Minecraft Tools

These are some web tools and articles that I've found helpful or useful for designing or implementing my Minecraft projects.

FragNet Game Servers
FragNet is a game server host for a variety of different games. Their Minecraft Servers are fairly priced, plus you can get a free 10 slot Mumble server with them (or more slots or Teamspeak servers, at an additional monthly cost). After some research, I found that FragNet seems to be the most highly rated, yet also most reasonably priced, host for Minecraft game servers out there on the market as of today (March 2013). Although they are based in Sweden, they have host servers located around the world and list their prices in EUR, GBP, SEK, and USD.

Slime Chunk Locator
This is a useful tool for plotting out where the slime chunks are on your map. Keep in mind that slimes will only spawn deep underground, so you will want to dig down to the bedrock layer first. Enter your world seed into the online tool and it will show you a grid that corresponds with your map, showing you where slime chunks should be located. For best results, completely dig out the bedrock layer for the chunk you are working with. Then, light it up with torches or glowstone. Slime spawn rates are not affected by light, but by lighting up the area you will guarantee that every mob spawn is a slime (versus having skeletons or zombies spawning instead).

Sphere Dimensions Generator
Using this web form, you can generate the layer-by-layer schematics to create any perfect circle or sphere in Minecraft. Don't forget to set the X, Y, and Z block dimensions each to 1.0 for build accuracy. It should be pretty simple and straightforward, but if you want a tutorial on how to use this tool you can view the video to the right (which is how I originally found out about this tool anyway). The creator of the video covers the use of the tool, but also gives some tips on how to best utilize the data that comes from using the tool as well.

Plotz
This tool features a couple of different customizable building projects, such as a lighthouse and a wizard's tower. You can customize each project to choose how many floors it will have, what the diameter will be, etc. Then you can scroll through each layer (in either 2D or isometric views) to see the block layout so that you can build it. It also offers the option to print the project, but I haven't tested that feature yet.

LEGO Digital Designer
Free software provided by the LEGO company, which allows you to build your own LEGO creations on the computer. This is a great way to play around with a design before actually building it in Minecraft. There is a design mode, in which you actually build your project (you get to choose your bricks and their colors), and there is a build steps mode, in which you can walk through the steps of building your project.

Basic Portal Tutorial
A tutorial on how to create portals to multiple different worlds, using the Multiverse mod. This allows you to create portals, much like the portals that you normally create within the game to travel to the Nether or the End. These multiverse portals, however, can be used to set up multiple different worlds for a variety of purposes (such as having a different world for different building themes or setting up individual worlds for each person who is building on your server).

LEGO Instructions
Although a lot of LEGO projects use special parts, which can't be replicated in Minecraft, there are some that use only simple bricks or can be manipulated into a Minecraft build with a little creativity. Here are a bunch of links to websites that offer free LEGO instructions:


 * LEGO Customer Service: The official LEGO customer service website, which offers a searchable database of set instructions dating back to 2002. The database can only be searched by set code, however.
 * LEGO Monthly Builds: A feature on the official LEGO website. It is geared toward a younger audience, so the builds tend to be very simplistic and use only simple bricks.
 * Let's Build It Again: Offers official LEGO instructions from sets dating all the way back to 1966. You can even browse by theme!
 * MOCpages Building Instructions: MOCpages is a community of LEGO enthusiasts -- basically like a social networking site where people can share photos and instructions for their LEGO projects. MOC stands for "My Own Creation" and refers to any custom-designed LEGO project.
 * D-n-D Bricks: Quite a few official LEGO instruction scans can be found on this website, though it seems mostly dedicated to vehicles. Instructions for buildings and other stationary items can be a little difficult, as you have to sort through image galleries (using scans of the set box art as thumbnails) to find what you are looking for.
 * Worldbricks: A HUGE database of LEGO instructions, which includes directions for both official sets and custom builds. Browse by release year, theme, set number, or catalog year.

Minecraft Guides
This site has some general instructions for different building projects and styles within Minecraft. You won't find step-by-step instructions, blueprints, or tutorials here. What you will find are some nice generalized guidelines on how to make your builds look the way you want. There are plenty of pictures and great tips, though.

Minecraft Blueprints & Tutorials
People post blueprints and/or video tutorials for their Minecraft projects online all the time. Here is a collection of a few blueprints and tutorials that I thought were useful or that I might use on a project in the future.


 * Large Skull (blueprints)
 * Medium Skull (video blueprints)
 * Large Trees (video tutorial) (video example)