You've all probably seen Wondercraft's SamCube and his artwork. He's recently created the poster below as the official poster of Minecraft! You can expect to purchase this poster from JINX some time around the holidays!

If you're itching to see how all this was done, SamCube has created an excellent video diary of the process. It's well worth checking out! Back to Top

Mojang has just released the trailer for 1.8 on their youtube channel. Check it out below!
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Mojang announced that the pocket version of Minecraft is now available exclusively on Xperia Play for a limited time, and released to other Android devices after that.  Mojang's Carl Manneh had this to say about it:

"The first version (Alpha 0.1) will focus on the creative aspects of Minecraft. We have tried to put in the features that make sense for playing on a mobile device while still keeping the core of the Minecraft experience. You will be able to select blocks on the touchscreen or just scroll through them with the circle and square buttons on the Xperia Play device. The first version also supports multi-player on a local wireless network allowing you to create a world and invite friends to build together. Some of the features in this release include:

• Randomized worlds
  
• Build anything you can imagine
  
• Build with 36 different kinds of blocks
  
• Invite and play with friends to your world (local wireless network)
  
• Save multi-player worlds on your own phone

Minecraft Pocket Edition, now available for $6.99 exclusively on Xperia Play devices!  In addition, we have created a new section for the occasion.  Feel free to discuss all things "Pocket" there! Back to Top

Notch is getting married this weekend, and in the spirit of togetherness, Mojang is offering a special weekend deal - buy one copy of Minecraft, and get a free gift code with it, to give to a friend, loved one or anyone you like!  This deal only lasts this weekend, so be sure to get it while you can!

Remember, this only works if you buy Minecraft itself, not a gift code.  When you buy it, a free gift code will be accessible from the newly bought account, and can be given to whoever you like.  Check it out! Back to Top

Yesterday we posted on our Facebook Fanpage asking for players to share their best Minecraft tips and tricks after being inspired by this informative video. The response was fantastic and even we learned some great things so we're giving you a collection of some of our favourites!

• If you place a minecart behind a wall of lava, you could right click it through the lava (if you're close enough) and then you have went through the lava without getting hurt or catching on fire! With that technique you could create some really hard mazes or secret bases! (from Joel M)
• When making a bridge, break a hole, place lava, wait 3 seconds, remove lava then place water. The lava and water will make pillars. (from Alex R)
• In the Nether, Ghasts can't destroy cobblestone blocks with their fireballs but they can disable portals. Build a base made of cobblestone around the portal you came through in. (from Ben D)
• If you have a boat in your inventory, use it underwater to escape quickly from suffocation to minimise health loss. (from Richard R)
• Hitting the Middle Mouse Button while looking at a block will make you automatically switch to that block if it is in your hotbar! (from Misha G)
• Bring up the debug screen (F3 by default) to note down the co-ordinates of important locations. It will also show an ID number above each monster's head, allowing them to be seen through walls. This can be very useful when cave exploring. (from Ben M)
• Holding shift and click on the crafting bench output will pick up all the items you can make in one stack in one click. (from Zach Z)

And the winner of the Minecraft giftcode for the best tip is... Kuujoe! Kuujoe gave this fantastic tidbit of information:

• You can use saplings to cook one block.

This is just a small selection of all the tips submitted, you can see all responses here. Thanks to everyone who shared their tips. If you have your own tips to add you can reply to this post or on the Facebook post and maybe you'll save another minecrafter some time and resources! Back to Top

Notch mentioned another addition to the 1.8 Adventure Update - hold-to-charge bow mechanics.  We may very soon see the inclusion of variable-damage weapon mechanics as a result.  Whether this will be restricted solely to bow weapons or not remains to be seen.

We will continue to keep the community posted on updates as they develop. Back to Top

Well, it looks like we're finally getting to see what Piston's are going to look like, and the schematics for designing them as well. As promised, Jeb did make slime balls make the pistons into sticky pistons.

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It looks like we're finally going to have a use for slime balls. Jens has tweeted that we'll be able to use slime balls to make the new Pistons in 1.7 into Sticky Pistons, what that means exactly, we haven't figured out yet. Back to Top

We're shifting gears again with this latest Minecraft digital diamond. This time we're showcasing an impressive creation utilizing a Piston mod, the Minecraft Amazing "Wave Machine" by G0ldenEye93.

G0denEye93's brother assisted in the creation of the Wave Machine, and according to the Minecrafter it "took some time," meaning it was no easy task.

The world is not currently available for download, as G0ldenEye93 notes that you need a "really good pc" to handle it. Once it's available, we'll update this post.

The song used in the video is Blue Shift by lemaître.

Digital Diamonds is an ongoing look at Minecraft-related videos that have been submitted to the Minecraft forum video section. We'll be selecting memorable videos and those resonating with the community to share with everyone on the front page. Back to Top

Today we're taking a closer look at a timelapse of a Minecraft creation. While the final result of what we build in the game is most impressive, it's always interesting to see it come to shape.

leptir1 published the video on his YouTube channel, though the actual builders are Matt and Phil. The duo teamed up with a few friends to build an entire city in this particular timelapse. The creation of the City of Arches, according to Matt and Phil, took around two weeks.

The texture pack used in the video is Dokucraft, with music by Approaching Nirvana. The song in particular is Ocean Dawn, which you can get on iTunes here.


Digital Diamonds is an ongoing look at Minecraft-related videos that have been submitted to the Minecraft forum video section. We'll be selecting memorable videos and those resonating with the community to share with everyone on the front page. Back to Top