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First off, credit for creating this challenge goes to Cthulhu725! He thought it up, created the concept, but didn't have time to respond to the overwhelming popularity the challenge recieved. Since then, we've collectively clarified and added new rules, collected artwork and stories, and seen interest for it rise quite greatly. So much so, that rules and their descriptions were eventually spread out over a great number of pages, and we thought it better to make a new topic, and collect everything in a new post.



Not all trees have a spirit to watch over them, many die to old age, drought or flood, disease or flames, and many other (un)natural causes. But some trees, do have a guardian spirit, they are blessed by your presence. You shall make it grow and prosper, spread your roots far and wide, eventually shadow over all the other trees and become a monument in itself.

In this challenge you take on the role of a trees very essence. You will become a dryad, a tree spirit, a tree's soul, the God in the tree. It has many names, but common to them all is this: They can never leave the tree, and if one of them dies, so does the other. And just as a tree's reach is limited by the height of it's branches and it's length of it's roots, so is a tree spirit limited. You will become an extension of the tree, just as it becomes an extension of you. The spirit will direct the growth of the tree, digging roots to valuable minerals and precious water, branching out to bask in the sun.

But remember, you are not alone in this world, the tree spirit can never rest. It must protect it's tree from all things. The darkness brings nests of spiders, the extremely dangerous Creepers, maybe even other tree spirits - everything is a potential threat. Even when they are gone, a single spark of flame can reduce a spirit to ash, and sometimes even the sky itself will try to erase your very existence.

How will you survive?



The first core aspect in this challenge as you might have guessed by now, is to grow a world tree.
It all begins when you join a new world, there's no need to pick a specific seed for your map. The first thing you do, is to find and pick a single tree to become the blessed grandfather tree. It can be any kind of tree you like, of any size and shape, on any location. When you find one you want to bless, chop down the tree, and gather all saplings and logs that drop, but you must leave the bottom log of the tree standing. This bottom log becomes the heart and life of your world tree - if it is destroyed, be that by creepers exploding or fire, the challenge is lost, and the tree will die.

When you have done this, hop up on your tree heart, and begin the challenge proper! From now on, you cannot leave your tree any longer, you are now linked to it. You can only mine or harvest anything you can reach while touching a log. With the saplings and logs you harvested from your grandfather-tree, you will be able to plant and grow new trees, offspring of your first, which you again can harvest completely. Then you repeat this process over and over again, while you try to grow your tree into a big, awe-inspiring creation!

The second core challenge aspect, lies in using no resources but those you can reach while touching part of your tree, be that a log or a leaf directly connected to your tree, through a series of other logs. Let's illustrate an example with pictures:

The right tree, is your world tree, and you want to pick up that flower. However, the tree spirit cannot leave it's tree, and the flower is too far away to reach! How can we pick up the flower? The answer is roots! The tree spirit can direct the growth of the world trees roots to where they need to go, simply by placing logs grown from the sapling offspring of the original tree. So to reach that flower, the tree spirit would make a path of logs, symbolizing the growth of roots, for example like this:


By using this simple concept, the tree spirit can reach anything! It can grow roots to water, expanding to encompass a greater area, or even dig deep down into the core of the earth to find precious materials like coal, iron, or even diamonds. Remember though, the roots must be directly connected through a string of logs to your tree heart.Placing a log for every second block and jumping from log to log does not leave you with a direct link, and is not allowed.

These two aspects form the core rules in the challenge, and open for a surprisingly interesting and refreshing play-style, where absolutely everything you find becomes extra precious.

The third core aspect, while not a rule in itself so to speak, rather more of a suggestion is; whatever way you decide to attack this challenge, do it in a way YOU find fun! If you think a specific rule is too frustrating, or don't like the idea of something, play it differently! Make up your own limitations. Yours is the drill that will pierce the heavens after all, and you won't pierce the heavens if you're not having fun.



1: Begin the challenge in a new world, using any seed you like. Alternatively if you want to play in your main world, drop everything you have in a chest and run far into the wilderness without picking up anything.

2: Pick a single tree of any type, in any area, and harvest all saplings and logs from it except the bottom Log, which will become your Heart-log. (If you're extremely unlucky and the tree drops no saplings at all, just punch leaves on other nearby trees until you get one, or simply dump your logs and pick a new tree.) When you have done this, jump onto the Heart-log to begin the challenge proper! From now on;

3: You cannot move away from your tree. You cannot dig or mine blocks or items unless you are standing on, or directly next to either a log or leaves directly connected to your Heart-log through other logs. Pretend that you at all times need to be able to reach out an arm and touch a log or a leaf belonging to your tree, whether the log is above, under, or beside you. This includes killing animals too, you can't run off your tree to go hunting! You can however leave the log a few seconds to pick up the fallen blocks, but only to collect the items, not to mine or travel further away. And since it's a common question: Jumping is allowed!

4: You can chop other trees down, but you cannot use wood from a tree that is not the offspring of the first saplings you harvested. If you must chop down other trees, throw it's logs and saplings away, or turn the logs into planks, sticks or charcoal, or any other otherwise "dead" material. A tree cannot grow by absorbing other trees after all. It can only conquer them!

5: You can use and build with any other "dead" materials for decorations etc, like fences, wool, cobblestone, iron tools, etc as long as you have obtained it according to the rules above. Remember though, you're growing a tree, not building a castle. How would a tree create a wall, for example? Try to think of something creative and different!

6: Play at least on Easy or Normal difficulty. Peaceful not only removes a large aspect of the challenge, but it also removes your only source of an important resource: Bone Meal!

7: Replacing the Heart-log with a more distinguishable block for aesthetic reasons is fine - as long as you replace it with a fragile block like wool, glass, or the most popular Glowstone. Don't replace it with indestructibles like Obsidian, however. You want to keep it as a fragile, easily destroyed block to retain the feeling of needing to protect it from the elements. It is after all your heart!




1: "Hardcore mode" - If you die even just one single time, the challenge is lost, and you must start over again. You should try to aim for this challenge when you begin even if it's optional, try to survive as long as possible! Discover your fear of the dark all over again.

2:Build a working fireplace inside your tree! It's not easy, it's incredibly risky, but it is possible! This Topic has a lot of useful information about how fires spread, as well as some other Tree Spirit related tips for fire prevention. It will help you out.

3: Reach the Nether! Grow roots "through" the portal by placing roots at both sides of it, and expand your tree into the furnace of hell itself. But be careful, you don't want to get stuck on the wrong end of a burning root!




The first week can be very hard to survive even on easy, but don't give up! Even if your tree is blown up and you end up showered with arrows, which you almost certainly will at least once, don't let that stop you. That tree was probably old and weak anyway, so go find a new one to bless!

The first night, dirt is your most easily accessible means of construction, as you're unlikely to get enough logs to be able to build a shelter. A small dirt hut is a great way to keep both you and your heart-log safe when night falls. And make no mistake, as soon as night falls, you will need to hide! Keep a small hole open so you see when dawn comes, but be ready to plug it if skeletons spot you. When the sun rises, wait a while before you exit your hut. Creepers don't burn in sunlight, and they might be near enough to attack you when you go out. Give most of them the time to despawn!

The sun is your best friend! Avoid going out at night whenever possible. It will burn zombies and skeletons, and you can use this to your advantage. Try to lure them to you at night without pulling creepers along with them, and block them out from your shelter. They will roam around the walls outside and eventually die in the sunshine, leaving precious resources behind. Feathers for arrows and bones for bone meals are both incredibly useful. You can also leave a 1x1 hole in the roof of your hut open, and safely kill spiders through it. The strings they drop are needed for your bow, but if you're very unlucky with sheep it can also be used to make wool for your bed!

Try to build a wheat-farm as soon as possible, and remember to make sure friendly mobs won't trample the crops. It is your most reliable and easily accessible source of food for healing, as both pork and fish requires cooking first, and coal (and charcoal) are limited resources. Build it near water if you can, and if not, find iron for a bucket so you can irrigate it. The wheat will grow much faster!

You might discover new ways to use wood. Fences make good windows in place of glass, for example! Try to think of other clever uses, and post your ideas!

Be very wary of any kind of fire. When you're digging deep tunnels, expect and prepare for lava before you find it. Always bring a bucket of water with you, and consider making "water-locks" along your roots, where water will automatically flood a root-fire. A tunnel might be safe when you place it, but if lava is close enough it might catch fire later, even from through stone walls where you can't even see it.

A fishing rod is a surprisingly powerful tool. Not because you can use it to fish with, although that's certainly a good bonus too, but because you can use it to pull mobs you can't reach to you! Sheep, cows and pigs have a terrible habit of spawning just out of reach, but a quick pull with the fishing rod can haul them in range of your roots. The same goes for skeletons as well, when you're feeling brave enough to tackle them for their bones.