Pocket Edition

Author(s)	Mojang AB Jens Bergensten Aron Nieminen Johan Bernhardsson Daniel Kaplan
Platform(s)
Written in	C++ (Android) Objective-C (iOS)
Latest release	Alpha 0.6.0 (Full) Alpha 0.2.1 (Demo)
Release date	Xperia PLAY August 16, 2011 Android 2.1+ October 7, 2011 (2.3+ January 30, 2013) iOS 4.3.3+ November 17, 2011
Rating(s)	(online interactions not rated) Apple: 4+ Google: Medium Maturity
Size	~5 MB
License	Proprietary
Source code	No
Other links	Minecraft Pocket Edition Google Play iOS App Store Amazon Appstore

This article is about the Pocket Edition. For the Xbox 360 Edition, see Xbox 360 Edition. For the game in general, see Minecraft. For the Pocket Edition version history, see Pocket Edition version history.

Minecraft - Pocket Edition is the mobile version of Minecraft developed by Mojang AB. It was initially launched exclusively for the Xperia PLAY on Google Play (formerly known as Android Market) for $6.99/£4.28/5,49€ on August 16, 2011, along with a free demo version. It was later released for other Android devices on the 7th of October 2011. Minecraft Pocket Edition for iOS devices was released on Thursday, the 17th of November 2011 on the iOS App Store, one day before the launch of Minecraft 1.0 at MineCon 2011 and currently costs $6.99 US and €5.49 EU. On September 13, 2012, the Pocket Edition was made available for download on the Amazon Appstore.

Gameplay

The objective of the game remains the same as its original PC and Xbox Edition counterparts, where players can build virtual realities in a sandbox-like environment. However, the Pocket Edition lacks most Survival features present in other versions of the game. So far the mobs available are sheep, chickens, cows, pigs, zombies, Creepers, skeletons, zombie pigmen and spiders. The multiplayer mode is cross-platform compatible between Android and iOS, but not Demo/Lite with Full version.§

File:Pocket Edition.jpg

In-game screenshot.

Both the iOS and Android versions of Pocket Edition have the same gameplay, which is akin to that of the Classic game mode, with the following differences:

• World is finite as in Classic version but there isn't infinite water at world corners.
• The terrain generation is similar to that of Alpha's. It lacks many biomes, generated structures.
• With the survival update tools were added. These were: swords, shovels, pickaxes, axes, hoes, and shears.
• In game items differ slightly to the Classic version. The notable differences being the addition of Quartz and Nether blocks.
• Clouds are in Pocket Edition as of 0.6.0. They are 2D like the clouds on PC in "Fast" graphics setting.
• As of 0.6.0 the sky in Pocket Edition only has clouds and a lush blue color. Sun, moon, and stars will be added in more updates.
• Water is finite as compared to the infinite water in Classic.
• It lacks many of the settings the Classic version has.
• Pocket Edition has physics for sand, gravel, and primed TNT. As of 0.6.0 it is slightly buggy.
• Online (LAN) mode only allows 5 players to be on a single server. Internet support is in development.
• Crafting using the MATTIS system.
• The world size is 256x256 blocks.
• The Nether is not present, but it is replaced by the Nether Reactor. The Reactor is planned to eventually be replaced.
• Roses are not present, but are replaced by Cyan Flowers, alias Blue Roses.
• all of the included blocks are as follows- (v0.5.0)

Cobblestone, Moss Stone, Stone Brick, Stone, Brick, Wooden Plank, Dirt, Grass Block, Clay, Sandstone, Sand, Gravel, (old texture) Wood, (three types, only excluding jungle) Cobblestone Stairs, Wooden Stairs, Brick Stairs, Stone Slab, Cobblestone Slab, Wooden Slab, Brick Slab, Coal Ore, Iron Ore, Gold Ore, Diamond Ore, Redstone Ore, (besides the lack of ability to mine it) Lapis Lazuli Ore, Block of Gold, Block of Iron, Block of Diamond, Lapis Lazuli Block, Obsidian, Snow, (Block) Glass, (Block and pane) Glowstone, Nether Reactor Core, Wool, (all colors) Ladder, Torch, Wooden Door, Trapdoor, Fence post and gate, Bed, Bookshelf, Painting, Crafting Table, Chest, Furnace, TNT, Flower- yellow and Cyan Flower, Mushroom, (both red and brown) Cacti, Melon, Sugar Cane, Three types of Sapling, excluding jungle, Three types of Leaves, excluding jungle, Seeds, Melon Seeds, (textured as pumpkin seeds, fixed as of 0.6.0), Bonemeal, Every type of Tool.

Development

Release

Main article: Pocket Edition version history

A video of an early prototype was released on Twitter, showing the game on the Xperia PLAY. The alpha version was recently released, and became no longer exclusive to the Xperia PLAY on the 7th of October 2011. The non-exclusive version was going to be released on September 29^th for Android but there were several severe bugs that needed to be fixed; the release was delayed until the 7th of October.

A version for iOS devices was confirmed to be released before 2012 in an interview with Mojang and was subsequently released on the 17th of November 2011.

Alpha

After the initial releases for iOS and Android, updates were released in parallel, with the same features being added for both platforms. During the Alpha stage, various aspects of gameplay were introduced into Pocket Edition including: crafting, smelting, more blocks, items, mobs and more gamemodes to bring it closer to the PC version.

Controls

Main article: Controls § Pocket Edition

Android & iOS

The Android and iOS versions feature a D-pad at the bottom-left corner of the screen, which controls movement. The jump button is located in the center of the d-pad. As of 0.6.0 the d-pad is more blocky, and when moving forward, two strafing buttons will appear. Note that when moving towards an adjacent block that is one level higher than the Player, the player will automatically jump up the block. One can place blocks by tapping the screen in a desired location. Destroying blocks is similar to the PC version's way, but rather than clicking the mouse, the player taps and holds. The search button used to be able to change the camera to and from third person view, but now this has to be done via the pause screen, and the menu and back buttons will open the pause screen. To open the inventory screen, tap the triple dotted button on the right of the hot bar. You can touch and hold in item in the hot bar to throw it.

Xperia PLAY

*Controlled with slide out PlayStation keyboard:

- Open inventory

- Scroll right in hotbar

- Jump (press twice to toggle flying mode in Creative*)

- Scroll left in hotbar

D-Pad: Move

Left Touchpad: Sneak

Right Touchpad: Look/Turn

Select: Bring up crafting menu (Survival only)

Menu: Pause

* To fly: Press jump twice in a row. To fly higher, hold the jump button and press up on the directional pad. To fly downward, hold jump and press down. (Creative Only)

Tablet features

All devices have an option to enable Split Touch Controls, which may be more suitable for bigger screens. There is a cross hair, and the right half of the screen lets the player rotate the camera.

Other than the screen size difference allowing 6 slots in the hotbar as do other devices, the tablet version of the game is the same as other versions, hence the ability to play multiplayer cross-platform with other devices.

System requirements

Android

According to Aron Nieminen (developer of the Pocket Edition), the system requirements are:

• Android 2.1 or later (Android 2.3 or later as of 0.6.0)
• The device must have a CPU that supports floating-point calculations ("ARM-v7a code")
• The screen must support multi-touch
• An internet connection is required to download the game
• Full (or close) battery as 3D GPU gaming on smartphones quickly drains battery

The CPU known as "MSM7227" (an ARMv6 processor without a floating point unit) is NOT supported, which unfortunately is in a lot of smartphone models.

The Pocket Edition doesn't work with devices that have processor speeds under 1 GHz and Android OS versions lower than 2.2.

Though some devices below these specs and OS versions have been known to work fine either with or without using a custom ROM image, kernel, and overclocking the CPU.

Officially verified working Android devices

Main article: Pocket Edition hardware performance (Android)

• Sony Ericsson Xperia Play
• Sony Ericsson Xperia Ray
• Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro

A full list of compatible and non-compatible devices and the performance on said devices can be found here.

iOS

Main article: Pocket Edition hardware performance (iOS)

• Supported iOS devices:

- iPod Touch 3rd Generation
- iPod Touch 4th Generation
- iPod Touch 5th Generation
- iPhone 3GS
- iPhone 4
- iPhone 4S
- iPhone 5
- iPad
- iPad 2
- iPad (3rd Generation)
- iPad (4th Generation)
- iPad Mini

• Minimum system requirements:

- iOS 4.3.3
- 4.3MB spare storage (however, you will need about 100MB for world saves)
- A 600 MHz ARMv7 Cortex CPU/800 MHz Apple A4 CPU or better. (ARMv7 is required for floating point calculations)

Helpful hints & tips

• Make sure your battery is charged, and/or plugged in (3D gaming drains the battery quickly).
• Get used to the controls before playing on servers (it is easy to mine the block under a torch by mistake).
• Tap and hold an item in the hotbar to drop it.

Trivia

File:MCPE blocks on indev wall.png

Example of blocks "snapping" to the indev wall

• Pocket Edition's save files are not compatible with those from the PC version.
• Players can have skins on the iOS version and Android by replacing char.png in the app file. However, the chosen skin will appear as another player's skin if playing over local Wi-Fi.
• Fire has been removed for now, as it caused a huge bug.
• Lava appears to be frozen, but will flow if forced to move.
• In the demo video, before the game was released, smooth lighting was available. It was taken out due to bugs being produced on a wide range of devices. The code is still present in the game and can be made available by modifying the game.
• Worlds played before 0.3.0 update had the other wool and sugar cane (block).
• The terrain.png file in the APK file found on Android devices is nearly identical to that in the PC version, containing textures for items unimplemented in the Pocket Edition (e.g., cauldrons, and End portals).
• It is possible to play multiplayer over Bluetooth even though it is not coded into the game. Tutorial here. (not available since iOS 6)
• The Indev wall is also cut by the height limit allowing players to go over it.
• By placing ladders on the TOP of blocks at the edge of a map (stacking ladders on the top of ladders also works) it is possible to place ladders on the indev wall as if it were a solid block. This is an easy and efficient way to get to the top of the wall and walk on top of it in survival since wood is infinite. By making an additional platform somewhere along the ladder, it is easy to shoot at mobs with a bow and arrow.
• Blocks that "snap to" other blocks such as torches, glass panes, and fences will "snap to" the indev wall as if it were an existing block. Torches only do this if an attempt is made to place them on a block they can't be placed on such as ladders.
• If one deletes the terrain.png file in the games files via iExplorer or iFile for jailbroken ios devices, the game will use the GUI.png file for the normal textures.
• The rose is textured to a cyan color. Even though its considered a rose, it cannot be crafted into dye; rose red dye is obtained by smelting red mushrooms instead.
• If you have any kind of modifier or command to give yourself any item in the Minecraft entity folder (e.g. iron door) the background of the non-existing entity will appear red meaning it does not exist or was never meant to.
• If you try to mine Redstone ore,it will take as much time to mine as obsidian in the PC version (8-12 seconds)
• The average placing/destroying block range is 4-6 on the PC version but for the iOS/Android is 6-9.
• The Stone Cutter added in 0.6.0 is exclusive to Pocket Edition; it is a crafting table for stone items. Developers have plans to remove it once MATTIS is replaced.
• Baby animals are in Pocket Edition, but spawn naturally; animals cannot be actually bred yet.
• Skeletons are significantly less accurate in Pocket Edition than PC or Xbox, making them easier to fight.
• Zombie Pigmen are missing the hat layer of their texture on their heads. This may be intentional.

Gallery

Notch and the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY

The world selection screen

An official SVG of the Minecraft - Pocket Edition logo

An image from Minecraft's website

iOS main menu

Block selection menu

The options screen in the iOS version