Minecraft Pocket Edition Survival Guide - For Dummies

Unlike the fairly complicated PC version of Minecraft, the Pocket Edition (PE) of Minecraft has a more straight forward series of steps in order to reach its end point, the Nether Spire. To survive PE Minecraft, a player needs to follow the series of steps outlined below.

1. Punch wood and build a shelter.

   All Minecraft games begin the same way, you need to gather wood in the first 20 minutes before nightfall. To do this, simply walk to a tree and begin punching. With enough wood, you can begin crafting necessary items and build a simple shelter. A mob attack is inevitable and a player's best chance of survival is to build a shelter. For the first night, a player needs to simply create anything with a roof. Some players will dig a hole and put a roof on while others will build a simple wooden hut with a door and roof.

2. Craft tools.

   Punching wood with your bare fists will only work for so long. A player will need to craft both tools and weapons to survive and collect the resources necessary to advance through the game. Among the most important tools and weapons are the shovel, pickaxe, hoe, ax, flint and steel, sword, and bow and arrow. These items will lose durability over time and can be upgraded to stronger materials. For example, early in the game, you will craft these items out of wood. As resources become available, you will want to craft ones out of cobblestone or iron and eventually diamond.

3. Mine during the first night.

   Within the safety of your shelter, start digging a staircase downward creating your first mine. If you fail to build the mine in a staircase shape, you will find yourself in a hole you can't jump back out of. If you have the materials to make torches, place them as you go to prevent mobs from spawning. Be sure to bring your sword and pickaxe with you. Many players will find valuable ores on the very first night allowing them to craft stronger weapons and tools.

4. Farm during the day.

   Because mobs are not a threat during the daytime, now is the time to build a farm. Trap any nearby animals in holes (building fences when you can). Also, start a wheat and beet root farm. Seeds are easily obtained by hoeing the land. When your wheat grows, you will be able to breed your animals. Continue to build a larger shelter and craft other helpful items such as a bed and furnace. After a few night and day cycles, you should have an extensive set of mine tunnels and a farm that includes both crops and animal pens.

5. Fight mobs.

   Though avoiding hostile mobs is a good strategy, you will likely have to fight at some point and you will obtain items that hostile mobs drop. Crafting armor and quality weapons including bow and arrow and a stone (or stronger) sword will help protect yourself and allow you to defeat hostile mobs.

6. Gather items for the reactor core.

   This will require iron ingots and diamonds. The iron ingots are created from smelting iron ore in a furnace. In general, it will take a player quite some time to find the diamonds (though a few will get lucky and find a diamond mine on their first few nights of mining). It is highly recommended that you also a craft a diamond sword before constructing the Nether Spire. Remember, you will be switching from mining to farming to fighting to crafting to building. The game is designed to enjoy the survival aspects of the game and not simply to rush to the Nether.

7. Construct the Nether Spire.

   After crafting the reactor core, you will need to gather 14 cobblestone and 4 gold blocks to create the final Nether Reactor. Once again, mining long enough to acquire those resources, especially the gold, will take time. After activating the Nether Reactor, the Nether Spire will spawn with you inside. Zombie Pigman will start spawning and a staggering number of helpful random items will fall to the ground. Be sure you have emptied your inventory as much as possible so you can collect as many items as possible.

8. Defeat the Nether Spire.

   Gather as many items as you can from the ground but keep your eye on the hostile Zombie Pigmen. You will have to fight to stay alive. After 45 seconds, the Spire will deactivate and the room will crumble around you despawning any items you have not picked up. Any remaining Zombie Pigmen will be hurt in the resulting sunlight. With a broken Nether Spire, you simply walk or jump out through the holes in the floors and walls. Your landscape will now include the ruins left by the Nether Spire as a monument to what you accomplished.

9. Build, mine, farm, and fight.

   With your newly gathered stock pile of items and a broken spire behind you, it is time to continue the game by building, farming, mining, and fighting. Now the game becomes one of daily survival as you accomplish your own goals. And you can always create another Nether Spire. Congratulations!