Minecraft Wiki
Minecraft Wiki
Advertisement
This page describes content that exists only in outdated versions of Java Edition. 
Achievements were replaced with advancements in 17w13a.
TakingInventory

The popup that would appear when an achievement was earned.

AchievementInterface

The achievement interface with the first achievement done.

AllJavaAchievementsCompleted

The entire achievement tree, completed.

Interface[]

The Java Edition achievement system involved a tree composed of achievements. Originally the interface showed the achievement tree on the left, and a 'mini-map' of the tree on the right. The mini-map was removed in the final version, which then simply showed the tree. The background of the tree mimicked the world with dirt at the top with stone spanning below, bedrock at the bottom, and ores distributed as they would be in the world. By clicking and dragging, one could view different branches of the achievement tree. Using the scroll wheel on the mouse zoomed in and out of this display, making it easier to see, at a glance, what had been achieved and was still needed to achieve.

In this screen, achievements had hover-text, which became more detailed the closer the player was to achieving them:

  • Attained achievements were given as "Name/Description/Taken!" (for instance "Getting Wood/Attack a tree until a block of wood pops out/Taken!").
  • Unattained achievements for which the player had achieved all the prerequisites were given as "Name/Description".
  • Unattained achievements for which the player was one or two prerequisites away were given as "Name/Requires X" (for instance "The End./Requires 'The End?'").
  • Unattained achievements for which the player was three prerequisites away were given as "???/Requires X" (for instance "???/Requires 'The Beginning?'").
  • Unattained achievements for which the player was four prerequisites away were not given; there was just an icon, no hovertext at all.
  • Unattained achievements for which the player was more than four prerequisites away were not shown, even as an icon.

Achievements were earned on a per-player, per-world basis: each new player in each new world had the potential to fill out a new achievement tree.

When an achievement was earned, "Achievement Get!" and the name of the achievement would be broadcast in chat to any players in the world. "Achievement Get!" was a reference to a decade-old meme: early screenshots of Super Mario Sunshine used the Japanese localization, and featured Mario grabbing a Shine Sprite with the prominent text "Shine Get!". Due to the prominence of the game and the attention given to these screenshots, "[noun] Get!" subsequently became a popular term used on image boards as post count benchmarks, which Notch occasionally visits.

Achievements could be obtained in any game mode. Because of this, it was possible to achieve more difficult achievements such as On A Rail, When Pigs Fly, and Sniper Duel, and others by switching into Creative mode.

  • Return to Sender was an exception to the above, because it required a ghast fireball, and ghasts attack the player only in Survival, Hardcore, and Adventure mode, although it could still be obtained through the /achievement command.

There was an /achievement command that could give and take achievements. When using this command to give an achievement, a player would receive all previously-required achievements in addition to the one being given.

One way a player could reset all achievements in a world was by deleting the "stats" folder in the world file, which would also reset statistics.

When Pigs Fly required Cow Tipper, as cows drop leather, though there was no crafting recipe for a saddle.

List of achievements[]

The Java Edition had a total of 34 achievements:

Icon Achievement In-game description Parent Actual requirements (if different) Resource location
Advancement-plain-mini-rawTaking InventoryPress 'E' to open your inventoryOpen your inventory. The description matches the configured inventory key.openInventory
Advancement-plain-mini-rawGetting WoodAttack a tree until a block of wood pops outTaking InventoryPick up wood from the ground.mineWood
Advancement-plain-mini-rawBenchmarkingCraft a workbench with four blocks of planksGetting WoodPick up a crafting table from your inventory's crafting field output or a crafting table output.buildWorkBench
Advancement-plain-mini-rawTime to Mine!Use planks and sticks to make a pickaxeBenchmarkingPick up any type of pickaxe from a crafting table output.buildPickaxe
Advancement-plain-mini-rawHot TopicConstruct a furnace out of eight cobblestone blocks\Construct a furnace out of eight stone blocksTime to Mine!Pick up a furnace from a crafting table output.buildFurnace
Advancement-plain-mini-rawAcquire HardwareSmelt an iron ingotHot TopicPick up an iron ingot from a furnace output.acquireIron
Advancement-plain-mini-rawTime to Farm!Use planks and sticks to make a hoeBenchmarkingPick up any type of hoe from a crafting table output.buildHoe
Advancement-plain-mini-rawBake BreadTurn wheat into breadTime to Farm!Pick up bread from a crafting table output.makeBread
Advancement-plain-mini-rawThe LieWheat, sugar, milk, and eggs\Bake cake using wheat, sugar, milk, and eggs!Time to Farm!Pick up a cake from a crafting table output.bakeCake
Advancement-plain-mini-rawGetting an UpgradeConstruct a better pickaxeTime to Mine!Pick up a pickaxe from a crafting table output that is not a wooden pickaxe.buildBetterPickaxe
Advancement-plain-mini-rawDelicious FishCatch and cook a fish!Hot TopicPick up a cooked fish from a furnace output.cookFish
Advancement-fancy-rawOn A RailTravel by minecart at least 1 km from where you started.Acquire HardwareTravel by minecart to a point at least 1 km from where you started. Distance is measured in a straight line.onARail
Advancement-plain-mini-rawTime to Strike!Use planks and sticks to make a swordBenchmarkingPick up any type of sword from a crafting table output.buildSword
Advancement-plain-mini-rawMonster HunterAttack and destroy a monsterTime to Strike!Kill a hostile mob or one of the following neutral mobs: enderman, zombie pigman, spider, cave spider.killEnemy
Advancement-plain-mini-rawCow TipperHarvest some leatherTime to Strike!Pick up leather from the ground.killCow
Advancement-fancy-rawWhen Pigs FlyFly a pig off a cliffCow TipperBe riding a pig (e.g. using a saddle) when it hits the ground with a fall distance greater than 5.flyPig
Advancement-fancy-rawSniper DuelKill a skeleton with an arrow from more than 50 metersMonster HunterUse a launched arrow to kill a skeleton, wither skeleton, or a stray from 50 or more blocks away, horizontally.snipeSkeleton
Advancement-plain-mini-rawDIAMONDS!Acquire diamonds with your iron toolsAcquire HardwarePick up a diamond from the ground.diamonds
Advancement-plain-mini-rawWe Need to Go DeeperBuild a portal to the NetherDIAMONDS!Enter a nether portal, and be teleported to the opposite dimension.portal
Advancement-fancy-rawReturn to SenderDestroy a Ghast with a fireballWe Need to Go DeeperKill a ghast using a ghast fireball.ghast
Advancement-plain-mini-rawInto FireRelieve a Blaze of its rodWe Need to Go DeeperPick up a blaze rod from the ground.blazeRod
Advancement-plain-mini-rawInvicon Potion of RegenerationLocal BreweryBrew a potionInto FirePick up a potion from a brewing stand potion slot. An already-created potion placed and removed qualifies.potion
Advancement-fancy-rawThe End?Locate the EndInto FireEnter an end portal.theEnd
Advancement-fancy-rawFree the end.Defeat the Ender DragonThe End?Enter the end exit portal.theEnd2
Advancement-plain-mini-rawEnchanterUse a book, obsidian and diamonds to construct an enchantment tableDIAMONDS!Pick up an enchantment table from a crafting table output.enchantments
Advancement-fancy-rawOverkillDeal nine hearts of damage in a single hitEnchanterDamage can be dealt to any mob, even those that do not have nine hearts of health overall.overkill
Advancement-plain-mini-rawLibrarianBuild some bookshelves to improve your enchantment tableEnchanterPick up a bookshelf from a crafting table output.bookcase
Advancement-fancy-rawAdventuring TimeDiscover all biomes.The End?Visit these 36 biomes: Other biomes may also be visited, but are ignored for the achievement. Biomes are counted as visited even before The End? is achieved.[1]exploreAllBiomes
Advancement-plain-mini-rawThe Beginning?Spawn the WitherThe End.Be within a 100.9×100.9×103.5 cuboid centered on the Wither when it is spawned.spawnWither
Advancement-plain-mini-rawInvicon Nether StarThe Beginning.Kill the WitherThe Beginning?Be within a 100.9×100.9×203.5 cuboid centered on the Wither when it drops the nether star.killWither
Advancement-fancy-rawBeaconatorCreate a full beaconThe Beginning.Be within a 20×20×14 cuboid centered on the pyramid when the beacon block realizes it is fully powered.fullBeacon
Advancement-plain-mini-rawRepopulationBreed two cows with wheatCow TipperBreed two cows or two mooshrooms.breedCow
Advancement-plain-mini-rawDiamonds to you!Throw diamonds at another playerDIAMONDS!Drop a diamond. Another player or a mob must then pick up this diamond.diamondsToYou
Advancement-fancy-rawInvicon Enchanted Golden AppleOverpoweredCraft/Eat the Notch appleGetting an UpgradeCraft/Eat an enchanted golden apple.overpowered

History[]

February 25, 2011

In an interview by Gamasutra, Notch said:

I like achievements. I know a lot of people don't, but I like them. I've had the idea to make achievements kind of like the in-game questing. So you'd be able to see the first achievement in a tree of achievements, and you unlock the top ones first before you can unlock the ones further down.

So the first one might be to chop down a tree, or kill a chicken, and then these branch into more things you can do. Hopefully it would encourage people to try new areas. It could converge into a big task, like kill a dragon or something, which would put a kind of narrative into the achievement tree.

Finally, asked if such a move would risk leading players down a preset path, rather than encouraging exploration and invention as Minecraft does in its current state, Notch said:

Definitely not. I'd want these achievements to feel like things you can try, rather than these are things you have to do. People can follow them, but only if they want to.

March 18, 2011Notch talks about achievements and statistics on his blog. He says the following:

I worked on the achievement and stats system. One design issue was dealing with offline mode and syncing the achievements once you get a connection again, but that's been solved. We've got a couple of people in the office who don't like achievements in games at all, so the goal is to design something that they're fine with.

Also, he adds that achievements are not chores:

Achievements will NOT be chores like "cut down 10000 trees", but rather challenges like "ride a pig off a cliff". Stats, however, will be used to keep track of how many trees you have cut down. The long term plan is to show achievements and stats from the profile page on minecraft.net as well, in case you want to brag.

April 8, 2011Notch uploads a video to YouTube showing weather, statistics and achievements.
Java Edition Beta
1.4Test achievements can be found within the source code, and on the test video posted by Notch. Among these are opening the inventory, mining wood and building a workbench.
1.5Achievements added. Initially intended to be released in Beta 1.4 it got pushed back as it was not yet functional.[2] The first achievement confirmed by Notch was When Pigs Fly, although it was more explained than named.
July 13, 2011Notch tweets about wanting to add an achievement to shoot the moon with a bow.
July 13, 2011Notch tweets about adding the Sniper Duel achievement.
1.8Pre-releaseAdded the Sniper Duel achievement.
Java Edition
1.0.0Beta 1.9 Prerelease 510 new achievements have been added: Overkill, Enchanter, Librarian, DIAMONDS!, We Need to Go Deeper, The End?, The End., Local Brewery, Into Fire, and Return to Sender.
Beta 1.9 Prerelease 6The icon used by The End. changed from Advancement-plain-mini-raw to Advancement-plain-mini-raw.
1.513w04aAchievements no longer reset when downgrading Minecraft.
1.7.213w36aUpdated the Achievement system, now stored per individual world/server.
Added more achievements: Adventuring Time, The Beginning?, The Beginning., Beaconator, and Repopulation. Adventuring Time was unobtainable.
Achievements can now be used as objectives in the Scoreboard system.
13w37aTime to Mine!, Time to Farm! and Time to Strike! are now also obtained when crafting the tool from a material other than wood. Similarly, Getting an Upgrade is now obtained when crafting any pickaxe other than a wooden one, while it required crafting a stone pickaxe before. If the player’s first pickaxe crafted is not a wooden one, they get Time to Mine! and Getting an Upgrade at the same time.
13w38aAdded the achievement Diamonds to you!.
The icon for DIAMONDS! was changed from Advancement-plain-mini-raw to Advancement-plain-mini-raw. The former icon is now used by Diamonds to you!.
13w39bDiamonds to you! can now be obtained by throwing a diamond at a zombie, making the achievement available in singleplayer mode.[3]
1.814w06aAdded the achievement Overpowered.
14w17aAdventuring Time is now available without commands. Before, the 38 biomes had to be visited without visiting any other biomes, which made the achievement unavailable because the End has to be visited for its prerequisite, The End?. The "no other biomes" restriction is now lifted.[1]
Visiting the Frozen Ocean and Extreme Hills Edge biomes, which no longer generate since Java Edition 13w36a, is no longer required for Adventuring Time.
14w32aCorrected the description of the achievement Overkill to say that the player must deal nine hearts of damage. Previously it said that the player must deal eight hearts of damage.
1.915w44aEnchanted golden apple recipe was removed, making the Overpowered achievement unobtainable.
15w45aChanged the description and requirements of Overpowered from "Build a Notch Apple" to "Eat a Notch Apple."[4]
1.10releaseHot Topic is now described as "construct a furnace out of eight cobblestone blocks," was previously "construct a furnace out of eight stone blocks."
1.1217w13aAchievements have been removed and replaced with advancements.

References[]

Advertisement