The world of Minecraft invites not only building but also exploration. There are numerous structures to discover, new biomes to find, and new animals to tame. Therefore, sooner or later, you will need to embark on a journey to find unique blocks in your world. However, even a few hundred blocks can lead to losing your way. To prevent this, you should prepare adequately and know the most important tools for successful navigation in Minecraft. Today, we will show you how to use a compass, a map, and other tools!
Integrating Natural Orientation Methods in Minecraft
If you want to explore your world completely without items, there are still some useful hints that can help you orient yourself easily. You can also incorporate these organically into your world so that they do not stand out too much. This way, you can naturally orient yourself, even in the early hours of gameplay.
Features of the Environment: It is best to familiarise yourself with your surroundings. Take a closer look at mountains, landscapes, and biomes, and remember from which direction you originally came.
Own Constructions: You can also set some markers that you can recognise from hundreds of blocks away. These were also used in real life in the past, such as large towers or signs. These elements can be better integrated into your world, for example, in medieval settings.
Sun and Moon: Just like in real life, the sun always rises in the west, which can give you a good sense of direction. The moon follows the same pattern.
Campfires and Hay: The smoke from a campfire is a good signal fire and can be seen over long distances. The smoke is even higher with a hay bale underneath.
Navigating with the Compass: Returning to the Spawn Point
A compass is most useful when you have built your base near your spawn point. This is the place where you first load into your world and where you return if you die without an active bed. The compass always points to the spawn, unless you use it at a lodestone. This is extremely useful in the Nether, as maps do not work there.
Maps for the Grand Exploration Tour
Maps are an upgrade from the compass and one of the best tools to orient yourself and view your world from a different perspective. They are incredibly flexible and have seen a significant update with the cartography table. Especially for large worlds, maps are extremely practical to oversee your progress and avoid relying on tools outside the game.
You create a map with a compass and eight pieces of paper. You then receive a blank map, which you must unfold first. Depending on where you open the map for the first time, a specific map section is created. Maps always orient themselves based on the world’s coordinates, so you will not find overlaps with maps of the same size. Standard maps have a size of 128x128 blocks and pixels, meaning one pixel corresponds to one block. The entire map covers 8x8 chunks of your world.
You can enlarge the map at the cartography table or in your crafting field. The further levels are:
- 256x256 blocks
- 512x512 blocks
- 1024x1024 blocks
- 2048x2048 blocks
The more you zoom out, the larger your map will be, but the fewer details you will recognise. And the largest map format takes quite a while to fill completely. The map grid remains the same, so four maps of one level correspond to one map of the following enlargement level. As mentioned before, maps do not work in the Nether, but interestingly, they do in the End.
You can both copy maps to share them with other players and lock them with a glass pane to prevent any changes. You can display maps in your world using item frames. It is best to use illuminated item frames for this, as it ensures your map is always readable!
Map Markings and Special Villager Maps
Together with banners, maps become incredibly practical, as these can be used as markers on the map. This can be done with a normal banner, but you can also rename these in an anvil to leave direct markers on the maps. Place the banner in your world and then click on the banner with the map. However, this feature is only available in Java, not Bedrock.
Not only can you create maps, but villagers are also useful helpers in finding certain things in your world. The cartographer can offer you various explorer maps with increasing bonding, which you can purchase with emeralds and compasses.
These include:
- Ocean Map: Leads to an ocean monument
- Woodland Map: Leads to a woodland mansion
- Treasure Map: Leads to a treasure chamber
Soon to be added (or already available) will be:
- Jungle Map: Leads to a jungle temple
- Swamp Map: Leads to a swamp hut
- Village Map: Leads to another village of a specific biome (Savannah, Taiga, Snow, Desert, and Plains)
These maps can help you find various new places in your world. They function like regular maps, but you often need to find the right area to actively follow the map. Additionally, you can find treasure maps in sunken shipwrecks, which lead you to buried treasures.
Advanced Tools: Coordinates & Mapping Programs for Precise Navigation
The coordinates, which are displayed to you via the F3 menu in Java or natively in Bedrock, can also be used for precise navigation. However, some consider this cheating, even though the feature is included in Minecraft. How you handle this is, of course, up to you. Coordinates are, however, the best tool to always find the exact location again. You can also use the “/locate” command to find almost any biome and structure. This is especially useful in creative mode!
If you want an even better overview, external programs are your best friend. There are now many available, but the website Chunk Base and the programs uNmINed and Mapee are definitely recommended. However, this too falls under the category of cheating for some players, so you have to decide for yourself how exactly you want to navigate and discover new things in Minecraft.
Conclusion
With millions of blocks in every direction, navigation in Minecraft can indeed be challenging. But the game itself provides you with many tools to make orientation easier. The compass and a map are a good starting point, but certain landscapes and your own constructions also help. Rent your own Minecraft server and embark on a shared journey with friends! With copied maps, you can each have a copy and explore the surroundings. And perhaps a villager will give you a map to another structure that you can then explore together.
