This tutorial will teach you the basics of surviving in the first ten minutes of playing the game. Note that this guide does not go into much detail about the definitions or functions of blocks and items.
Dawn
Once you spawn in the world and look around, you will notice many different landscapes all around you. Your goal is to gather all the resources you need before nighttime comes and monsters can spawn.
Minute Zero
- 0
- 00–0:15
It is best to create a temporary landmark to indicate the spawn location before you move at all. This might help you in the future, so mark it in whichever way you can. If you spawn on land, the easiest way is to dig the blocks adjacent to the block you are standing on and then place them one on top of the other to form a pillar below your feet. See pillar jumping for more detail. Build the marker on nearby high ground, and build it high enough to be seen from a distance over any nearby obstacles. Next, look around, take note of your surroundings. See if there are any trees around you. There is a spawn chunk region and you will spawn anywhere within that region if you die. This region has special importance in the game and you want to lay down enough markings to be able to identify it later. (Pro tip for direction finding: you are always facing north at the start of the game. Pressing F3 to open the debug screen will also tell you where you are facing.)
- 0
- 20–1:00
Walk towards trees. If you do not see any trees, pick a random direction (but note the direction - the sun has just risen and is directly east) and walk. If you are on an island, surrounded by water, swim towards land. Throughout the first day, it's recommended to hit any tall grass you come across as wheat seeds are going to come in handy later on. If you are in the jungle, keep an eye open for a big green melon and punch it if you see one. In addition, take note of food sources such as animals, as well as small caves as shelter, as they will be useful later on. If you have spawned in a plains, savanna, desert, taiga, snowy taiga[BE only], or snowy tundra biome, you may come across a village. Villages house villagers that can be used for trading with later on and may contain basic food supplies such as wheat seeds, carrots, potatoes and beetroots, even melons or pumpkins, as well as a weaponsmith building and other building which contains chest with a good chest loot. They also contain beds which allow you to reset your spawn point and avoid the effects of insomnia. A village can be a good alternative to building your own shelter, particularly in challenging biomes like desert or tundra.
Minute One
- 1
- 00–2:00
If you still do not see trees, and particularly if you don't see any dirt or grass, then start collecting sand (in a desert) or snow (in tundra - though this will first require obtaining a shovel) as shelter materials, as much as you can get, for 20 seconds, then move on. If you are still swimming, keep at it. If you do see a tree, cut it down by holding down destroy and collect all of the logs. you do not need to destroy the leaves, as they will decay automatically, but collect the saplings and apples that drop from the leaves, if there are any.
You should keep your eyes and ears open for animals such as chickens, cows, sheep, pigs, and especially wolves, which can be domesticated at a later point in time. You don't want to punch them by accident. If you do, wolves will become hostile. You will need to find some animals in a couple minutes. Take note if there isn't any water in sight.
Achievements[Bedrock Edition only]
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Gamerscore earned | Trophy type (PS4) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS4 | Other | |||||
| Getting Wood | Punch a tree until a block of wood pops out. | Pick up a log from the ground. | 10G | Bronze | ||
Minute Two
- 2
- 00–2:10
The next step after finding wood is to make a crafting table. If you have not found trees yet (or a village) keep moving until you do. If you have not find either after 5 minutes, you should stop and make a basic shelter (see next section).
To make a crafting table, you will first need to open your inventory by pressing E. Put one piece of log anywhere in the 2×2 crafting slot and you will see near the top of your inventory. In the output box to the right of that, you will see 4 planks. Take the planks, and put 1 in each slot of the crafting area. The output should now be a crafting table. Template:Grid/Inventory Table Template:Grid/Inventory Table Put the crafting table anywhere in your hotbar (the 9 slots at the bottom of your inventory), and place it down with a right-click, and right-click again to open it.
- 2
- 10-3:00
Make a wooden pickaxe. First, you will need to make sticks. (1 log = 4 planks = 8 sticks) Template:Grid/Crafting Table Template:Grid/Crafting Table
Advancements[Java Edition only]
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Parent | Actual requirements (if different) | Resource location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Minecraft | The heart and story of the game | — | Have a crafting table in your inventory. | story/root
|
Achievements[Bedrock Edition only]
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Gamerscore earned | Trophy type (PS4) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS4 | Other | |||||
| Taking Inventory | Open your inventory. | — | 10G | Bronze | ||
| Benchmaking | Craft a workbench with four blocks of wooden planks. | Pick up a crafting table from the inventory's crafting field output or a crafting table output. | 10G | Bronze | ||
| Time to Mine! | Use planks and sticks to make a pickaxe. | Pick up any type of pickaxe from a crafting table output. | 10G | Bronze | ||
Minute Three
- 3
- 00–4:00
Dig down or into hills using your fist on the dirt, and then use the pickaxe to gather at least 19 blocks of stone, which will drop as cobblestone when mined. This cobblestone will enable you to build your first tools and a furnace.
This hole can be your first basic shelter if you want, so pick a suitable place. Remember to never mine straight down. Once you have stone tools, you will be able to exploit caves, so be on the lookout for a cave opening. These are quite easy to find, occurring in every biome, and contain ores, which are necessary in survival. However, do not venture far into one this early in the game. If you see a monster in one, retreat right away, sealing the passage between you and the monster with basic blocks (dirt etc.) as you currently don't have any weapons or armor.
Once you have cobblestone, place your crafting table again (if you moved it) and use it to make a stone axe, a stone pickaxe, and a stone sword. You may have to convert more wood into sticks. Template:Grid/Crafting Table Template:Grid/Crafting Table Template:Grid/Crafting Table
It never hurts to get more wood, so try to have at least 10 logs for the night. It's okay if you don't get enough. you can collect more in the morning.
Break the crafting table, collect it, and remember your spawn point. (If you have the Rei's Minimap mod, put a spawn point where you spawn by pressing "C" then typing "Spawn")
Advancements[Java Edition only]
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Parent | Actual requirements (if different) | Resource location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stone Age | Mine Stone with your new Pickaxe | Minecraft | Have one of these 3 stones in the #stone_tool_materials item tag:
in your inventory. | story/mine_stone
|
| Getting an Upgrade | Construct a better Pickaxe | Stone Age | Have a stone pickaxe in your inventory. | story/upgrade_tools
|
Achievements[Bedrock Edition only]
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Gamerscore earned | Trophy type (PS4) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS4 | Other | |||||
| Getting an Upgrade | Construct a better pickaxe. | Pick up a stone pickaxe from a crafting table output. | 15G | Bronze | ||
| Time to Strike! | Use planks and sticks to make a sword. | Pick up any type of sword from a crafting table output. | 10G | Bronze | ||
Minute Four
- 4
- 00–5:00
Now that you have a sword, you could start killing excess animals with it (any animals in excess of 2 of each type), and then collecting their drops, although food will not be a problem until your third day. When collecting meat exactly six of the same type is best for efficient cooking. Go after sheep if they're available because they drop wool, which is needed for a bed, and also give mutton for food. If you see a horse then do not kill it. Leave it alone for now — it won't drop anything useful, and taming it is pointless until you find a saddle. Don't waste your time if you are behind. Don't bother attacking wolves, as they don't have any item drops, are rather dangerous if you attack when starting out, and can be tamed into dogs that will protect you using bones dropped by skeletons. If you are lucky enough to run into cats, then don't kill them either, or even scare them away, as they can scare away creepers and can also be tamed with raw fish. Also, always make sure to leave at least 2 of every animal, so that you can breed them for later.
Try to find coal and a place for your first shelter. Hillsides are best for both. If you do not see coal, collect some more logs (and craft an axe if you skipped that earlier). If you are planning to grow crops at this shelter site, ensure there is water nearby.
Advancements[Java Edition only]
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Parent | Actual requirements (if different) | Resource location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adventure | Adventure, exploration and combat | — | Kill any entity, or be killed by any entity. | adventure/root
|
Midday
Minute Five
- 5
- 00–6:00
Walk around, looking for an ideal place for a shelter.
If you see sheep, kill 3 of them, all the same color, to gather 3 blocks of wool (to make a bed). If you want to have an easier time later on by breeding sheep, leave at least 2 sheep alive. (It is still advised to kill sheep whenever you find them until you have three blocks of the same color of wool to make a bed, since a bed is extremely important and extra sheep can usually be found by exploring further.)
Minute Six
- 6
- 00–7:00
Clear the area for the new shelter.
Players can make an easy shelter by digging into a hill or digging steps downwards into the ground (called a "dugout" or "hideyhole"). Don't get fancy if there isn't any water (or land), animals, or trees in sight because you won't be using it for more than one night. (An especially desperate shelter is a 3×1 hole in the ground with one block covering the top.) If you find a village, you could stay in one of its houses. Be careful if you are on easy to hard difficulty, as you may have to deal with zombies, or husks if you are in a desert.
Minute Seven & Eight
- 7
- 00–8:00
Build a basic shelter (worry about size and looks later, focus on functionality). For now, build it with dirt and/or planks. If you have spawned in a desert biome (and collected sand during Minute One) sand walls and sandstone roof.
Template:Grid/Inventory Table
If you are in tundra and have a shovel, you can build with snow blocks.
After shelter, you highest priority on day 1 is a source of light. With light, you can work usefully during your first night. Without light, you will huddle in the dark, worrying about strange noises.
If you found and mined coal, craft some torches to light up the shelter.
Template:Grid/Inventory Table
If you did not find coal, build a furnace and make some charcoal from wood logs. This is a higher priority than food, as you shouldn't get too hungry until later in the game. However, you should avoid excess sprinting and jumping.
Place the crafting table and make a furnace. Template:Grid/Crafting Table
Make your first charcoal (if needed) by smelting a log in a furnace. Template:Grid/Furnace
Use this charcoal to cook up to 8 more logs. You can keep using this method to get charcoal until you find coal ore. The charcoal will be used to make torches in the absence of coal (see the earlier torch recipe.) Make at least one batch of torches to keep your shelter lit at night, so you can work through the night. Make more batches if you plan on mining.
Template:Grid/Furnace
Make some torches as per the preceding section. Once you have a source of light, you can stop worrying about the impending darkness and do other tasks all night long.
Earlier, you hopefully collected some meat by killing animals – "...at least three pieces of meat, exactly six is best." Now, it's time to cook it in a furnace with some planks: Template:Grid/Furnace
If you spotted coal earlier, go and mine it while waiting for the meat to cook.
A furnace batch always takes ten seconds to complete. Coal and charcoal last 80 seconds, and so do 8 batches. Planks last 15 seconds, so two can do three batches. This is consistent for all furnace recipes, even ones late in the game. Template:Grid/Furnace
See Smelting for the details.
If you have additional wood, make a wooden door. Zombies have the ability to break doors on hard mode, but if you are a beginner, you shouldn't be playing on hard mode anyway. Please keep this in mind when building your entrance/exit to your shelter. Place the door outside and place it to the outer side of the block of your entrance to the shelter.
Template:Grid/Crafting Table
If you are out of wood, just place a couple of cheap blocks in the doorway until morning. you can make a door tomorrow.
Advancements[Java Edition only]
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Parent | Actual requirements (if different) | Resource location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Husbandry | The world is full of friends and food | — | Consume anything that can be consumed. | husbandry/root
|
Achievements[Bedrock Edition only]
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Gamerscore earned | Trophy type (PS4) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS4 | Other | |||||
| Hot Topic | Construct a furnace out of eight cobblestone blocks. | Pick up a furnace from a crafting table output. | 15G | Bronze | ||
| Renewable Energy | Smelt wood trunks using charcoal to make more charcoal. | Smelt a wooden log with charcoal as the fuel. | 10G | Bronze | ||
Minute Nine
- 9
- 00–10:00
Get ready for the night and craft a bed if you gathered wool. You will have to get three wool blocks of the same color. Template:Grid/Crafting Table
While you have this extra time, it would be a good idea to craft a chest to store unwanted and unnecessary items to carry around at all times such as seeds, eggs, leather, and extra food (meat).
Template:Grid/Crafting Table
Minute Ten
- 10
- 00
Go to bed. If you have not gathered enough wool for a bed to sleep in, or do not want to use one, first check to see if your base is secure (has all four walls, has a roof, a door or at least a blocked doorway, and ideally is lit). It is not recommended to add decorations to your house on the first day).
If you don't have enough wool (or wood) for a bed to sleep on, then, as long as you have a light source, you can use the night time more usefully by crafting or by starting to make a mine. From mines you can get lots of useful items such as iron, coal, redstone, gold, lapis lazuli, diamond, and emerald. Never dig straight down, as it is very dangerous. you could fall into a mob-filled cave, into lava, or fall into a large ravine. Mines are also a good way to find caves.
If you don't have enough coal or charcoal to make many torches for the mine, you can organize your items and house to make finding and moving easier, and do crafting (crafting is possible, though difficult, even in complete darkness). Also, if you managed to gather some leather (at least 4 pieces) by killing cows or rabbits, you might craft some leather armor. It's weak but better than nothing.
Advancements[Java Edition only]
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Parent | Actual requirements (if different) | Resource location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sweet Dreams | Sleep in a Bed to change your respawn point | Adventure | Lie down in a bed. The advancement is granted as soon as the player is in the bed, even if the player does not successfully sleep. | adventure/sleep_in_bed
|
Dusk
If you decide to start making a mine, there are many methods to dig for resources. While a safe method would be simply to dig a large room, lighting it up as you dig while looking for ores, a more profitable (and risky) decision would be to look for a cave and start spelunking. If you decide to find and explore caves, a sword, food, enough wood (20 to 30 logs) and a light source (presumably torches) are absolute necessities. If you come across any ore other than coal or iron, get an iron pickaxe before you mine it, as using an inferior pickaxe will not only take longer to mine it, it will break the ore without dropping the resource. You will need ladders and a crafting table, just in case you find a good cave and decide to stay underground for long.
If you run short on food, you can survive on rotten flesh dropped by zombies, but it is not as nutritious and can poison you with hunger for 30 seconds. If you are living on rotten flesh, it is best to wait until the hunger bar is low and then eat multiple rotten flesh in quick succession, because the hunger penalty doesn't stack up per.
Be prepared for hostile mobs, as it is a common but fatal mistake for starters to think that the moon spawns hostile mobs, and not simply darkness. If you come back with enough iron, you will be able to experience many more features of Minecraft, mainly redstone, pistons, diamond, and much more. You have started on your path to your success in Minecraft, whether you have found iron or not.
Other options
One good idea is to chop extra log and burn it for charcoal. With practice, you can start a new game and as long as you are near trees when you spawn, you should be able to make basic tools, a furnace and have enough wood for torches before midday (5:00).
Often people would rather use up wooden tools before switching to your newly made stone tools, but the stone tools really are better — if you don't want to "waste" the wooden tools, you can use them as fuel to smelt single items.
If possible, and if you can spot a position where you would like to build a house when you spawn, try to gather the resources from nearby, and only dig where you would otherwise dig to construct your house to save time later. Replant all saplings (which have a chance of falling when tree leaves are mined) as soon as they fall if this is the case so that you have less distance to walk later.
If you are more adventurous, find an ocean. As soon as you have a lot of wood blocks, build the crafting table and wooden axe as above, then build 3 or 4 boats and go sailing. Spend nights at sea while perusing the coastline for a nice place to make your base. Once you do, put ashore at dawn and proceed with the guidelines above.
Crafting
| Ingredients | Crafting recipe | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Matching Planks | [Java Edition only] | |
| Matching Planks + Wooden Shovel |
[Bedrock Edition only] |
Video
- Note: This video is outdated, as since 1.12 of Java Edition, achievements have been replaced with advancements. However, the basic survival concepts are still the same.