Minecraft newbie Question

[Kaos Arcanna]

So, I just bought Minecraft this weekend for the PC. (Was hoping to use it on my laptop but it doesn't have quite enough umph for it.)

So tonight I managed to make myself a base with a bed so  I can respawn in a safe location if  I die at near dark.

I've got two questions right now.

1. Do I have to access a NPC furnace in order to make my own?

2.  Can you find iron if you dig  or do you have to go into a cave and find it from there?

[Everfreefire]

You can make your own furnace. It's 8 cobblestone in a square on the crafting bench.

Iron is just about everywhere. Just start digging, you'll find some.

[FlyingCarcass]

I found http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Minecraft_Wiki to be a useful resource when I was new to Minecraft. Many of those recipes aren't apparent.

[Triplash]

Absolutely yes to Minecraft Wiki, I consider it essential. Another great place to learn the ropes is through a YouTuber named "paulsoaresjr". He makes a Minecraft tutorial series called How to Survive and Thrive. It's very helpful for picking up the basics about each topic, then you can go to the wiki if you have more specific questions. Plus he's fun to watch so that helps

Oh and one thing about iron, you'll need at least a stone pick to mine it. Wood's not strong enough.

Also, yay! Welcome to Minecraftia!

[Shenku]

Oh and one thing about iron, you'll need at least a stone pick to mine it. Wood's not strong enough.

To add to this, you can try using a wood pickaxe anyways, but it'll take forever to break an iron ore block, and you get nothing for the effort.

Likewise, to mine things like Gold or Diamonds, you'll need an iron pickaxe, and a diamond pickaxe to mine Obsidian(which you can either look for in the world, or make yourself by pouring a bucket of water on lava, which makes Obsidian or Cobble Stone depending where the water and lava touch).

Just about everything else it doesn't matter what you use.

[Kaos Arcanna]

Minecraft is like crack to an OCD person. 


I've been doing a lot of mining in a hill that I've essentially been hollowing out. I've gotten a fair amount of iron out of it-- and lost
it due to dying.  I'm guessing the shadowy black guy steals the stuff that's laying around if you haven't reclaimed it by nightfall?


I left some iron behind so I wouldn't lose it if I died and when I got back it was gone ... hard lesson learned. 

I made a chest so hopefully that won't be a problem in the future.

 I need a bow or some armor I guess. I can't see myself being able to hunt the caves till I have those.

[FlyingCarcass]

As I recall, you've got about 5 minutes to reclaim the loot you've dropped.

[Codewalker]

Items floating around, whether it's because you died or because you threw them there disappear after 5 minutes.

Put it in a chest and it'll be safe, unless the chest gets destroyed in an explosion.

[Shenku]

I need a bow or some armor I guess. I can't see myself being able to hunt the caves till I have those.

The Bow is okay from a distance, but it's practically useless for dealing with anything in melee range, and arrows can be difficult to gather at times. A sword is usually your better option, unless you can setup some form of trap to deal with an enemy that's pestering you, assuming you have time enough to set it up.

Good examples of traps would be deep/lava pits, pressure switches rigged with TNT, automatic or manual piston crushing corridors, and many more if you're creative enough. Generally, traps are good to setup around your house/fortress to deal with stray enemies that might wander in, or be chasing you.

Side note, pressure switches linked to dynamite in large groupings are as dangerous as a trip-mine happy devices blaster... If you link them up too close together they might destroy parts of your house, or possibly all of it, not to mention in extreme cases can cause serious lag...

[LaughingAlex]

The best way to set a booby trap isn't TNT in minecraft but instead setup devices that impede there ability to attack you.  Water is a great way to stop mobs in there tracks.  Creepers likewise can only damage you and other living/unliving beings/already lit tnt when they explode in water; they cannot do any block damage in water.  Combining that with a sword charge to knock them back you can generally defend a home very easily with that method.  You can even design a piston that is triggered on a trip-wire to lower a lever whenever a mob gets in your doorway(keep the wire above the water current, otherwise it'll be destroyed).

[Kaos Arcanna]

Hey, all.

I have been playing Minecraft off and on, as I take breaks from other games. I gotta say there's something really satisfying about hollowing out a mountain.

I made myself a suit of iron armor, and a couple of iron axes. I have a bow but it doesn't take long to go through arrows. I guess I need to use some more of my hard earned iron to make myself another sword-- lost more than one due to inopportune deaths... >.>

I just got some moss stone which is apparently useless for anything and I think I'm about to burst into a dungeon maybe ... there was a bunch of cave spiders at a hole I made and I decided to stop for the night until I could make a sword. Don't have enough levels for silk touch yet and I haven't even researched enchantment yet as I have been busy just trying to get enough iron for my basic needs.