Minecraft offers a blend of engaging activities and monotonous tasks like gathering resources that can become tedious and repetitive. However, individual preferences vary, and players perceive different aspects of the game as dull. Gurugamer has compiled a diverse range of time-saving suggestions for all elements of Minecraft in this article.

1. Split mines into sections

To enhance your mining experience in a new area, strategically position barriers at regular intervals, such as fences or cobblestone walls. This practice serves two purposes: first, it prevents surprise attacks from mobs sneaking up behind you, and second, it enables you to designate certain sections of your mine as 'safe.'

21w07a Mineshaft
It is best to mark the path you have already explored.

If you happen to encounter a mob within a 'safe' area, it is likely that your fence has halted its progress, safeguarding you from harm. Additionally, this indicates the presence of insufficient lighting or an undiscovered opening in that particular area. By employing this technique, you can significantly reduce the time spent identifying the source of unexpected mob appearances.

2. Carrying a bed

When you're actively exploring above ground, particularly during long distances or mapping excursions away from your base, it is highly recommended to carry a bed with you. As dusk approaches, find a suitable spot to place the bed and sleep. Skipping the nighttime phase offers several advantages: it significantly speeds up your progress, enhances safety, and resets your spawn point (unless playing on hardcore mode).

Red Bed
Carrying a bed allowing players to "save" the game whenever they want.

Remaining active during the night exposes you to potential disruptions from hostile mobs, including the risk of being killed, and you may overlook important details in the darkness. Concerns about mob attacks can be mitigated by placing the bed early enough in an area with sufficient light, preventing mob spawns altogether and ensuring a day free from creeper encounters. Moreover, being well-rested by sleeping in the bed ensures you won't be targeted by phantoms.

3. Leave breadcrumb trails when exploring

To ensure clarity and ease of navigation, it is essential to mark your routes both above and below ground. Various methods can be employed, such as using torches on fence posts, colored wool blocks, flowers, mushrooms, redstone, railway tracks, gravel paths, or even lit netherrack. By consistently placing torches on either the left or right cavern wall or on the side of a block angled towards the exit, you can establish a reliable indication of the direction you came from. Signposts should be placed at key junctions for added guidance. This simple practice of route marking can save you significant time by preventing unnecessary detours and getting lost in your world.

Torches
Mark your path with torches

If you happen to lose your way underground, it is advisable not to spend excessive time attempting to retrace your steps. Remember that the surface is always above you. In such cases, dig a stairway upwards to reach the surface where it becomes much easier to regain your bearings. However, exercise caution and follow mining safety guidelines. Avoid digging straight down and be vigilant of potential hazards like water, sand, gravel, or lava. Additionally, be mindful of the time and try to avoid breaching the surface at night, if possible.

An effective method to mark your path while exploring caves is to adopt an "in-out, left-right" rule. Upon entering a cave, place torches on the left wall. When you need to find your way out, simply turn around, and the torches that were initially on the left-hand wall will now be on the right. Utilizing the classic "right-hand rule" can assist you in navigating your way back.

4. Get powerful enchantments as soon as possible

Enchanted items offer a range of advantages compared to their standard counterparts. While high-level enchantments may not be as worthwhile for items other than diamond and netherite in terms of durability and effectiveness, this is not the case for certain highly valuable enchantments.

Enchanted Netherite Sword
Good enchantments make the game much easier.

If you find that the enchanting table is not offering powerful enchantments like Fortune III or Looting III for a diamond tool, it's worth trying an iron tool instead. Due to its higher enchantability, you might have better luck obtaining these desired enchantments. Even with an iron tool, you'll still have something capable of efficiently duplicating important blocks and items, just like a diamond tool. The effort required to attain enchantment levels 1 to 5, or thereabouts, is insignificant. Therefore, it might be worth considering placing even low-level enchantments on your expendable tools.

5. Don't bring too many unneeded items

When venturing away from your base to gather materials, it's important to avoid cluttering your inventory with unnecessary items. Generally, it's recommended to carry logs, and possibly some coal and iron. Craft additional tools, fences, or even a crafting bench only when you actually need them. This approach maximizes the available space for the items you're collecting. However, there are a few exceptions to consider. Torches, which are constantly used, should be crafted in half a stack whenever you have fewer than a dozen of them. It's also wise to keep some ladders handy for situations where you might need them urgently. Additionally, it may be beneficial to carry a chest in your inventory in case you need to quickly clear out space.

Blocks Inventory 1 14 4
Inventory space is limited.

Another tip for efficient crafting is to aim for round numbers when making frequently-used items. For instance, when crafting fences, one log produces four planks, which can then be converted into eight sticks, resulting in two fences with two leftover sticks. It's often better to craft fences in batches of eight (using four recipes) to utilize exactly five logs without waste or cluttering your inventory.

Alternatively, you can regularly transform spare planks or sticks into torches or other frequently-used items. Similarly, crafting 24 ladders at a time using seven logs is efficient. Signs can also be mass-produced with 13 logs (one for sticks and the rest for planks), but keep in mind that they only stack up to 16, so you'll end up with 1 1/2 stacks. Fence gates require one log each, and their crafting recipe allows for quick production of any number up to a full stack by moving half-stacks six times. Boats can be crafted resourcefully in two ways: using five logs for four boats in Java Edition, or seven logs in Bedrock Edition.

>>> Read more: 6 Best Cherry Biome Seeds To Try Out In Minecraft 1.20 Update