Operation Manual

Your Mission: Food, Resources, and Reconnaissance
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There’s one final alternative, and this is a pretty neat trick. Assuming you have reset your
spawn point to a bed or are still near origin, head to your shelter, place everything you carry
in a chest, and then head outside and either jump off a cliff, drown in a lake, or wait for
a mob to kill you. You respawn back in your shelter with full health, a full hunger bar, and
all your possessions waiting for you. Get dressed, fully equipped, and head out there to try
again.
Finding a Building Site
As you scout around, keep in mind that you are also looking for a new building site. This
doesn’t have to be fancy or even particularly large. A 6×5 space manages just fine, and even
6×4 can squeeze in the basics. You can also level ground and break down a few trees to
clear space. I did this in Figure 3.7. The site is located just up the hill from the first dugout,
overlooking the same lake and river system.
FIGURE 3.7 A nice, flat, elevated building site after clearing some trees and fill-
ing some holes in the ground with dirt.
I usually prefer space that’s a little elevated because it provides a better view of the sur-
roundings, but it’s perfectly possible to create a protected space just about anywhere. You
may even decide to go a little hybrid, building a house that’s both tunneled into a hill and
extending outside.