Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap!

[Broccoli Clock]

The dirty deeds in the title refers to tips that are a bit cheesy, not an exploit, but close. I'll give you two to show you what I mean..

 

Seeing more of the map upon spawn:

Upon spawn, you will be limited by the view distance (my default setting is 256 blocks) and this counts for the map too. So if you sit at spawn, set the view distance to max (1530 blocks in 1.21), and switch to the map and you'll see the fog of war disappear giving you a much better idea of where to go from spawn. Your machine may chug a bit, dependent on your specs, but if you are not moving and just viewing the map, it should be manageable. The cheesy bit? Well it doesn't "replace" the fog of war once you turn the view distance back again, so you've gained a large chunk of map while not moving an inch.

example:

Spoiler

 

Remove darkness:

Ever fallen down into a cave with no light source, or dipped your head under water in a cave when you are using a torch, only to find yourself engulfed in an eternal blackness, unsure to move in case you make your situation worse? Well one cheesy solution to this is to use the debug rooms command. It will provide a red or green overlay depending on whether that area counts as a room (in a cave it'll be red), but that overlay also highlights the structure, giving you a way to see in the dark without a light source. I don't think I need to point out this is a bit cheesy to say the least. To activate the room check, type in "/debug rooms hi" into the chat box, doing "/debug rooms unhi" removes the effect.

example: 

Spoiler

 

 

Anyone got any more not exploits or cheats, but slightly cheesy workaround for a problem? A dirty deed, done dirt cheap, you could say...

 

 

[Shoom]

Carry around hay blocks instead of dry grass, you can store 8 times more dry grass that way in a single inventory slot, hay can be turned back into dry grass by simply putting it in the crafting menu, the blocks themselves are also pretty useful to, especially for when building because you can break them extremely quickly compared to dirt, stone or wood.

[Broccoli Clock]

Just now, Shoom said:

the blocks themselves are also pretty useful to, especially for when building because you can break them extremely quickly compared to dirt, stone or wood.

Yes.

Couple of things about the straw bale. One is that they count as a full block which allows you to use them to seal a cellar. Most people, once they get a saw, will use a trapdoor/hatch to close off the cellar, but at early game you are some distance from that saw. The straw bale is ideal for this, for the reasons you mention.

But wait, bales are more interesting than that. If you play with full cave-ins enabled, a straw bale is one of the blocks that are not effected by gravity. So like Rammed Earth, you can place them half way up walls should you want, and they won't fall to the ground.

[Shoom]

I also always keep a mining bag inside my regular bags, just in case I find some ore or stone while outside, however I feel like this is likely common knowledge. 

[Echo Weaver]

3 hours ago, Shoom said:

I also always keep a mining bag inside my regular bags, just in case I find some ore or stone while outside, however I feel like this is likely common knowledge. 

Huh. I'm not sure I understand how that would work. To be able to use that you'd need to be able to drop a backpack or empty it out so that you could put it inside an existing backpack. 

I just keep an mining bag in my usual backpack slots. Since I can put my pickaxe and propick in it, and I usually carry around a stack of obsidian for emergency tool replacement, I have a few items that can hang out there when I'm not mining that make it better than deadweight. And it guarantees that when I go out mining, I will have space for my haul.

Re: light. In early and midgame, I carried around a backup oil lamp in case my stack of torches got extinguished. Now that I've moved on to lanterns it's not much an issue, but I'm still paranoid and like having a backup light source in inventory. 

All this contingency stuff is directly related to why I need a mining back to be sure I can have space for my mining.

Edited September 12, 2025 by Echo Weaver

[Krougal]

12 minutes ago, Echo Weaver said:

Huh. I'm not sure I understand how that would work. To be able to use that you'd need to be able to drop a backpack or empty it out so that you could put it inside an existing backpack.

That is exactly what you do.

Lanterns stack by the way (obviously must be same material, and reflector if any)

[Shoom]

16 hours ago, Echo Weaver said:

Huh. I'm not sure I understand how that would work. To be able to use that you'd need to be able to drop a backpack or empty it out so that you could put it inside an existing backpack. 

Correct, to be honest the forth regular backpack doesn't see much everyday use, I usually do what you describe, but when you're very far away from home, being able to gain 5 extra regular inventory slots can be valuable, especially if you find something cool and you don't plan on ever trekking back there. Once I finally get the sturdy leather bags I might stop doing this.

[Forks]

My personal favorite is storing items in the crafting grid. I always use the setting that allows you to look around while your inventory is open and typically keep it off to the side of my screen under the mini map. As long as you don't close your inventory you get 9 extra slots of storage at the cost of crafting being a royal pain. Incredibly useful early game.

[Broccoli Clock]

On 9/13/2025 at 5:15 PM, Forks said:

My personal favorite is storing items in the crafting grid. I always use the setting that allows you to look around while your inventory is open and typically keep it off to the side of my screen under the mini map. As long as you don't close your inventory you get 9 extra slots of storage at the cost of crafting being a royal pain. Incredibly useful early game.

Yes, totally. This was one I meant to add but forgot to. Especially useful if you have auto-pickup enabled. It's really come in clutch when deep mining and I keep picking up the stones rather than the ore.

[Broccoli Clock]

You can eat while you are asleep, which seems a bit like an oversight, but it can stop you starving as you wake up.

[Diff]

You can eat while asleep. When I was like 7 I would feed my little sister cheez-its while she slept through road trips. Fall asleep with a bowl of hearty pork onion stew on your pillow and I'm sure nature will find a way.