Starting out in Minecraft can feel overwhelming — no quest markers, no tutorial popups, just an open world and a punch button. Here’s the order that actually matters.
Your first ten minutes
Punch a tree until you get wood. Turn that wood into planks, then into a crafting table. From there, make a wooden pickaxe and axe — these unlock stone tools, which unlock almost everything else.
Surviving the first night
Mobs spawn in darkness, and your first night arrives faster than you’d expect. Dig a 1x2 hole into a hillside and place a block behind you, or stack dirt into a simple box. It doesn’t need to be pretty — it needs to be sealed.
What to do next
Once you’re past night one, the priority list is: food source (kill animals or plant seeds), a proper shelter with a door, and a bed to skip future nights entirely.
Guides to read next
- Getting Started with Minecraft: A Beginner’s Guide — the full walkthrough of your first night
- Redstone — once you’re settled, this is the natural next system to learn