How to survive your first night in Minecraft

The first minutes: secure wood and tools

Locate trees, collect logs and turn some into planks. Use four planks to craft a crafting table, then make sticks and basic tools. Wood tools are enough to start collecting cobblestone, which upgrades your early equipment.

Keep an eye on the daylight rather than exploring far from your spawn: locating your first shelter is more useful than collecting rare loot on day one.

1. 01Collect logs and craft wooden planks.
2. 02Build a crafting table and make sticks.
3. 03Make a wooden pickaxe; mine cobblestone for stone tools.
4. 04Keep spare blocks for a quick shelter.

Build a safe shelter before sunset

Choose a compact place that can be enclosed quickly: a small hut, a blocked-off hillside or a shallow room you excavate. Seal entrances so hostile mobs cannot reach you. A temporary shelter is enough; decoration can wait until daylight.

If you do not have a bed yet, avoid roaming in unlit areas and use the night to organize materials or mine carefully.

Light, food and next steps

Torches reduce hostile mob spawning in dark spots. A basic torch uses a stick with coal or charcoal; keep lighting your shelter and nearby work area. Secure food and cook it when practical.

A bed, made from three matching wool and three planks, lets you skip the night under normal conditions and reset your spawn point when used. If supplies are scarce, protecting yourself until sunrise is a valid alternative.

Java and Bedrock: check your version

The basic survival loop is broadly shared, but controls, interfaces and some mechanics can vary by edition and update. Always check the edition and version when following detailed mob or crafting instructions. This guide avoids edition-specific combat timings.