Minecraft: Java Edition
Minecraft is a sandbox construction game, inspired by Infiniminer, Dwarf Fortress and Dungeon Keeper, created by Markus Persson, the founder of Mojang AB. The game involves players creating and destroying various types of blocks in a three dimensional environment. The player takes an avatar that can destroy or create blocks, forming fantastic structures, creations and artwork across the various multiplayer servers in multiple game modes.
Minecraft is available to players for €19.95 (~£17.21/~$26.90). Singleplayer and multiplayer, when purchased, can be played in the user's web browser, or using the downloadable client. Minecraft Classic is available to play for free. Minecraft development started around the 10th of May 2009, pre-orders for the full game started being accepted on the 13th of June 2009. Minecraft's official release date was the 18th of November 2011.
Game Modes
Creative Mode Creative mode is one of the main game modes in Minecraft. It is playable in both premium and Classic and singleplayer and multiplayer versions of the game. The Creative game mode allows you to build and destroy blocks instantly in a manner in which you can build any sort of structure you would like.
Players are given an infinite amount of blocks to build with and no health Bar or damage to worry about. Taking advantage of this, players can create large constructions such as castles, roads, water fountains, and much more along with forms of artwork called pixel art. Not only have users designed buildings, pixel art and caves, but also mini-sports, such as Spleef.
Along with the absence of hunger and health, the player is also able to fly. Source
Survival Mode Survival mode is the game mode of Minecraft in which players can collect resources, build structures, battle mobs, fight hunger, and explore the land. It is currently the main focus in the development of Minecraft, being the only playable game mode in Beta until 1.8 with the reintroduction of Creative.
In Survival, players have an inventory in which they may gather items. These items may be combined using certain recipes to create Tools and other Items. This process is known as crafting. Most crafting recipes need a crafting table. Players are also able to create potions by brewing. Source
Hardcore Mode Hardcore mode is a Minecraft Game Mode that is a variant of Survival, differing primarily by the lack of the ability to respawn (instead, the world is deleted) and change difficulty. The mode was introduced in Beta 1.9 Pre-Release 2 and officially added in Minecraft 1.0. The idea came to Notch from a Minecraft gameplay blog on the PCGamer site. Source
Multiplayer (SMP)
Since the implementation of Multiplayer in Minecraft, people have been gathering together to create communities of Minecraft enthusiasts who play together in a creative (or warbased) manners. Today, it's normal for updates which happen in Minecraft to improve the Offline experience as well as the online, so anything you can do, you can probably do in Multiplayer.
To host a multiplayer server, you must have sufficient hardward. Most people have dedicated boxes, running Linux specifically, so they get the best performance on their machines. If you're looking to run a minecraft server, it's recommended you do so with specifally modified versions of the Minecraft Server code. Such modifications can be found under the name of "Bukkit", which is a server mod created to improve the minecraft server and allow users to install plugins, which do varying things, depending on the intent of the plugin. For some examples, please see Dev Bukkit and if you wish to set up a Bukkit based server, please see Setting up a server
If you wish to find a multiplayer server for minecraft, there are lists set up which are ordered by votes for the server and uptime. Such a list can be found here Minecraft Server List or at Minestatus
Mods
OptiFine (FPS boost/HD texture enabler)
Installing the OptiFine mod can help getting a better frame rate on most systems. It provides the user with a lot of extra graphical options. It also allows loading of HD Textures without a patcher.
MCPatcher HD fix (HD texture enabler/better grass/random mob colors)
Original HD texture enabler. As opposed to OptiFine, MCPatcher gets updated for every weekly snapshot. Most other Minecraft mods are compatible with MCPatcher.
TooManyItems (Inventory editor/gamemode switcher/time control)
TooManyItems provides the player with an on-screen inventory editor. It also enables one-click switching of gamemode in singleplayer, and gives the player control over the time. Also supports multiplayer,granted that the player has enough rights on the server. TooManyItems gets updated for every weekly snapshot. Most other Minecraft mods are compatible with TooManyItems.
MagicLauncher (Minecraft launcher alternative)
MagicLauncher is a external program that has all the features of the original, and many more.
Some features include:
- Selectable minecraft.jar
- Automatic version detection
- Selectable minecraft folder
- Selectable java executable
- Java memory limit
- Configuration profiles
- Load mods dynamically without changing minecraft.jar
- META-INF does not have to be deleted
- Automatic mod compatibility checking
- Automatic mod requirements checking (ModLoader, ModLoaderMP, Forge, GuiAPI)
Magic Launcher forum thread. Works with most Minecraft releases.
Tricks
Game crashes on 32-bit systems
If you are experiencing frequent crashes on 32-bit systems (especially when exploring the world), set the Render Distance to 'Normal' or lower. The 'Far' setting is only stable on 64-bit systems.
Fixing General Issues
If you are having problems with Minecraft and have no clue as to what to do, try making a backup of the .minecraft folder, then deleting the original. Then launch the game, download it again and see if there are problems. If your issues persist, Minecraft is not the cause. If the issues are gone, try adding the folders one by one until the issues are back, then delete/fix the problem folder.
Allocating more memory
If Minecraft runs unstable or you get the "Out of memory" message often, consider trying to allocate more RAM to Minecraft. By default only 512 Mb of memory is allocated to Minecraft and once that is filled you get the dreaded "Oom" Message. Here's how to increase the amount:
1. Create a batch file. (Rename an empty text file to .bat) 2. paste the following text into it: @Echo off java -Xmx(max memory) -Xms(min memory) -jar "C:\minecraft.exe location\minecraft.exe" 3. Save and double click the .bat file to start mc with the new settings 4. Press F3 and check the upper right corner
The amount of memory is entered in MB. Eg 1024 would be 1GB, and 2048 would be 2GB.