Trying to figure out what to do next in Minecraft survival mode can be tough. Unlike many games, Minecraft doesn’t prompt you with any objectives when you create your own world. It’s up to you to figure out what you want to do once you’ve gotten past the obvious things like making a shelter and crafting equipment.
Below is our list of things you can do in Minecraft survival mode once you’ve got your first base established. The list assumes you’ve already taken care of the basics and crafted your first diamond tools since those are the most apparent starting objectives for anyone. Minecraft doesn’t precisely explain how all the components work, so there are a ton of things you’ve likely overlooked when trying to find what to do next in Minecraft survival mode.
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Things to do in Minecraft survival mode | Explore
One of the coolest things about Minecraft is that each seed generates a world that’s unlike any other. That means that there’s practically an unlimited amount of different maps that you can explore. One of the big mistakes players make in Minecraft survival is getting too comfortable in one location. Sure, you might be safe and have plenty of resources stocked, but you’re limiting yourself to experiencing only a tiny part of your world.
There are tons of amazing things generated for you to find in each world. You can search for woodland mansions, monuments, buried treasure, underwater ruins, and more. You can set out to map the whole world if you want to, and it doesn’t take that long to gather the resources to do it.
Things to do in Minecraft survival mode | Build your own village
You’ll find plenty of villages in Minecraft if you explore, but you can make your own if you want to. Make yourself the mayor of your own town by either taking over an existing village or transporting villagers to a new area.
You can set up jobs for your villagers, and they’ll breed and spawn baby villagers as long as there are free beds. This lets you make your village as large or small as you’d like. You could build a sprawling city if you’d like, or a tiny castle fiefdom.
Things to do in Minecraft survival mode | Visit The Nether and The End
There are two more worlds in Minecraft, which will test your survival skills. The first of these is The Nether. It’s a little bit like hell, with lava and tons of valuable items. It can also be used to travel vast distances in the overworld by strategically setting up Nether Portals in the right places.
The End is the endgame for Minecraft, even though the game doesn’t really have an ending. This is where you’ll fight the Enderdragon, and after defeating it, you’ll find thousands of islands here to explore. Some powerful items can only be obtained in The End, and it’s one more exciting world to master.
Things to do in Minecraft survival mode | Learn to mine more efficiently
Sure, you may have made it down to the bedrock, but are you maximizing your ore returns? Digging in a straight line isn’t the best way to obtain material. Instead, you’ll want to look into methods that allow you to find most veins with the least amount of digging.
A lot of the cooler things you can do in Minecraft, like working with minecarts and Redstone, take a ton of resources. You can either dig forever in a straight line for a meager amount of resources or learn the best patterns to build your mines in and fill your coffers.
Things to do in Minecraft survival mode | Learn to work with Redstone
Redstone is a fantastic item that lets you build sophisticated machinery in Minecraft. Unfortunately, it’s also incredibly hard to master. You can craft systems to transport items and ore across long distances, make huge piston-driven doors, and automated minecart systems, but you have to put in the work to learn the ins and outs of Redstone first.
Learning to work with Redstone in survival is tough, but it’ll give you more appreciation for the things you make. Furthermore, the resource limitations will encourage you to make the most efficient designs possible, which will lead to a better understanding of how Redstone works.