Updated 24 October 2026. Every answer lists its source.
How to play Minecraft, answered
New to Minecraft? These are the questions every new player asks in their first few days, answered in order from the first tree to the End.
How do you play Minecraft?
Gather wood and stone, craft tools, build a shelter, find food, then explore, mine ores and grow stronger until you beat the Ender Dragon.
Minecraft has no fixed goal in Survival. Many players spend their time building, farming or exploring instead of chasing the dragon.
Is there a goal in Minecraft?
Survival has an optional end: defeat the Ender Dragon in the End. Beyond that, you set your own goals.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Beginner's guide, Minecraft Wiki - Ender Dragon
How do you get wood in Minecraft?
Hold the attack button on a tree trunk to break logs. Turn logs into planks in your inventory crafting grid.
How do you make a crafting table?
Put four planks in the 2 by 2 crafting grid of your inventory. Place the table to get a 3 by 3 grid.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Crafting Table
How do you make sticks in Minecraft?
Put two planks one above the other in a crafting grid to get four sticks.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Stick
How do you make a pickaxe in Minecraft?
Put three of a material across the top row and two sticks down the middle of a crafting table.
Wood, stone, copper, iron, gold and diamond pickaxes use the same shape. Netherite is made by upgrading diamond.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Pickaxe
How do you make a furnace in Minecraft?
Put 8 cobblestone (or blackstone or cobbled deepslate) around the edge of a crafting table grid, leaving the middle empty.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Furnace
How do you make a torch?
Put a piece of coal or charcoal above a stick in a crafting grid to make four torches.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Torch
How do you get charcoal?
Smelt logs in a furnace. Charcoal works like coal for torches and fuel.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Charcoal
How do you make a chest in Minecraft?
Put 8 planks around the edge of a crafting table grid. Two chests side by side make a large chest.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Chest
How do you make a door in Minecraft?
Put six planks in two columns of three in a crafting table to get three doors.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Door
What should you do on your first day in Minecraft?
Get wood, make tools, collect food, and before dark build a shelter or find three wool for a bed.
What pickaxe do you need for each ore?
Wood mines stone and coal; stone mines iron, copper and lapis; iron mines gold, redstone, emerald and diamond; diamond mines obsidian and ancient debris.
How do you find diamonds in Minecraft?
Dig down to deep levels, around Y -59, and strip-mine or explore caves there. Diamonds also appear in chests.
Never dig straight down: you can fall into lava or a cave.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Diamond Ore
How do you get iron in Minecraft?
Mine iron ore with a stone pickaxe or better, then smelt the raw iron in a furnace.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Iron Ore, Minecraft Wiki - Raw Iron
How do you get coal in Minecraft?
Mine coal ore with any pickaxe. Coal ore is common in exposed stone on hills and in caves.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Coal Ore
Why do my ores drop nothing?
Your pickaxe is too weak. Ores mined with the wrong tier break without dropping anything.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Ore
What is strip mining in Minecraft?
Strip mining is digging long straight tunnels at one Y level with gaps between them, so you see lots of ore.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Mining
Is it bad to dig straight down?
Yes. You can drop into lava, a cave or a dangerous fall. Dig a staircase instead so you can see where you go.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Mining
How do you get out of a deep hole?
Pillar up: jump and place a block under yourself, again and again. Or dig a staircase up.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Mining
What is the best food in Minecraft?
Golden carrots give the most saturation. Cooked steak and cooked porkchop give 8 hunger points and are easy to farm.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Food
How do you get food early in Minecraft?
Kill animals and cook the meat, pick apples from oak leaves, and plant wheat for bread.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Food
How do you cook food in Minecraft?
Put raw meat in a furnace, smoker or on a campfire with fuel. A smoker cooks twice as fast as a furnace.
Why can't I eat in Minecraft?
You can only eat when your hunger bar is not full, except for golden apples, chorus fruit and some other foods.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Food
Why is my health not coming back?
Natural healing needs a hunger bar of 18 or more (9 drumsticks). Eat until it is nearly full.
How do you make armor in Minecraft?
Arrange leather, copper, iron, gold or diamond in the armor shapes on a crafting table: 5 for a helmet, 8 for a chestplate, 7 for leggings and 4 for boots.
Copper armor came in 1.21.9. Netherite armor is made by upgrading diamond armor in a smithing table.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Armor
How do you put on armor?
Open your inventory and move armor into the slots beside your character, or right-click while holding it.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Armor
How do you sleep in Minecraft?
Place a bed and right-click it at night or in a thunderstorm. You cannot sleep with monsters nearby.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Bed
Why can't I sleep in Minecraft?
You can only sleep at night or in a storm, with no monsters nearby, and in the Overworld. Beds in the Nether and End explode.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Bed
How do you not get lost in Minecraft?
Write down your coordinates (F3 on Java, Show Coordinates on Bedrock), carry a compass, and mark your base with a tall pillar or torches.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Coordinates, Minecraft Wiki - Compass
How do you find your way back home?
Use your saved coordinates, a compass that points to the world spawn, or a lodestone compass linked to a block at home.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Compass, Minecraft Wiki - Lodestone
What order do you do things in Minecraft?
Wood, stone, iron, diamonds, then an enchanting table and the Nether for blaze rods and pearls, then the stronghold and the End.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Beginner's guide, Minecraft Wiki - Defeating the Ender Dragon
How do you get to the Nether?
Build a frame of obsidian at least 4 wide and 5 tall, light it with flint and steel, and step inside.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Nether Portal
How do you get to the End?
Find a stronghold with eyes of ender, fill the End portal frame with eyes, and jump in.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - End Portal
How do you get blaze rods?
Kill blazes in a Nether fortress. They are needed for brewing stands and eyes of ender.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Blaze Rod
How do you make an eye of ender?
Craft one blaze powder with one ender pearl. Blaze powder comes from blaze rods.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - Eye of Ender
What do you do after beating the Ender Dragon?
Explore the outer End islands for End cities, elytra and shulker boxes, or fight the Wither and build big projects.
Source: Minecraft Wiki - End City
How long does it take to beat Minecraft?
It varies a lot. A new player often takes many hours or days of play; speedrunners do it in minutes.
More questions
Every topic is on the FAQ hub. Questions about the ArtemisPvP server itself (commands, ranks, events) are on the server FAQ. Server IP: play.artemispvp.com.