Minecraft Earth

Minecraft Earth was shut down due to outdoor restrictions as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

It can no longer be downloaded or played, but the contents of this page are kept for historical interest.

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Minecraft Earth was a free-to-play augmented reality (AR) spin-off mobile game developed by Mojang Studios and published by Xbox Game Studios for iOS, iPadOS, and Android. The game was about building structures and collecting materials by traveling to real-life locations. The first closed beta in the US released on July 16, 2019, and was released worldwide on December 11, 2019. It received its last update on January 5, 2021, and was officially shut down on June 30, 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[7] All players who made a purchase in the game received a free copy of Bedrock Edition, even if they had one already, and any remaining paid balance of rubies were exchanged for Minecoins.^[7]

Minecraft Earth was an adaptation of the traditional Minecraft experience to an augmented-reality setting, similarly to Ingress and Pokémon GO.^[8] The game itself was the first Minecraft spin-off that was built on the Bedrock engine, and featured many unique gameplay aspects and similar interactions to the main game.^[8]

Minecraft Earth required an Xbox Live account to play the game^[9] and used Microsoft Azure Spatial Anchors along with OpenStreetMap to power location-based gameplay. The technology synced the position of buildplates in multi-player by referencing objects in the real world, creating a seamless experience.^[8][10][11]

It was announced that the Nether and the End were planned for Minecraft Earth in a future update,^[12] but these plans were scrapped due to the game being discontinued.^[7]

In Minecraft Earth, players were allowed to build structures with other players and "place them in the real world at life-size".^[11]

In the map view, players were allowed to see their character, which was able to be changed with skins owned from the marketplace or generated using the Character Creator. Scattered around the maps were tappables. If a tappable was within a player's collection range, the player could tap it and collect items. There were multiple types of tappables, including stone, grass, ponds, chests, and mobs.

Adventures appeared on the map but were also allowed to be spawned using Adventure Crystals. Adventures were the survival aspect of Minecraft Earth. Players were allowed to fight mobs, collect additional resources that are unavailable with tappables, and collect rewards. Adventures were only allowed to be played in life-size mode.

Buildplates were worlds that players used to build on. They were shared remotely for viewing, and worked on by invited players in the same location.^[8][10]

Buildplates were 8×8, 16×16 or 32×32 blocks in size, and their build height limit was 221 blocks.^[13] From ground level, a buildplate also extended downward in varying depth, depending on the buildplate. The minimum depth before bedrock appeared after digging down was 3 blocks and the buildplate with the maximum recorded depth was 12 blocks^[14]

Using the shop, players were allowed to buy new plots using rubies. Plots were also earned via a leveling system.

Buildplates functioned like personal realms and were used anywhere. They ran in the Bedrock Engine, meaning redstone, physics, and other mechanics were identical to Bedrock Edition. Players were allowed to invite friends to build with them locally and then share the world to others via a link.^[8][10]

A player was allowed to interact with a buildplate in miniature and life-size modes. In miniature mode, the buildplate functioned the same as Creative mode in Minecraft, allowing the player to build structures and populate the buildplate with mobs. In life-size mode, the buildplate functioned the same as Survival mode, in which the player must use tools to interact with blocks. Hostile mobs on the buildplate attacked the player, and the player could lose health and life.

A planned feature for buildplates that was announced but never implemented was the ability to pin buildplates on the map for other players to view publicly.

Buildplates were also allowed to be shared via a link, so players were not required to be in the same location as the creator to see creations.^[8] The links shared were either temporary or never expired.^[8] Mojang Studios claimed to have a 24/7 moderation team, reviewing and looking at reports of inappropriate builds.^[8]

Minecraft Earth adventures had their own buildplates, with predefined above-ground and underground structures and hostile mobs. Like user buildplates, an adventure plate was only allowed to be placed somewhere on the ground before interacting with it. Adventure buildplates weren't able to be saved or moved by a player although multiple players were allowed to interact with the same adventure at the same time.

Similar to advancements in Java Edition and achievements in Bedrock Edition, challenges were tasks given to player to guide the player. Unlike advancements, there were 3 types of challenges: Daily, Seasonal, and Tappable challenges. These challenges involved individual tasks; the player obtained rubies, experience, and credit after completing, i.e. if the player's task is to collect 6 ferns, and another challenge is to collect 4 ferns, and the player gets 2 ferns, it would apply to both tasks.

Minecraft Earth offered somewhat different mechanics to players more familiar with Java or Bedrock editions of Minecraft. These differences included:

• While players could build upward and dig downward, one could not climb or descend unless a real-world structure was available for said activity.
• There was no daylight cycle; buildplates and adventures always had the same lighting regardless of the real-world time of day. Some buildplates were available with night illumination.
• Inventory:
  • Inventory was effectively unlimited, both in inventory slots and the stack size of items or blocks.
  • There was no inventory crafting grid, and no way to repair damaged items by combining them.
  • There were no armor slots in the inventory.
  • Mobs were allowed to be collected, and achievements were earned for collecting them. Occasionally a tappable dropped a hostile mob that was allowed to be collected and placed on a buildplate.
  • Inventory was unaffected by death, as it was inaccessible during adventures. Only items in the hotbar and backpack (the items collected during an adventure) were lost.
• Crafting:
  • Both crafting and smelting required a considerable amount of time, taking up to several minutes (or even hours) depending on the item. Like smelting in regular Minecraft, the player was allowed to exit the crafting or smelting interface to do other things while the process completes.
  • Several items could not be crafted, such as chests, crafting tables, armor, villager workstations, fishing rods, and anything related to enchantments or potions (anvils, enchanting tables, brewing stands, etc.).
• Tools and melee weapons had infinite range.
• Health and hunger were combined into one health gauge bar. Health was depleted by mob attacks, and restored by eating food.
• Food could not be cooked in Survival mode (i.e. during an adventure), and was only allowed to be cooked outside of an adventure. Food was allowed to be eaten during an adventure and outside of an adventure.
• Iron ingots were available only by smelting iron ore, which was rare and never dropped by tappables. Iron ore was obtained only via mining during an adventure, provided the adventure included any iron at all, and rarely when killing zombies, similar to Minecraft.
• There was no way to craft or wear armor in the game. A player used tactics rather than armor for protection. Players were also allowed to obtain different clothing items, but these offer no armor protection.
• It was not possible to find chests as items, craft them, or store them in the player's inventory. They existed only as tappables.
• Ladders were available for construction, but they could not be climbed.
• Obsidian did not exist and could not be created. Lava flowing into water formed cobblestone, but lava was unaffected by water flowing onto it.

Other differences:

• Mini boosts were figurines that were tapped to the device's NFC reader giving temporary boosts to stats in-game, such as better defense or attack strength. Only five can be used at a time and the same boost.
• Adventure crystals were added for people isolating during the COVID-19 pandemic. Adventure crystals allowed a player to experience a small, medium, large or huge adventure without having to go outside, provided the adventure had enough open area. They later ended by being a permanent feature to the game.^[15]

The game had full microtransactions. The in game currency was rubies, which was not to be confused with Minecoins.^[8]

Rubies were used to:^[16]

• Purchase buildplates
• Purchase boosts
• Purchase second and third slots for crafting and smelting
• Speed up crafting and smelting tasks

Minecoins were also used as a secondary currency in Minecraft Earth, for purchasing skins and clothing.

In 0.33.0, the final update to Minecraft Earth, all microtransactions had been removed in preparation for the game's shutting down on June 30, 2021.^[7]

During Microsoft Build 2015, Microsoft's HoloLens team unveiled an augmented reality version of Minecraft,^[17] internally codenamed "Minecraft Genoa". On May 6, 2019, Microsoft released a video on YouTube, where some features from Minecraft Earth were shown.^[18] On May 8, 2019, a trailer was released, showing some AR mods in Minecraft Earth. On Minecraft's 10th anniversary (May 17, 2019), Minecraft Earth was officially announced.^[19]

The closed beta for Minecraft Earth was launched for AR-compatible devices running iOS and iPadOS in the cities listed below.

The closed beta for Minecraft Earth was launched for AR-compatible devices running Android in the same five cities the iOS closed beta was launched in.

The early access of Minecraft Earth was launched for everyone to download in the App Store and Google Play in the countries listed below.^[26]

On January 5, 2021, Mojang Studios released the final update to Minecraft Earth, 0.33.0, and announced that the game's servers would be taken offline after June 30, 2021, with the reason being the global COVID-19 situation. On that day, the game was removed from the respective app stores.^[7] Players who open the app after that date are greeted with this message, which includes a link to information about the shutdown:

Returning players who logged in before the discontinuation received an exclusive Character Creator "Hero" outfit set. Moreover, any returning player who had a remaining paid ruby balance before the shutdown would receive a free copy of Bedrock Edition.

According to the FAQ page:

	&
Minimum version	iOS 12	Android Oreo (8.0)
Supported devices	iPhone 6S or later iPhone SE (all models) iPhone Air iPad (5th gen) or later iPad Air (3rd gen) or later iPad mini (5th gen) or later iPad Pro (all models) iPod touch (7th gen)	Pixel 2 or later ARCore supported devices except for these

• Minecraft Earth was very similar to the discontinued Minecraft Reality, an app where one could display Minecraft builds over real-life scenes using the phone's camera.^[33]
• Due to using the Bedrock engine, all of the textures in Bedrock Edition during the Village & Pillage update can be found in the files despite many being unused.
• One of the game's songs, "Earth", was featured as a newly arranged track in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as part of Challenger Pack 7.

• 
  The Minecraft Earth logo
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  The Minecraft Earth app icon
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  Cover for Minecraft Earth: Original Game Soundtrack
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  Minecraft Earth key art
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  Minecraft Earth key art
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  Minecraft Earth key art
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  Splash screen
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  Splash screen
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  An image from the official Twitter of Minecraft Earth, announcing the end of the game.^[34]
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  An image from the official Twitter of Minecraft Earth, saying its farewell to the game.^[35]
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  Dyed cat in Stockholm.^[20]
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  Dyed Cat in Tokyo.^[21]
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  Dyed cat in Mexico City.^[22]
• 
  United Kingdom map.^[29]
• 
  United States map.^[30]
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  India map ^[32]
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  Australian map.^[27]
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  Canada map.^[28]
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  Iceland map.^[2]
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  Japan map.^[31]
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  Mexico map.^[27]
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  New Zealand map.^[2]
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  Philippines map.^[28]
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  Korea map.^[28]
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  Sweden map.^[27]
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  Western Europe map.^[31]
• 
  Steve explains Earth Map Concepts.
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  Pigs near a fenced area.
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  Same as previous.
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  Many people playing Minecraft Earth on their table.
• 
  Ditto.
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  Ditto.
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
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  Edge magazine covering Minecraft Earth.
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  Ditto.

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  An in-app notice that reminded player of the games imminent shutdown that appeared from January 5 to June 30, 2021.
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  The message that appears when the Minecraft Earth app is opened from July 1, 2021 onwards.
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  The official poster of Minecraft Earth.
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  The official poster on collaborating in Minecraft Earth.
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  The official poster on collecting in Minecraft Earth.
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  The official poster on creating in Minecraft Earth.
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  The official poster on exploring in Minecraft Earth. Endermen are not in Minecraft Earth however.
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  A muddy pig viewed both on a mobile device and in the world
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  A multiplayer buildplate
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  A ship
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  A windmill buildplate
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  The reward screen
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  The map
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  A windmill in full size mode
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  A tree buildplate
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  A pig
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  A house buildplate
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  Farming in Minecraft Earth^[36]