This tutorial will help you understand and navigate the menus of Minecraft. Although they are mostly self-explanatory, some things may need explaining. If you need help navigating the menu, simply find the appropriate section of this tutorial.
There are two menu groups in Minecraft: The Main Menu and the Pause Menu.
Main Menu
Main menu
The main menu is what you first see when you enter the game. It appears with a blurred moving panorama of a world beneath the group of buttons, the Minecraft version at the bottom-left, as well as shows the game's logo with a splash to its bottom-right. This menu allows you to choose which game type to play as well as access Minecraft Realms, the game Options, or quit to the desktop.
- Key
1. Singleplayer
- Takes you to the Singleplayer screen
2. Multiplayer
- Takes you to the Multiplayer screen
3. Minecraft Realms
- Takes you to the Minecraft Realms screen
4. Earth Icon
- Takes you to the Languages screen
5. Options
- Takes you to the Settings/Options screen
6. Quit Game
- Exit to Desktop
Singleplayer
Singleplayer Menu
The Singleplayer button, located at the top of the group of buttons on the main menu, leads you to the screen to the right. In this menu you can view, edit, and play all of your singleplayer worlds.
- Key
In the screenshot to the right there are two different worlds. Each world has its own section in the list, which contains the following information:
1. World Name
- The current world name. Can be changed by clicking the Rename button
2. World File Name
- The name of the file which the world is stored in
- The name is set when you first create the world
- Can only be changed by changing the actual world folder's name
- Also displays the last time and date you accessed the world
3. Gamemode Information
- Displays the gamemode of the world
- Also displays if cheats are enabled or not
Also found below the worlds list is a group of buttons which are explained below:
Play Selected World
- Allows you to play in the selected world
Create New World
- Takes you to another screen where you can change the settings of and create a new world
Rename
- Allows you to rename the selected world
Delete
- Deletes the selected world
Re-Create
- Creates a copy of the selected world by creating another one with the same seed
- The copy will look as the original world was before the player modified the world
Cancel
- Takes you back to the main menu
Creating a New World
The screen shown upon creating a new world
As mentioned earlier, creating a new world will take you to another screen which allows you to change the settings of the world to be made.
- Key
World Name
- Allows you to change the name of the world to be made
Game Mode
- Allows you to change the default game mode of the world
More World Options...
- Takes you to the World Options menu which allows you to...
- Type in the seed to be used
- If left blank, the world will generate with a random seed
- Toggle the generation of structures (villages, dungeons, etc.) in the world
- Choose to turn cheats on or off
- Choose whether or not to have a bonus chest upon starting the game
- Change the world type to create
- Type in the seed to be used
Create New World
- Creates a new world with the settings chosen
Cancel
- Takes you back to the Singleplayer Menu
Multiplayer
Multiplayer Screen
The Multiplayer button, found below the Singleplayer button, takes you to the Multiplayer Menu which lets you join servers with other players, whether online or nearby. It appears with a list of known servers which you may connect to. When you first log in, the message "Scanning for Games on Your Local Network" will appear, meaning it is scanning for nearby servers which have been opened to LAN via the Pause Menu. You will also find several buttons on the bottom of the interface.
- Key
Join Server
- Allows you to join the selected server
Direct Connect
- Allows you to connect to a server by entering its address
Add Server
- Allows you to add a server to your list by entering its name and address
- Does not create your own server
Edit
- Edit the name and address of a server
Delete
- Removes the selected server from the list
Refresh
- Reload the page to fix any issues
Cancel
- Return to the home screen
Minecraft Realms
The third button on the main menu is labeled Minecraft Realms. This button allows you to, as it says, access Realms and perform all the functions that come with it.
The Realms Screen
The Minecraft Realms button will take you to the "Homepage" of Realms. Here you can perform all of the basic actions associated with Realms, which are as follows:
- See all of the Realms you own / are invited to and information about them
- Play on a Realm
- Buy a new Realm
- Configure your own Realm(s)
- Leave a Realm
- See new invitations
- Find out more about Realms
The majority of these functions can be carried out by clicking on a Realm and using the button group at the bottom of the screen. Invitations can be accessed via the envelope next to the Realms logo. The What is Realms? link in the upper right hand corner takes you to the Realms website where you can learn more about the program.
There is a distinct difference between the server list in the Multiplayer screen and the Realms list. Here you can see all of the basic information about the Realm you may need. The exact layout is shown here:
1. Realm name
- Can be changed by the owner
- Displays green if you're the owner of that Realm, white if it's someone else's Realm.
2. Realm description
- Can be changed by the owner
- When a Minigame is active this line is replaced with a Minigame notice.
3. Realm owner's name
- Shows the current chosen username of the owner (not their UUID)
4. Realm owner's face
- Can be changed by the owner changing the face of their skin
5. Realm status
- Has three states: Green, Gray, and Red
- Green: Realm is online
- Gray: Realm is offline
- Red: Realm has expired.
6. Online players count
- Updates constantly to show the number of players currently playing on the Realm
More About the Status Icon
The Realm status icon does more than just display the current status of the Realm. 10 days prior to your Realm's expiration date, it will start blinking (for the owner only). When hovered over it will say Expires in # days, with the # being the number of days until it expires. On the day of expiration it will display Expires soon, until it actually expires and turns red.
Invitations
Invitations can be accepted or declined via the envelope next to the Realms logo. If you have an invitation you will see a little number dancing on the envelope. If the little number is instead !!! then that means that you have more than five invitations!
If you hover over the envelope a tooltip will appear. It will either say No pending invitations! or Pending invitations! If you click on this when you have some invitations, it will take you to a screen where you can accept or decline various invites.
The screenshot at right is a list of any and all Realms you have been invited to. The operations here are simple: You simply click on a Realm and you can either accept the invitation or decline it.
Once you have been invited to a Realm and accepted it the Realm will appear on your Realm list. At any time you can click on that Realm and click the "Leave Realm" button, which will uninvite you from that Realm until such time as you are invited again.
If you decline an invite your name is taken back off the invited list of that Realm, but keep in mind that he/she can re-invite you at any time. If you are getting spammed with an invite from a particular person and you don't want to see them again, email the support address and they may be able to help.
Realm Configuration
The owner of a Realm has the ability to configure his/her Realm from inside Minecraft. To access the configuration screen you simply click on your Realm and click the Configure button.
From this screen, you can completely manage your Realm and its players. Written below is a detailed walkthrough of everything you can do to manage your Realm.
Player Management
To invite a player to your Realm all you need to do is click the + button and type in that player's username. When you click Invite, that player will be added to the whitelist and they will receive an invitation letter (explained above.) In this list you can see the player's name and face, and you can also promote, demote, or remove them.
Promoting a player is done by clicking the crown icon next to their name. If it's lit up that player is promoted. If it is gray, that player has not been promoted. Being promoted is equivalent to becoming OP on the Realm. Only the owner can promote or demote players.
To remove a player all you need to do is click the red x button next to their name. They will be taken off the whitelist and your Realm will disappear off of their list.
Tracking Players
Realms also gives you the ability to monitor player activity. To do this click the Player Activity button below the + button. In this screen you can see who has been on at specific times of the day and days past. Every player is assigned a color code and the time they spend on your Realm is depicted with varying lengths of bars in their color.
World Management
The Edit World button on the Configuration screen takes you to a view similar to the one on the right. Here, you can edit your world file, which include the following functions: Reverting to a backup, downloading the latest backup, uploading a world from your current singleplayer worlds, and resetting your world.
To manage backups, look to the left section of this screen. The list you see contains different backups of your world that Realms has saved over time. In each module, you can see the date and time for each backup. To the right of each backup is an orange arrow button. Click this and Realms will prompt you to clarify that you want to revert to that backup. If you click ok, Realms will take a moment and replace your current world with the backup you selected. Everything will be as it was when that backup was made. When a change in world, name or description is made there will be a plus sign next to the backup, that when clicked on will tell what was changed in that backup.
On the right, you have three buttons: Upload World, Download Latest, and Reset World.
Upload World
Realms allows you to upload a local game if it is 500MB or smaller so that you can continue playing online with friends. Once your local game has been uploaded, there are no size limitations within Realms. Note that there is a limit to the number of times you can upload or download a saved game. Currently it appears to be 3 uploads/downloads per 72-hour period, but there is no UI to indicate the number you have used, nor the amount remaining. After reaching the limit, you will be unable to further update or download your latest backup, however uploads and downloads are tracked separately. Support can not reset this counter, and it takes 24–72 hours to reset.
Minigames
In the Configuration screen, there is a button at the top that says Switch to Mini Game.
Realm Management
Realm Information
Subscriptions
Shows the start of the subscription, in how many days it will be renewed, and a link to extend it.
Other Features
Expired Realms
After your subscription for a Realm expires, it is transferred to expired status. Many things in the interface change, as seen in the gallery below. Your server status indicator turns red, and when hovered over displays the message Expired Server. It will remain like this, as far as anyone knows, indefinitely. You can extend the Realm when it is in this state to keep the same server.
Options
Pause Menu
Back to game
Allows you to continue the game
Achievements
Clicking on the Achievements button brings you to a grid of achievements. Each achievement you earn gives you more achievements to unlock. Hovering over an icon gives you the achievement name (shown as ??? if not earned beforehand), requirements, and status (shown as Taken if earned).
Statistics
The statistics menu screen.
Statistics are a game feature that allows players to track how many times they have completed certain tasks. When the Statistics button is clicked, it brings up the menu to your left.
Opening to LAN
Clicking on the Open to LAN button will open the world you are in to your local area network. By doing so, anybody connected to your local area network can connect to your world. (Note that this option is however grayed out during online games.)
Save and quit to title
Saves your world and take you back to the main menu