Build Tips & Tricks

Once your floor plan is in place, you can use some code builder tricks to help speed up the work.  Check out the video to learn about:

0:00: How to use the space

0:34: Building a wall to where you're standing

3:33: Clearing the field*

4:08: Laying out your floor plan

5:46: Using the fill tool to fill in a straight wall

8:35: Using the line tool to create a line of blocks from one point to another.

10:25: Using the circle tool to create a greenhouse with a dome.

Phase 2 is meant to be done in pairs or small groups. 

0:10:  Hosting a world

0:51: Joining a world

1:28: Hosting from a home network (port forwarding)

• Slates, posters, and boards are useful edit-able labels.

• High contrast text is good for accessibility.

• Unlock slates, posters, and boards if you want your teammates to edit them.

• The camera and book and quill can be used to create an illustrated label

• Illustrated labels are good for showing the world outside your museum or directing visitors to parts of a large display.

• Sign the book and place it on a lectern for others to read.

• Use the Activity NPCs to change yourself into NPC mode.

• Place your NPCs.

• Edit the name, dialogue, and appearance of your NPCs.

• Use the "add URL" option to add links to sources or Flipgrid videos.

• When you've finished, return to the Activity NPC, click Edit Dialogue, and put yourself into safe mode to protect your NPCs.

Note: The video in the demonstration uses the NPC bot in the Rocks and Minerals world for switching modes. The Sustainable Style world has the switch in NPC dialogue on activities that may require building NPCs. The actual steps are the same.

• Common commands

  • /give @p [item]

  • /teleport @p [coordinates]

  • /gamemode survival/creative @p

• Turn on button mode to give the player a choice about whether or not to run the command.

• Select on enter or on exit if you want the command to run no matter what.

• Use a cauldron, water bucket, and dye to make a dye station.

• Use the dye station to dye a leather tunic, pants, or boots.

• Place an armour stand where you would like your person to be standing.

• Right click to dress up your armour stand in the dyed clothing.

• Add a head to your armour stand.

• Right click on the armour stand with an object to have your armour stand hold it.

• Hold down shift + right click to change the position of your armour stand.

• Powered rails that are ON will push a minecart forward.

  • You can turn them on with redstone torches, buttons, levers, or detector rails on a block that touches the powered rail.

• Powered rails that are OFF will stop a minecart.

• Activator rails that are ON will push a person out of a minecart.

• Detector rails will sense a minecart passing over them and pass a power signal forward (to a powered rail) or down (to a command block).

• Make sure they're part of the plan before your begin building.

• No design is "better"; it's all about the level of challenge you need for yourself.

• Add slates so people know which floor they're on

• For command blocks, you'll need the coordinates of the elevator you're travelling to in place of x y z

  • tp @p x y z

  • playsound note.chime @p

• Take a photo with the camera

• Get a portfolio once you have switched to Build Mode

• Make sure you have a free space in your inventory

• Find the photo you want to download in the Portfolio

• Click on the download icon. The photo will now be in your inventory

• Place an item frame where you would like to display the photo

• Right click on the item frame while the photo is in your hand

• Teleport to geode: /tp 1665 93 -2630

• Teleport to research centre: /tp 43 72 -352

• Clear out area around the geode

• Empty the water using walls, the fill command, and sponges

• Place down the command block so the bounding box faces toward the geode.

• Increase the numbers in the X Y Z fields in the structure block until it contains the whole geode.

• Change the offset to Y=0

• Create a name for your geode

• Click "Save"

• Return to the research centre

• Place a structure block where you want your geode to sit. Make sure the bounding box points toward where you want the geode to sit.

• Change the Mode to load and type the name of your geode into the box beneath the load button.

• Make sure the area it will load into isn't cutting into anything you want to keep

• Click "Load."

• Export a backup of your world before you start.

• Cloning copies a big rectangular box.  Find the coordinates of the bottom corner of the invisible box that contains the structure you want to copy.

• Open Code Builder

• Create a clone command

• Change the ~0 ~0 ~0 block in the "from" line to a world position block.

• Put the bottom corner coordinates in the "from" line.

• Find the coordinates of the opposite top corner of the box.

• Change the ~0 ~0 ~0 block in the "to" line to a world position block.

• Put the top corner coordinates in the "to" line.

• In the imaginary box you want to PASTE the structure into, find the corner of the box with the LOWEST x, y, and z coordinates and stand there.

• Run the code.