Surviving Your First Night from an Empty Inventory

Gathering Initial Tools

You spawn on the island with empty pockets, surrounded on all sides by a huge body of water. Start by surveying your surroundings to locate the nearest trees and punch down several wood blocks. Open your inventory to turn those logs into planks, craft a crafting table, and place it on the ground. Use sticks and planks to make a wooden pickaxe—avoid crafting a full set of wooden tools so you do not waste early wood. Mine down to nearby stone right away to gather cobblestone, then upgrade to a stone pickaxe, axe, sword, and furnace.

Building and Lighting a Shelter

Keep an eye on the sun while gathering materials so you are not caught in the open after dark. Use dirt, wood planks, or extra cobblestone to enclose a compact starter shelter with a wooden door before night falls. Hostile mobs will spawn in dark spaces, so lighting your base is essential. If you have not spotted exposed coal while mining stone, place wood logs in the top slot of your furnace and planks in the bottom slot to smelt charcoal. Combine charcoal or coal with sticks to craft torches and light up your shelter's interior.