Tips and Tricks you may not know

BobbyDigiBobbyDigi ? R U #Hats !TX Icrontian
edited January 2011 in Minecraft
There has been a couple times while on the IC server that I have passed on a shortcut or trick to another player and they are amazed by it, even though it's been around for a while. I have come to the realization that not everyone follows /r/minecraft to the teeth and memorizes the Wiki like I do. So I thought we should have a nice collection of tips and such that will help in your everyday minecrafting:

F1: Turns off hub in 1st person, turns camera to the front and turns off hub in 3rd person.

F2: Screenshot saved to your .minecraft/screenshots folder

F5: toggle 3rd person view

Ladders need only be placed on a wall every other spot to be usable. You would only need to have a full ladder for aesthetic reasons.

You can put a torch on a chest or a furnace. Just set a half block (or glass or I have heard you can do it placing a torch also) behind it and "put" the torch on the half block, the torch will place for a split second then jump onto the block under it.

When exploring a cave, put torches on the ground for lighting and put them on one side as you go deeper and deeper. When when you want to go back out, just follow the torches on the wall on the opposite side. For example put torches on the right side of the cave and when you want to leave follow them back out with them on your left. Alternatively place redstone torches as a breadcrumb trail to lead you back out. If you explore a path that leads to a dead end, when you get back to the fork in the cave place some sort of marker to indicate you have already explored that path. I cover the path with cobble leaving one opening and placing a torch. I suggest you come up with a less resource intensive option (but make sure to make it unnatural so you are clear when you come across it again) such as a two high stack of cobble or a cobble with 2 torches on it.

Mob spawning is based on flat ground. You could have a 200 meter tall room with only the floor lit and mobs will still not spawn. This means that when lighting an area with mob spawning in mind, torches on the ground are more efficient then on the wall.

That's what I can come up with off the top of my head, though I may be taking something for granted that others don't know.

Got any tips and tricks you would like to share?:rockon:

Comments

  • the_technocratthe_technocrat IC-MotY1 Indy Icrontian
    edited January 2011
    BobbyDigi wrote:
    When exploring a cave, put torches on the ground for lighting and put them on one side as you go deeper and deeper. When when you want to go back out, just follow the torches on the wall on the opposite side. For example put torches on the right side of the cave and when you want to leave follow them back out with them on your left. Alternatively place redstone torches as a breadcrumb trail to lead you back out. If you explore a path that leads to a dead end, when you get back to the fork in the cave place some sort of marker to indicate you have already explored that path. I cover the path with cobble leaving one opening and placing a torch. I suggest you come up with a less resource intensive option (but make sure to make it unnatural so you are clear when you come across it again) such as a two high stack of cobble or a cobble with 2 torches on it.

    TT does:

    put torches on wall for light
    put 1 torch on ground to mark as 'this fork explored'
    put 2 torches on wall vertically to mark 'forks still unexplored, but needed to bail'
    put 3 torches on wall in < or > shape to show the way out - put there as often as needed, there should never be a time where you don't know where to go

    and yes, that's a lot of torches, but if you have a strip mine (not an exploratory mine) you should have more coal than you know what to do with.
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited January 2011
    and yes, that's a lot of torches, but if you have a strip mine (not an exploratory mine) you should have more coal than you know what to do with.

    Not to mention the fact that you can manufacture Coal in a furnace now too.
  • MiracleManSMiracleManS Chambersburg, PA Icrontian
    edited January 2011
    ardichoke wrote:
    Not to mention the fact that you can manufacture Coal in a furnace now too.

    Sadly a larger symptom of why I've stopped playing in general. It's very, very disappointing to see the game devolve into a building simulator instead of an actual survival game.
  • edited January 2011
    One that was new to some people a couple days ago, so might be worth posting here.

    Press and hold F3 to get your current coordinates. Since we do not have /compass due to issues with Hey0, this can also be used as a compass. Take a few steps in a direction and see what number changed and how:

    x = North/South
    y = Vertical
    z = East/West
    Numbers grow positive when traveling Southeast and up, negative northwest and down.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited January 2011
    CB sent me the Zan mod, which installs client side and performs as a compass, coordinate locator, local surface mini map and waypoint storer. Definitely a must have, kind of a super version of F3.
  • the_technocratthe_technocrat IC-MotY1 Indy Icrontian
    edited January 2011
    Sadly a larger symptom of why I've stopped playing in general. It's very, very disappointing to see the game devolve into a building simulator instead of an actual survival game.

    I'd agree, except coal is so plentiful in the ground I don't see myself ever having to make coal.
  • MiracleManSMiracleManS Chambersburg, PA Icrontian
    edited January 2011
    I'd agree, except coal is so plentiful in the ground I don't see myself ever having to make coal.

    Eh, I think it's particularly bad because you can now have infinite coal. 1 piece of coal will make 8 now. This makes the first night so much easier. You don't even have to actively seek out coal or hope that you spawn somewhere near it.

    I appreciate that this is a creative game, I just feel like taking the survival part out of it really limits the creativity and forces you to create artificial survival scenarios. Particularly if you've "conquered" the majority of the local map (as is the case on almost every SMP server in existence).
  • the_technocratthe_technocrat IC-MotY1 Indy Icrontian
    edited January 2011
    Well, you don't *have* to make coal, or use tools, etc... The game can be what you want it to be. :)
  • MiracleManSMiracleManS Chambersburg, PA Icrontian
    edited January 2011
    Well, you don't *have* to make coal, or use tools, etc... The game can be what you want it to be. :)

    Still doesn't actually make it the case. I could also play it as a stand still on top of a tree simulator and it'd be fine. That doesn't make it what the game actually is.

    Back on topic:

    It is quicker to release your mouse and repress over the next block than it is to simply hold down the left mouse button. Once you get the timing right it is extremely easy to notice.
  • ErrorNullTurnipErrorNullTurnip Illinois Icrontian
    edited January 2011
    I've noticed something similar; If you hold down the left mouse button while opening and closing your inventory, the digging animation will stop but you will keep removing blocks. It's a little faster than normal, but I don't know how it compares to click mining.
  • MalpercioMalpercio Greater St. Louis Area
    edited January 2011
    I noticed this the other day (shortly after Bandrik pointed it out to me), if you equip a dye and use it on a sheep, you will dye the sheep, and there's the chance that you will get more than just one colored wool back.
  • MechfoxMechfox Texas
    edited January 2011
    I found this out just now.

    With chunk errors, you can place a block down where there's already a block, the block will transform into the block that's actually sitting there, and place the block you set back into your inventory. You can use this trick to build a bridge with even a single dirt block.

    But if you plop a torch on the ground right in front of a chunk error, it'll cause the blocks it would normally light up to appear, and voila! a faster bridge.

    With all the connection problems, I've been just going across chunk errors instead of disconnecting. Seems faster that way.
  • SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
    edited January 2011
    I knew about the block trick, but the torch trick is bloody genius. Well discovered, sir.
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