Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
But given that gold is about 5 times as rare as iron and can be used to craft many
other useful items, I wouldn't recommend using it for tools.
Wood (60)
—It's easy to obtain, especially in an emergency aboveground, but
think of wood as just a means of getting to cobblestone because, unlike the latter,
wooden tools can't mine the more valuable ores such as iron, gold, diamond, and
redstone. You will at least need a wooden pickaxe to mine stone because doing so
with your bare hands will just break the stone down into unusable dust, but after
that, switch to stone.
Stone (132)
—With just a touch over twice the longevity of wood, stone makes a
great starting point for more serious mining and other activities. Stone tools are
built from cobblestone blocks, which in turn come from stone. That may seem a
little confusing, but it will seem natural enough after a while.
Iron (251)
—Iron will become your
go-to
material. It is found most commonly all
the way from bedrock, the lowest layer of the Minecraft world, up to about 20
levels below sea level. Iron is used for building all kinds of tools, implements, and
devices including armor, buckets (for carrying water, lava, and milk), compasses,
minecarts, and minecart tracks. All these require at least iron ingots obtained by
smelting the ore in a furnace, with each block of ore producing one ingot. Ingots
and many other items are found scattered throughout the world in village chests,
mine shafts, dungeons, and strongholds. You might also find them as drops from
killed zombies and iron golems (if you dare tackle them!).
Diamond (1562)
—It's the strongest material of all, but also the most expensive
given that diamonds are relatively rare. (You will enjoy the moment you do find
your first diamond, but it's found only in the first 16 layers above bedrock, the
lowest layer in the Minecraft world, and even then it's about 25 times as scarce as
iron.) A diamond pickaxe is the only material that can successfully mine obsidian,
a material required for creating the portal to reach The Nether region. Given dia-
mond ore is much scarcer than iron but only 6 times as durable, you should use
iron pickaxes as much as possible and only switch to diamond when you need to
mine obsidian to reach The Nether. You're better off saving any diamonds you find
for weapons (a diamond sword does more damage, and that combined with its in-
creased durability will ensure it lasts much longer than any other material), armor,
and enchantment tables.
