Controlling Minecraft is very easy and natural thing, once you know what you’re doing. It can take a bit of getting used to before you feel like you can interact, explore, and enjoy the game to it’s fullest. The overriding message here is do not panic or become too frustrated, you will find things become easier really quickly.
The Minecraft controls may not be massively intuitive when you first set out, especially if you haven’t done a lot of on-line gaming before, but they are well thought out. It’s important to keep things simple to start and focus on moving and basic interaction tasks. Once you understand the fundamentals the more advanced things no longer seem that advanced.
To make things as easy as possible we’ve broken the Minecraft controls into three simple categories. This will allow you to master all the essential elements in a few simple steps.
The three crucial areas of the Minecraft controls
In-game adjustments controls: Whilst playing Minecraft it is important that you can gain the ability to interact with the environment in the most efficient manner possible. Therefore it is crucial that you’re able to adjust the in-game options to suit your preferences and current needs within the game. Below you will find a run through of the essential in-game adjustment controls.
Interaction controls: The most fun and fulfilling parts of Minecraft are being able to interact with your environment, and you’ll be doing this A LOT. This allows you to dig around under the worlds crust to find yourself items and treasures, it allows you to kill trap your foes, and it allows you to build houses and buildings to your hearts content. So we’ll also take a look at some of the essential
Movement controls: You will also need to move around your environment and travels underground to explore the world below. It is also essential that you are able jump and run as nimbly as you possibly can. This will be essential for fleeing and dodging creepers as well as just be able to play the game. The controls are pretty standard and you will find them below as well.
In-game adjustments controls:
Pause single player and regain cursor control: Esc
Switch camera angle from 1st to 3rd person: F5
Cinematic movement option: F8
Enter full screen view: F11
Enter the chat menu: /
Chat in multiplayer: T
Show list of players in multiplayer: Tab
Interaction controls:
Attack, select objects (like doors), and destroy blocks: Mouse left-click
Use items & interact with objects (like doors, bows, blocks, food): Mouse right-click
Select item form the quick bar: Mouse wheel
Access the inventory: E
Scroll the quick-bar: Mouse wheel
Select an item from the quick-bar: 1-9
Drop an item from the quick bar: Q
Movement controls:
Turn, aim, and adjust the camera: Mouse
Move forward: W
Move back: S
Move left: A
Move right: D
Jump (or fly in survival mode): Spacebar
Sneak (or lower when flying in survival mode): Left shift
Getting used to the Minecraft controls
As we discussed at the beginning getting used to the controls can be a little tricky and the key is to be patience and take your time. However there are a few principles you can use to make things a little easier on yourself.
1. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself within the game. Start off in survival mode and just run around and chop down some trees. This will allow you to have fun doing a bit of exploring and orientate you to some of the basic controls.
2. Have a print out of the keys next to you. If you do this you will create yourself a quick reference guide that you can use whilst you are playing. It will help to prevent you from getting frustrated and having to keep looking up the basic controls every few minutes.
3. Play with a friend. This can be really great regardless of how good they are. If you play with someone who has a lot of experience then they can coach through it what to do and how to do it. If you play with someone else who is just starting out it can be even more exciting as you’ll be both be working out how to do things and can share it with one another.
4. Manage your expectations. It’s important that in the beginning you just focus on getting used to the basic controls so don’t have expectations that you’ll be building huge diamond fronted palaces or creating Creeper death fields. Just run around and enjoy not doing very much, to begin with.
5. Start playing it. This one seems obvious but the more you play it the quicker you’ll get the hang of it. Also once you have little in-game goals like mining for ore below the surface level you’ll pick little things up as and when you need them.
Important notes on the Minecraft controls
Obviously there may be some differences in controls depending on how your system is set-up. For example Macs will often need some configuration in order to play the exact lay-out above. You can either adjust the configuration to that of the above layout or can play with an alternative layout of your choice. Similarly if you have an adaptive or gaming keyboard you may have the option of heavily customizing the Minecraft controls to suit your own preferences.
The key is to keep your controls set-up in a very simple and easy to use fashion. This will allow you to get the most out of the game and enjoy it, rather than being distracted by trying to remember which button does what.
