Block of the Month: Vault

Approach slowly when you first see a vault, because it’ll activate once you step within four blocks. When it does this, you’ll see the keyhole on the front open wide, ready to receive a trial key. If you don’t have a key, go defeat all the waves of a trial spawner to get one. Luckily you’ll find plenty of those nearby.

But wait! Don’t use the key on the vault yet. Instead, look at the items cycling past inside. Don’t they look tempting? They sure do. Okay. It’s time. Unlock the vault with your key, and you’ll get some loot! What kind of loot? Well, it’s random – emeralds are common, so are arrows and iron ingots. Diamonds and wind charges are less common. If you’re very lucky you might get a trident, a banner pattern, or an exclusive music disc.

Playing with friends? Step back because it’s their turn. Every vault will open once, individually, for each player. This allows players the opportunity to get tasty loot on multiplayer servers without having to travel a huge distance from the spawn point to find an un-looted structure.

Want a vault for yourself? Well sorry, you can’t have one. At least, not in survival mode. Vaults take forever to break, and when they do they drop nothing - even with a Silk Touch enchantment. No – they can’t be moved with pistons either.

Vaults are a thing in the real world too, but the term means various different things depending on the context. Most commonly it refers to a bank vault – a reinforced room, where valuables are stored. These are often protected by intense security and complex locks. Some early 20th-century examples have been built so well that they’re almost impossible to demolish, even today. Some have even withstood nuclear explosions.

In an architecture context, a vault is an arch over an enclosed space – like the ceiling of a cathedral. In a burial context it refers to an underground tomb, like the ones in the great pyramids at Giza. In the context of preservation, it refers to a climate-controlled chamber, like the Global Seed Vault in Svalbard. In the context of gymnastics, it means a large piece of equipment that gymnasts perform with, and in athletics the pole vault is an event where participants have to jump over a tall bar with the help of a flexible pole.

In Minecraft? It’s a loot box. So let’s stick with that definition for now, and enjoy the fountain of goodies it contains for all!