How do I survive my first night in Minecraft?
Sightseeing in Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta is a lot of fun, but there are more pressing matters to attend to. Night comes fast, and chances of surviving without a solid plan are slim. Here are ten steps to follow to ensure you survive your first night in Minecraft!
1. Take a quick course on crafting
If you haven't a clue how to craft or what resources are used in certain crafting recipes, it would be to your benefit to get acquainted with the basics.
We have assembled a short how-to on crafting, as well as a list of essential recipes in Minecraft: Windows 10 Edition Beta.
2. Gather wood
Walk up to the first tree you see and punch it. Keep punching until the raw wood block falls, then move onto the next wood block. Make sure you walk over the pieces on the ground — if you don't, the raw wood won't enter your inventory.
Keep punching wood until you have about 15-20 blocks of raw wood in your inventory.
3. Craft wood planks
In order to use all that raw wood you just gathered, you must craft it into wood planks. Place the raw wood into your crafting field and click the wood planks to craft them. You can keep clicking to craft more wood planks, as they are stackable up to 64 units.
Keep a few pieces of raw wood as a backup for later in case you don't manage to find any coal. Raw wood can be turned into charcoal in a furnace, which can then be used to craft torches.
4. Craft a crafting table
Now that you have your wood planks all ready to go, you will want to craft a crafting table. Place the wood planks in your crafting field, and click the crafting table to craft it.
Keep the crafting table in your inventory — there's one more step you'll want to take care of before you set down the crafting table.
5. Scout the area
Do a bit of running around — about two or three minutes — to look for a suitable spot for your shelter, and to look for coal. A small cavern that can be easily boarded up is usually best to hunker down in during your first night. Stay away from any deep caves; if you can't see the back, it probably has some enemies lurking within.
A prime area for a shelter is usually a spot between multiple resources. If you see a little nook close to trees, coal, livestock, and water, consider making it your (temporary) home.
Keep in mind that if you die before sleeping in a bed, you will return to the spot where you first spawned. For this reason, you might not want to run too far away, as it will be much harder to find your shelter and whatever resources or tools you dropped when you died.
6. Craft your first tool
The best thing to do now that you have an idea of where you want to sleep is to place your crafting table and get to crafting some tools. Try to place the crafting table within your planned shelter so that you can access it while the sun is down. You can always move the crafting table later by breaking it down with an axe or pickaxe.
First, craft some sticks using the wood planks. Don't go overboard — you should only need about eight to twelve for your first night, and you'll need the rest of your wood planks for tool crafting and putting walls and a roof on your shelter.
Craft a pickaxe from the sticks and wood planks. While you can craft all four basic tools — pickaxe, axe, shovel, hoe — from wood, you want to move onto stone tools as soon as possible. A pickaxe will do just fine with mining stone, and you can quickly move onto stone tools.
7. Mine!
Find some stone and start mining. In the process, try to shape your shelter. Start with a doorway that's two blocks high and one block wide, then expand the area within. If you've already found a bit of a natural cavern, work on expanding it, but don't make the opening too big — it will be harder to wall off from enemies. Mine stone until your wood pickaxe breaks.
If you happen to find coal, great. It looks like stone but has black chunks in it. Mine it as well, as you will need it to create torches when night sets in.
8. Back to crafting
Now that you have a bunch of cobblestone in your inventory, you can craft stone tools. Make a couple pickaxes, an axe, and a shovel. Don't worry about a hoe yet — you're still a long way from farming. If you're worried about enemies and have an ample amount of cobblestone, you can also craft a stone sword.
Also take the time to craft a furnace from the cobblestone you mined. Place it within your shelter so that you can access it while the sun is down.
Time to craft some torches from coal and sticks! If you didn't manage to find coal, torches can also be made from charcoal.
To make charcoal, place wood planks in the bottom field of your furnace, and raw wood in the top field of your furnace. The wood planks will burn the raw wood, and the furnace's output will be charcoal.
Craft a door from wood planks to block off the entrance to your shelter. If you'd rather keep the wood planks for other purposes, you can just use a couple of dirt or cobblestone blocks to keep out enemies.
9. Light up your life
Now that you have torches, place some in your cavern and the area around your shelter. Enemies can't spawn near torchlight, so be strategic with your placement. Even this little bit of extra protection counts when night falls.
10. Wall yourself in
If your shelter still has some holes in it — other than the two-high, one-wide space for your door — take the time to fill them in. Use cobblestone or dirt or wood, and ensure you have a roof on your place: spiders can climb over walls.
Place the door you crafted in the spot you left open for the door.
The night ahead
Now that you're safe and sound in your shelter, you can tackle some mining while the sun is down. Mine into the ground, but make sure you don't dig straight down — you never know what's directly beneath you. Create some more tools and torches to have with you while you mine. Watch out for iron and coal deposits -- large quantities are needed for long-game scenarios.
Keep an eye on the world outside your door; when the sun comes up, you'll want to go out and explore!