various ways through an anvil, grindstone, crafting table, or their own inventory.
 * Rarity: A statistic applied to items, blocks and advancements to signify their value and ease in obtaining.
 * : Players can smelt/cook items on furnaces, smokers or blast furnaces, turning raw materials into more desirable forms.
 * Tiers: Refer to the different levels and materials of tools and weapons. They determine their mining level, durability, mining speed multiplier, damage multiplier, enchantability, and repair item.
 * : Mechanic that allows non-full-cube blocks to be filled with a water source block, both occupying the same space.
 * : A mechanic $$ that allows layers of snow to occupy the same block space as certain types of vegetation.
 * : Minecraft classify blocks into different types, more or less indicating what the block is "made of".
 * : Refer to the material that an armor item uses.

World events

 * Daylight cycle: As time passes, the sun and moon move through the sky, and the outdoor light level changes affecting mob spawning.
 * : Occasionally Pillager patrols will spawn near players. Fighting these can inflict the Bad Omen status.
 * Weather: The world experiences rain, overcast, snow, and storms, with effects varying by biome.
 * : If a player remains active near a village overnight, an invasion of zombies may appear.
 * Tutorial hints: Are tabs in the right-hand corner of the player's screen which show up when a player starts a world in Survival mode for the first time on a device.

Complex mechanics
Complex mechanics represent extended world behavior that not all players will be familiar with. These mechanics are most useful to experienced players who need to accomplish complex tasks.

Block related

 * : The redstone mechanics allow players to build and use complex devices in-game, composed of multiple interacting blocks and entities.
 * Redstone circuits: Basic types of sub-mechanisms used for event processing, logic, and interaction with the environment.
 * Redstone components: Any component that makes possible to create mechanisms.
 * Block update detector: A BUD switch is a redstone mechanism that uses quirks in the game in order to detect changes in nearby blocks.
 * Quasi-connectivity: A property of dispensers, droppers, and pistons that allows them to be activated by anything that would activate the space above them, no matter what is actually in that space.
 * : These mechanics allow players to repair and/or combine two items, to give an item a custom name, or to crush entities that walk beneath anvils while they are falling.
 * : These mechanics allow players to use an enchanting table at their maximum potential thorugh the usage of bookshelves.

Entity and structures

 * Villages (and their mechanics) and Illagers: Humanoid NPCs with moderately complex behavior, dealing with several other entries on this list.
 * : Players can use emeralds to buy items from Villagers, or sell them items in exchange for emeralds.
 * : If a player approaches a village while having the Bad omen status, they can summon an extended invasion against the village.
 * : Refers to the creation and placement of players and mobs in the Minecraft world.
 * Attribute: Attributes are a system of buffs/debuffs that are properties on mobs and players. Attributes also have modifiers that adjust the strength of their effect.
 * : The average quantity of each item that can be found in a naturally-generated chest, depending on its location.
 * s: A physical event, generally destructive, that can be caused by several different circumstances.

Non specific

 * Tint: Tints are applied to several blocks, items and particles in order to modify the color their textures use.
 * Difficulty: An option that has a direct impact on the ease of gameplay, allowing the game's challenges to be tailored to the player's skill level.
 * Renewability: Refers to the possibility of an item or block to be obtained multiple times on Survival or Adventure modes.
 * Scoreboard: A complex gameplay mechanic utilized through commands. Scoreboards are used to track, set, and list the scores of entities in a myriad of different ways.

Bug/Glitch mechanics
Bug mechanics are mechanics that are not intended to exist. These can cease to exist on any update as Mojang fixes bugs.

Blocks and items

 * : Also known as the Z-X rule, is an unintentional mechanic wherein various effects occur based on the cardinal directions, specifically in a south-east variant.
 * Duplication: A process to clone blocks and items with the usage of glitches.
 * Instant repeaters: Refreshing a redstone signal with absolutely no delay. It involves uses of BUD-powered pistons.
 * Surival bedrock breaking: Bedrock blocks are intended to be indestructible on Survival, but the usage of glitches can break them.
 * Zero-ticking: Making a redstone signal turn on and off in the same tick, go over how this could be used, particularly with its uses on pistons.

Entities

 * End Crystal invulnerability: A glitch that makes possible to get indestructible End Crystals.
 * X-ray glitches: X-ray glitches allow the player to see certain features that are normally hidden behind blocks.