Alrighty, thanks.
Did you build that after they raised the ceiling? One of my favorite thrill-rides is building a single-block dirt tower as high as I can. As you can see, I’m not a builder. 
Yes. It’s not maximum height or anything, but it’s a bit taller than the old ceiling. You get a pretty nice view from the new max height. I haven’t built anything that tall yet, though.
It’s amazing that you made a working elevator that stops at each floor. Well done!
Except that it kill Minecraft for me (I have an old computer).
I learnt something new: Do Not put TNT next to a redstone lamp. :smack:
Well, I sort of made it. I built it, but I didn’t come up with the design. I followed a tutorial for that part. mcKrawll on youtube is the smart one. I just followed the instructions.
His design even allows you to select a floor in advance and have it stop there, like a real elevator. Unfortunately, the redstone circuitry for that takes up too much space. Half of the building would have been taken up by the elevator.
I am always amazed at what people accomplish with redstone.
Another dumb question: I see that when you kill mobs, you get little bubbles of xp, and you eventually “go up in level”. What does going up in levels do for you?
You can “spend” XP for enchantmentslater on.
Actually I got that wrong, you spend experience levels for enchantments. (I think)
xp= xp levels = enchantments
It’s actually pretty easy to make an enchanting table very early in the game, and even spending a few levels of XP on things like tool enchants is handy to save time and materials (you’ll get efficiency and unbreaking I, usually). Here’s what I do.
[spoiler]You will need:
- A few picks and torches
- A whole bunch of ladders (just need a good amount of wood for this)
- 3 ingots of iron to make a bucket
- 3 more to make an iron pick (for the diamond ore)
- Water in the bucket
- Sugar cane (enough to make 3 paper ~ 1 book)
Once you have an established base and good supply of food, plan a spot for a deep vertical shaft to bedrock. I usually make this a permanent spot someplace easy to access in my base.
Start digging down a 2 block by 1 block shaft. Why this size? You want it to be narrow (quick to dig) but also have enough room that you’re not digging directly underneath yourself. Place a ladder on each block on one side to get back out when you’re done, and torches as needed.
You may hit caverns. Divert or wall in the shaft as necessary.
Eventually around y level ~5 you will hit bedrock. You need two things for this plan to work: diamonds and lava. Lava is plentiful and near bedrock is the only place to find diamond.
Start expanding out tunnels. I usually like to start around y=10 as a little higher means you tend to be at the same level as lava pools rather than under them. BE CAREFUL. It is very likely you will dig into lava – stand back slightly, never dig directly above or underneath yourself, and be prepared to use your bucket to stop the flow (not directly in the lava! Place it adjacently so the water flows into the lava, then pick the water back up to re-use). Carry junk fireproof blocks like cobblestone to plug in holes where lava source is leaking lava into inappropriate spots.
Eventually you will find diamond. Carefully mine around the diamond (to ensure you’re not accidentally going to drop the previous diamonds into lava pools underneath.)
Once you have 5 diamonds, you have enough. Store 2 in a safe place. Use 3 to make a diamond pick. Use the water next to a lava pool so it flows into the lava to make obsidian. CAREFULLY mine this out (lava is often multiple levels deep, stand in a safe location).
Now you have the components to make your enchanting table!
You might also want to grab at least 10 additional obsidian blocks to make a Nether Portal while you’re at it.
Having a deep shaft to near-bedrock is great for mining, since iron and coal still spawn very deep, but you’ll also get the deep ores as well. [/spoiler]
That’s a nice little guide there. I’ve never been very lucky at harvesting obsidian from caves. There’s usually more lava under the obsidian, so once mined, it falls into the lava. Does anyone know a trick to getting it out? I usually end up making my own obsidian.
That’s cool, fluiddruid, I’ll do that!
I don’t know what “bedrock” looks like yet.
I already dug a very deep mine. I have a central pillar, and add “stairs” blocks (so no leaping up one block at a time), creating a 3x3 spiral staircase. I got to a point where at the bottom was all obsidian (a very black rock), which my iron pick won’t do squat in terms of mining it. There were little puffs of “smoke” coming up from out of these obsidian blocks, and I believe that means that there is lava underneath. I don’t know how deep in terms of numbers of blocks this mine shaft is, someday I’ll count. I didn’t hit an underground gorge with this shaft, although I did discover a short underground river about 10 or 12 blocks above the obsidian layer. (Never saw diamond or gold veins yet.)
Thanks for the info on enchanting! I’m gonna make me an unbrakeable set of tools!
If you meet me in VC, wonderlust, I’ll show you how to make unlimited amounts of obsidian very cheaply, but completely legitimately.
You have reached bedrock. It’s the black stripey stone that can’t be dug. The puffs of smoke are void fog. You can press F3 to see what level you’re on. The middle value, y, is your depth. It’s taken at eye-level, not foot-level.
I love spiral stairs, but have never gotten them to look consistent. Keeping a central post may be the trick; thanks for that.
Thanks, Agent Foxtrot. I do know how to pour lava into a one-block depth and then flood it with water – in case that’s what you’re referring to.
The puffs of smoke are particles showing you’re very close to the Void (y = 1 through 4). Lava doesn’t doesn’t give any clues that it’s under the block you’re standing on, but if you’re under a block that lava is above, you’ll see it dripping through the block.
If you’re near lava, you’ll hear it bubbling and popping. The Void makes no sound.
We’re so simul-postey!
:smack: I thought that stuff was obsidian. Thanks for the tip.
Why is “Y” the height axis when everyone else uses “Z”? 
I posted this last September, you new people may like this:
Thanks for the post. I like the idea of ridiculous contraptions in the last one.
I like a bi’ o’ Diggy Diggy. 
Nope. My method of creating obsidian uses redstone instead of lava, which is way more renewable and far faster.
What do you mean by “everyone else”?