In the hunt for new resources or interesting locations to build doom fortresses, many Minecraft players will wander absurd distances. It is quite possible to get lost in these travels, but with a little forethought it is easy to avoid wandering the earth for an eternity in search of your home base. This tutorial will focus on some of the easier ways of navigating the procedurally generated landscapes of Minecraft Beta.
Spawn Points
Every world has a set spawn point where the player is deposited each time they die. Many players choose to build their main bases on or close to their spawn points. It is important to note that the player will spawn on the highest vertical block at their spawn point's coordinates, making it perfectly possible to build a safe tower to spawn in... or a safe pit. A tower is visible from far away and can provide a homing beacon for players gone far afield.
Spawn points can be found most easily using the craftable Compass.
You can also change your spawn point by sleeping in a bed.
The Poles
On a starry night, two poles can be clearly discerned, the axis around which the world turns, and about which the stars appear to turn. If there are clouds in the sky, you will notice that they are constantly blown in one direction, towards one of the poles, so that we can distinguish the poles as windward and leeward. The stars appear to rotate clockwise around the windward pole, and anticlockwise around the leeward pole. Both the sun and the moon rise at 90 degrees clockwise of the leeward pole and follow the same path as the stars. It is thus natural to call the leeward pole (the pole to which the clouds are blowing) North and the windward pole South. The sun and moon then rise in the East and set in the West. Note, however that due to a known bug, maps show East as North.[1][2] This bug was fixed in Minecraft 1.9 pre-release 4.[3]
Clouds
Clouds always float North, and are visible above-ground during day and night, so it is an easy way to tell direction. Note that before 1.9 pre-release 4, real north was map west, due to a bug. This bug has now been fixed.
Sun and Moon
The Sun and the Moon have designated pathways across the sky that can be used to discern which direction is north. The moon and the sun rise in the East and set in the West. Note that due to a known bug, maps showed East at the top. This bug was fixed in 1.9 pre-release 4.
X, Y, and Z coordinates
Before going on a long journey a good idea is to go to your house, then press F3 (This opens up a list of info, press F3 again to close) and write down X and Z coordinates. Now, go on your journey! When you want to get back then you press F3 and walk until your X and Z coordinates are the same as what you wrote down at your base.
Not all players will be content to build directly on the spawn point or even in the prime world where compasses work. Often, the spawn point is a fairly dull beach or desert, and players that desire a savage looking mountain valley or inside the Nether may end up building far from their spawn. It is recommended in these cases to either mentally note or construct a series of landmarks to follow, especially if the path is long. The use of trail markers is far more resource and time efficient than building long roads. It's a good idea to place all trail markers in such a way so as you can always see two markers from the one you are standing at (the marker you came from, and the marker you are heading to). This prevents you from losing the trail. It is also advised to have your markers placed or designed in such a way that you can always know which direction leads to the origin of the trail. Here are some example methods of aboveground navigation.
Sand Towers
A tower marker in the distance.
A sand tower covered in Lava.
Sand is easily mined and extremely plentiful, and is very visible in most terrain. Building a series of small sand towers at the peaks of hills is a good way of marking a path. Placing another block on the ground near the tower to create a line between the tower and block is an easy method of orienting the player in the right direction. Sand block signs can be read extremely quickly at a distance, making them a great choice for players dashing through the countryside at night who don't have time to stop and read signs.
Many players prefer to construct just a few large towers, which can then be capped with torches, Lava, or burning Netherrack to create a series of very visble landmarks.
Gate marking
Some gate markers.
Gate markers consist of two blocks placed next to each other with a one block space between positioned along a trail. The space between the blocks orients the player to the next gate. A torch or other marker can be placed on the side of one of the blocks to indicate the origin of the trail. It is usually best to build the markers out of something that stands out, like Cobblestone or Sand.
Torches and Signs
A simple torch trail.
Most useful at night, Torches offer an easy method of making quick visible markers to follow, and they ward off monsters from spawning. Signs are another easy to spot artificial object that can be used to mark a path.
Roads
If you decide to try and find a new place to build a house or a mine, a useful thing to do is to dig a two or three block wide trench as you move along. Once you find your new construction site, all you have to do is follow the trench back and forth between your mines/houses. Later in the game (or as you are digging, if you have the resources) you can fill in the trench with cobblestone or gravel to make a nice looking pathway. It would also be a good idea to place torches along the pathway to make night travel safer, and you could even place fences beside your road for a much more appealing look. As you build more things, you can create forks in your road along with signs to direct you to where you want to go.
Using Block Markings
Cobblestone, Moss Stone and Netherrack have markings that are easily identifiable. Because these blocks always orient themselves the same way when placed, it is possible to use them to know which way is north, even while underground or while in the Nether, as illustrated in this video. Since the addition of dyed wool, you could also make short pillars of a single color leading to different towns, buildings, or whole biomes. A further method using blocks is to carve a simple arrow into the surrounding terrain and fill it with off-colored blocks, such as filling a stone mine wall with dirt pointing in the direction home.
Maps
As of Beta 1.6, Ingame maps are a viable supplement or replacement for trail markers for mid-range journeys. Craft a map midway between the two points you want to connect. One location will be at one edge, the other on the other side, depending on the distance. Keep in mind that if the distances are great, this technique will not work until zoom can be set. Also, it is advisable to create a large structure that is visible on the map at each location. Construct it out of a material that will stand out; colored wool, netherrack, cobblestone, and moss stone all contrast against snow, and all but moss stone against trees and grass (assuming the wool is black, brown, pink, etc.). Be aware that maps cost a compass and 8 paper, so if you have no redstone, iron and sugar cane this method will not work.
Natural caverns are fairly easy to get lost in without a little forethought. Depending on a player's mining style, artificial mines might be fairly disorienting as well!
Torches and Signs
Quite possibly the easiest way to get around underground is to place torches according to a simple set of rules. One such rule might be to only place torches on the right hand wall of caverns. When the player wants to go back the way they came, all they have to do is run back with the torches on their left side.
Often caverns will have junctions connecting several passages at once. In such situations, it is useful to use signs or easily recognizable blocks (like the always-artificial Brick, always-articial in the Overworld Netherrack, Glowstone, Soul Sand, or usually artificial Cobblestone) to mark the main passages of interest. You can also use Redstone Torches, since they look reddish and stand out.
If you travel through water with a Boat a lot, you may very well find yourself lost from home. There are a few ways to travel safely above and below water.
Glowstone Buoys
If you travel to the Nether frequently, you know that Glowstone is not very easy to retrieve. In addition, it takes four pieces of Glowstone (Dust) to craft a single block of Glowstone, so this strategy may not work well for you. However, if you're a fan of inventory hacking, you can accomplish this easily. First, you need to assemble the glowstone underwater. Try to make the glowstone in a line or pattern, leading from a spawn point to a port, or from your base/mansion/castle to a port. The result is a interpretation of real-life naval buoys.
Block Towers
Though time consuming and sometimes inefficient, creating Block Towers can be helpful in your naval navigation. First, assemble a tower/column of a material of your choice; preferably Sand, Stone, Cobblestone, Dirt, or Wood. The towers should extend from the seafloor to the surface, and must be connected in a line. If you wish to see where you're going at night, place a Torch in top, or for realistic effect, use a Redstone Torch. Even better, you can create a pulsing Redstone torch for an even more realistic experience.