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.

Basic (against a wall):

• Figure out what block you're going to make your wall out of. Make sure that material also has a stair block.

• Choose a material for the base of your display case and place it in front of where the wall will go.

• On the side of the display case where the wall will go, break a hole in the floor and fill it with a slab.

• Place an armour stand in the hole so that its right hand is touching the display case (the right hand in the one that holds objects)

• Right click on the armour stand with the object you want to display.

• Place glass on top of the base of your display case.

• Make sure you're not flying. Hold down SHIFT and click on the armour stand until the object it's holding is inside the display case.

• Place 2 pistons, one on top of the other, one block away fromthe armour stand with the piston facing the armor stand.

• Place a block behind the stack and place a lever on it.

• Place a solid block on the top piston, and a stair on the bottom with the straight edge against the piston.

• Flip the lever to push the blocks against the back of the case and break the pistons.

• Add a label using slates or a lectern with an illustated book.

• Add lighting by replacing the blocks behind the glass with a light block.

Advanced (in the middle of the room):

• Use the following two commands while standing next to the armour stand to make it invisible:

  • • /tag @e[type=armor_stand, r=2] add invis

    • /effect @e[tag=invis] invisibility infinite 0 true

    • If you need to see the armour stands again, stand next to them and type /tag @e[r=2] remove invis

• Hide your armour stand by putting a lectern or seating made of stairs in front of the piston instead.

• 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

• Choose where you want to make your straight line

• Open code builder

• Open the "advanced" drawers

• Open the "shapes" drawer

• Choose the "line" block.

• Decide what word you will use to trigger the line command.

• Decide what temporary material you will use for the line

• Figure out which axes your line will be running on

• Set values for the "to" line.

• Test your code and modify as needed.

• 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

Saving a structure:

• Get a structure block by opening the console/chat and typing:

/give @s structure_block

• Put the block down to see what direction the structure block's bounding box is pointing.

• Place the block at the corner of the thing you're copying that ensures the box will fall over the structure you're copying.

• Right click on the structure block.

• Adjust the x, y, and z values until you can see the entire structure in the display.

• Offset will usually be y = -1. If you change this, make sure you remember what the number is. You'll need it later.

• Give your structure a name that makes sense.

• Save your structure to a structure library using the export button. (You can also save to memory or save to disk)

Loading a structure:

• Place a structure block where you want to paste the structure. Make sure the box is pointing in the right direction when you put it down.

• Right click the structure block.

• Change "save" to "load".

• If typing the name of your structure doesn't work, click on the "import" button and select your saved structure file.

  • • If the import fails, try closing and re-opening the world and/or Minecraft.

• Exit the structure block and make sure the position of the big box is right. Adjust the block or terrain as needed.

• Rotate or flip the structure if needed.

• 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.