New Year's Resolutions

There are no official crimes in Minecraft (except maybe hitting baby sheep) but if there were this would definitely be one. Those who dig straight down should be locked up. No jury, no trial. Straight behind bars. It. Is. Not. Okay.

Why? It’s dangerous! Grab a pickaxe or spade and remove the column of blocks right underneath you and see for yourself. Go on. I dare you (er, despite just telling you not to do it). You could fall into a ravine, a pool of lava, or even a pit of giant spiders. Take your pick! No, seriously, take a pickaxe so you can escape, dummy.

It gets worse if you survive whatever hazard befalls you as you’ll have no easy way out. The solution is to dig a staircase when descending so you can run back up to the surface with ease. Oh, and always bring ladders, just in case. You really can’t predict what’s directly under your feet. You’re standing somewhere safe while reading this… right?

Finish your creative builds

Remember that huge golden castle I made with beautiful gardens, a throne lit by stained glass windows, and a roof terrace complete with a pool? Probably not, because I never actually finished it. Behold!

Every year my friends ask me “are you still writing for that stupid Minecraft website?” “where’s that giant golden castle you were building?” and every time I have to reveal my shame. I kept putting it off in favour of working on other creative builds. And guess what? None of those got finished either.

Don’t be like me. Finish your projects in Creative mode and then you can show them to your friends and maybe even the world. You never know, it could end up on a small not-stupid-at-all-please-keep-employing-me website called minecraft.net…  

Stop living in a cave

Why are you lot obsessed with living in caves? As we’ve already established, we’re now in space year 2020! You’re probably reading this on the bottom of your hovershoes with your cybereyes, so get that Neanderthal thinking out of your brain and build a proper house. I suppose a cave is acceptable to get through your first night in Survival mode. But move on from there immediately, puh-lease!

Gather some stone, build a house, and then live in it. But don’t stop there either! Install windows, lay down carpet, how about adding some stairs? Eventually you can decorate your abode with paintings and flowers, or whatever else you fancy. More of a cobwebs and slime kind of person? Live your best life.

Oh, and put a bed in your house so you can sleep. Which leads me to my next point...

Get some sleep

This might come as a surprise but there are benefits to sleeping. I know: shocking. But listen, you should do it inside and outside of Minecraft. But let’s stick to how it can help you inside the game.

Sleeping in a bed resets your spawn point. That means you can explore the wider world without worrying about dying and then having to run a huge distance to get your gear back. Sleeping is also an easy way to get through the night when all the hostile mobs come out to play. Plus, if you stay up over multiple days, this could become a problem...

This is a wake up call to any players who don’t venture beyond their starting area. It’s time to craft a bed (wool and wood planks) and run far and wide across the world. Build a small shelter along the way, place your bed, and sleep. Now, whenever you die you’ll end up back there. Embrace the spirit of adventure by getting some rest.

No more mining in the dark

Is it really so hard to craft some torches and stick them on the walls as you go? It only takes a few seconds of your time. I have no idea why you’re in such a rush. Those diamonds aren’t going anywhere. They’re pretty stuck in the ground down there. Last time I checked they didn’t have legs. Something I was able to check because it was well lit thanks to my torches hint.

Unless you’re one of our surprisingly high number of mole-people readers, cut this behaviour out. Open your eyes and embrace illuminated mining!

Improve your diet

Once I was playing Minecraft and thought to myself “I better watch my health.” Then I put down the controller and realised I’d never once had that thought outside of playing a videogame. Haunting.

New Year’s Resolutions are often about dieting and in Minecraft it’s not much different. Except our goal is to eat a better variety of food. Try to consume more than apples and raw beef. For a start, you could try putting that meat in a furnace so it’s cooked.

You can make pumpkin pies, baked potatoes, and rabbit stew in Minecraft, so make the most of it. Go foraging for mushrooms so you can make stew. Grow wheat to make bread – add sugar, eggs, and milk to get a cake. Craft a rod so you can catch fish.

If nothing else, promise me this one thing: you will stop eating rotten flesh. Yes, it’s plentiful, but there’s a high chance it will give you food poisoning. Stop eating it! Why am I eating it while writing this article? Look, the supermarket is shut and I’m on a tight deadline. I’ll try this one in 2021!

Stop hoarding everything

Fellow hoarders, come clean, empty your pockets! It’s time to get rid of that chest full of dirt and stone that you’re keeping just in case. Be honest, when is that going to come in handy? Newsflash: there’s lots of dirt all around you. If you ever need any mud you can just dig up more.

A spring clean will do wonders for making your life in Minecraft cleaner and more efficient. Throw your rubbish into the lava and don’t look back.

No more double doors

How often do you use double doors in real life? I’m gonna bet that it’s not nearly as often you use them in Minecraft. You do not need double doors on a hut made of dirt. What is this, mud mansion?  

I’m not sure exactly when the entire Minecraft community got the idea that double doors made a building fancy. I’m not saying they don’t, but you should still use them sparingly. Made a huge house or a castle? Great, get those double doors in there. They look the part!

What gets me is when there are double doors on tiny houses that took five minutes to build.  Now I have to open both of them, don’t I?! It feels wrong not to. Waste of time. I’m a block wide, same as a door, I don’t need anything more than that, thanks.

Automate for better efficiency

It’s very easy to play several hundred hours of Minecraft and not make a single redstone device. If that describes you then guess what your resolution for 2020 is? Yep, time to make yourself some machines.

Redstone is intimidating but powerful. If you’ve been doing everything manually up until now then you owe it to yourself to learn how to use redstone. Figuring out how to put together circuits and arrange pistons is going to be tricky at first, but the payoff is huge.

Redstone is especially good for automating farming so you have a steady supply of food. You can also use it to speed up mining so you can find precious resources quicker. Maybe one day you can make a honey block machine or a hidden piston door – it’s not as hard as you might think!

Tell us what to do

Hang on, why do I get to decide all the resolutions? We wanna hear yours! Email us your building resolutions to scoops@minecraft.net with the subject line I CAN CHANGE and inspire us to build better in 2020!