The answer first
Punch a tree, turn logs into planks, make a crafting table and wooden pickaxe, then mine cobblestone and replace the wooden tools with stone. Gather food, coal or charcoal, and three wool if possible. Before dark, build or dig a sealed shelter, light it with torches, place a furnace, and make a bed if you found wool.
Do this in order
- Collect several logs. Turn one log into planks, make a crafting table, and use planks to make sticks.
- Make a wooden pickaxe—then stop making wooden tools. Use it to mine cobblestone and immediately craft a stone pickaxe, stone axe, and stone sword.
- Collect food while moving. Hunt animals, gather crops from a village without destroying the farmland, or collect other safe foods available in your biome.
- Look for coal and sheep. Coal makes torches. Three matching wool plus planks make a bed. If coal is nowhere nearby, smelt a log in a furnace using planks or another log as fuel to make charcoal.
- Choose a shelter before sunset. A tiny wooden box, hillside room, or repaired village house is enough. Close every opening except a door and light the inside.
- Place the crafting table, furnace, and bed inside. Sleep as soon as night arrives if the area is safe.
First-night checklist
Do not make these beginner mistakes
Do not dig straight down
You can fall into a cave, lava, or a deep drop before you can react. Use a staircase pattern instead.
Do not use all your coal for cooking
Keep enough coal or charcoal for torches. A dark shelter can become its own problem.
Do not fight everything on the first night
You do not need to prove anything to a creeper. Close the door, back away from windows, and let daylight solve the problem.
Do not wander without marking home
Write down coordinates when they are available, build a visible marker, or create a simple trail. The best first base is useless if you cannot find it again.
What is the fastest shelter?
Dig horizontally into a dirt or stone hillside, close the entrance with blocks and a door, then place torches inside. Do not seal yourself into complete darkness.
Why can’t I sleep?
The game may think monsters are too close, the bed may be obstructed, or the bed may be exposed. Light the area, close the shelter, and move the bed away from an occupied block.
Should I build beside the first place I spawn?
Not necessarily, but staying close at first makes recovery easier if you die before setting a new spawn point with a bed. Look for nearby wood, food, stone, and a reasonably flat or defensible area.