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How to Survive the First Night of Minecraft | Strategies for Kids

Minecraft is one of the biggest games ever created where you have the ability and power to use technology to shape and build the world to your will. You can fight dangerous dragons and explore long abandoned ruins, or you can build a vast empire of villages and castles. Your imagination is the limit in this new and wonderful world.

As you begin to play, you might find yourself asking how to survive the first night of Minecraft? Well, that’s where we come in. With Minecraft’s simple to learn mechanics you will be surviving and thriving in no time. But before you start playing there is one decision to make – will you play in survival or creative mode? What’s the difference? And which is better? We’re glad you asked!

Creative mode

In creative mode you are the ruler of the lands with the uncontested power to build and shape the land any way you want. Creative mode provides a stress-free environment for players to build and share their latest creations. In this mode you can’t die, and you have infinite resources, so you don’t have to stress about how to survive your first night in Minecraft. Creative mode is a great place to build your cool ideas and show them off to your friends.

Survival mode

When you are ready for a challenge, survival mode is here for you. In survival mode you must battle against the elements of Minecraft to stay alive. You will have to gather your own food and resources to build a shelter and craft tools. Right from the beginning, on your Minecraft first night, you need to be prepared and ready for anything if you want to survive. However, don’t let this scare you from playing this fantastic mode. Who knows, maybe you’ll be the next great adventurer to free the End from the evil rule of the Enderdragon. But in order to do anything you will first need to know how to survive your Minecraft first night.   

Why is a Minecraft night dangerous? 

Night time in Minecraft will be full of different dangers you will need to overcome if you wish to survive. A well placed arrow from a skeleton or a creeper sneaking up on you in the darkness is all it takes to finish you off. If you are not prepared for this you won’t make it through, and will find yourself asking your friends how to survive the first night. If this sounds like you don’t worry. This article is here to give you all the help you need. In no time you will be ready to not only survive but thrive in the Minecraft 1st night.

How long is a Minecraft night? 

When talking to other Minecraft players one of the main questions that get asked is how long is a Minecraft night? This is such a important piece of knowledge that all players need to know if you want to survive the Minecraft first night. In Minecraft the night time takes 7 minutes and the day time last for 10 minutes. This means when starting a new world you will have 10 minutes to prepare for a 7 minute battle against the monsters.

How to survive a Minecraft night 

In Minecraft you can survive in many different ways and as you play your own style will begin to emerge. However, for beginners there are three recommended tactics that will let you stay alive and thrive. From all the strategies that we have tested these three proved themselves to be the most efficient and safest for surviving the first night.

When beginning, your new world shelter should be your first priority. A small shelter will provide you with safety from the outside monsters, give you a place to store resources and allow you to create a farm where you can grow food that you need to stay alive. Finding the right place for your shelter will be key as well to your survival. When determining the best place for your shelter look for natural resources like water and a forest. Try to avoid open spaces with no terrain to hide behind or you might find yourself unable to survive the night from the hordes of monsters.

Exploration and resource gathering are key!

Exploration and taking advantage of the terrain are key to survival. In Minecraft a village is a great way to quickly get prepared for the Minecraft first night and if your lucky enough to find one take full advantage of it. A village will provide food in the form of hay-bails that can be turned into bread. Also the blacksmith forge will provide you with the tools and equipment to efficiently take down monsters. Finally the village houses will provide great shelter from the outside dangers.

In Minecraft one of the key parts of the game is gathering resources. When beginning a new world gathering iron in the first day will make you much stronger than the monsters. When you spawn into the world try find a natural cave and gather resources to make into weapons and amour, so when night time roles around you will be protected and ready to face anything.

How to fight the monsters 

Monsters in Minecraft will always be a challenge that players will need to face and overcome to survive. From the smallest zombie to bosses like the Enderdragon you need to be prepared with the right weapons and tools. Combat in Minecraft is centred around two main tools, the Sword and Shield and these will help you slay any monster. When fighting monsters use a shield to block their attacks, prevent any damage, and keep yourself protected. Then use your sword to slowly wear down their health. This should help you effectively take down any monster and let you survive your Minecraft 1st night.

3 best shelters to build to escape the monsters 

When playing Minecraft, a stable shelter is always key to survival and will help you be successful in the game. A shelter will provide protection from the monsters and the necessary room to store materials. There are many shelters you could build but these three are the best and simplest ones to survive your first Minecraft night.

Sky base shelter

How to survive first night of minecraft - sky base

When playing Minecraft one of the simplest ways to survive the monsters is to just stay away from them. This is the brilliance of the sky base. You can use any materials available to you but wood and stone is preferable. Tower up 20 blocks into the air and build a small platform. Using ladders you can climb up and down but monsters can’t get close to you, and at night, you can hide on your platform far away from any monsters. Also the sky will provide you with endless space to branch out and expand if you need.

Wooden house shelter

How to survive first night of minecraft - wooden house

Another great starter base is the wooden house. Using the wood you can gather from the forest you will have endless wood to build a small house. This will keep you protected from monsters if you stay inside at night. In this house you can store your resources. Also this small wooden house can be transformed into your dream mansion with just a few extra minutes of building. So if you want to live in style this house is for you.

Cave base shelter

How to survive first night of minecraft

Another option for survival is the cave base. Why build your own base when you can just use the natural terrain? If you dig a small hole into the side of a cliff and place a door at the front of the cave this will keep you protected from all the monsters. This will also give you the resources of mining out the cliff and give you a boost on you journey to become a thriving player in Minecraft.

Make a bed to skip the Minecraft night!

How to survive first night of minecraft - bed

One of the ways you can survive the night is through sleeping in a bed. This will effectively allow you to skip the night and you won’t have to face the hardships of monsters and darkness. For this though, you will need a bed!

A bed can be crafted in a crafting table with three pieces of wool and three pieces of wood. When placed, a bed will enable the player to sleep if no monsters are nearby, you won’t have to worry at all about how to survive the night. When using a bed, it is still ideal to build a shelter first for storage and farming even though you won’t need to hide from monsters.

Minecraft how to survive your first night

Now you’re ready will all the tips and tricks you will need to survive and thrive in the Minecraft first night. It’s up to you now to explore this vast landscape and make it your own. We can’t wait to see you soon, thriving and surviving in Minecraft.

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Janine Mergler

Janine Mergler is a veteran Queensland teacher, graduating from QUT with a BEd majoring in Social Sciences. After many years in the classroom, Janine moved on to academia. She has proudly trained new generations of teachers in her role as a lecturer at Queensland University of Technology Faculty of Education. She has also worked in the Queensland Government as an education specialist, developing education resources and delivering community awareness programs to help families conserve water. Currently she is the owner and editor of Families Magazine, a publication specifically targeted at parents who value a quality education for children.  Janine leads a team of professionals who write about family lifestyle, early childhood, schools and education information and family-friendly events.

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