long ago when i first dug into the soil of minecraft, i started a slow treck into a madness that now consumes me. at first i randomly placed torches, which resulted in all maner of monsters spawning behind me. i then spaced them out, and placed them only on one side so that i could quickly find my way back. i eventualy became bored with my mineshaft, so i started exploring the caves i found, either on land or in my mines. these started out great, and when i came to my first split, i decided to place down some fence while i explored one section.
many splits later, i came to find the horror that is the cave/mines below my plot of land... they are never ending, and many of which loop back around and return to other locations of the mine. which leads to todays problem. for those of you who like to leave torches on one side to return home, how do you react when one passage leads back to another?
I usually get pretty excited. I usually stick to cave mining, so huge caves means tons of ores. The caves that loop are kind if annoying though. I once went to a cave by my jungle house, and one set of passages led to a cave system under my village (I had already explored the cave under the village, and it was over 200+ blocks from where I started)
I have found a few caves that are fairly large, but have edings, but a lot of the time, I leave certain branches unexplored. But if you want to see how big your cave is, or see if it links up with others, you can use an x-ray vision glitch. There are plenty of different methods to do this glitch, all you need to do is search on YouTube. Keep in mind that some videos are older, though practically all methods work. But the caves just appear as dark spots in the glitch, so if you drink a potion of night vision, you can see the cave interiors.
I usually just go until I run out of space or cave and then dig right out, making sure to cover the hole if I'm done, or mark it noticeably if I'm not.
In your case, I'd hit the thing like a maze: If you reach a dead end, go back to the intersection and repeat. Loops are a bit trickier as you'll need to block off one end and keep going back until you find it again, making sure every dead end between it and he other side are blocked off.
One method I use is to make arrows on the floor using torches or redstone dust to show the direction I need to take to get back to the exit. Another technique is to use jack-o-lanterns and have the face point to the way out.
Leaving torches on one side of the wall has never failed me. Even when a tunnel loops back around on itself or another separate tunnel. I've never gotten lost putting torches on only one side.
I usually take sand or colored wool and use it to mark the path to the exit at a branch. I will use fences or cobblestone to block off dead ends or loops to prevent me from endlessly circling. Many seeds ago I had a mine with an exit that required you to go down first and then back up, but I forgot that and spent nearly an hour going around and around trying to get out.
I used to use redstone wire to make a path toward the exit (since you get so much during mining), but it took longer than I like.
I use the jackolanterns to point towards the exit. they are easy to see from far away. I have also started digging long tunnels at level 12 from a main mine shaft. these tunnels will cross caves systems so it gives me another way out.
i feel the need to clarify. im not really getting lost, so much as having OCD fits from the reconections messing with my methods.
I can understand your frustrations. Sometimes caves are so dense that it's really hard use most methods of keeping track of your route and explored areas. Honestly I have found over time that most methods, from placing unique blocks, to torches on one side just plain fail in dense cave systems. Particularly after exploring for a while. You end up doubling back in so many places that it becomes a waste of time.
Personally I've simply stopped trying to keep track. I do one of two things..Explore a little at a time in one cave system so it becomes familiar. Or not worry about it and keep going even if I get horribly lost, when I'm ready to exit I dig up and pillar up to the surface.
using renegades's term "dense mine" im exploring a new one right now, and i swear, EVERYTHING will weave one way, and then right back to another path, not even that far off... i guess i should start minning away the little bits inbetween. i came up with a new idea of putting a pillar of cobblestone up on the left side to denote that its a split that will double back on to another branch. i put two of these up before becoming horrably lost at trying to figure out where i should put them.
i feel the need to clarify. im not really getting lost, so much as having OCD fits from the reconections messing with my methods.
I usually do the following when trying to mine in an organized fashion (I'll admit that this doesn't happen as often as I'd like though)
Everytime I come across an intersection I close off all sections but the one I just came from, and the one I'm going to. I fully close off these extra openings with a wall made of fence (so that mobs cannot attack me from behind)
Everytime I fully explore and excavate a deadend I retreat to the last intersection and close off the deadend with a fence across the bottom of the opening and a "support beam" (fence stacked on top of itself) going from the centre of the fence to the top of the cave. I then open one of the unexplored sections of cave (the openings completely closed off with a wall of fence) and continue exploring.
When doing this, will be times where one of my caves will end at a fence wall (because this cave loops back onto itself). In these cases I'll change the fence wall into the deadend fence (simple fence accross the bottom with a support beam in the centre), then I retreat to the last interesection (after I've excavated everything) and I close off that entire section of cave with another deadend fence.
If this is done correctly, you willl only ever have 2 ways to go at any point in time, one way will lead to unexplored caves, the other will lead to the exit.
many splits later, i came to find the horror that is the cave/mines below my plot of land... they are never ending, and many of which loop back around and return to other locations of the mine. which leads to todays problem. for those of you who like to leave torches on one side to return home, how do you react when one passage leads back to another?
I have found a few caves that are fairly large, but have edings, but a lot of the time, I leave certain branches unexplored. But if you want to see how big your cave is, or see if it links up with others, you can use an x-ray vision glitch. There are plenty of different methods to do this glitch, all you need to do is search on YouTube. Keep in mind that some videos are older, though practically all methods work. But the caves just appear as dark spots in the glitch, so if you drink a potion of night vision, you can see the cave interiors.
In your case, I'd hit the thing like a maze: If you reach a dead end, go back to the intersection and repeat. Loops are a bit trickier as you'll need to block off one end and keep going back until you find it again, making sure every dead end between it and he other side are blocked off.
Stay fluffy~
this is me :
place torches anywhere just for light and to stop spawning... if i get lost and need to surface, its not hard at all to dig a staircase
Animes I've Watched/am watching - Sword art online , Fairy Tale , FMA Brotherhood, InuYasha
I used to use redstone wire to make a path toward the exit (since you get so much during mining), but it took longer than I like.
I can understand your frustrations. Sometimes caves are so dense that it's really hard use most methods of keeping track of your route and explored areas. Honestly I have found over time that most methods, from placing unique blocks, to torches on one side just plain fail in dense cave systems. Particularly after exploring for a while. You end up doubling back in so many places that it becomes a waste of time.
Personally I've simply stopped trying to keep track. I do one of two things..Explore a little at a time in one cave system so it becomes familiar. Or not worry about it and keep going even if I get horribly lost, when I'm ready to exit I dig up and pillar up to the surface.
I usually do the following when trying to mine in an organized fashion (I'll admit that this doesn't happen as often as I'd like though)
Everytime I come across an intersection I close off all sections but the one I just came from, and the one I'm going to. I fully close off these extra openings with a wall made of fence (so that mobs cannot attack me from behind)
Everytime I fully explore and excavate a deadend I retreat to the last intersection and close off the deadend with a fence across the bottom of the opening and a "support beam" (fence stacked on top of itself) going from the centre of the fence to the top of the cave. I then open one of the unexplored sections of cave (the openings completely closed off with a wall of fence) and continue exploring.
When doing this, will be times where one of my caves will end at a fence wall (because this cave loops back onto itself). In these cases I'll change the fence wall into the deadend fence (simple fence accross the bottom with a support beam in the centre), then I retreat to the last interesection (after I've excavated everything) and I close off that entire section of cave with another deadend fence.
If this is done correctly, you willl only ever have 2 ways to go at any point in time, one way will lead to unexplored caves, the other will lead to the exit.