Minecraft First Night: How to Survive Without a Bed

You don't need a bed to survive your first night. Get inside a closed shelter before dark, then wait for daylight. If there's still time, make a pickaxe and some light; charcoal works when you haven't found coal.

This route covers ordinary survival in the international Java and Bedrock editions. On a computer, default controls use a held left click to break blocks and a right click to place or use them. On a phone, select the item and use touch controls; the exact controls depend on your settings.

It's getting dark · While it's still light · Make light without coal · Leave in the morning

On a computer, press E by default to open the inventory. Put one log in the 2×2 crafting grid, then take the four planks from the output; on mobile, open the inventory using its on-screen control. Controls and labels may differ with your settings.

It's getting dark

Find a dirt hillside that doesn't open into a cave. Dig a small space you can stand in, step inside and seal both blocks of the entrance. Check the sides and ceiling for openings. No hillside? Build a small enclosure from the blocks you have and add a roof.

Leave yourself a safe way to check the time. A one-block-high opening can let you see outside without letting an ordinary two-block-tall mob walk in, but enemies may still attack through it; close it again if anything approaches. Without a torch, don't expand into an unlit cave.

Minecraft's official example shows the entrance open. Seal yours before spending the night inside.

While it's still light

Follow this route while the sun is up. If sunset catches you halfway through, stop gathering and use the shelter above.

1. Collect wood. Break tree logs. Turn some into planks in your inventory crafting grid, but keep a few logs for charcoal.
2. Make a crafting table and sticks. Fill the 2×2 inventory grid with four planks for a table. Stack two planks vertically for four sticks. Place the table and open it for the 3×3 grid.
3. Make a wooden pickaxe. Put three planks across the top row and two sticks down the middle beneath them. Mine eight cobblestone for a furnace. Three extra cobblestone can make a stone pickaxe, but shelter comes first.
4. Return to your shelter site. Hollow out a hillside or build walls and a roof around a small room. Take the crafting table inside and close the entrance after you enter.

Two planks arranged vertically make four sticks. Official Minecraft screenshot; reuse permission unverified.

Make light without coal

At the crafting table, arrange eight cobblestone around the outside of the grid, leaving the centre empty. Place the resulting furnace inside and open it. Put ordinary logs in the top input slot and wooden planks in the bottom fuel slot. Collect the charcoal from the output when it finishes.

Place one charcoal above one stick in the crafting grid to make four torches. Put a torch in the shelter and check any separate dark spaces. A single torch in a small room isn't a promise that later extensions will be lit. You can cook raw meat in the furnace too, but don't run into the night just to find food.

The screenshot uses coal above a stick; charcoal also works. Official Minecraft screenshot; reuse permission unverified.

Sleep if you have a bed

Three wool blocks of the same colour and three planks make a bed. Place it where there is room and use it at night. Nearby monsters can prevent sleep. If you don't have a bed, stay in your closed shelter, organise your inventory or make tools until morning.

Leave in the morning

Check that it is light before opening the entrance. Some zombies or skeletons may still be nearby, and creepers don't disappear in daylight. Look around first, remember your shelter's location and gather food and more stone for your next trip.

Sources

Minecraft's first-night guide · Furnace · Charcoal · Bed

Minecraft: How to craft