Source: https://www.deviantart.com/zombiemastert-rav/art/Minecraft-Hardcore-Logo-673698867

I feel like we have all had that urge to begin our very own endless hardcore Minecraft world, but we don’t know where to start. In this How-To guide, I will explain the best early-game strategies for staying safe and prioritising what is necessary for survival.

How to survive your first few nights

On your first night in Hardcore Survival, your only priority should be to create a safe shelter for yourself. Make sure to avoid any high-risk areas, such as large caves or ravines, as there’s a possibility of mob attacks. You can either build this shelter out of dirt or, if you were lucky to spawn in a forest, a few bits of wood, or dig a hole into the ground and wait out the night. The reason why you must make this your number one priority is that the first night is by far the easiest to die during, as you have literally nothing to defend yourself with.

Once the sun has begun rising, you should instantly get out of your shelter and start collecting resources where possible. Wood is the most important material you want to collect, as you require it to craft any tools that are essential to your fast progression. Once you have acquired your first set of tools, you want to travel around your starting area and see if you can notice a village anywhere within the vicinity. Villages are a key staple to the beginning of Hardcore worlds, as they are arguably the safest place to start. They can also spawn with Blacksmith buildings, which have the chance to provide valuable minerals such as Iron, Gold, or Diamonds.

Modpack used for screenshots: Fabulously Optimized Shader pack used: Bliss Shaders Resource pack used: Faithful 64x

Prioritising Defense

Arguably, the most important piece of equipment you can craft in a Hardcore world is a shield. The shield allows you to block creeper explosions, deflect arrows from Skeletons, and overall serves as the best method of defense in the early game. A shield can be crafted from just 1 Iron Ingot & 6 Wooden Planks.

You should also make sure to craft the best armour set you can afford, as well as the best weapon you can afford, as soon as possible. With a good armour & tools set, you are already on your way to being unstoppable in your Hardcore world. Alternatively, you can have villagers to trade with for better tools & armour pieces. The Armourer villager starts by selling Chainmail & Iron armour at lower levels, but then progresses to being able to sell enchanted Diamond armour. The same goes for the Toolsmith & Weaponsmith villagers, being able to offer Diamond tools & weapons at higher levels.

Trading with the villagers for enchanted diamond tools & armours takes away from the risk of having to go and manually farm experience points. This is a great help for progressing quickly whilst keeping yourself as safe as possible, whilst you’re still gearing up.

Farms

Resource pack used: Faithful 64x

Beginning your journey in a village is also key to being able to set up one of the most useful farms in the whole game, an automatic Iron farm. These farms utilise villagers and zombies, causing the villagers to become scared of zombies being nearby, and an iron golem will spawn. Iron is one of the most necessary resources throughout any Minecraft playthrough, so being able to have a farm to collect an infinite amount of it is a serious game-changer.

You should also prioritise an infinite food farm, whether that be a simple Cow farm where you breed & kill them for their Steak, or a Carrot farm you eventually use for Golden Carrots. Golden Carrots are widely known in the Hardcore community as the best food source because they provide the highest saturation.

As your world progresses, things will become more dangerous, which is where I recommend you start carrying Totems of Undying. To collect Totems, you can build a Raid farm. This utilises the Raid mechanic, where pillagers & other mobs will storm a village. Raid farms are key to farming as many Totems as possible, thus preventing death in almost every way possible when carrying them in your off-hand.

Creeper farms are also extremely useful to your Hardcore world. They provide all of the Gunpowder you will need for crafting Firework Rockets, to be able to move around freely with an Elytra. We have an article on some of the best vanilla mob farms in Minecraft, which I’d definitely recommend checking out for details & tutorials on building some of the farms I’ve mentioned.

The City at the End of the Game

Modpack used for screenshots: Fabulously Optimized Shader pack used: Bliss Shaders Resource pack used: Faithful 64x

Anybody who has previously played through a survival Minecraft world should know this advancement. This advancement is ultimately the end goal for a lot of players, as this is when you have officially entered an End city. The reason this is such a big deal is that these End cities are where you can find an Elytra. The Elytra is arguably the best addition they have ever added to vanilla Minecraft, as it allows free movement across the map.

For Hardcore specifically, the Elytra allows you to escape some of the trickiest and most dangerous situations. This makes it essential in later-game worlds, as it can be the difference between life and death. Death is the end of your world for good when it comes to Hardcore. I would recommend to anybody who is planning to search the End for a city, and then a ship to take both Mending & Unbreaking enchanted books and an Anvil with them. This is to later apply to your Elytra once you acquire it, allowing free movement without worries of it breaking quickly.

Once you have reached an End city, you want to look for the floating ship in the air, as this is where the Elytra is located. Once you have reached the ship, you can collect your Elytra from an item frame placed on the wall in the belly of the ship. As previously mentioned, if you brought the enchanted books with you, make sure to apply them as soon as possible. Now you can feel free to loot the chests within the End city, as they have high-tier loot, with some having enchanted Diamond armour & tools.

Once you have decided you are finished with looting in the End, you should search for one of the gateway portals to leave. You can then return to the Overworld through the main End portal and continue your world freely.

I hope this How-To has provided you with the necessary information to feel comfortable enough to start your own Hardcore world. If it has, you should definitely check out our server hosting, where you can get started for just 10$ USD a month! We also have a handy setup guide for first-time users if you are struggling to get started with the server.