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Pretty sure this has been suggested to high holy hell already, but I'd like a way to craft my own Chainmail without having to find a Village.

So, I suggest they add the ability to craft Iron Chains.

Crafting would be simple:

4 Iron Ingots can make 8 Iron Chains.
Meaning it costs half as much Iron to make a Chainmail shirt than it does to make an Iron Chestplate.

You can also use them to craft Chain Link fences, and a new weapon, the Block and Chain.

Chain Link Fences would be similar to regular fences, only they have a post every other block, with chain links in the middle.

The Block and Chain weapon would be a short range weapon on par with an Iron Sword. Craft it by using 4 Iron chains in a square, with an Iron Block at one of the corners.

To use it, hold the Block and Chain in your hand, and click and hold the left mouse button to begin spinning it over your head. While Spinning it, you will knockback mobs in melee range, doing minor damage, at the expense of durability. Releasing the left mouse button will hurl the Iron Block at a target up to 6 blocks straight ahead, dealing heavy damage and knock back equivalent to a second level enchantment. The Block and Chain would be unusable in tight quarters, requiring the player to have at 3x3x1 block area over their head in order to swing the weapon.

It can also be "fired" from a dispenser to strike mobs a distance away. Applying a Redstone charge to a Dispenser containing a Block and Chain would cause it to launch the block out 6 blocks, where it would fall to the ground. Applying another Redstone charge would reel the ball back in again. Would work as a defensive weapon, for knocking mobs off of cliffs, or would look cool as an Anchor on an airship. Or you could set 4 of them up on opposite towers and play a giant game of Rock Em Sock Em Robots. The Block and Chain can both press Buttons and activate Pressure Plates, making it useful for remote testing of redstone traps and mechanics as well. They can also be enchanted with Knockback, Looting, and Durability Enchantments.

The Block and Chain could also be used by a new mob for Strongholds, Iron Hammers.

Iron Hammers would be fatter, fully Iron-armored Zombies that wield Block and Chain weapons and protect Portal Rooms from marauding Players. they move incredibly slowly, but their heavy armor would give them 40 hearts of Health, with a 20% reduction in damage (Effectively giving them 50 Hearts). When they first spot the player, they will begin swinging their Block around menacingly and growling. Being close to the Hammer while it's spinning its block would do the same amount of knockback that the player does to regular mobs. Once the player gets close enough, they will hurl their block out and try and hit the player, dealing up to 4 hearts of damage, as well as heavy knockback. The player can easily sidestep the attack, however, making the Hammer have to slowly reel it back in, giving the player time (about 5 seconds) to run in and wail on it with their sword, before it picks up the block and starts spinning it around again. As heavy as they are, Iron Hammers only receive half the knockback from regular attacks, even Knockback/Punch enchanted weapons. On death, Iron Hammers will drop about 100XP, Rotten Flesh, a random piece of Iron Armor with random Durability and possibly an enchantment, and, rarely, a Block and Chain weapon.

They can also be spawned from Eggs in Creative, making excellent Bosses for Adventure Maps.


Amazing all the crap you can do with just some little metal links, right?
Lemme know what you think.

So, we can fire eggs, snowballs, arrows, and flame charges, drop TNT, Water, and Lava blocks, as well as set adjacent blocks on fire.

I suggest we can do MORE stuff, depending on the item we put in it.

Flamethrower
Place Blaze Powder in a dispenser and activate it to fire out a 2 block jet of flame that deals damage and sets mobs and players on fire.

Shotgun
Placing a Gravel block inside would cause it to shoot tiny rocks out in a spread fire pattern, hitting mobs and players in a cone up to 5 blocks away.

Rocket
Placing a Fireworks rocket in a horizontal dispenser will make it fire straight. They do not deal damage, but work great as diversionary weapons.

Anchor
Placing a fishing rod in a dispenser would cause it to fire out the hook when activated, tethering mobs to a 5 block radius around it. Activating the dispenser again would break the tether and use one use on the Rod.


Just a few ideas.

So I was building a Spawn Town on an MP server the other day, and was working on the Pub/Inn when I thought "Wouldn't it be great if there was a Music disc with some jaunty Irish folk music?" Sadly, Minecraft lacks that kind of music. So, of course I come here to submit the idea of adding a few more Music Discs with varying tunes. Example links posted after each suggestion.

"Pub"
Something rowdy and jolly, perfect for bars, pubs, saloons, dives, taverns and such. Something with flutes and violins and guitars and bagpipes.


"Heavy"
A hard rocking track suited for Boss fights or big battles.


"Ragtime"
A ragtime track with a vaudeville style piano.


"Peace"
A relaxing track for peaceful forest homes.


"Bamboo"
An Oriental themed track for your pagodas and Asian inspired architecture.


"Arena"
A dramatic Horn and Drums combo for grand battles in the Coliseum.


"Pirate"
A piratey theme for those island fortresses where you stashed all that ill-gotten loot.


"Ultra"
A modern style track with a great techno beat for showing off your super modern all-glass house.


"Western"
An adventurey western style orchestral theme for your frontier towns and cattle drives. Especially since we have horses now.


It'd be great to have a wider variety of tunes available so you could have more choice when setting up Adventure maps. I'm a man who likes his "atmosphere".

Or you could just listen to them while you wait for your Smooth Stone to smelt.

We don't even really have to include all of them, just add a few like Western, Ragtime, and Pirate.

EDIT: A second part to this suggestion would be to allow Jukeboxes to loop tracks until otherwise interrupted by the player, allowing you to set constant theme music to an area without having to keep going back and replacing the disc.

Summary:
So Desert Temples are easy enough, right?
Rip open the hole in the wool, and either build a way down or just fall, and be sure not to activate the TNT under the pressure plates. Which is all well and good, if you like free stuff.

But some people want a challenge in their ancient temples.

"What about having randomly trapped chests, as well?"

What are you, a wuss? This is the time for ballsy suggestions!

Desert Temples need an optional Boss Battle to get the really good loot.

Entrance/Spawning:
The Ruby Guardian lies in wait in a large chamber, about 40 blocks lower than the regular TNT/Pressure plate trap. The Temple would appear normally, with Wool covering the drop down to the "treasure room" but the chests would be empty, and also rigged to Sticky pistons that pull the very ground out from under you, causing you to fall the rest of the way down into the Ruby Guardian's chamber. There would be a pool of water at the bottom, so the fall can't kill you (Provided you managed to survive the fall into the fake treasure room in the first place.)


The room itself is a 21x21x6 chamber, with 8 Chiseled sandstone pillars at regular intervals, with torches on the 4 pillars, facing the middle. There are Blue and orange Wool patterns on the ground as well, which are mainly for decoration. There are 4 chests at the bases of each of the 4 pillars, with high tier loot, like enchanted books and weapons. Maybe even diamonds.

The Guardian would spawn on one of the 4 Orange Wool patterns, as soon as the player gets out of the water.

The Ruby Guardian:
The Ruby Guardian is a gigantic golden, snake-like automaton with a single, large, ruby eye and a long horn on its head.


Its body is comprised of segmented golden blocks, with various glowing lines and runes, that wiggle around while it moves. It is nearly indestructible, and can fire powerful lasers from its Eye to protect the treasures of the ancient civilization. It cannot be set on fire, nor can it be affected by Splash potions. It isn't even tricked by Potions of Invisibility.

It has 3 types of attacks, the First being a "Shot" fired from its head while standing up on the Orange Wool patches. These deal heavy projectile type damage, and create small Explosions on the ground when they hit, that launch the player a significant distance. The blasts are purely concussive, and do not destroy blocks. They can be avoided by sprinting away after the monster "Locks-on" before it fires.

The Second attack is a powerful Beam, that is fired at the player, while the Guardian leans down to about 2 blocks high to fire at level with the player's head. This does a lot of damage, but little knockback. There is about half a second before the beam is fired to allow the player to sprint out of the way.

The Third attack is automatic, touching the monster's tail or body does a small amount of damage and will knock you back a block or two.

The Battle:
It's large, glowing eye gem is its one weak point. Shooting it with a bow does a small amount of damage. Hitting it with a sword does adequate damage. Hitting it with a Pickaxe deals heavy damage.

Once the monster spawns, it will remain still for about 2 seconds, allowing the player to turn around, at least. It would then stand up tall and fire laser Shots from its head at the player's feet. While standing up it is out of reach from the player's Sword, meaning you would have to shoot it with a Bow to damage it. After it is damaged, or fires 3 shots, it would move to the one of the Blue Wool patterns on the ground, and begin firing Beams at your face. It is most vulnerable in this position, because its head is lowered enough for the player to strike the gem with a sword or pick. Hitting it with a sword does a good chunk of damage, but hitting it with a pick would do much more. However, it would also damage the pick's durability significantly.

Striking the Guardian, or allowing it to fire 3 Beams would make it move to the next Wool patch. It moves in a clockwise path from whichever patch it spawned on.

Once it gets down to 20% of its health, it becomes Enraged, and begins to fire Shots in 3-shot bursts, and its Beam in a sweeping arc, pausing only briefly after each attack and before moving.

When destroyed, it will freeze in place, the purple lines turning dark, as its body explodes, one block at a time, until it reaches its head, which will drop, then create a big explosion, dropping several levels worth of experience, several Gold Ingots, and a Desert Ruby.

Beam Towers:
You can use the Desert Ruby to craft a Beam block, and build a Beam Tower: Defensive emplacements that fire miniature versions of the Guardian's laser Shots at nearby mobs. Similar to one of my earlier ideas for Lightning Towers. While the Beacon is more of a Support block, acting as a way-point and providing AOE buffs, the Beam Tower would directly aid the player in combat, provided the combat is within the Tower's firing range. Beam Towers are crafted by creating a 3 block tower of Iron, Gold, Diamond, or Emerald blocks, and placing the Beam Block on top. The Tower can be built in any direction, as the Beam Block can be placed on walls and ceilings as well as floors, provided there are 3 Ore Blocks attached to its base. Each Block adds to the Weapon's power, range, or fire rate, giving you a bit of customization.

Iron Blocks provide no bonus, but are useful for filling in the Tower when you don't have other ore blocks.
Gold Blocks increase the range of the Tower by 1 block. (Standard is 8 blocks, maximum 11.)
Diamond Blocks reduce the fire rate of the Tower by half a second. (Standard is 1 shot every 2.5 seconds, Maximum of 1 shot every second.)
Emeralds Blocks increase the damage of the Tower by 1 heart (Standard is 3 Hearts, maximum is 6)

EDIT: You can also make the tower a block taller by putting a Redstone or Coal block at the bottom, which would change the pattern/style of the weapon, Redstone turning the Shot into a laser beam, while Coal turns it into a 3-shot spread fire pattern.

The Beam Block is crafted the same as a Beacon Block, but with the Desert Ruby in place of the Nether Star.

Whaddyathink?

Quote from GD37

All you would have to do is get a lava bucket and go like 10 feet underground mining to get one...seems too easy.

Big grief possibility, no support.

I didn't know sand spawned underground anywhere besides Deserts, Beaches, and Oceans.

And how would it be a big grief possibility?
Unless you make your house out of Sand blocks, it wouldn't really allow anyone to do anything to whatever you built.
The bombs do about as much damage as a Potion of Harming, which could easily be nerfed down a bit. To make it more balanced.
And if we use the TNT style crafting recipe, you'd still have to kill at least 5 creepers before you could use it.

Unless stacking items counts in crafting, and you'd have to put 5 Gunpowder in with the Iron ingots

An Idea I had whilst exploring the great sea.

I came across an island with an exposed Lava pit. The lava was flowing right out onto the sand, and onto the cobble it made by coming into contact with the sea.

I thought it was neat, how they made water and lava react with each other.

Then I remembered that old Bionicle Movie where Pohatu and Tahu were fighting the Rahkshi, and Pohatu whips up a sandstorm to blind the monsters, and then Tahu sets it on fire to completely encase the Rahkshi in a big chunk of glass. How badass was that, eh?

So, I thought it would be neat for Lava to be able to react with Sand to create Glass.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Or, if you wanted to take it a step further, since Lava is Molten Rock, and would likely mix in with the Sand a bit, before turning it to Glass, it would create a block of Glass Shards (Or Glass Shavings, Sandy Glass, it's a working name). It would be partially transparent on Fancy Graphics settings, like Leaves, and behave like Gravel or Sand when placed (It falls when there's nothing below it.) Glass Shards would form whenever Lava comes into contact with Sand. If a Sand Block falls into lava, or Lava flows into sand.

You could then use these Glass Shards in Crafting, to create a Shrapnel Bomb.

Shrapnel Bombs are thrown explosives, similar to regular Throwing Potions, but do not require a trip to the Nether. They would have a bit more range, about half that of a Snowball, and would explode on impact with a Mob or Surface, dealing damage with a nice explosion. It would not destroy Blocks, unlike TNT, and could damage you as well if you weren't careful.

The Recipe could be done in multiple ways.
It could be the same as TNT, but with Glass Shards in the place of Sand
Or it could be more expensive, with 1 Gunpowder in the middle, with 4 Glass Shards around it, and 4 Iron ingots in the corners.

The recipe would yield 1 Shrapnel Bomb, which would be able to stack up to 16, like Eggs or Snowballs.
They could also be fired out of Dispensers, making them more similar to actual Cannons.
Would cause 3 Hearts worth of damage on impact, and have a blast radius of 4 blocks, the damage falling off a Heart for each block, where being 4 blocks away would only cause knockback/flinching.

Whaddya think?
Too OP?
Too difficult/easy to obtain?
Too expensive?
Let's go to the phones:

Quote from Spaceboot1

Actually, that would be a fun aspect. Imagine a server where you could hide out in a crowd of testificates, like that scene from Indiana Jones? But, probably the best way to do that would be through mob disguises, which is another suggestion entirely, with many threads already on it.

And, you know, a way to hide your nametag without being the only guy crouching.

Its amazing how grievously offended people get over combining aspects from two game modes into a new game mode.

I don't think they realize that they can still play survival and creative separately even if this was implemented.

Quote from Pawnguy7 »

I don't like the idea of changing the villages - nor do I think this jail stuff is programmable. BUT, I do like the idea of bandits riding horses, which would spawn rarely in deserts and attack you.

Of course its programmable.
It would just suck.

How would you be thrown in jail?
Would you just teleport there, or be dragged in by the Iron Golem?

You can already make landmines with TNT.
Just put the TNT underneath a block with a Stone Pressure Plate on top of it.

That's the main threat of Desert Temples.

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Table of Contents:

Overview
Changes in how things work
Frequently Asked Questions
[WIP] The Cubic Chunks Mod!
Gallery
Supporting this suggestion
Special thanks

[spoiler=Tl:dr]Q: Won't this increase lag?
A: Absolutely not. The title of this suggestion and big red letters at the top of this post aren't lying. If you want to know how, then I suggest you actually read this post.

Q: Will this change terrain? Will this break existing worlds?
A: No. Terrain change is not necessary. Existing worlds can be converted fairly easily with a process described later in this post.

Q: How can sunlight or rain work with infinite vertical space?
A: I suggest you read Coping with sunlight, because it's too complex for a tl;dr.

Q: I have a different question but still don't feel like reading this post. What do I do?
A: Too bad, read the FAQ. I put way too much work into this for the entirety of it to be ignored.[/spoiler]

---

Overview:

In Minecraft, the sky is the limit - literally. It doesn't matter how many thousands of blocks a player has traveled, or what dimension they're in, or even if they're playing in creative or survival, the highest they can ever build is up to a height of 256. Why is that? If Minecraft can have a world that's infinite in the north, in the south, in the east, and in the west, why can't that world be infinite up and down too?

In Minecraft's earliest days, in Classic and Indev, the world was not infinite in any direction. This was because the entire world needed to be generated at the same time, and the entire world needed to be simulated at the same time as well. This led to a conundrum - the bigger the world, the more it lagged.
Notch didn't like this. He knew his players liked to explore and build large creations, so he found a way to make the world truly infinite. When the Minecraft '' class='bbc'>Infdev came out, it brought with it truly infinite worlds. Suddenly, players could travel hundreds of thousands of blocks in any direction, and never encounter a barrier, or become too laggy.
The Infdev update brought about a very large change to Minecraft worlds to accomplish this feat. For the first time, instead every world being just a single huge piece, they were broken up into a two-dimensional grid of pieces, called chunks. Through breaking the world up into pieces, this 'chunk system' enabled infinite worlds by letting Minecraft create new pieces and simulate them only when it needs to.

Why does that not apply to the vertical axis? Because the type of 'chunk system' Minecraft uses right now is a linear one, which, by using only a two-dimensional grid to map out chunks, means that it is impossible for chunks to stack on top of one another, and by extension, meaning that a single chunk must cover the entire vertical space. This brings back the problem that the Infdev update was supposed to eradicate, now only with chunks, instead of an entire world; the bigger a chunk is, the more laggy it is. You can't just increase the height limit and make chunks taller, because it will become laggier, and laggier, and laggier to do it.
That's why, to fix this, Minecraft must change over to a cubic chunk system. Under this system, 16³ block chunks are aligned on a three-dimensional grid, completely eliminating maximum height as an aspect of lag.

The immediate benefits:
•Minecraft worlds become as virtually infinite vertically as they are horizontally: The absolute limit being Y = ±30,000,000.
•A large FPS increase: Alpha testers report an FPS increase of 100~200%.
•Increase in running capability: Computers running Minecraft on Tiny render distance will handle only 30% the blocks they do now.

The possible features:
•Spherical render/load distance: Reduce handled blocks by up to 30% by cutting corners made of unneeded chunks.
•Server chunk occlusion/exclusion: Reduce bandwidth usage and defeat hackers by only sending data for visible chunks.
•Three-dimensional biomes: Save biome data per chunk rather than per block column, create volcanoes with magma chambers, underground rivers, tropical skylands floating over icy taigas, and more.

The disadvantages:
•Unloaded gravity-pause: Falling non-player entities and fluids will be forced to pause their fall if they reach unloaded chunks, but will resume falling when those chunks are loaded.
•Slow falling-pause: Players with slower computers and smaller render distances will have falling occasionally paused as they fall into unloaded chunks, until new chunks can be loaded.

The problems:
•Current sunlight and rain calculation methods cannot work with infinite vertical space: The solution to this is described here.
•Current BiomeDecorator cannot work with multiple vertical chunks simultaneously: The BiomeDecorator code must be altered to function correctly with this, or removed.
•Current cave generation method is executed an extra time for each vertical chunk created simultaneously, leading to lag spikes on world generation: Cave generation's method must be altered to suit this system more.
•Current grass/dirt generation algorithm forces additional chunk requests when chunks are loaded, causing chunks to load slower than they should: This algorithm must be replaced with something else.

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Changes in how things work:

Obviously, the implementation of this new chunk system will change quite a few things. These changes are mostly either necessary or in the interest of increased efficiency. Such changes are categorized and explained below.

How worlds will be stored:
[spoiler]How the current storage works, and what changes:
Interestingly enough, the current method of storage, the Anvil format, is derived from the storage method that the original Cubic Chunks mod used. The Anvil format stores individual chunk as a series of 16³ quasi-cubic chunks. These 'fake' cubic chunks allow for easier reference of specific data, but they still can't be separated from each other, meaning that it fails to reap the full benefits of this system. Even so, the change allowed Mojang to double the maximum height with no performance hit. Chunks are stored in groups of 32², inside 'MCRegion' files, for a total of 1024 chunks.
By nature, cubic chunks does away with the 'quasi-cubic' nonsense. In terms of chunk grouping, instead of using groups of 32³ chunks, new "3DRegion" files would contain groups of 16³. This means each 3DRegion file contains 4096 chunks, four times as many as MCRegion files. However, each 3DRegion contains only one fourth the amount of blocks. For per-chunk positional metadata, 3DRegion files would use the same number of bits as MCRegion files, after compression. Calculations show that the same area encompassed by a single MCRegion file would consume 64 kilobytes of extra space with 4 3DRegion files, which is nothing.

Converting existing worlds:
Most people are probably wondering something like "But won't this totally destroy all existing worlds?". Absolutely not; conversion could not be simpler. When a non-cubic world is loaded after the implementation of this system, a conversion process will begin and convert the entire world at once(To avoid making chunk loading take longer during play). First, all existing MCRegion files will be divided into quarters to create 3DRegion files. Then, all existing chunks are divided into sixteenths using the quasi-cubic properties to identify boundaries. After that, conversion is done.

The "isEmpty" flag optimization:
A 1-bit flag is added to each chunk, named "isEmpty". If the chunk consists of 100% air blocks, this bit is 1, any other case makes it 0. When the bit is 1, all data for the chunk besides the isEmpty flag is deleted and ignored, which reduces filesize. Empty chunks are never loaded, and locations where they occur are merely simulated as entities reside in them. The chunk will only load when something requires saving inside it.[/spoiler]

Changes to terrain, ores, etcetera:
[spoiler]Terrain:
By default, nothing will change. Small bits of terrain generation code need to be reconfigured to work properly with Cubic Chunks.

Biomes:
By default, nothing will change.

Ore generation:
By default, nothing will change.

Structures:
By default, nothing will change.

The Void:
After conversion to Cubic Chunks, the void and bedrock layer will still exist and generate as they always have. However, the void(Not the bedrock layer!) will not exist as a hard limit and is able to be moved, but not removed, by editing an associated NBT data tag inside a world's level.dat. This feature, that allows for increasing the maximum depth, is intentionally disabled without external programs, to prevent terrain change of any sort. It is intended to be used by experienced mapmakers and world generation mods only.

Superflat settings:
Existing superflat worlds will not change. However, new superflat worlds will gain a new decoration parameter, 'void'. Inclusion of this parameter will cause the void to form below the lowest defined layer. Exclusion of it will cause all layers below the lowest defined layer to copy the settings of that layer.[/spoiler]

Coping with sunlight:
[spoiler]There used to be a solution here, but it wasn't deemed good enough by Jeb. Suggest solutions in this thread.[/spoiler]

Changes to servers:
[spoiler]Settings:
There's a setting inside the Server.properties file called 'max-build-height'. The setting makes it impossible for any player to place or remove blocks above that height.
With the implementation of Cubic Chunks, a new setting named "maximum-generation-depth" would be added. The void, bedrock layers, and magma layers will generate normally at and above the Y level designated by the value of this setting.

Chunk occlusion/exclusion:
Using the raytracing methods already available in the code and used for explosion calculations, servers can identify which chunks are visible to a player, within safe assumptions, and only send the data for those chunks. This both reduces bandwidth usage, and cripples the usefulness of X-Ray cheats.[/spoiler]

Render/Load distance alterations:
[spoiler]After the implementation of Cubic Chunks, view distances' radii will apply to the vertical axis too. This reduces handled blocks in the cases of tiny and short render distances, and increases them in the cases of normal and far render distances. This can be optimized by utilizing a spherical render distance instead of a cubic one, which would reduce handled blocks in all distances except Far.[/spoiler]

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Frequently Asked Questions:

[spoiler=FAQ]Q: This is impossible.
A: No it's not. See below.

Q: Is this available as a mod?
A: Not yet! But it will be!

Q: I like X-ray! What if I don't want it to be broken?
A: First of all, breaking X-ray hacks will only be possible to do in multiplayer. That said, the system that would break X-ray would be possible to disable by the server owner. If the owner doesn't disable the system, then they don't want you using X-ray, and you should not be doing what the server owner doesn't want in the first place.

Q: I play on a PvP/Anarchy/Raid/Faction server. Won't this system let people pillar up into the sky and create a base thousands of blocks in the air and never be found?
A: No.

Q: I like Minecraft's current height limits. What if I don't want to have an infinite sky or infinite underground?
A: If this system is added, all worlds will not automatically gain an infinite underground. As stated below, the Void will remain in all worlds, even after the conversion to Cubic Chunks. The ability to remove the Void will simply be there. As for infinite space in the sky, the current build limit is over one hundred blocks above any terrain that vanilla Minecraft can possibly generate. It is ENTIRELY your decision on whether or not you take advantage of this height. If you play on a server, like stated above, the server owner can set a maximum build height. If s/he doesn't, then don't play on their server - you don't play on servers where the server owners allow things you don't like. Why would you play on an anarchy server if you hate being stolen from and killed?

Q: Will this affect Redstone at all?
A: No. This system will simply make it possible to make larger redstone circuitry than before.

Q: Won't this break existing worlds?
A: No. Existing worlds can be easily converted by dividing each MCRegion file into 4 pieces, then slicing the existing 256 block-high chunks inside them into 16 individual chunks.

Q: Won't this affect mods? Won't mod authors have a hard time updating their mods?
A: The answer to this question depends solely on the answer to the following two questions: Do parts of the modification code rely on chunk data/metadata? Does the mod author want to take advantage of the features of the new chunk system? If the answers to the first and second question are both "No", then updating a mod to this system should be very easy and quick. If the answer to the first question is "Yes", then those parts of the code will need to be rewritten somewhat, but in most cases, the changes should be fairly quick and easy. The only time that it should be hard to update a mod to this system, is if the answer to the second question is "Yes".

Q: Won't this require a total rewrite of the mod API if that's released first?
A: No. Whether or not even a small part of the mod API needs to be rewritten depends on the way that it is implemented and whether or not there are API inclusions for chunk handling and other chunk-related behavior.

Q: Could a player fall into unloaded chunks if chunks aren't loaded fast enough?
A: No, they could not, and for several reasons. Minecraft has a terminal velocity, though it might not seem like it. This velocity is slower than it should take to load new chunks below the player. In cases with exceptionally slow computers, even if the player did manage to reach an unloaded chunk, their fall would be paused until that chunk can be loaded.

Q: What would happen when water, sand, or a mob falls into an unloaded chunk?
A: Nothing. The water/sand/mob would freeze in place until the chunk is loaded and it can continue moving. You can already see this same thing happening on the horizontal axis.

Q: What will happen to the Void?
A: It will still exist, along with all its effects. The only difference is that the Void is no longer a hard limit and it can be moved. After the conversion to Cubic Chunks, the Void's location will be stored in a world's ' class='bbc'>level.dat, and this location can be changed with NBT editing tools. When and where the Void exists, chunks will cease to generate.

Q: Will this affect terrain?
A: No. However, terrain generators will gain the ability to use infinite height.

Q: Will this affect ore generation?
A: No. Ore is a part of terrain generation. As stated above, terrain will not be changed.

Q: Won't all current terrain generators be incompatible with this system and need to be rewritten?
A: No. Terrain generators work independently of chunks. When a chunk is generated for the first time, it calls the terrain generator and receives a specific section of the resultant terrain to save inside itself. Because of this, some custom terrain generators can generate steep terrain all the way to Y256, where you can experience a large, flat cut-off. Since there are no chunks above Y256 to call the terrain generator for terrain, no terrain exists there.

Q: What would happen if there's a huge solid ceiling so far above you that it is unloaded? Wouldn't you just see the sky, just with everything being completely dark?
A: Yes. This already happens on the horizontal axis, and it is an issue with sky rendering, not this chunk system. As such, this has nothing to do with this suggestion. Please do not post about this.

Q: If you go deep underground, will your plants grow/ores smelt/animals grow?
A: No, because those chunks would be unloaded, just as if you had walked far away. This is a flaw with any chunk system, regardless of shape. It is a necessary evil that allows Minecraft to have infinite worlds. The only way to fix this would be to introduce a separate new system that works with chunks as they are loaded and unloaded. This suggestion deals with the chunk system itself, and not sister processes. Because of that, that is outside of the scope of this suggestion. Please do not post about this.[/spoiler]

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[WIP] The Cubic Chunks Mod! (Tall Worlds Mod):

Cuchaz has taken it upon himself to bring us the glorious Cubic Chunks, since Mojang refuses to do so.

Cuchaz is using a API of his own creation to help assist in the making of this mod, and he's quite far along, as seen in these two tech demo videos:
[spoiler=T-Demo 1: Vertical chunk loading][/spoiler]
[spoiler=T-Demo 2: Broken height cap and no lag!][/spoiler]
With the basic functionality in place - a complete overhaul of the basic chunk system, and height limit removed - this whole concept can already be considered proven. What remains is making sure everything else functions correctly under the new chunk system. In any case, stay tuned for future updates if it interests you(If it doesn't, then you are the weakest link - goodbye!).

You can follow the mod's development in much more depth in its very own topic!

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Gallery:

[spoiler=A mountainside with an experimental engine using Cubic Chunks designed by Nocte. 960 block view radius, and 30 FPS.][/spoiler]
[spoiler=A different view of the mountainside with the same engine by Nocte. This time, with 1600 block view radius and 15 FPS.][/spoiler]
[spoiler="A video demonstrating Nocte's engine."]

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Support & Submission to Mojang:

If you support this, hit the rep button in the bottom-left corner of this post. It is the only good way of accurately measuring support here.

If you wish, you can put the following banner, courtesy of laz2727, into your signature. It helps to attract support from all parts of the forum!

 [url=http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/1707097-cubic-chunks-infinite-height-elimination-of-x-ray-and-more-60-supporters/page__st__0][img]http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/443/hov.png[/img][/url]

Please help us get word out of this suggestion! Share this with your friends, with Minecraft celebrities if you're familiar with them, or even with Mojangsters like Jeb or Dinnerbone! (Do not share this with Notch. Notch doesn't work with Minecraft anymore.)

The purpose of this suggestion is to have Cubic Chunks implemented in Vanilla. Being available as a modification does not fulfill that purpose. The modification featured in this suggestion is to act as a proof-of-concept only(Note: Its being featured here is to act as a proof-of-concept. The modification itself is on its way to becoming a fully fledged modification).

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Special thanks:
Cuchaz, for taking Barteks' proof and running with it, to give us a truly functional Cubic Chunks mod.
Barteks2x, for updating the Cubic Chunks mod to 1.6.2, proving that it is possible.
Azraile, for posting the original suggestion and allowing me to take ownership of it.
Nocte, for helping resolve flaws and designing Hexahedra.
MineCrak, for a large amount of valuable insight and enthusiasm into the topic of Cubic Chunks.
aaronfranke, for helping resolve flaws.
PanJouda, for creating the original banner.
Flexico, for creating the predecessor to the current banner.
laz2727, for creating the current banner.
Robinton, for creating the original Cubic Chunks mod.
The_Watchman13, for answering all those stupid questions so I don't have to.

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Note: Many calculations and information can be found among the many posts of this topic. There are too many for me to cite here, but if you wish, you can search for them yourself.

I know there is the doDaylightCycle gamerule, but please, PLEASE, read the whole suggestion, especially the comparison section of this post. Also, this thread is older than 1.6, and it was created before the doDaylightCycle gamerule was even announced.
Thank you.

No it's not some crazy machine that will stop the flow of time and that will let you do whatever you want without being noticed. It's actually a new, simple command that can be entered via chat.

The Command

So, to get started, the command is as follows:

/time stop [0-24000 | day | night]

"What does it do?"

It does... well, it obviously stops the time. BUT! Time will not completely stop! Actually, blocks affected by gravity will keep falling, water and lava will keep flowing, weather will still be able to change, chunks will keep updating, mobs will still be able to move, as well as clouds and particles. Or, in short, only the day-night cycle will stop.

You will be able to stop the time using the command, followed by a number from 0 to 24000 (or higher, but this isn't necessary), which will determine at what time of the day time will be stopped at, or the words "day" or "night".

"But, how do I resume the day-night cycle?"

Well, it's actually pretty simple. All you have to do, is entering the following command in the chat:

/time resume

And there you go! Day-night cycle is back to business!

Comparison with the doDaylightCycle gamerule

Okay, here, I will compare the two commands:

doDaylightCycle "stops" the time when entered. No specific time can be chosen directly; you must wait, or do /time set [0-24000], and then /gamerule doDaylightCycle false.

/time stop [0-24000 | day | night] "stops" time at a specific time using numbers or 'day' or 'night'. Not writing anything after 'stop' "stops" when the command is entered, like the doDaylightCycle gamerule.

But wait! There's more!

Not only can you stop the day-night cycle, but you can control its speed! Amazing isn't it? Heheh, I'm a genius.

"How? Tell me!" It's not very difficult. The command is as follows:

/time speed [1-1440 | default]

Now that you know the command, let's explain what in the world are those numbers for. The numbers determine the amount of time it takes to complete one day-night cycle, where 1 means it will take 1 minute, and where 1440 means it will take 24 hours. Entering "default" instead of a number will set back the speed of time to normal (1 day-night cycle = 20 minutes).

Notes!

These commands can be activated with the console, in the chat and using Command Blocks.
The speed of time could be modified through NBT tags, too.

That's all, Folks!
*Insert Looney Tunes ending song here*

What do you think about control over the flow of time? Is it Awesome, Cool, Kinda cool, Meh, Not cool or Pure crapiness?

Support
Want to support this idea? Say "I support" in the comments or click the in the bottom-right corner of this post. You can do both if you want.

List of Supporters (18 supporters ('+1s' included)):

"Fun" Facts

Yes, I'm aware shark suggestions have been done to death, but just hear me out.

[url="http://www.minecraftforum.net/topic/1739363-"][img]http://i.imgur.com/3CLzUCX.png[/img][/url]

If you liked this idea, check out my mod idea for Pig Villagers!
While you're at it, go check out joetheantipro's Fantastic Fish Mod Idea, which utilizes this very concept!
Also if you want to use this idea for a mod or something just post a reply or pm me first.[represent]