What was that noise? You heard it too, right? I think it was the sound of an enormous lever being pulled somewhere in the depths of Minecraft Marketplace. 

If my ears don’t deceive me, that’s the lever that makes sound effects available to download today! That’s right: you can now download packs to customize every aspect of your audio experience from Minecraft Marketplace. Whether you’re looking for new sounds to accompany your actions, original music to score your adventures, or some quirky new hrrs to liven up your villagers, you can be sure there’s a Marketplace creator who’s got your covered. 

With that in mind, I’ve been gearing up to lead you on a noisy tour of seven sound effects now available on Minecraft Marketplace. I even got my ears cleaned specially! The audiologist involved said that the experience made them “rethink a lot of things”.

ToonCube: Cartoon Sound Effect Pack

I have a theory: if you want to get to the heart of what a sound pack is all about, wait and see what noise you make when you hit the ground after falling from a very high ledge. 

In ToonCube, my graceless landing was soundtracked by a noise like a clapped-out clown car having its horn tooted. Or a jack-in-the-box being dropped on a mattress. Or a bowling ball hitting a ramshackle trampoline. Importantly, it made me feel like a total oaf. 

In other words: even when you're not plummeting towards the ground, the vibe of ToonCube by Cube Games is lively and playful. Fittingly, it's the kind of atmosphere you might encounter if you were to step into a cartoon, or perhaps a higher education center for promising young jesters. 

Creepers, for instance, detonate with a crash and a bang that brings to mind an explosion in a cymbal factory. And then there's the zombies, which… well, they sound like me, okay. They sound like I do when I wake up in the morning and I'm shuffling and moaning at the prospect of another waking minute unsupplemented by caffeine. 

Did the audio team responsible for ToonCube somehow record me without my knowledge? I can't conclusively prove that, but I do have my suspicions. 

Rating: One startling invasion of my personal privacy

Liminal Sound Pack

It's amazing what sound can do. One minute, I'm merrily strolling through the forest, stopping occasionally to chop some wood or just admire the foliage, with a spring in my step and a song in my heart. Then, the music kicks in. A sparse, unsettling piece played on a chilling, unaccompanied piano. 

30 seconds ago, I felt like I was the star of a carefree action-adventure. Now, I feel like the star of an arthouse movie about estrangement and fear. 

In other words, Liminal Sound Pack by Panascais is incredibly effective at evoking an anxious and uncanny atmosphere through sound, and that's before you even consider the changes to mobs. The villagers, for instance, sound… wrong, as if they're talking to you through a mouthful of gravel. 

Even the humdrum zombie, who I'd usually rate just above 'egg sandwich that's been out in the sun for a while' on the spectrum of threats to my wellbeing, sounds intensely menacing. Its voice is a strangled roar, and it echoes off of tree trunks, cave walls, and cliff faces as it pursues you. 

Rating: Five very casual checks to see that there's no one standing behind me, because I have a really bad feeling there might be.

Retro Arcade Sound Pack

Picture the scene: I’ve spent my first night shivering in a ditch because I couldn’t find enough wool to craft a bed. I’ve been shot at by skeletons, pawed at by zombies, and flamegrilled by one especially sneaky creeper. It’s not going well. 

But thanks to Retro Arcade Sound Pack by King Cube, I feel like I’ve just logged an unbeatable high score on the leaderboard of life. My every action – whether I’m cowering, recoiling, or flinching from danger – sounds confident and dynamic, as if I’m the heroic main character in an 80s arcade game. As I regain my composure, the soundscape is a nostalgically lo-fi soup of bleeps and bloops.  

And musically, this pack goes hard. As I stumble into a village I feel re-energised, pumped up by the sounds of a punchy jamboree of synthesizers singing their little electric hearts out. And then I spot a cow and it makes a mooing noise that’s like a fax machine trying its darnedest to form vowels. Now if that’s not a recommendation, I don’t know what is.

Rating: an arcade machine's coin hopper filled with glittering quarters

Midnight Carnival 

Call the police. A crime has been committed. 

You see, the makers of our next sound effects pack included a host of musical interludes to accompany you as you explore. You might say that that sounds perfectly ordinary, perfectly good. Well, imagine my surprise when I’m innocently digging out some copper deposits and the sound of a tuba playing a circus melody strikes up. As I listen, horrified, the tuba starts to slow down and drift out of tune while monstrous grunts are layered on top of it. 

Unacceptable. There must be laws against this. 

It’s all the more upsetting because Midnight Carnival Sounds by Block Perfect Studios promised me all the fun of the fair. What it actually delivered was all the fun of crying in a mineshaft while a big top brass band perform frightening big-top-inspired instrumentals. 

I re-emerge above ground, hopeful that I might be greeted by a less menacing soundscape. I’ve barely made it three paces before bumping into a creeper, which plays a ponderous, eerie rendition of pop goes the weasel before detonating.

That’s it. The final straw. If you need me, I’ll be in witness protection. 

Rating: Twenty tubas that seem to watch you somehow as you walk through the room

Super Satisfying Sounds

A night at the opera. A velvet jacket. A cheeseboard that I refuse to share with anyone else, even though it’s plainly meant to serve 3-4 people. Yes, I do enjoy the finer things in life – the elegant little luxuries and extravagances that lend refinement and sophistication to everyday routine.

And that’s how I came to Super Satisfying Sounds by Oreville Studios, a tasteful assortment of sounds that add extra pep, vim, and delectable crunch to the Minecraft soundscape. 

My ears first pricked up when I was simply strolling around the Overworld, and I noticed that there were noticeable new differences between the sound of walking on swishy grass, crunchy dirt, and even ever-so-slightly creaking wooden planks. It’s subtle, but so refined that I nearly dropped my monocle.

But really, if I’m being honest, the highlight of this pack lies in the fairly unsophisticated act of whacking things. Biffing a zombie with your sword, mining out some iron with your pick, or simply punching a tree until it gives up the goods – all these sounds and more have been given heft and weight in a way that’s deeply satisfying. 

Rating: Three swings of my pickaxe, clanging sweetly against an ore

Jigarbov Sound Pack

I spawn in the biting cold of the snowy plains and look around. Ahead of me, nothing but a white expanse. It’s the same to my left and my right. 

Then I turn around and find myself face-to-face with a polar bear. In a moment of sheer, petrified panic, I sock it in the jaw. Before I can even stop to think about how badly I just messed up, the bear says “I’m warning you” in a voice that is unmistakeably that of an adult human man. 

I run, sprinting past the hulking bear and towards a distant copse of snow-covered trees. At first, I’m thinking only of survival, but I soon notice that my footsteps sound uncannily like a man saying “boom boom clop boom boom boom clop”. 

You might say that the Jigarbov Sound Pack by Jigarbov Productions is a labor of love. After all, it’s the work of a person who, faced with the intimidating task of re-recording basically every sound effect in Minecraft, just rolled up their sleeves and said “sure thing, I can probably do that with my mouth.”

And so every door opens with a spoken “ka-chunk”. Bells toll out their chime with a voice saying “ding”. And pigs simply say “oink” with the kind of flat, listless intonation you’d expect from a world-weary police chief who’s just days away from retirement and doesn’t need yet another loose cannon detective wreaking havoc in their department.

Rating: One voice and a whole lot of heart.

Zephyr - Relaxing Sounds

Some sound effect packs grab Minecraft and shake it up like a toddler with a snowglobe, taking familiar tones and established moods and smooshing them into something altogether different. Others are more about gently nudging the game in an alternative direction – in much the same way I’m gently nudging my editors at Minecraft.net to pay me in spools of precious copper wire. 

Zephyr - Relaxing Sounds by Pixelbiester is a good example of that nudging in action. There’s no wild and wacky effects here – and it doesn’t attempt to redefine the overall vibe with dramatic horror stings or spooky mutterings. Instead, Zephyr Sounds takes the noises you know and makes them softer, mellower, and richer.

But don’t get me wrong, this is still a wide-ranging change that touches a huge swathe of Minecraft’s blocks and interactions. Whether you’re wrenching open a chest, placing a torch, or filling your neighbour’s home with TNT blocks, you’ll notice the care and attention that’s gone into every creak, rustle, and kaboom. 

Rating: Five gently crackling fires out of five

So there they are: seven sound effect packs available for you to download from Minecraft Marketplace right now. If, like me, you’ve been looking for a way to treat, pamper, and reward your ears for another year of stellar service, these are surely just the ticket.