Ultimate Player's Guide to Minecraft, The

Stephen O’Brien is an Australian-born writer and entrepreneur currently residing in Sydney after too many years in Silicon Valley. He has previously written 28 books across multiple editions with publishers such as Prentice Hall and Que, including several best-selling titles. He also founded Typefi, the world’s leading automated publishing system, and invented a new type of espresso machine called mypressi. He has been using Minecraft since its alpha release and remains astounded at the unparalleled creativity it engenders. The first edition of this book was an international bestseller. Stephen is also the author of The Advanced Minecraft Strategy Guide, published by Que.

Introduction to the Third Edition 1
What’s In This Book 2
How to Use This Book 4
     Crafting Recipes 4
There’s More Online… 4

Chapter 1 Getting Started 5
Registering and Downloading 5
     Registering a Mojang Account 7
     Purchasing Minecraft 8
Launching Minecraft 10
Starting a New Game 13
     Choosing a World-Generation Style 14
     Singleplayer Game Modes 17
     Seeding Your World 19
About Snapshots 20
Controls 21
The Bottom Line 23

Chapter 2 First-Night Survival 25
Surviving and Thriving 25
Heading for the Trees 27
Using Your Inventory 29
Building a Crafting Table 31
     Building Some Tools 32
     Creating a Shelter 36
     The Furnace Is Your Friend 40
     Let There Be Light 42
     Slumbering with Lumber 44
Tools and Their (Over)Use 47
A Bit About Achievements 47
What Is This “Bonus Chest” You Speak Of? 48
The Bottom Line 50

Chapter 3 Gathering Resources 5 1
Introducing the HUD 51
Improving Your Tools 56
Chests: Safely Stashing Your Stuff 58
Avoiding Monsters 61
Hunger Management 63
Your Mission: Food, Resources, and Reconnaissance 64
     Getting Food on the Run 66
     Finding a Building Site 68
Using the Creative Mode Inventory 71
The Bottom Line 73

Chapter 4 Mining 75
Dig Deep, My Friend 75
The Mining Layer Cake Guide 77
Lava Lakes and Other Pitfalls 80
Descending to Layer 11 82
     The 2×1 Ladder Descent 82
     The Straight Staircase 84
     The Spiral Staircase 85
Layouts for Fast, Efficient Mining 86
Staying Safe While You Mine 88
The Bottom Line 90

Chapter 5 Combat School 91
Introducing the Menagerie 91
     Zombies 92
     Spiders 93
     Skeletons 95
     Cave Spiders 95
     Spider Jockeys 96
     Chicken Jockeys 96
     Creepers 97
     Slimes 97
     Endermen 98
     Zombie Pigmen 99
     Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog 99
     Guardians and Elder Guardians 99
Defensive Mobs 100
     Snow Golems 100
     Iron Golems 101
     The Dogs of War 101
Mob Target Practice 102
Weapons, Armor, and Shields 103
     Swordcraft 104
     Bows and Arrows 105
     Shields 108
     Armor-All 109
     Color-Coordinating Your Leather 111
Taking Combat Damage and Healing 112
The Bottom Line 113

Chapter 6 Crop Farming 115
Choosing a Crop 115
Cooking with Minecraft 119
     Minecraft Bakery 119
     Minecraft BBQ 119
     Alchemy Eatery 120
     Raw Food Diet 120
     Eat at Your Own Risk 120
Establishing a Farm 121
Automated Farms 128
     Creating a Piston Harvester 132
     Sticky Piston Harvesting 135
     Creating a Water Harvester 136
     Harvesting Other Crops 138
The Bottom Line 140

Chapter 7 Farming and Taming Mobs 141
Farming and Working with Friendly Mobs 141
     Using Leads 145
     Breeding Animals 146
     Dying for Dye? 147
Taming and Riding Horses, Donkeys, and More 148
     Armoring Your Horse 150
     Loading Up the Pack 150
     Riding Pigs 151
Fishing 152
     Ah, the Squid 153
The Bottom Line 154

Chapter 8 Creative Construction 155
Leaving the Cave 155
Building a Custom World 159
Unleashing Your Interior Decorator 161
Building Underwater 169
     Getting Started 172
     Building the Structure 174
Protecting Your Perimeter 176
     Become a Ditch Witch 176
     Mob Pitfalls 178
     Thick as a Brick 179
Making Fireworks 180
The Bottom Line 183

Chapter 9 Redstone, Rails, and More 185
Seeing Red: A Beginner’s Guide 186
     Power Sources and Signals 186
     Redstone Wiring 190
     Powered Blocks 192
     Modifiers 194
               Repeaters 194
          Comparators 197
     Output Devices 198
     Automatic Doors 200
     Vertical Currents 206
Advanced Circuits 207
     NOT Gates, aka Inverters 208
     OR Gates, or Any Input Will Do 208
     AND Gates, Two TRUE 210
     Repeater Loops 211
Rail Transport 212
     Have Minecart, Will Travel 213
     Rolling on Rails 216
     Making Tracks and Stations 217
     T-Junctions 218
     Halfway Stations 219
A Word About Hoppers 220
The Bottom Line 221

Chapter 10 Enchanting, Anvils, and Brewing 223
Enchanting Wiles 223
     Creating and Mining Obsidian 225
     Crafting Books 228
     Casting Enchantments 228
     Improving Enchantment Chances with Bookshelves 230
     Earning and Managing Experience 232
     Sprucing Up Your Weapons 233
     Enhancing Your Armor 234
     Improving Your Tools 235
Hammering It Out with the Anvil 235
Brewing Potions 237
     Brewing Up a Storm 240
     Enhancing Potions 242
The Bottom Line 243

Chapter 11 Villages and Other Structures 245
Village Life 245
Emerald City: Your Ticket to Trade 248
Hidden Temples and Other Structures 251
     Desert Temples 252
     Jungle Temples 252
     Witch Huts 254
     Dungeons 254
     Abandoned Mine Shafts 255
     Strongholds 255
     Ocean Monuments 256
     Nether Fortresses 257
Mapping, or There and Back Again 257
Crafting a Clock 260
The Bottom Line 261

Chapter 12 Playing Through: The Nether and The End 263
Alternate Dimensions 263
Getting to The Nether 266
     Portal Magic 268
Surviving the Nether Fortress 271
Nether Mobs 272
The End Game 275
     Finding a Stronghold 276
     Defeating the Ender Dragon 278
Beckoning a Beacon 285
The Bottom Line 289

Chapter 13 Mods and Multiplayer 291
Customizing Your Experience 291
     Changing the Skin You’re In 292
     Minecraft Skin Editors 293
          Miners Need Cool Shoes 294
          The Skindex 294
          Novaskin 294
          Loading Your New Skin 296
Resource Packs: Change Your World 296
     Mind My Mods 299
     Installing Forge Mods 301
     TooManyItems 303
     Ruins 304
     Progressive Automation 305
     VoxelMap 305
Multiplayer Madness 306
     Sharing and Joining on a LAN 307
     Joining a Multiplayer Server 309
     Hosting a Multiplayer Server 312
     Spectator Mode 315
The Bottom Line 316

Index 317