The Bed: Your Third Best Friend in Minecraft

The bed is an essential part of any minecraft game- and because of that it is one of the few items I’m going to actually explain how to make, as well as how to use.  Yes, it’s that vital.

A bed is constructed only with the use of a crafting table- create one row left-to-right of three wool of any color (or colors).  Immediately below that, create one row of three wood planks blocks of any color (or colors).  This will let you craft a bed, and beds are Very Very Important.

You see, a bed lets you do something that not even game mods can do easily: it changes your spawn point.

You read that right.

Once you have slept in a bed during the nighttime, you are ‘bound’ to that bed.  Ever after, when you die, you will respawn standing on top of your bed instead of at your original spawn point.  This is very important- because it means that you can make absolutely sure that when you respawn, you do it somewhere safe and protected, with any tools you might need stored nearby.  This is not an ability without limits, though.

A bed takes the shape of two half-blocks, next to each other.  A bed cannot ever be placed on top of a block that the game defines as ‘transparent’- no slabs, no stairs, no leaf blocks.  Only solid material.  Right-clicking a bed causes you to lie down on it- if every player on a server (just you if you’re playing single player) lies down in a bed at the same time, then the nighttime will pass in seconds.  If you are lying in a bed when day breaks, then you will automatically stand up out of it.  Keep in mind, though- you can only lie down in bed at nighttime.  Not afternoon, not morning- night only.  This lets you avoid most of the monster spawning that happens in the dark, which is a good way to stay safe at night if your home is incomplete.

The spawning, though- that’s the most important of all.

A bed will not allow you to respawn in it without enough space- and that’s very important too.  If a bed is in contact with other blocks on both sides, or one side and both the foot and the head, you will not be able to spawn there.  If there are any objects (torches, for instance) in these spaces, they also will count against your ability to respawn in the bed.  And if you do not have at least two full blocks of space over the blocks that the bed is part of, then you will not be able to respawn there either.  This means that putting your bed in a large and spacious area is vital to keeping your moved spawn point.  If your bed that you are bound to is destroyed or taken up, your respawn point returns to the original location.  If your bed becomes unspawnable, this will happen then as well.  Because of this, it is a better idea to place a new bed and sleep in it before removing your old bed.  You never know when an enderman will teleport onto you and kill you (among other sudden and unexpected deaths).

However you cut it, though, the bed is important.

Almost as important as trees.