Tutorial: 28 Useful Minecraft Tips

Tutorial Difficulty: 3/10

Tutorials to build houses are fantastic, but they only appeal to the people that want to build that specific house — and plus, when you've already got your house, you don't need another one, unless you're the kind of person who wants a home in every biome. Tutorials like this one, which teach you tips and tricks for Minecraft, can appeal to everyone — and you'll almost certainly learn something along the way that could change the way you play.

I'm willing to bet that there's something that makes you tear your hair out when you're playing Minecraft, whether it's trying to get villagers to go to the place you need them, or trying to build a redstone circuit that doesn't look like an unravelled pile of red string. For me, it's creepers — I swear that whoever programmed them made it so that they know exactly where to hide to make me jump out of my seat every time. If only there were a video that could teach me how to avoid being blown up!

Good news! There is exactly that video, and it's this one! YouTuber Wifies has made a list of the most handiest tips in Minecraft, and it's not just advice on how to neaten up your builds or corral villagers (although it does include those). In this list of 28 "Minecraft things you should be doing", you'll find tips on how to find diamonds easily, how to locate a buried treasure, and various methods of making your life in the game much, much easier.

For example: did you know that by using trapdoors as walls, you can create a pen that animals can climb into, but not out of? That's much less hassle than using a lead or luring a cow into a fenced-off area with a bit of wheat. Plus, unlike fences, you can actually climb into and out of the pen yourself, with no need for gates.

But you might be wondering if the tips for finding buried treasure (it's always at 9/X/9 on the chunk coordinates) and diamonds (they're almost always below clay patches in rivers) are even true. After all, we've all been burned by people promising treasure and gems, only to run off with all of our money. But I went above and beyond and actually tested these two tips, partly to help you decide if they're good tips, and partly because I also wanted the treasure and diamonds.

Good news, friends: they both actually work. The diamonds tip is a little tricky to get right, so make sure to dig underneath the clay patches that are a big star shape — it didn't seem to work with weirdly-shaped patches. But now I'm one step closer to building a diamond mansion and living the dream.