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Prepare for an adventure of limitless possibilities as you build, mine, battle mobs, and explore the ever-changing Minecraft landscape. Minecraft is a 3D sandbox game originally created by Markus "Notch" Persson. It is maintained by Mojang Studios, a part of Xbox Game Studios, which in turn is part of Microsoft. From its creation, Minecraft was developed almost exclusively by Notch until Jens "Jeb" Bergensten started working with him and has since become head of its development. It features music by Daniel "C418" Rosenfeld, Kumi Tamioka and Lena Raine and paintings by Kristoffer Zetterstrand. Initially released as what is now known as Minecraft Classic on May 17, 2009, the game was fully released on November 18, 2011. Since its release, Minecraft has expanded to mobile devices and consoles. On November 6, 2014, Minecraft and all of Mojang Studios' assets were acquired by Microsoft for US$2.5 billion.[6][7] Notch has since left Mojang and is no longer working on Minecraft. Minecraft focuses on allowing the player to explore, interact with and modify a dynamically-generated map made of one-cubic-meter-sized blocks. In addition to blocks, the environment features plants, mobs and items. Some activities in the game include building, mining for ore, fighting hostile mobs and crafting new blocks and tools by gathering various resources found in the game. The game's open-ended model allows players to create structures, creations and artwork on various competitive or collaborative multiplayer servers or their single-player maps. Other features include redstone circuits for logic computations and remote actions, minecarts and tracks, and a mysterious underworld called the Nether. A designated but completely optional goal of the game is to travel to a dimension called the End and defeat the Ender dragon. Purchase and availability
Java Edition can be purchased from the Minecraft Official Site and Microsoft Store/Xbox app. Gift codes can be bought for others, for the same price as buying the game for oneself. The demo version can be played for free. Java Edition can not run on Windows RT, ChromeOS (unless "Linux development environment" is turned on), or on some non-PC devices that use Java, such as a car, a toaster, or Android. Bedrock Edition can be purchased on Google Play (Android), the App Store (iOS & iPadOS), the Amazon Appstore (Fire), the Minecraft Official Site (Windows), Microsoft Store/Xbox app (Windows & Xbox One), Nintendo eShop (Nintendo Switch), and PlayStation Store (PlayStation 4). Alternatively, Xbox Game Pass also give access Bedrock Edition on Xbox consoles, PC Game Pass give access to Java and Bedrock editions on Windows 10/11 PCs, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate give access to Java and Bedrock editions on Windows 10/11 PCs and Bedrock Edition on Xbox consoles. Legacy Console Edition can be purchased on physical media (excluding Nintendo Switch Edition) or on the respective platform's store, including Xbox Games Store for Xbox 360 Edition; Wii U Edition will be available on Nintendo eShop for Wii U until its discontinuation in March 27, 2023. The PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita editions can not be purchased through a web browser. The Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 4 editions are no longer available for direct digital purchase as these versions are discontinued and have been replaced with Bedrock Edition. New Nintendo 3DS Edition can be purchased on physical media (North America only) or on Nintendo eShop. This version is discontinued, and Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS itself will be discontinued on March 27, 2023. GameplayPlayerThe player is the person that the user controls in the world. When the user starts a game, the player is put in a world, generated by a random or specified seed, with an empty inventory. If the bonus chest option is enabled, a chest filled with basic items generates near the player. The player has a health bar with 10 hearts and can be damaged by falls, suffocation, drowning, fire, lava, lightning, cacti, sweet berry bushes, magma blocks, falling into the Void, hitting another entity with thorns armor, splash potions, falling anvils, freezing in powder snow and being hit by mobs and other players. Damage to health can be mitigated by armor or the Resistance effect, and health can be restored by keeping the hunger bar full enough and drinking specific potions. If the difficulty is set to Peaceful, health regenerates on its own. Hunger is also a factor if the difficulty is not set to Peaceful, depleting over time and even faster while sprinting, jumping or swimming. Food replenishes the hunger level; however, eating rotten flesh and raw chicken has a chance of giving the player a hunger effect. Depending on the difficulty level, starvation depletes a player's health and may even kill the player. A player can change their skin on the profile page of Minecraft.net or in the Minecraft Launcher in Java Edition and in the pause or main menus on Bedrock Edition. BlocksThe world of Minecraft takes place within a three-dimensional grid of cubes, with each cube being occupied by a certain type of block, not all of which are necessarily cubic. There are different types of blocks; natural blocks such as grass, stone and ores that generate randomly within the world. There are also blocks that players can craft, such as a crafting table and a furnace. Resources can be extracted from blocks by hand or by using tools. Some of these resources are simply blocks in the player's inventory that can be placed elsewhere, while others are used as material to create other blocks or tools. Others yield no practical use whatsoever. Some blocks cannot be broken through normal survival means, e.g. bedrock, end portal frames, command blocks, nether and end portals, barriers and air. MiningMining is one of the main aspects of Minecraft and is done to extract ore and other materials mainly from below the surface of the map. These ores include coal, iron, gold, redstone, diamond, lapis lazuli, copper and emerald. Mining can involve digging a hole from the surface or going down through a cave. Mineshafts and ravines create extra areas that may contain resources, since they are usually rich in ores. Crafting and smeltingMain articles: Crafting and Smelting Crafting allows players to create new tools and blocks using items from their inventory. Subsequent versions often contain crafting recipes for new blocks and items. A player can use the 2×2 grid in the inventory or the 3×3 grid provided by a crafting table to craft. Smelting requires a furnace in addition to fuel and processes blocks into a more useful form such as from raw iron into iron ingots, which can then be crafted into iron tools and iron armor. Brewing and enchantingMain articles: Brewing and Enchanting Brewing creates potions from various ingredients and water using a brewing stand. They are stored in a glass bottle and then consumed by the player or thrown at other mobs to generate a certain effect based on the magical ingredients used to create the potion. Enchanting is also used to upgrade armor, tools or weapons with an enchanting table or anvil. More powerful enchantments can be accessed by gaining experience and placing bookshelves around the enchanting table. MobsMobs (short for "mobiles") are the animals and other creatures that inhabit the map. Hostile mobs attack the player while passive mobs do not. Neutral mobs attack when provoked (not all neutral mobs are provoked the same way). The Overworld contains many passive mobs that may be killed for food or bred with one another; these include: Mobs that drop food drop the raw version of their food unless killed while on fire. Common hostile mobs found throughout the Overworld include: The Overworld also contains some rarer mobs that spawn only on occasion or in specific biomes, places or times: Some are found exclusively in the Nether, including: The End contains the Ender Dragon, which is the main boss mob in Minecraft and allows the player to exit back to the Overworld when it dies. Withers are the second boss mob in Minecraft and are created by the player by placing wither skeleton skulls on top of soul sand or soul soil in a specific pattern. When spawned, they shoot wither skulls at nearby non-undead mobs, while also causing any mob hit by the skulls to get the Wither effect. The NetherThe Nether is a dimension in Minecraft accessible from the Overworld by a nether portal. It consists of five unique biomes, which are the nether wastes, the basalt deltas, the crimson and warped forests and the soul sand valleys. Each biome has unique generation and terrain. It is populated by zombified piglins, blazes, ghasts, wither skeletons, magma cubes, piglins and hoglins. Ores in the nether include nether quartz, nether gold and ancient debris. The Nether also has large oceans of lava that have striders walking on them. The EndThe End is another dimension of the game where the player battles the ender dragon. The End is accessed by entering an end portal found in a stronghold. The End is composed of end stone and is inhabited by endermen. It also contains tall obsidian pillars on top of which are end crystals that heal the ender dragon. Once the ender dragon is slain, the exit portal is created in the center of the map and an end gateway portal is created near an edge of the map, which transports the player to the expansive outer end islands which are full of chorus fruit forests and end cities filled of chest loot and shulkers. The end gateway portal is only accessed by throwing an Ender Pearl, using elytra or trapdoors to enter the portal. There are no ores in the end. Multiplayer (Java)Main articles: Server and Multiplayer Minecraft multiplayer servers have developed to include their own rules and customs, guided by their administrators and moderators. The term griefer, meaning a player who causes grief, is a typical term on the internet but has taken up its definition on Minecraft servers: a person who destroys or defiles other users' creations on servers. Griefers are the reason many server administrators make rules, but this has been taken a step further with modifications to the Minecraft server and even plugin-based replacement servers such as Bukkit. Because of these plugin-based servers, new user-created features have shown up in Minecraft. This includes features like money, vehicles, protection, RPG elements and more. These features normally do not require modification to a user's client and can be accessed by using chat commands. With the default controls, the chat screen is brought up by pressing T. One popular game on multiplayer servers is Spleef (a play on the word "grief"), a game where the player aims to make another player drop through the floor by destroying blocks beneath the opponent's feet. This is typically played in a designated area and is usually run automatically using server plugins. Many popular multiplayer servers exist that may contain, PvP arenas, custom minigames or large Survival or Creative worlds. Multiplayer (Bedrock)Multiplayer in Bedrock Edition differs from multiplayer on the Java Edition in that it is centered around a friend system. A player can add friends through the Friends tab in the menu or in the pause screen of a world. A player may invite friends to a world instead of having to pay for a server or realm. Minecraft has featured servers on Bedrock, which means that they are available when opening the game. There are seven featured servers: The Hive, CubeCraft, Mineplex, Lifeboat, Mineville, Galaxite, and Pixel Paradise. Minecraft RealmsMinecraft Realms is an official subscription-based server hosting service that allows players to create and manage their own private Minecraft multiplayer worlds. Hosted by Mojang Studios, Realms provides an easy and fast way to create servers and allows the owner to manage them from inside the game, without prior knowledge of the concepts for hosting on the internet. However, Realms are not intended for large public servers, but for groups of friends or as a family server.[8] Private Realms servers are easy to set up and available 24/7 as long as the owner pays for it. EditionsJava EditionMain article: Java Edition The original platform for Minecraft, running on Windows, macOS, and Linux and started through the launcher. The game was initially released for an "early private singleplayer alpha" on May 17, 2009, followed by several development stages (notably Classic, Indev, Infdev, Alpha, Beta) with the game finally being released on November 18, 2011. The Java Edition has seen many significant updates since its official release. Bedrock EditionMain article: Bedrock Edition The Bedrock Edition (also known as the Bedrock Platform, Bedrock Codebase or Bedrock Engine) refers to the multi-platform family of editions of Minecraft developed by Mojang Studios and Xbox Game Studios. Prior to this term, as the engine originated with Minecraft: Pocket Edition, this entire product family has been referred to using as "Pocket Edition", "MCPE" or "Pocket/Windows 10 Edition". Minecraft, with no subtitle, is the title of all Bedrock editions of Minecraft. Before the Better Together Update, it had different subtitles on different platforms including Pocket Edition (for all mobile platforms), Console Edition, Windows 10 Edition, Gear VR Edition, and Fire TV Edition. Minecraft: Pocket Edition was initially launched exclusively for the Xperia PLAY on Google Play[9] for US$6.99 on August 16, 2011. It was later released for other Android devices on October 7, 2011,[10] and iOS on November 17, 2011.[11] On September 13, 2012, the Pocket Edition was made available for purchase on the Amazon Appstore. The Windows Phone version was released on the Windows Phone Store on December 10, 2014,[12] for which the Pocket Edition 1.0.0 release and newer are available only for Windows 10 Phone and newer. Since then, four adaptations of Pocket Edition have been released; for Windows 10 on July 29, 2015, the Gear VR on April 27, 2016, the Apple TV on December 19, 2016, and the Fire TV on December 19, 2016.[13][14][15][16] As of September 24, 2018, the Apple TV Edition has been discontinued. Legacy Console EditionMain article: Legacy Console Edition Legacy Console Edition refers to the editions of Minecraft for consoles that are developed and updated by 4J Studios. The Legacy Console Edition was initially announced for the Xbox 360 on June 7, 2011, during E3 2011. Xbox 360 Edition released digitally on May 9, 2012 followed by a physical release on June 4, 2013. The game was later released on additional platforms as PlayStation 3 Edition on December 17, 2013, PlayStation 4 Edition on September 4, 2014, Xbox One Edition on September 5, 2014, PlayStation Vita Edition on October 14, 2014, Wii U Edition on December 17, 2015, and Nintendo Switch Edition on May 11, 2017. As of December 10, 2019, no further feature updates have been released for these versions, and the newest available update depends on the platform. The most recent update on Xbox One Edition and Nintendo Switch Edition is the World of Color Update, while Xbox 360 Edition, PlayStation 3 Edition, PlayStation Vita Edition, and Wii U Edition have access to Update Aquatic. PlayStation 4 Edition is the most up-to-date version with Village & Pillage. Education EditionMain article: Education Edition Minecraft: Education Edition is an educational version of Minecraft specifically designed for classroom use. It is developed by Mojang AB and Xbox Game Studios and contains features that make Minecraft easy to use in a classroom setting. The full game was released on November 1, 2016. New Nintendo 3DS EditionMain article: New Nintendo 3DS Edition Minecraft: New Nintendo 3DS Edition was released on September 13, 2017. It is a unique port developed by Other Ocean Interactive. It is available on the Nintendo eShop, but only for the New 3DS and New 2DS. Multiplayer is limited to local play. This edition was discontinued on January 15, 2019. OtherThere are a number of other versions of Minecraft. Minecraft 4k is a simple version of Minecraft in the style of other "4k" Java games (everything is packaged in 4 kibibytes) that Notch has entered in contests. Minecraft: Pi Edition was a free ported version of the 0.5.0 version of Pocket Edition for the Raspberry Pi,[17] which was intended as an educational tool for novice programmers. It allowed users to manipulate the game code and supported multiple programming languages; however, it was discontinued in January 2016. Minecraft: China Edition is a localized version of Minecraft for mainland China. Edition comparison
Game customizationAdd-onsAdd-ons[Bedrock Edition only] are the first step toward bringing customization to all editions of Minecraft and are officially supported by Mojang Studios/Minecraft. They currently allow players to transform the look of their worlds, change the behavior of mobs, and add entities, items and blocks, structures, functions and biomes. Behavior packsBehavior packs[Bedrock Edition only] change how vanilla mobs and fogs behave. They are still in development, and will soon also be able to modify how blocks and items work[citation needed]. Resource packsMain article: Resource pack The game officially supports changing most of its various textures, sounds, and texts through resource packs. Resource packs must contain a certain structure of files and folders placed in the .minecraft/resourcepacks folder. Installed resource packs, as well as the folder in which resource packs are placed, can be accessed in the options menu. The extent to which the resources are changed is dependent on how many files are contained in the resource pack. Data packsData packs[Java Edition only] provide a way for players to further customize vanilla worlds in a similar way to resource packs. Unlike resource packs, which modify the game's resources, data packs can be used to override or add new advancements, functions, loot tables, structures, recipes and tags without any code modification. SkinsSkin refers to the texture that is placed onto a player model or mob. The skin is divided into areas that act as the surface area of the character (for example, the front head area, left leg area, etc.). A skin allows only solid color; transparency is not allowed on the skin file except on the second layer, which is transparent by default; playing offline, pixels can be left free resulting in "holes" in the skin. The second layer can be used to give the character glasses, hats, or other accessories. Players can also change the arm size to be slim or normal. The slim variant is 3 pixels wide while the normal variant is 4 pixels wide. Java Editionin Java Edition, there are no special features in the skins. This version has only the features listed in the first part of this section. Bedrock Editionin Bedrock Edition, there are many more types of skin customization. Players can add 3D custom hair, eyes, mouths, arms, legs and more. Players can also change the size of a character. Players can also get many different accessories for the skin. However, the player cannot do this with a custom skin, only with an in-game skin. Players can also buy accessories and skins. Having a skin that is smaller than normal or larger does not affect the hitbox size, but can still give an advantage in multiplayer servers because it can be harder to see them. Some of the skins also do not show their armor or hand-held items. CapesCapes are an uncommon vanity item that can be equipped on a player's back. in Bedrock Edition, players start with a cape that is not equipped by default and some skins come with capes. Capes also flail around when the player runs. When the player equips elytra, the texture of the elytra changes to an equipped cape. Unofficial modsMinecraft can be modified by replacing or adding Java class files to minecraft.jar in Java Edition. This method of making custom modifications is not supported by Mojang as it can break the game if the mod is outdated, defective, or in conflict with another mod. Some such modifications impressed Notch or Jeb sufficiently that they were added to the game and the authors were credited under Additional Programming. Some examples of mods being implemented into the main game include Hippoplatimus' Piston Mod and horses from Dr. Zhark's Mo' Creatures mod were added in Beta 1.7 and 1.6.1 respectively. Third-party programsMain article: Programs and editors There are many programs designed for Minecraft. These include 3D map editors and viewers, game modifiers, various informational programs (such as crafting recipes) and server wrappers, and other specialty programs. As with mods, these too are not supported by Mojang. ReceptionMetacritic ranked Minecraft as one of the best video games of the 2010s,[18] and Video Game Canon ranks Minecraft as one of the best games of all time.[19] AwardsSince release Minecraft has won numerous awards including:
References in popular cultureMany references have been made in culture in response to the popularity of Minecraft, this includes many memes and also references in these video games, TV shows, and movies. Video games
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