41 Best Minecraft Facts That You Won't Already Know!

Temitope Adebowale
Dec 12, 2023 By Temitope Adebowale
Originally Published on Aug 20, 2020
Aerial view of Minecraft island including the sea and the sky.
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Age: 0-99
Read time: 7.3 Min

Image © SkyeWeste.

As you may already be aware, Minecraft is a computer game where players can create their surroundings, as well as transform, and even destroy them. It's one of the best selling games of all time, and is hugely popular on YouTube.

Here are some amazing facts about the famous video game that will blow you away, as well as a recipe to help you create your very own Minecraft smoker.

This is a fascinating historical game for kids, that could even potentially spark an interest in coding in the future!

A pixelated blue Minecraft sword against a red background.

Image © Maeichnau

Creation Of Minecraft

Minecraft is a pixelated video game, in which players can create, build, explore, and survive. Find out fun facts about Minecraft, from its creation onwards!

1)The first version of Minecraft (known as Cave Game at the time) was created in six days. Six. 10 May 2009 to 16 May 2009.

2) Minecraft was created by Swedish designer and programmer Markus Persson (known as "Notch" by fans). He wanted Minecraft to allow exploration of the virtual world that was free and organic, for his new company, Mojang AB.

3) The full version of Minecraft was completed on 18 November 2011, after which it was first released and made known to the world.

4) What is known as Minecraft was originally called Cave Game, then Minecraft: Order of the Stone, before simply Minecraft.

5) The sounds that Ghasts make comes from a sleeping cat. Namely, Minecraft's music producer Daniel 'C418' Rosenfeld's cat, who was accidentally recorded waking from sleep.

6) Minecraft was inspired by other known computer games, such as Dungeon Keeper, RollerCoaster Tycoon, Infiniminer and Dwarf Fortress.

Things That Changed Over The Years

The Minecraft originally created in 2009 has seen some unexpected changes. Some original intentions didn't go to plan, but we think you'd find them quite interesting to know nonetheless.

7) A creeper was initially supposed to be a pig. Persson switched the height and length of a creeper by mistake when inputting the code.

8) The original Enderman had green eyes. The mobs from the land of Ender now have purple eyes and, still, only attack when aggravated by a player.

9) The crafting table in Minecraft, where players create a number of items and blocks, was formerly called workbench.

10) There was once going to be a Sky Dimension in Minecraft, in addition to the others: The End, Far Lands, Overworld, Void, Outer End and The Nether. Before the idea was scrapped, it was going to be the opposite of The Nether.

Minecraft ship docked in front of some houses.

Image © Jovanmanic

Minecraft Facts You'd Be Surprised To Know

Here are some really interesting facts about Minecraft that may just take you by surprise!

11) Once in every 10,000 times you play Minecraft, the menu at the start will flash a misspelling of its name - you'll see "Minceraft" instead of "Minecraft".

12) 1 block is 1 cubic metre (the size of a cube that is 1 metre long, 1 metre wide and 1 metre high).

13) Persson's avatar in the game is the only one who drops an apple when he dies.

14) Creepers are afraid of ocelots (wild cat mobs which are passive, but attack chickens in Minecraft).

15) Microsoft purchased Minecraft for 2.5 billion dollars (1.9 billion pounds) in 2014.

16) Normally, the hostile zombie mobs burn during the day. The exception to this is if they are in a cobweb - a type of block which slows down movement.

17) Many think Minecraft is infinite, and that players can keep venturing further and further out in their world. However, if a player does so, they will eventually arrive at the "World Boundary", where they won't be able to go any further.

18) The World Boundary has several layers to block players from getting past. After getting past the first two layers, the game will crash.

Boy wearing a headset playing video games on his laptop.

Image © Jovanmanic

Fun Facts About Minecraft

Who would have thought were would be so many things you didn't know about Minecraft? We now know that Minecraft was initially called "Cave Game", but there are many, many more fun facts about Minecraft that we think you'd love to know.

19) Around 126 million people people play Minecraft every month.

20) Over 200 million copies of Minecraft have been sold worldwide.

21) Minecraft is compulsory education for 13-year-olds at Viktor Rydberg secondary school in Stockholm, Sweden. This is said to be because it helps to teach city planning, planning for the future, and environmental issues.

22) The Enderman language is the English language backwards, and sometimes just at a lower pitch. Yep, it was English all along.

23) A scale replica of the entire country of Denmark has been created in Minecraft. This was done by Simon Kokkendorf and Thorbjorn Nielsen of the Danish Geodata Agency.

a computer game where players can create their surroundings

Image © British Museum Press

Minecraft Gaming Facts

Ready to learn a few more things about Minecraft and the wonderful world surrounding it? Here are some more awesome fun facts:

24) The Rarest item in Minecraft is the Dragon Egg. It will only appear when the Ender Dragon has been defeated, at which point, the Dragon Egg will appear on the exit portal. If there aren't any air blocks to teleport into, the egg may be mined.

25) The diamond ore block, emerald ore block and pink wool block are among the rarest to mine in the game, like (but after) the Dragon Egg.

26) A fishing rod can be used to hook more than just fish! It can hook treasure, mobs and even other players.

27) One day in Minecraft is 20 minutes in real-time.

28) A good way for a player to block out hostile mobs is to build a fence around their farm, as they can't climb over fences.

29) If a player needs easy access to their farm that has a fence around it, they can lay a carpet on top of it! They'll be able to climb over but the mobs won't.

30) There are six types of mob: the utility mob, boss mob, hostile mob, neutral mob, tamable mob, and the passive mob.

31) Not all mobs are harmful. Utility mobs were created to protect villagers and players in the game from the hostile mobs. The Iron Golem and Snow Golem are examples of utility mobs.

32) The boss mobs in Minecraft are the strongest and most powerful mobs. At present, these are the Enderdragon and Wither.

33) The Skeleton Horseman, Evoker, Ghast, and Phantom are examples of hostile mobs - they'll attack any player in sight at any time!

34) The higher a wolf's tail in the game, the healthier it is.

Scene of Roman Britain built on Minecraft.

Image © British Museum Press

35) Neutral mobs only attack when provoked; their aggressiveness must be triggered. The panda, bee and dolphin are examples of neutral mobs.

36) Tameable mobs in Minecraft can become a player's pet. Examples of these are the donkey, mule, trader llama, llama, wolf, cat, parrot, horse, and the skeleton horse.

37) The passive mobs are non-violent (hence the name). The turtle, chicken, horse, and donkey are a few of the passive mobs in Minecraft. Even when they are provoked, they'll run from danger.

38) Creepers in Minecraft detonate because they get very nervous and shake a lot, setting themselves off in a similar way to how the rubbing of two sticks starts a fire.

39) One of the many useful things to build in Minecraft is a smoker, as it cooks food twice as quickly as a furnace. Take a look at this Minecraft smoker recipe:

You Will Need: Four logs (of the same type) and one furnace.

Method: In a 3x3 crafting table, place the furnace right in the middle of the table (the second square of the second row) and arrange the four logs in a diamond-like shape: one log above the furnace, one below, one to the left, and one to the right of the furnace.

When the correct pattern has been created, your smoker will appear in the box to the right of the crafting grid.

Move it to your inventory and it will be ready to use!

40) Did you know that Minecraft can be enjoyed by players aged three and up (including adults)?

41) There's a "Peaceful Mode" without mobs (hostile, non-player characters, like creepers, zombies and animals) which makes the game less violent for the younger ones.

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Written by Temitope Adebowale

Bachelor of Fine Arts specializing in Fine and Studio Arts

Temitope Adebowale picture

Temitope AdebowaleBachelor of Fine Arts specializing in Fine and Studio Arts

A Fine Art student from the Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, Temitope has a passion for learning and expressing herself creatively. She finds great reward in tutoring children from primary school up to sixth form. When she's not teaching or writing, you can find Temitope painting, editing photos, baking, or building LEGO with her nephew.

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