All rights reserved.

No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored

in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written
permission from the publisher. No patent liability is assumed with
respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although
every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book,
the publisher and author assume no responsibility for errors or
omissions. Nor is any liability assumed for damages resulting from
the use of the information contained herein. ISBN-13: 978-0-7897-
5223-9 ISBN-10: 0-7897-5223-9 Library of Congress Control
Number: 2013946682 Printed in the United States of America Sixth
Printing February 2014 Trademarks All terms mentioned in this
book that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been
appropriately capitalized. Que Publishing cannot attest to the
accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not
be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service
mark. Minecraft is a trademark of Notch Development AB. Warning
and Disclaimer Every effort has been made to make this book as
complete and as accurate as possible, but no warranty or fi tness is
implied. The information provided is on an “as is” basis. The author
and the publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to
any person or entity with respect to any loss or damages arising
from the information contained in this book. Bulk Sales Que
Publishing offers excellent discounts on this book when ordered in
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please contact U.S. Corporate and Government Sales 1-800-382-
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[email protected] Editor-in-Chief Greg Wiegand
Executive Editor Rick Kughen Development Editor Rick Kughen
Managing Editor Sandra Schroeder Project Editor Seth Kerney
Copy Editor Gill Editorial Services Indexer Ken Johnson
Proofreader Jess DeGabriele Technical Editor Timothy L. Warner
Publishing Coordinator Kristen Watterson Book Designer Mark
Shirar Compositor Bronkella Publishing iii Contents at a Glance
Introduction 1 CHAPTER 1 Getting Started 7 CHAPTER 2 First-
Night Survival 23 CHAPTER 3 Gathering Resources 47 CHAPTER 4
Mining 69 CHAPTER 5 Combat School 83 CHAPTER 6 Crop
Farming 103 CHAPTER 7 Taming Mobs 125 CHAPTER 8 Creative
Construction 137 CHAPTER 9 Redstone, Rails, and More 159
CHAPTER 10 Enchanting, Anvils, and Brewing 195 CHAPTER 11
Villages and Other Structures 217 CHAPTER 12 Playing Through:
The Nether and The End 231 CHAPTER 13 Mods and Multiplayer
251 APPENDIX A Crafting Recipes (Online) Index 273 iv The
Ultimate Player’s Guide to Minecraft Table of Contents
Introduction 1 What’s in This Book 2 How to Use This Book 4
Crafting Recipes 4 There’s More Online… 5 Chapter 1 Getting
Started 7 Registering and Downloading 7 Registering a Mojang
Account 8 Purchasing Minecraft 10 Launching Minecraft 12
Starting a New Game 14 Choosing a World Generation Style 16
Singleplayer Game Modes 16 Seeding Your World 18 Controls 19
The Bottom Line 20 Chapter 2 First-Night Survival 23 Survive and
Thrive 23 Head for the Trees 25 Using Your Inventory 27 Build a
Crafting Table 29 Let’s Build Some Tools 30 Creating a Shelter 33
The Furnace Is Your Friend 38 Let There Be Light 39 Slumber with
Lumber 41 The Bottom Line 44 Chapter 3 Gathering Resources 47
Introducing the HUD 47 Improving Your Tools 51 Chests: Safely
Stash Your Stuff 54 Table of Contents v Avoiding Monsters 55
Hunger Management 58 Your Mission: Food, Resources, and
Reconnaissance 59 Food on the Run 61 Finding a Building Site 63
A Resourceful Guide to the Creative Mode Inventory 66 The Bottom
Line 68 Chapter 4 Mining 69 Dig Deep, My Friend 69 The Mining
Layer Cake Guide 71 Lava Lakes and Other Pitfalls 73 Descending
to Layer 11 74 The 2x1 Ladder Descent 74 The Straight Staircase
76 The Spiral Staircase 77 Layouts for Fast, Efficient Mining 78
Staying Safe While You Mine 81 The Bottom Line 82 Chapter 5
Combat School 83 Introducing the Menagerie 83 Zombies 84
Spiders 86 Skeletons 87 Cave Spiders 88 Spider Jockeys 89
Creepers 89 Slimes 90 Endermen 91 Zombie Pigmen 91 Defensive
Mobs 92 Snow Golems 92 Iron Golems 93 vi The Ultimate Player’s
Guide to Minecraft Weapons and Armor 94 Swordcraft 95 Bows
and Arrows 95 Armor-All 98 Color Coordinate Your Leather 100
The Bottom Line 101 Chapter 6 Crop Farming 103 Choosing a Crop
103 Establishing a Farm 106 Automated Farms 113 Creating a
Piston Harvester 117 Sticky Piston Harvesting 119 Creating a
Water Harvester 119 Harvesting Other Crops 122 The Bottom Line
123 Chapter 7 Taming Mobs 125 Farming and Working with
Friendly Mobs 125 Using Leads 128 Breeding Animals 129 Taming
and Riding Horses, Donkeys, and More 1Armoring Your Horse 132
Loading Up the Pack 133 Riding Pigs 134 Fishing 134 The Bottom
Line 135 Chapter 8 Creative Construction 137 Leaving the Cave
137 Unleashing Your Interior Decorator 140 Building Underwater
147 Protecting Your Perimeter 153 Become a Ditch Witch 153 Mob
Pitfalls 155 Thick as a Brick 157 The Bottom Line 157 Table of
Contents vii Chapter 9 Redstone, Rails, and More 159 Seeing Red:
A Beginner’s Guide 160 Power Sources 160 Redstone Wiring 164
Powered Blocks 166 Modifiers 167 Repeaters 168 Comparators 170
Output Devices 171 Automatic Doors 173 Vertical Currents 178
Advanced Circuits 180 NOT Gates, aka Inverters 180 OR Gates, or
Any Input Will Do 181 AND Gates, Two True 182 Repeater Loops
184 Rail Transport 185 Have Minecart, Will Travel 186 Rolling on
Rails 188 Making Tracks and Stations 190 T-Junctions 191 Halfway
Stations 192 A Word About Hoppers 193 The Bottom Line 194
Chapter 10 Enchanting, Anvils, and Brewing 195 Enchanting Wiles
195 Creating and Mining Obsidian 197 Crafting Books 200 Casting
Enchantments 200 Improving Enchantment Chances with
Bookshelves 202 Earning and Managing Experience 203 Spruce Up
Your Weapons 204 Enhance Your Armor 205 Improve Your Tools
206 viii The Ultimate Player’s Guide to Minecraft Hammer It Out
with the Anvil 207 Brewing Potions 209 Brewing Up a Storm 211
Enhancing Potions 214 The Bottom Line 215 Chapter 11 Villages
and Other Structures 217 Village Life 217 Emerald City: Your
Ticket to Trade 220 Hidden Temples and Other Structures 222
Desert Temples 223 Jungle Temples 224 Witch Huts 224 Dungeons
225 Abandoned Mineshafts 226 Strongholds 226 Nether Fortresses
227 Mapping, or There and Back Again 227 Crafting a Clock 229
The Bottom Line 230 Chapter 12 Playing Through: The Nether and
The End 231 Alternate Dimensions 231 Getting to The Nether 234
Portal Magic 236 Surviving the Nether Fortress 239 Nether Mobs
240 The End Game 242 Finding a Stronghold 244 Defeating the
Ender Dragon 246 The Bottom Line 250 Table of Contents ix
Chapter 13 Mods and Multiplayer 251 Customizing Your
Experience 251 Changing the Skin You’re In 252 Minecraft Skin
Editors 253 Skincraft 253 Minecraftskins 253 Novaskin 254
Resource Packs: Change Your World 255 Mind My Mods 258
Installing Forge Mods 259 Too Many Items 261 More Explosives
262 Super Heroes 262 REI’s MiniMap 263 Legendary Beasts 263
More Mobs 264 Multiplayer Madness 265 Sharing and Joining on
LAN 266 Joining a Multiplayer Server 267 Hosting a Multiplayer
Server 269 The Bottom Line 272 Appendix A Crafting Recipes
(Online) Index 273 x The Ultimate Player’s Guide to Minecraft
About the Author 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 27 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 in his spare time he
invented a new type of espresso machine called mypressi. He has
been playing Minecraft since its earliest days and remains
astounded at the unparalleled creativity it engendersTo Mika, who
at age nine taught his dad to laugh hysterically at the sight of a pig
riding up a mountain in a minecart. Laughs and love always, dear
boy. Acknowledgments It’s an author’s dream to work with a
talented team, and I feel like I’m having a better dream than most.
After 12 years away from Que working on entrepreneurial projects,
I was incredibly fortunate to step straight back into the fold of a
fantastic group. I’d like to thank Rick Kughen for his outstanding
project direction, polished editorial efforts, and always gentle
prompting even as I started to run behind schedule. Rick, it’s such
a true pleasure to work with you again. Seth Kerney, thank you for
so smoothly shepherding this book through the numerous stages of
the publishing process. Karen Gill, I appreciate your thorough,
precise copyediting and constantly joyful feedback. Mark Shirar,
you created a fantastic cover and page design. And Tim Warner,
thanks for a technical edit that truly left no block uncovered, no
cobblestone unturned. Writing a book always feels a long leap into
the dark, with the only light often being close family and friends. I
thank you all, in particular my dad, Tony; my siblings, Justin, Adele,
and Siobhan; my dear friend Laura; and ev