Line #2 Headscratchers/Minecraft


1	!!Avoid using Administrivia/FirstPersonWriting in this page, please. This is a wiki page, not a forum.
2
3	[[foldercontrol]]
4
5	[[folder: A Ghastly Mystery]]
6	* According to the [[https://minecraft.wiki/w/Wither wiki]], Withers do not attack other undead mobs. And non-undead Ghasts. Why don't they attack Ghasts?
7	--> [[https://minecraft.wiki/w/Ghast#Wither Wiki]]: Ghasts are the only non-undead mobs that the wither will not attack
8	** Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Ghasts are sort of intangible.
9	** Because they're not hostile to each other. They only attack you, likely because you're an outsider.
10	[[/folder]]
11
12	[[folder: Fire That "Sticks" Around]]
13	* So throwing a piece of coal into a fire gives you roughly 8 seconds of fire a piece. How, then, does throwing a piece of coal on a stick allow you to make a permanent fire?
14	** [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality Because it'd be beyond annoying if they kept going out, exposing you to monsters and making it impossible to keep track of where you've been.]] [[WhatCouldHaveBeen There actually were plans to make torches temporary and require you to craft "Lanterns" for a permanent light]], but the fan reaction was against it. (Lanterns have since made it into Minecraft, but their only advantage over torches is that they are a bit brighter and more aesthetically pleasing.)
15	[[/folder]]
16
17	[[folder: Swindling Villagers]]
18	* Why are the villagers such swindling bastards? Buying four diamonds for ONE emerald and selling you an iron sword for 7?
19	** The prices appear to fluctuate wildly based on whether the RNG hates you a lot or just a little.
20	** This can play to one's advantage as they also buy crops for Emeralds as well. So instead of having to search the landscape for diamonds and ores, one can easily get armor premade by just farming crops.
21	** Maybe they don't understand the meaning of "Value"? They might just find emeralds pretty, yet not realize they are rare. Then they try to get them by offering you some junk they found.
22	[[/folder]]
23
24	[[folder: Why Redstone? Why Not Copper?]]
25	* Redstone performs the same function as copper wire, and copper ore is something you'd really find underground. So why use a fictional substance for electrical stuff instead of copper?
26	** Redstone may be an alloy of copper and other conductive materials. Possibly Silicon or Cadmium.
27	** Making electrical circuits out of copper wire would take away from the medieval fantasy theme it already has going.
28	** Plus, Redstone works more similarly to binary than electricity. To the extent that you can make logic gates.
29	** This way, the developers don't have to implement how electricity actually works, and make their own system.
30	** Simple answer: They don't have to, as long as modders keep making mods to implement something, the devs won't bother, why should they sacrifice man hours coding, when some guy will, inevitably, do the work for them, for free?
31	** Addressed as of the 1.17 update, Caves and Cliffs; it will add copper, and people will use it for Redstone, among other things.
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder: Why Do Ghasts Aim at the Camera?]]
35	* Why are Ghasts programmed to aim at the camera, anyway? It just makes it so that they can't hit you if you're in third-person mode.
36	** Just a programming shortcut. Third-person viewing was intended to be dev only but people figured out how to use it so Mojang changed it.
37	** Fixed long ago.
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder: Stuff That Explodes is Interchangeable?]]
41	* Gunpowder and trinitrotoluene are completely different substances, so why is A used to make B? If anything, gunpowder should be used to make more conventional "bombs", and TNT should be made of itself.
42	** Regional differences. What would a US speaker usually call an explosive? In other English languages, it is referred to as "Dynamite".
43	** RuleOfCool
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder: Herobrine Exists?!]]
47	* The list of features in update 1.6 lists "Removed [[EldritchAbomination Herobrine]]". So... he was [[OhCrap in the game]] [[FridgeHorror after all?!]]
48	** It's said that since at least 1.2. Where have you been?
49	** This is simply a {{running gag}} done by Mojang every update. It's mainly a {{take that}} towards people who legitimately think that Herobrine is real.
50	** Maybe the real Herobrine was inside of us all along?
51	** The real Herobrine were the friends you made along the way.
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder: Breathing Without Lungs?]]
55	* How do skeletons drown in water and suffocate in sand/gravel if they don’t have lungs?
56	** The skeletons are being crushed by the sand/gravel. As for the water, really not sure.
57	*** Maybe they dissolve in water?
58	*** If so, water has got to contain a type of acid that's harmless to humans, but deadly to skeletons.
59	*** The more you read into this, the more insane it gets. A skeleton is a structure inside the human body. THAT means that the acid must destroy bone tissue, but not destroy human skin.
60	** Maybe they don't have lungs, but still need oxygen and take in through pores in their bones.
61	** Water is a purifying element, disrupting their unholy magic.
62	** Addressed as of Update Aquatic; skeletons no longer drown.
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder: Tools are for Wimps]]
66	* The physical issues of [[{{Hammerspace}}just where he would put it all]] notwithstanding, the player is theoretically capable of holding 44,518,667 kilograms of material, assuming that they are wearing gold armor and every slot in the inventory is filled completely with gold blocks, as all blocks are one cubic meter, and out of all the various materials in the game, gold is the densest - and thus heaviest - one in real life. For those who are unfamiliar with metric or too lazy to do the conversions, this means that the player is capable of carrying just shy of 50,000 tons - all with no apparent strain or fatigue. So why in the world does he need tools at all, with that kinda strength? Couldn't he just punch everything, not just trees?
67	** He ''can'' punch everything! Tools just make it go faster since it's a more refined instrument than just a blocky fist.
68	** Strength does not equal bone density. If the player could just punch through everything, even with all that muscle he/she would still break his/her knuckles. The materials that can be punched easily tend to be softer materials (dirt, wood, giant mushrooms) and the tougher materials can still be punched through because the player carefully wears it away instead of breaking it.
69	* It gets [[SerialEscalation even more insane]], Steve can lift a whole [[https://youtube.com/shorts/JvEIpvPArAY?si=_fMaFji3JRQEPds5 lot]] more.
70	[[/folder]]
71
72	[[folder: Living in the Dry Nether]]
73	* How does any life survive in the Nether if there's no water (water instantly evaporates when placed)? Where do the Zombie Pigmen obtain gold? How do they make Netherbricks? What are Ghast Tears made of? What is a ''Ghast'' made of? Resource-related FridgeLogic actually makes anyone's head hurt a bit.
74	** The Nether is implied to be an EldritchLocation. Time doesn't even pass the same way in the Nether. The Ghasts are undead for all we know.
75	*** Ghasts can be targeted by [[EnemyToAllLivingThings The Wither]], so they're not undead. That still brings up the question of what the heck they are, though. As for the water question, considering the fact that the only "life" in the Nether is either undead, [[EldritchAbomination Ghasts]], or made out of fire and lava, it's probably safe to say that water is unnecessary.
76	** Not all life requires water to survive. Take Water Bears for example they can survive in the vacuum of space. And there is no air or even water in space.
77	*** All forms of organic life require water to survive because the chemical reactions that make up the basis of organic rely heavily on water's presence as a solvent and reagent both. Water bears being able to live in a total vacuum is largely a myth -- they are not capable of living in it, they are capable of ''enduring'' it, an important difference. Their ideal conditions are the same as most lifeforms' -- when things get too harsh, they stop moving and go into a state of suspended animation that can endure almost anything. When conditions turn favorable again, then they "come back to life" and start moving and doing things again.
78	** You can make nether bricks by smelting netherrack.
79	** The creatures of the Nether are magical creatures, and don't need water to survive. Then again, most creatures in Minecraft don't, so perhaps it's normal?
80	[[/folder]]
81
82	[[folder: Why Don't Endermen Chase Villagers?]]
83	* How come you don't see Endermen chasing after villagers?
84	** Villagers aren't the ones who are attempting to slay their kind.
85	** Maybe villagers don't look at them, or maybe they are just suspicious of Steve and Alex because they're from out of town, or maybe villagers aren't even human.
86	[[/folder]]
87
88	[[folder: Identical Versions]]
89	* Why is the 360 version of Minecraft like that of Beta 1.6 (no hunger, Endermen, not even the new map generation mechanics, meaning the "Glacier" seed still works)? Is it for more casual gamers on XBLA? Or is the.XNA or.XLA limiting the Java scripting?
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder: What are Pyramids For?]]
93	* Since it seems the new buildings in the game were added to make the Adventure Update more fulfilling, how exactly are you supposed to use Pyramids? You have to break a block to get in, and then place blocks to get out. Neither of these things can be done in the adventure.
94	** You actually can, you just have to use the proper tool for it. For example, you can only break wool with shears.
95	** Adventure mode is for maps, not for you to play around with.
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder: Don't Stare Me in the... Lower Torso?!]]
99	* Endermen start to violently shake with rage the moment you look at their lower torso. So why exactly do they do this?
100	** Wouldn't you be a bit upset if someone started staring at your dick too?
101	** Just saying a little joke so don't get mad. Endermen are feminists. They don't want people to stare at where their fissure is supposed to be even though they dress the way they do.
102	*** Goodness gracious! They're in their birthday suits! Scandalous!
103	** Maybe Endermen have a different set of etiquette.
104	[[/folder]]
105
106	[[folder: Only Liquid Water Hurts Endermen?]]
107	* How are Endermen able to walk on snow and ice when water hurts them?
108	** Only liquid water seems to hurt Endermen. Perhaps they don't generate enough body heat to melt the ice?
109	*** A Tumblr fan blog posited the theory that Endermen have the ability to find the "seams" (the edges of the blocks) of the world, giving them their ability to move blocks as you do, and that water (and lava) hurts them because they're liquids -- they don't have any "seams". Ice and snow are solid enough to count.
110	** Because they might be cryptids, or are one of those certain types of mythological beings, Endermen CannotCrossRunningWater. If this is the case, then ice and snow would NOT count.
111	[[/folder]]
112
113	[[folder: Obsidian is "Hard" to Explain]]
114	* Obsidian, why on Earth is it one of the hardest materials in Minecraft, in RealLife it's quite brittle, and you can't make any other tools from it like diamonds.
115	** Because this isn't the same reality. It's a different material with the same name.
116	** Alternatively because while Obsidian is fragile there is a lot of it in a block meaning a lot of material to chip away and you aren't trying smash it to powder but harvest something useful from it. As a result you need to cut it using something sharp enough to carve through it without completely destroying it in the process.
117	[[/folder]]
118
119	[[folder: Artificial Cobblestone, Natural Saddles?]]
120	* Does anyone find it ridiculous that there's a crafting recipe for mossy cobblestone, but there's still no recipe to make saddles?
121	** Duly affirmed. Among other things, there are also horse armor and name tags.
122	[[/folder]]
123
124	[[folder: Powerful Creature is Hurt by Snowballs?]]
125	* How can such a powerful creature, the Ender Dragon, be hurt by snowballs? Except for Blazes, no other mobs can.
126	** [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Dragons are weak against Ice attacks]]?
127	*** [[StateTheSimpleSolution Endermen are harmed by water. Snowballs are water. Ender Dragon is an Ender creature, therefore, is hurt by snowballs.]]
128	*** Then why isn't the Ender Dragon weak against water itself?
129	*** The Ender Dragon's hitbox would be too small and far to be touched by the water as precisely as a snowball.
130	*** Maybe since liquid water can hurt Endermen but not solid water, maybe it's the other way round for Ender Dragons.
131	** Addressed as of 1.9; snowballs no longer hurt the dragon.
132	[[/folder]]
133
134	[[folder: Lava in Buckets vs Buckets in Lava]]
135	* Any object that falls into lava catches fire and is quickly destroyed. This includes lava buckets. You'd think a container heatproof enough to carry the stuff would be able to survive being dropped into it.
136	** It may not be destroyed instantly, but you're not going to survive sticking your hands into the lava to grab around for it, making the bucket effectively gone.
137	*** Potion of Fire Resistance.
138	*** It's a potion to make the user fire-resistant, not the glass itself. Besides when the glass melts away the liquid would merge with lava.
139	** Since Minecraft is doesn't follow real-world rules, it seems that items act differently whether or not they're in vulnerable states, such as stone not melting when touching lava, but still being destroyed when in the vulnerable "dropped" state.
140	*** Maybe what they were trying to say was: if you drink a Potion of Fire Resistance, then you can survive looking for a bucket that was dropped in lava. Not sure why what happens to the glass bottle matters.
141	** Minor point, as of 1.16 not everything burns anymore.
142	[[/folder]]
143
144	[[folder: Where do Zombie Pigmen Get Gold?]]
145	* Gold isn't obtainable in the Nether. Where do the Zombie Pigmen get all the gold nuggets and ingots they occasionally drop? (and presumable use to make their swords as well.)
146	** The same place where Witches get their potions, despite not having a brewing stand, and Villagers get Emeralds, even though their village may not be in an Extreme Hills biome.
147	** They took all the gold, now there's nothing left.
148	** What happened is that since they can't craft, they took gold swords from the Nether Fortresses. The weapons they found in Nether Fortresses were all they could use.
149	** In 1.16, Nether gold was added, providing an easy explanation for where they get their gold items.
150	[[/folder]]
151
152	[[folder: Eggs Aren't Food?]]
153	* Why can't you eat eggs?
154	** The right-click function is already reserved for throwing them.
155	** Also you should cook them first, which they haven't added yet.
156	[[/folder]]
157
158	[[folder: What is Bedrock Made Of?]]
159	* Bedrock usually consists of hard stones like granite and flint. However, since both are already materials in Minecraft, what exactly is Minecraft bedrock supposed to be made of?
160	** Unobtainium.
161	** Bedrock is a material in itself in this world.
162	** Beds, duh. That’s why it’s called Bedrock.
163	** Rock.
164	[[/folder]]
165
166	[[folder: Why is Gold Realistic?]]
167	* Why did Mojang go with the realistic version of gold, rather than typical fantasy super-tough gold? It doesn't add anything to the game and, if anything, it just makes gold, which is hard to find, useless, save for making golden apples. (Which could be substituted by easier to make potions.)
168	** Because there has to be some reality in the game.
169	** Counterquestion: why would Mojang have had to go with the "typical fantasy super-tough gold" instead of having it act as it does in real life? There's no reason why they would have had to do that beyond it being the same mistake everyone else was making.
170	** Gold mines block faster than anything. Golden Carrots are the best food in the game, on par with honey, and golden apples are the only way to obtain Absorption; either is also needed to breed horses, donkeys, and mules. Minecraft does not, in any way, make gold useless by making it realistic.
171	[[/folder]]
172
173	[[folder: A Creative Strategy]]
174	* Why doesn't anyone else use the [[EasierThanEasy Creative Mode shortcut]]? Like, when someone makes a new world in Creative, then they give themselves tons of food, a crafting table, crafting materials, anvils, armor and tools, enchantment tables, a shelter, a bed, chests, furnaces, and then load the chests, decorate the shelter, enchant their armor and tools, load the furnace, load the enchantment table, and switch to Survival? Is it because this feels like too much cheating or disproves that they're good at the game? And it's from someone who would normally play the game before finding out about these inventory editors for Pocket Edition.
175	** It is likely that some do exactly that. Likely others share the reasoning for not doing so now: it robs you of one of the fun aspects of the game. It can be a lot of fun to go from nothing more than a fist strong enough to punch down a tree, making your first tools, building a base, finding some iron, growing strong enough to challenge monsters, finding DIAMONDS!, enchanting your equipment yourself, exploring (and eventually conquering) Hell, then seeking out greater challenges still; all this after starting with basically the shirt on your back. The same could be said of making grand creations in Survival: from nothing to palace without any shortcuts, mining and placing every piece yourself. It gives a greater sense of accomplishment that way.
176	** Because then what are you going to do? You already have everything, the game is over within minutes.
177	** Setting your world to Creative will disable achievements permanently, even if you switch back to Survival.
178	*** That's only for the Bedrock Edition, not Java. Also, an exploit using the command /execute@s ~~~ gamemode c can give you creative mode without the penalty in earlier versions, although it has been patched. Doubtless, many players used it to hack achievements for themselves.
179	** It doesn't feel like cheating, it ''is'' cheating. There's nothing wrong with cheating if you want to play that way, but in Survival mode, you're supposed to start from nothing and earn your way to the top; that's the point of the game. It's what you ''do''. If you just want to build or explore the world to see scenery, you're going to play in creative. The scenario you've put forth here is the equivalent of playing in god mode; it's fun to feel all-powerful for a little while, but with no challenges to face, the game gets boring very quickly.
180	[[/folder]]
181
182	[[folder: Why Do Zombies Carry Crops?]]
183	* Why do Zombies carry ''crops'', of all items? They can't eat them, and they can't plant them, so.....why?
184	** Because they kill Villagers, whose villages have carrot and potato gardens, which they inadvertently pick up.
185	** Or maybe [[WasOnceAMan they USED TO eat crops or plant them]][[FridgeHorror ...]]
186	*** Why didn't they drop them when they became zombies, though?
187	** While theres clearly some kind of physical component to it zombies in Minecraft don't seem to be the virus kind we see most of today. Rather they seem to be the evil magic variety and specifically out to destroy life. So they rip up crops, stomp sea turtle eggs, and generally make life awful for everyone. [[/folder]]
188
189	[[folder: Creepy, but Cute]]
190	* On the SeriesMascot page, why are Creepers labeled as "Non-Cute" mascots? Those things are ''so freaking'' '''ADORABLE'''.
191	** Well, yeah... except for in the middle of the Minecraft night, in Survival mode, when one is a Minecraft ''centimeter'' behind you... Then, they're kinda terrifying.
192	** Maybe they want to discourage players from adopting them.
193	[[/folder]]
194
195	[[folder: Why Polar Bears?]]
196	* Polar bears were added in 1.10, the Frostburn Update. But why, out of all animals, did the development team choose polar bears?
197	** There's actually a story. Jeb (actually the BOSS of Minecraft) said that would add bears if he got his own bear. So one day he got a child from his Polish fiance/wife/whatever and they called him Bjorn (which is Swedish for Bear).
198	[[/folder]]
199
200	[[folder: Wither Before Ender Dragon in Pocket Edition]]
201	* Why was the Wither added to Minecraft: Pocket Edition before the Ender Dragon? Doesn't she come first?
202	** Point taken, and probably tech limitations. However, the Ender update came on Christmas 2016, which featured Jean, though she was not in the trailer. And PE is not an exact copy of the Java edition, such as how beetroot was in PE first.
203	*** where did you get that it was a she?
204	*** WordOfGod. Also, her name is Jean.
205	** Also the fact that she lays an egg when killed.
206	*** Slight note, it's called Bedrock as of 2017.
207	[[/folder]]
208
209	[[folder: Punching Trees]]
210	* The first thing you do is punch a tree to get wood. So many questions arise. How do you even punch the tree without getting a splinter, or sore knuckles? Why isn't the wood broken into tiny pieces like it really would be if someone actually went through the pain of punching it until it breaks? Why doesn't the tree fall down? What mess of physics is allowing trees to stay in the air, just... floating there?
211	** Seeing as experience = magic, maybe the trees are magical. Bit of a long shot, but still a possibility.
212	[[/folder]]
213
214	[[folder: Illogical-agers]]
215	* Why do Illagers have grey skin? Are they a separate species? Are they cursed?
216	** Spitballing, here, but it's possibly because the Illagers have paler skin. While the Villagers tend to be out and open, farming crops and doing daily activities, with a few decent light sources, Illagers tend to hang out either in a very poorly lit tower, deep in the trees where very little sunlight comes through, or giant mansions that are often dimly lit. It could also be because Vill/Illagers aren't humans at all and their species is capable of having either gray or peach skin, with most of the gray-skinned ones taking a path of evil.
217	[[/folder]]
218
219	[[folder: Questions Regarding Phantoms]]
220	* If sleeping is [[TheSleepless optional]] for Steve and Alex and they don't seem to get tired, then why does the Phantom only come when you don't sleep? Also, how come cats can see them even though logically if they're cats, they should sleep a lot?
221	** Cats can see ghosts or phantoms.
222	** Just because Steve/Alex might not ''seem'' tired doesn't mean they aren't tired at all. So they might be tired but are really good at not showing any symptoms of it. As for the cats, they're known for being quite active at night in real life, which might reflect in the game as to how they can see them.
223	*** Even if they're stoic, if you're tired, you're ''physically unable'' to run fast when it gets past a certain point. Also, you seem to be a bit unsure about whether it's tiredness or simply being active at night that sets the phantoms off because cats are active at night but they still get enough sleep...
224	[[/folder]]
225
226	[[folder: Creepers & Phantoms vs. Cats]]
227	* How is it that both a silent ActionBomb that can kill players in an instant and a flying undead manta ray that eats insomnia for dinner be terrified of something as mundane as an ordinary cat? Both seem like they could kill a feline in less than a second if they wanted to!
228	** Plenty of humans are afraid of insects that we could kill very easily. Fear isn't always a totally logical emotion.
229	** The phantoms being afraid could be explained by the fact that cats will sometimes give you some phantom membrane as a gift, implying that phantoms may be prey for cats. How exactly a small house cat kills an AnimalisticAbomination easily enough to be its natural predator is its own question.
230	** CatsAreMagic.
231
232	[[/folder]]
233
234	[[folder: Piglins with Water Bottles]]
235	* How are Piglins capable of having water bottles to give to the player from bartering? If we exclude player loot (which they don't even pick up unless it has gold) and that the portal is near a water lake, it would seem impossible. Even if you consider the water in cauldron trick, that specifically relies on a player to do that, not to mention where they get the bottles from.
236	** While there doesn't seem to be an explanation for how they get the water, water bottles are slightly rare, which makes sense for piglins, since, while it's hard to get (making it covetable) it's not that useful (making it easier to give away).
237
238	[[/folder]]
239
240	[[folder: On the Ender Dragon]]
241	* Teleportation is available to every Ender-based creature so far, such as the Dragon egg and the Endermen. The only non-teleporting Ender-species is the Ender Dragon. For gameplay reasons, they likely ditched the idea of a teleporting dragon, but InUniverse, this makes no sense. When in battle, does teleportation just never come to her mind?
242	** She prolly can't, that she doesn't need to (she can fly), or that she don't know how. She is an animal, after all.
243	----
244	* Is there more than one Enderdragon? Assuming that Jean mated with a male Enderdragon, but of course, she's the only known member of her species minus her baby. While assuming that she reproduces asexually, the Ender'''men''' have an equal possibility of being the ones who mate with her.
245	** Ignorin' that last part, 1) Jean's the last one, 2) the egg she's laid is unfertilized (it's distinct from the "spawn egg"), and 3) the other enderdgragons were wiped out for their elytra years ago (and the ones, other than Jean, that do show up are, well, ghosts).
246	[[/folder]]
247
248	[[folder:One Milk a Day Keeps The Illagers Away]]
249	* Drinking milk removes status effects from the player. This even includes Bad Omen, which is essentially Illager ire obtained from killing an Illager Captain and doesn't physically affect the player. Illagers burying the hatchet because the player drank milk sounds very illogical.
250	** Maybe the Bad Omen status effect is a literal curse/spell that Illager captains put on you, letting other Illagers track you down. That would also explain why they abandon their quest for revenge when the effect wears off after 100 minutes.
251	[[/folder]]
252
253	[[folder:Mystery of the Ancient Cities]]
254	* The Ancient Cities in the 1.19 Wild Update is perhaps on of the most bizarre structures. Why is the area lit with only candles? What is with the center podium and the Warden imagery? Was the place designed for Sculk, or was it an infection? Why is the center frame hung over flaming soul sand and composed of reinforced deepslate, a completely unique block with unknown purposes?
255	** The Warden imagery might be because the city used to belong to a Warden-worshiping cult.
256	** From appearances whoever previously owned the Ancient Cities was trying to access more realms beyond the nether. That framework of reinforced deepslate combined with soulsand was supposed to open a gateway to another place besides the nether and the End. It worked but wherever that was happened to be dominated by the parasitic Sculk. From the look of the city it would appear the residents tried to live and let live, adapting to avoid irritating the Sculk until its mass increased enough to spawn a Warden at which point everyone either fled or died.
257	[[/folder]]
258	[[folder:Piglins burn, Zombified Piglins don’t]]
259	* Why?
260	** Zombie Piglins are prolly fire-resistant, which is weird because they, y'all know, come from somewhere fiery.

Context Headscratchers / Minecraft