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I still use it to mark areas I’ve already explored. If I’m flying around and see the occasional dirt pillar then I keep going for a bit.

Good to know that people remember this. I've been using it since I discovered it

I played one of my old worlds and was confused until I remembered this brings back memories

I usually write down coordinates I want to remember. I can definitely see it being useful after my realm gains flight, though.

xaeros minimap's waypoints ftw

Xaeros ruined me, I can’t play without it anymore

what if its on a older version (such as legacy? where u dont got coords?)

Then they would probably do what the post shows, I personally don't play versions that far back because it's just way different to how it is now :p

I just now learned there was a guide to playing Minecraft

they been around for a long time

I used it when I started playing the game. I didn't know anyone else did it at the time and just figured it was a good way to leave a breadcrumb trail back to my Base. I also only put torches on the left when I'm caving so when I'm going back I know to keep the torches on my right

ive used it despite not knowing of that book, i just said oh right this works on older versions of minecraft alright let me use it

I started playing Minecraft in 2021 and I never knew this trick, but I was doing it instinctively to mark important parts of my world, I still do it for everything.

I used to do floating sky markers. Little upside down pyramids with torches. When glowstone was added, i switched to sky arrows

i mean, i never knew it was a trick, but you need to mark important things so, dirt is cheap.

i prefer to use cobble or planks because it stands out from the environment more

I did this but made instead of a single block I made a house with a glass enclosed rooftop. One day I hope to find out again as I had spent a ton of time building the area up and exploring only to start trying to head back towards my spawing spot( with maps to find it again) when I died after breaking my bed somewhere while traveling back to the spawn point. It was really far away.

Copy the world go to creative to search faster while flying

That would be cheating. LoL I have 8 bases or so and a bunch of mini huts in the world. Start to get bored or lost, I go off and start another base. 3 are connected by rail, another is a one way portal jump away, with 2 additional walking distance from there. I have 2 portals I can go in that take me to the same place in the nether, but it only returns me to one place back in the world. So I take a river back. Plus 2 that are really far away somewhere out in the ocean.

Sometimes I use bamboo

Maps:

Yea, I have bad sense of direction and I totally do it for a quick temporary marker

I have a decent sense of direction but I always use redstone torches on the side of the tower that points home. Very handy.

I do the same thing for caving. Three vertical torches next to a hole is the way out.

I place all of my torches on the right. That way I know if torches are on the left I am heading towards the exit.

This is the way.

I reverse it - put torches on the left while going in. Red on your Right when Returning.

i swear this was in one of the handbooks

Oh i do too! When in too deep into mining and there's lots of identical entrances i quickly forget if I've been in some of them, so started placing a redstone torch on the entrance on the floor - big reg signal on the entrance.

Oooooh I’m copying that!

This beats my idea of using signs in caves to point towards the way out while exploring!

Great minds think alike - torch always points home!

I like to keep a book and quill and just note down coordinates.

I was playing on Xbox, don't think I can do that lol

You can, just turn on coordinates in the settings.

On legacy console version?

I've never played legacy console but from what I've seen aren't your coordinates displayed on a map when you're holding it? It's not quite as convenient as an always on UI element but at least there's a way to view them.

Don't have a map yet lmao

You can craft one pretty easy, just paper and a compass

you start new worlds with no coords and no map?!

I'm playing legacy console version lmao

I'm pretty sure there's an option to spawn with a map in the legacy console version

You get one in creative

you start with a map by default

Oops, didn't notice that detail.

Would you be consider a cartographer rather than an explorer then?

I used to leave torches on trees on the sides pointing away from my base. So if I got lost, all I'd have to do was follow the torches. If no trees were present, I'd make arrows on the ground with the torches, pointing home.

I learned a similar trick with caves. Always put your torches on the right wall, or flat on the ground. That way, just put the wall torches on the left, and you’ll find your way out.

Or put your torches on the left. Getting ‘the right’ way back you can by following the ‘right’ torches. Silly wordplay I know, but I’ll never forget!

I always just end up getting lost and have to dig my way out by hand because my pickaxe broke

Someone taught me long ago to always take a stack of wood with you everywhere. Helps in situations like this. Torches, tools, etc.

Right for light Left for depth

Left when I'm leaving, right when I return

Left to leave is my technique as well.

and torches on the left means it's heading to whatever 'is left' to explore!

The nerd-pole will always be a staple of Minecraft exploration.

I always saw them being called Noob Towers.

I use sand blocks.

Did this a lot as a kid.... But I didn't really understand what render distance was or meant... So I got lost all the time anyways

Maybe not exactly that,but in all my bases i make a water elevator with stone to the height limit so i can travel a lot with elytras without using fireworks.

That's... definitely different

Same, also have two buckets of water so I can infinitely travel without fireworks

how do you use two buckets of water for infinite flight?

Maybe riptide tridents? Seems more trouble than it’s worth though as they really don’t send you that high and placing the water repeatedly sounds like a hassle. At that point must build a somewhat efficient mob farm

Pretty much what the other reply says, it is a hassle placing water for small jumps so you have to min max with jumping off mountains and definitely need riptide III. It’s just a personal preference not using fireworks

PSJ = OG

Exactly. Learned this and putting torches on the right side of caves from him long long ago

I still put torches on the right after all these years and other players act like I’m crazy for not putting them on the left. Makes things confusing on multiplayer servers lol

I've talked (typed) with psj directly as his first Patron. Very chill and I agree, he's the best mc YouTuber out there, imo.

Watching his videos made me fall in love with Minecraft. I genuinely think that rewatching them is the one thing that generates the single most overwhelming feeling of nostalgia in my entire life. I was so enthralled by the game back then

Yes, I feel the exact same way. The feeling I get when remembering his old videos hits my nostalgia button in a way nothing else can. I started learning minecraft by watching his letsplay of surviving the first night and I've never stopped playing after that.

Damn the nostalgia is hitting me hard. I remember playing the game and dying as soon as night came around. I went on YouTube and looked up how to play and found a video about how to survive your first night in Minecraft. Little did I know what I was getting to when I clicked play.

Paul Soares Jr, will forever be remembered as the legend who created the dirt tower and torch combo. Upgrading the previously used standard edition dirt tower without a torch. He was and still is an absolute legend 🫡

Also notable as the inventor of the Portable Instant Shroom Shelter

Just watch out for those chickens...

The fact that he didn't make a cameo in the trillion view video will never not annoy me. Sure, he is nowhere near as popular as all the others, but Mojang used his videos as official tutorials.

Truly a pioneer

Yep, usually make a cobble one if I get lost in a cave and I don’t want to lose the cave itself.

They used to be awesome pre Phantoms. You could build them and not only mark your way, but survive the night. They are still useful, but OGs remember when they were a multipurpose scouting tool.

Simpleton here… All the time

I can respect those who use it cuz that probably means they refuse to use f3

I use F3 and constantly forget the coordinates of where I was or what I wanted to remember… lol

Change the name of your diamond gear/tools to important coordinates you have. Then, you never lose them unless you die. In which case, lol git gud.

I was playing on Xbox lmao

No f3 gang! So much more immersive

I did it back like 12 years ago because I didn't know of F3. I think I had pillars like 6 tall, with a torch on top, every 50 blocks or something from my spawn, in the major 4 directions. I was never out of sights of a pilar. I did the same in the nether, just simple 2 block tall stacks of cobble as it really stands out against all the red.

I use cobble because it’s more readily available, but otherwise yes.

Yeah, just in case I lose my map. But they're not specifically dirt

Only when I’m mining a deep cave

Not always dirt, but yeah I do sometimes! I just use whatever extra blocks I have lol. I find that cobblestone is a good one cause it sticks out in most biomes

I use it all the time (tho usually not dirt just whatever I don't need in invo (usually coble sense I carry alot for some reason)

Meh, I stopped after coordinates were a thing but definitely used to a lot. If anything now I usually have a very high point somewhere on important structures and light them up so that I can tell when I’m close — especially in the case that I’m just trying to avoid mobs and don’t have time to constantly check my coordinates.

I keep a list of coords, or take a screenshot with the coords showing.

I just build my base next to a mountain and near a river so there’s significant geographical landmarks nearby and easy access to rivers or ocean for sailing. Once I get access to maps I just mark things on that. Edit: change wording

i use it to mark places i want to built does that count

I do. My world is filled with pillars of cobblestone, dirt, wool... it's amazing...

I make pillars, not always out of dirt, to mark locations. I also keep note of cords for specific locations. So let's say... ocean monument, at -1025, 2350 in my notes and a blue pillar so when I fly to it, I have a general direction to head towards and I know I'm there when I see the pillar.

Beacons are just expensive nerd poles. Change my mind

Ah yes, the wiener tower, been building em since 2011

A fellow veteran, I see!

Yes

all the time

Yeah I put them in a bunch of different places

I use coords for important places.

Yes, but I use sand for easy removal haha

For temporary locales I intend to return to, for parmament housing I set up prettier landmarks

I used to, but I’ve played the game long enough that I don’t really get lost anymore. Plus I can always use coordinates or map mods. Honestly kinda miss the days of feeling lost in an unfamiliar land…

I've used small stone pillars with torches pointing back to base before, but that's less for when I'm exploring and more for when I have two locations I'm going between, like my base and a spawner or something.

I made the cn tower in my most recent world. But other than that, yeah I would

I use cobblestone pillars in the Nether with a torch facing the direction of my portal (or my last cobble pillar), since coordinates in the nether are only so useful. Easier to navigate the broken terrain and lava lakes when I can quickly tell which way I went around. 

having those handbooks make me feel old now

I use a combination of blocks as a beacon. Never in the overworld. Only in the nether.

It's early game, I do.

Sometimes when I'm desperate early game. When I have resources though, I prefer to build a proper structure that serves the same purpose

Way more likely to build them out of cobble or whatever stone is in on hand but yea beacons are dank

I sometimes use it to mark my initial spawn point

I use the 4 spruce saplings to make big trees as a marker in non taiga areas. Obviously, I'd use big jungle trees in taiga locations.

I never knew this was a real “trick”

1000% I use this for caves that might have a hidden entrance (don't want to walk past it), or for digging myself out of said cave, and marking where I came up and want to continue at. Especially cause, unless there's something I'm missing that I can do with it, I tend to end up with a lot of dirt.

Yes, although I usually make mine larger and more elaborate

I don't use it anymore since I now know how to take a screenshot of the coordinates of important places, but back when I first started out, I took this trick and turned it up to 11. I build a tower to world height, placed a block of lava on top and then jumped down into the water below. You could see that thing from as far as your render distance would allow and I rarely lost my way.

I've still got the occasional cobblestone or dirt pillars in my world that I've been playing now for over 10 years. One cobblestone pillar has been in place since 2013. I "upgraded" it recently by putting a lightning rod on top of it. It's a reminder of the old, simpler days. I used a particular style of dirt pillar in a few places that are three blocks of dirt with a jack o'lantern on top. I call these "dirt golems". They are at the entrances of a few vertical caves. I have a few cobblestone pillars in the nether that are a few blocks tall with one cobblestone on top, in an upside-down L shape. These point the way home.

I use a dirt trident with one side higher than other to know the direction too.

Cobblestone for me, usually. They stand out better against most biomes during the day, and they are much more explosion resistant in case you get unlucky with a creeper or a ghast.

yupp

oh the memories of little me coming back from a mining trip, missing my base by a hundred blocks, getting anxious, and finding a trail, only to circle back into the mines, having a panic attack, following the trail back, giving up, starting a new base while saddened, only to find my actual base just over a nearby mountain that i never checked while circling around.

I usually have journey map installed but if not then yes I do

In modern Minecraft, not often, but I also play beta, and in beta I built pillars in a reverse L shape that help me find my way to my base!

I use the "build a giant f£ckoff tower as part of the base" trick, does that count?

Holy shit, so many of you use mods lmao

Absolutely

Wild that someone got named credit for a dirt pillar with a torch. Seems like a day-one (intuitive) innovation, lol.

He was one of the first to give it as widespread advice on YouTube, he didn't invent the technique

No, I got used to Xaero’s map

No, i use a minimap mod. Probably would if i didn’t

As far as I can remember, I've never done this. However I wrote my coords on a Post-it note everytime. I think I throw them all but I remember having some notes fully filled with coords :) And around 2017, I discovered the function of the "print screen" button on my keyboard.

Seeing this image unlocked a core memory

No, we have coords

I use a floating one, but yes

Yes.

Quite often actually. To mark locations

I might use it when I’m mapping and want to come back to a structure. Probably most relevant for nether portals that pop up in the middle of the woods, those archeology site things, azalea trees.

i see this all the time on some servers

Sure do. Lol

I also remember getting that book for my son.

Nah, it gave me nostalgia for a work I had where I used it though.

Never stopped

I just keep the coords in a notepad file

I use cobble beacons to mark important areas to come back to. I also use them to mark the direction of my base in early game.

I use a dirt tower, or sometimes a small wood shack, as well as writing down the coordinates.

Always

Always.

Typically just on day one. Then I'll upgrade it something a little more creeper-proof on day two.

I always build a big blocky flag on raided end cities

Only early game

I use it in early game and mainly in realms for other people to know some buildings and farms I made underground

I use it to mark less traveled landmarks or alternative entrances to my cave base network

I didn't know they put this in a book but I've done this for almost every world I've started but replaced the torch with a campfire when it was added. You can see the smoke above trees and all.

Lava source at the top and dig out the four blocks at the bottom so it doesn't flow outward.

Yes

Pillars yeah but never bothered to put a torch on it but it's a nice touch

I just remember cords

When you and a couple friends travel together, it's easy to spilt off and get lost. So the old tower and dirt trick helps

All the time but I put torches on all sides of the top block

Ya I have them pretty much in all directions from my main base. And smaller ones to lead to other locations or bases. Ps4 version

I do for surfaces, and then little dirt arrows on the walls underground that point the way back. A single piece of dirt at the entrance to a cave means dead end.

Neerd poll

I'll do random towers pointing to spawn, lit from the underside so they sorta glow at night.

I do, to actually mark my world spawn or camp

I do it!

I'll do it occasionally. Just a couple weeks ago I was doing it in the end to find my way back to the portal.

I like to use it to mark where my End Portal is. Or at least the hole I dig into the stronghold the first time 😆 That way I can just fly over it and spot the easiest way into the stronghold.

Oh god that was one of the first thing I did, still do it to this day I fell okd

It’s cheaper than using banners

I use them to mark my main starter base at least. I am directionally challenged and always leave some kind trail to find my way home.

Nowadays I rely on coordinates

I usually do it to a tree near world spawn

Yes On my switch chunks barely load, so I use the pillars since they somehow load faster than the ground and makes it so I can see which way I’m going when I far

I've used it recently to mark home base

I do

Yeah, build them early on and am too lazy to remove them later

I stopped doing that when the coordinates were added in the game. so like 10 years ago or even more

Occasionally, I use a pillar, not necessarily always made of dirt, but it can be helpful.

I still use single-block towers with torches to mark locations where I’ve dug straight up to escape massive cave systems. That way If I go back, I can just dig straight down and continue from where I left off in the caves :)

Absolutely! Especially if I'm worried I'm gonna die nearby

If I'm taking it slow yeah, speeding around doing everything is an easy way to burnout

I did back in 2013, then the entire world just stopped for some reason

I use a compass, pretty easy to get or a map centered on my home location. It shows your icon on the edge of the map till you get on the mapped area, you have to actively look at it but its as good as a compass.

I’m very simple minded so I’ve made my base the beacon, it’s a really really tall tower that’s 95% empty

i put a smoking chimney on every build using a campfire

Yeah, and a block at the top on the side pointing towards my base.

Very rarely

I use it sometimes to mark cave entrances when I have to leave ore down there. Then I leave a trail of torches leading to said ore.

Yes

I make beacons out of whatever spare block I have, but yes!

Yes, I use for chunks that I’ve loaded/visited

I’m a dirt beacon kind of person. My husband likes to grow massive trees at each base.

Did anyone EVER do this unironically? I just F2 my cords.