When it comes to Minecraft's classic Survival Mode, there are always new things to learn to improve upon your skills. In this list of the best tips and tricks for Minecraft Survival, I've included ten tips that will work for beginners and seasoned players alike.
10 Minecraft Survival Tips
These ten tips will help you get the most out of your survival world.
1. Skip to stone tools
It's common for Minecraft players to start with a full set of wooden tools. While this is a good starting point, players can easily get stone tools on the first day of their survival, making it even easier to stay alive. To start, gather three logs by punching a tree.
Turn the logs into wooden planks and craft a crafting table.
Turn two of the planks into sticks and craft a wooden pickaxe
Dig a staircase into the ground until you hit stone. If a hill is nearby, it's safer to dig straight into it to find stone.
Mining 11 pieces of stone will be enough to craft an entire set of stone tools. I recommend building the axe first as you will need one more log to finish creating the stone tool set.
This makes the early days of fighting mobs and resource gathering much easier.
2. Use Stony biomes for easy iron and coal
Exploring Stony biomes is one of the easiest ways to get iron ore and coal. This also applies to Java Edition's Windswept Hills biomes, which are called Extreme Hills biomes in Bedrock. The ores within them can be safely seen from the ground and mined in the middle of the day.
3. Craft a shield
While weaponry and armor are important, a shield should not be underrated. It can be crafted using one iron ingot and six wooden planks. Place one wooden plank in the center of the bottom row, fill the middle row with wooden planks, and place one wooden plank in the top left box and the last in the right box of the top row. To complete the recipe, place the iron ingot in the center box of the top row.
A shield will prevent Skeletons from easily killing you in the early days when you have no armor. It will also take the damage from Creeper explosions and other mob attacks.
Related: How many Bookshelves are needed for Level 30 Enchantments in Minecraft?
4. Keep an infinite water supply
An infinite water supply is a necessity for all water players. Building it requires only a bucket and a 2x2 hole in the ground.
After filling the bucket with water, pour water in the bottom left corner.
Fill the bucket again and pour the water in the top right corner to create an infinite water source!
5. Increase Simulation Distance away from farms
One of the potentially frustrating aspects of Minecraft is that you need to be within a certain distance of farms, mob grinders, and other structures to keep them running. If you go too far while mining or exploring, they will stop production until you come within range again. To combat this, you can increase your Simulation Distance.
The Simulation Distance determines which chunks will continue to spawn and update entities depending on the distance selected by the player. Essentially, this allows structures like farms to continue growing and producing while you travel further away. I've heard that a distance of 9-10 chunks is recommended, but it will differ depending on how you play and the lag it can potentially cause.
6. Use Cats to keep Creepers away from your base
Surprisingly, Creepers are afraid of Cats and will not go past them even when chasing you. I tested this out by smacking a Creeper and walking backward to my Cats while it followed me.
Once it came close enough to the Cats, the Creeper turned tail and headed in the opposite direction.
If you want to Creeper-proof any of your builds, using Cats is the way to go!
7. Know ore Y-levels
To max up your gear and base, you'll need to be able to collect mass quantities of all of the different ores Minecraft offers. This table covers each ore, the Y-Levels it spawns in, and the weakest type of pickaxe you need to mine it.
| Ore Name | Ore Appearance | Y-Level Range | Best Y-Level | Weakest Required Pickaxe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coal |  | 256 to 0 | 96 | wooden pickaxe |
| Copper |  | 112 to -16 | 48 | stone pickaxe |
| Diamond |  | 16 to -64 | -59 | iron pickaxe |
| Emerald |  | 256 to -16 | 235 | iron pickaxe |
| Gold |  | 32 to -64 256 to 32 (Badlands) | -16 | iron pickaxe |
| Iron |  | -64 to 257 | 232 or 16 | stone pickaxe |
| Lapis Lazuli |  | 64 to -64 | 0 | stone pickaxe |
| Redstone |  | 16 to -64 | -59 | iron pickaxe |
8. Use Dripstone for infinite lava source
Making an infinite lava source is harder than making one for water, but it's not impossible. To do this, you'll need an equal number of cauldrons, Dripstone, and lava buckets, plus a stack of a random block to be safe. Start by placing the cauldrons in a straight line on the ground.
Then place a row of blocks the same size three blocks above them.
Afterward, add Dripstone to the bottom of each of the blocks.
Add your block of choice around the area above the row of blocks.
Once the area above the blocks is caged in, it can be safely filled with lava.
Lava will flow down from the Dripstone into the cauldron, which will be filled with lava within a day in the game.
9. Build a Nether Portal without a Diamond Pickaxe
For those trying to get to the Nether quickly in Survival, there is a method to build a portal using only one or two buckets. It involves placing lava with a bucket and immediately dousing it in water to create Obsidian. A step-by-step guide on the method can be found here.
10. Duplicate Netherite Upgrade Templates
With each piece of Diamond Gear requiring one Netherite Upgrade Template to turn into Netherite Gear, you would potentially have to find and explore dozens of Bastion Remnants to find enough templates to upgrade everything.
Luckily, there is a recipe for duplicating the template so that you only ever have to find one. Just place the Netherite Upgrade Template in the center box of the top row, a Netherrack block in the center of the middle row, and fill in the rest of the spaces with one Diamond each.
This recipe takes in the original Netherite Upgrade Template and produces two, one being the original and the second being an entirely new Upgrade Template!
For more Minecraft Survival, check out our list of the Best Minecraft Survival Maps here on Pro Games.
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Tips and Tricks for Minecraft Survival
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