Operation Manual

CHAPTER 3: Gathering Resources
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Q Wood (60)—It’s easy to obtain, especially in an emergency aboveground, but think of
wood as just a means of getting to cobblestone because, unlike the latter, wooden tools
can’t mine the more valuable ores such as iron, gold, diamond, and redstone. You will
at least need a wooden pickaxe to mine stone because doing so with your bare hands
will just break the stone down into unusable dust, but after that, switch to stone.
Q Stone (132)—With just a touch over twice the longevity of wood, stone makes a great
starting point for more serious mining and other activities. Stone tools are built from
cobblestone blocks, which in turn come from stone. That may seem a little confusing,
but it will seem natural enough after a while.
Q Iron (251)—Iron will become your go-to material. It is found most commonly all the
way from bedrock, the lowest layer of the Minecraft world, up to about 20 levels below
sea level. Iron is used for building all kinds of tools, implements, and devices including
armor, buckets (for carrying water, lava, and milk), compasses, minecarts, and minecart
tracks. All these require at least iron ingots obtained by smelting the ore in a furnace,
with each block of ore producing one ingot. Ingots and many other items are found
scattered throughout the world in village chests, mine shafts, dungeons, and strong-
holds. You might also find them as drops from killed zombies and iron golems (if you
dare tackle them!).
Q Diamond (1562)—It’s the strongest material of all, but also the most expensive given
that diamonds are relatively rare. (You will enjoy the moment you do find your first
diamond, but it’s found only in the first 16 layers above bedrock, the lowest layer in
the Minecraft world, and even then it’s about 25 times as scarce as iron.) A diamond
pickaxe is the only material that can successfully mine obsidian, a material required for
creating the portal to reach The Nether region. Given diamond ore is much scarcer than
iron but only 6 times as durable, you should use iron pickaxes as much as possible and
only switch to diamond when you need to mine obsidian to reach The Nether. You’re
better off saving any diamonds you find for weapons (a diamond sword does more
damage, and that combined with its increased durability will ensure it lasts much longer
than any other material), armor, and enchantment tables.
NOTE
Different Materials for Different Items
Durability applies to all tools, weapons, and armor, although there are differences
in the materials that can be used in each case. For example, you can craft leather
armor and make stone tools, but not vice versa.
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