Operation Manual

A Resourceful Guide to the Creative Mode Inventory
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TIP
Turn On Cheats
Turn on Cheats when you start a new world to quickly jump between different
gameplay modes. Type /gamemmode creative and /gamemode survival to move
between the main types.
Q Building Blocks—Building blocks are used, as you might expect, for construction, includ-
ing housing and almost anything else. Build a bridge for your redstone rail. Construct a
dam. Elevate a farm above a level that won’t get trampled by mobs, or put up a fence.
Build a skyscraper or reconstruct a monument. Minecraft provides a large number of pri-
mary blocks—such as cobblestone, gravel, wood, and dirt—that can be harvested directly,
but things definitely become more interesting once you start creating secondary types of
blocks from primary materials. You can store many items more efficiently (for example, by
converting nine gold ingots into a single gold block), and climb more efficiently by craft-
ing stairs instead of jumping up and down blocks on well-travelled routes. Building blocks
are, without being too punny, the building blocks of creativity.
Q Decoration Blocks—Decoration blocks are something of a catchall category. Generally,
they are things you can use to make your constructions more interesting. Some of those
are just visual, such as carpet, whereas others such as crafting tables, chests, and the
bed that keeps you safe at night provide vital functions.
Q Redstone—Redstone is an almost magical resource. You can use it to build powered
circuits, quite complex ones, and then activate pistons to automatically harvest a farm
plot, set up traps, open and close doors, and a huge amount more. The limits are set
only by your imagination. Redstone is also used to craft powered rail tracks and a range
of other useful items such as a compass and clock. See Chapter 9, “Redstone, Rails,
and More,” for more information.
Q Transportation—Transportation is a small category, but one that’s a lot of fun and very
useful. It includes powered and unpowered rails, minecarts, a saddle, a boat, and any-
thing else related to moving yourself and other items around. There are enough options
there to enable you to build everything from massive transportation systems to incredible
roller coasters.
Q Miscellaneous—Miscellaneous contains a range of useful and obscure items. You’ll find
the buckets quite handy for setting up new water and lava sources, and you can use the
eggs to spawn most of the mobs , populating a farm and more.
Q Foodstuffs—Foodstuffs contains the full range of edibles, including the enchanted form
of the golden apple, the rarest edible in the game. Take a few of these with you the next
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