Minecraft
Genre: Open-World-Survival
Studio: Mojang
Publisher: Mojang
Rent a Minecraft Server
Rent a server
Genre: Open-World-Survival
Studio: Mojang
Publisher: Mojang
Rent a Minecraft Server

Minecraft Classic

‘Minecraft Classic’ is the official name of the first playable version of the popular game. Released in 2009, players were able to access Minecraft classic free in the browser, but it initially included only a creative mode that could be played in single or multiplayer mode. The game’s first survival mode, introduced later, was already part of ‘Minecraft alpha’.

What Is Minecraft Classic

If you opened the browser, you could open a world that you could design with a total of up to 9 players. All you needed was a link that you had to share. It was displayed before entering the game. In the first attempts of Minecraft classic, progress could not be saved. If you left the game and no other player was still on the map, your score was lost. 

These first game experiences and especially the opinions of players and their feedback helped Notch, the creator of Minecraft, to make improvements and expand the game’s content. Over the years, the game eventually evolved to its current greatness through different developers and many updates. To celebrate this success and not forget its origins, Mojang released a browser version at ‘classic.minecraft.net‘ in 2019 for the game’s tenth birthday. It is completely modeled after the original, including possible bugs and lacks in the gameplay. Thus, newer generations of players have also been given the opportunity to experience the Minecraft classic browser experience. In  fact, in the official Minecraft launcher, this version of the game is not included.

The World of Minecraft Classic

The most obvious difference from today’s game is the world design. It was supposedly simple in Minecraft classic. When you started the game, you found yourself in an environment of grass, dirt, sand, water, individual trees and stones. When you explored the world, you saw coal deposits or ores in some places. Still, you were alone in Minecraft classic: There were no mobs yet. Also, the exploration was very short compared to today’s world sizes with its many chunks. In the first version of the game, there were clear boundaries of the world, which consisted only of a small group of islands, or rather a single island, surrounded by water. If you hit the edge, you ran into an invisible wall, both above and below the water.

Within these boundaries, one could explore possible ‘caves’ underwater or give free rein to one’s creativity in building. You just had to keep in mind that the height of the world in MC Classic and thus the maximum building height was severely limited and not hundreds of blocks as in the newer versions. 

Under the menu settings you found the tab ‘controls’ und there the necessary key commands to find your way in the world. These also only partially corresponded to today’s standards and, in retrospect, affected players who started with newer versions of the game. Nevertheless, the game already showed some possibilities from today’s point of view, because there were already the first Minecraft commands. These were limited to five commands, which partly differed in syntax from their successors:

  • /help
  • /list
  • /kick 
  • /tp
  • /setspawn

Especially in Minecraft classic multiplayer they seemed to have their function. Most of these commands related to other players and made the game easier. So, even if in a scaled-down form, they clearly formed the precursors for today’s variety of commands.

This Is the Minecraft Classic Inventory

While more blocks and recipes are added to the gameplay with each update, Minecraft classic forms the foundation of the game. Therefore, it is clear that the block selection is smaller. Overall, the inventory only includes a severely limited selection of 32 different blocks, which can be roughly divided into two groups:

  • The first 16 blocks: stones, dirt, wood, log, sapling, flowers, mushrooms, sand, glass, sponges & gold.
  • The last 16 blocks: colorful wool in 16 different colors, some of which no longer exist in today’s game, completely without any dye.

So, with these blocks, the first players of the popular game had to create their structures. In Minecraft classic, the inventory could not be opened with the E-key, but with the B-key (for ‘build’).

How to Build in Minecraft Classic

Building in MC Classic was still very different from how it works today. First of all, there were no tools at all. You just removed blocks that were in the way with your hands. You didn’t do anything more than that, because you couldn’t collect either, after all it was only a creative mode. You only had to click on a block with the left mouse button and it was destroyed. At the same time you used the left mouse button to place blocks. To switch between these functions, you had to use the right mouse button. Once you were in build mode, you could see the selected block transparent in front of you, so you could preview what it would look like when you subsequently placed it with the left mouse button. It wasn’t until later in the game that the clear separation of the buttons for mining and building was introduced. To change materials in the hotbar, you had to open the inventory and select a desired block, which took up the space currently used below.

There were also two other features that simplified building and the gaming experience in general. Players had an infinite lifespan. They could stay in the water without drowning and fall from the highest place in the world without dying, because there was no fall damage. Also, the player was always told exactly which block to destroy next. In fact, the block that the mouse was pointed at blinked slightly, which prevented you from accidentally removing the wrong block.

Minecraft Classic Was the Start of Success

Although the game is enormously limited in scope, especially compared to today’s versions, it offers surprises. Some facts probably suggested even then that there would be new features in future updates, and Minecraft classic would be the starting point.

  • Mushrooms: Most players thought that these plants were integrated into the game much later, although they were already part of the first version.
  • Gold blocks: Although you couldn’t find or collect gold ore, these blocks already existed, being the only ones of their kind.
  • Sponges: These blocks also already existed and could remove water. 
  • Water: Although the whole world was surrounded by water, it could not flow yet.
  • Coal & iron: Ores could already be found and destroyed in stone walls, but could not be collected or used. There were also no blocks in the inventory.
  • R-key: It’s the equivalent of the bed, so to speak. If you used it, you came back to your spawnpoint. So it was a re-spawn button.

Conclusion Minecraft Classic

From today’s perspective, the differences are hard to overlook and will certainly take some getting used to for some players. However, if you are a fan of the game, you should not miss the opportunity to try Minecraft classic and enjoy the peace and quiet on the island. If you miss creepers, zombies, villagers or your beloved iron tools, you can easily return to a Minecraft server from G-Portal and make the world unsafe!

similar articles