How to Place and Break Blocks in Your Minecraft World

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Placing your first blocks in Minecraft is easy—once you know the controls. Whether you’re playing Bedrock or Java Edition, we have all the information you need to start building your first creations in Minecraft. Keep reading to learn how to quickly place blocks. We’ll also tell you how to jump, sneak, move around, and break the blocks that you place.

Laying Down a Block in Minecraft

If you’re playing with a mouse, move it until the crosshair (+) is directly over the area where you want your block. Right-click the mouse to place whatever you’re holding, and hold down left-click to break it. With a controller, tap the left trigger to place a block and hold down the right trigger to break it.

Section 1 of 3:

Placing & Breaking Blocks on PC or Mac

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  1. Use the “W,” “A,” “S,” and “D” keys to move forward, left, backward, and right, and hit the spacebar to jump. [1] Navigate to the area where you’d like to build and point the crosshair (+) in the middle of the screen over a block. [2] The edges of the block will be highlighted with a thin black line.
    • Press the “Ctrl” key while moving to sprint, and the “Shift” key to sneak.
    • Fly in Creative Mode by double-tapping the spacebar. Hold the spacebar to fly upward and press “Shift” to fly downward again.
    • If you’re using a laptop without a mouse, use the touchpad to look around.
  2. The first items you pick up will appear in your hotbar—this is the gray bar at the bottom of the screen with icons showing items. Navigate to the block you want to place by scrolling the mouse wheel. [3]
    • If you don’t see the item you want in your hotbar, open your inventory by pressing the “E” key. Click and drag the item down to the last row in your inventory—this is your hotbar.
    • You can also press the “1,” “2,” “3,” “4,” “5,” “6,” “7,” “8,” or “9” buttons to select an item from one of the boxes in your hotbar from right to left.
    • In Creative Mode, click the tabs above your inventory to find almost all the blocks you can possibly place in the game.
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  3. Once you have the block you want selected in your hotbar, press the right mouse button to place it. If you want to pick it up again, hold down the left mouse button until it breaks. [4]
    • To place a block without a mouse, hit the right button on your computer touchpad.
    • Some items need a special tool to pick them back up again—for example, any stone or ore blocks need to be broken with a Pickaxe selected in your hotbar.
    • To place blocks faster, hold down the right mouse button with multiple of the same block in your hotbar. You can tell how many items you have by the number in the lower right corner.
    • Player-oriented blocks have sides that change orientation depending on where you’re looking while you place them.
    • Vertically locked blocks are blocks that can only be placed with the top and bottom facing up or down, like grass or half slabs.
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Section 2 of 3:

Laying & Breaking Blocks on Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo Switch

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  1. Use the right joystick to move forward, backward, and side-to-side. Navigate to the area you want to build in, then move the left joystick up, left, right, and down to look up, left, right, and below you. Move the crosshair until it highlights the surface of the block you want to place a block on top of. [5]
    • Use the “A” button on the Xbox and Nintendo Switch to jump. On PlayStation consoles, press “X” to jump. In Creative Mode, double-tap this key to fly.
    • Press the left joystick straight down (like a button) while you’re moving to sprint faster.
    • Press the “B” button on Xbox and Nintendo consoles or the “O” button on PlayStation consoles to sneak (or fly downward if you’re in Creative Mode).
  2. The hotbar is the gray set of boxes at the bottom of the screen. Press the left bumper to select the next item to the left along the hotbar, and press the right bumper to select the next item on the right. When your hotbar is full, items will go straight into your inventory. [6]
    • To move an item from your inventory to your hotbar, press the “Y” button on XBox or Nintendo or the triangle on PlayStation to open the inventory.
    • Use the controller’s touch screen or the left joystick to navigate through the items in your inventory. Highlight the item, then hold “A” or “X” and move the joystick down to the last line of boxes in your inventory. Release “A” or “X” to drop the item.
  3. When you’ve selected the item you want to place, press the large left trigger on the top of your controller to put it down. To break it, hold down the right trigger until the block is gone. [7]
    • To place multiple blocks at the same time, hold down the left trigger.
    • Select a Pickaxe in your hotbar to break stones and ores, or hold a Sword to fight off enemies.
    • Player-oriented blocks have sides that change orientation depending on where you’re looking while you place them.
    • Vertically locked blocks are blocks that can only be placed with the top and bottom facing up or down, like grass or half slabs.
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Section 3 of 3:

Putting Down & Destroying Blocks on Mobile Devices

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  1. In Minecraft Bedrock Edition, all you need to do is touch the screen with your finger and move it around. Press the arrow keys in the joypad in the bottom left corner of the screen to move your character around the world. Aim the crosshair (+) over the surface you want to place a block on. [8]
    • Use the button that looks like an upward-facing arrow on the right side of the screen to jump. Double-tap this button in Creative Mode to fly (hold it down to fly upward).
    • Press the double arrow button on the right side of the screen to sprint.
    • Tap the downward-facing arrow button on the right side of the screen to sneak (or to fly downward if you’re in Creative Mode).
  2. The hot bar is the gray row of boxes along the bottom of your screen. If you don’t see the item you want to put down in your hotbar, open your inventory by pressing the “...” button on the far right side of the hotbar. Tap an item in your inventory, then tap a box in the bottom row of boxes to put it in your hotbar. [9]
    • When you’re done, press the “X” in the top right corner of your inventory to return to the main view.
  3. Tap the box with the item in your hotbar to select it. Make sure your crosshair is highlighting the surface you want to place the block on, then tap it to place it down. To break the block again, highlight the block with your crosshair and tap and hold the screen where the block is. [10]
    • If you’re in a world with multiple players you want to talk to, press the speech bubble button at the top of the screen to open a chat window. Type your message, then hit “Send.”
    • You can also press the emote button on the top of the screen to send an emote to other players on the server.
    • Player-oriented blocks have sides that change orientation depending on where you’re looking while you place them.
    • Vertically locked blocks are blocks that can only be placed with the top and bottom facing up or down, like grass or half slabs.
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Community Q&A

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  • Question
    How do I place a command block?
    Community Answer
    Either do /setblock ~ ~ ~ minecraft:command_block (to place one directly where you are standing) or /give [your username] minecraft:command_block (to insert the command block item into your inventory).
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  • Question
    My sister's Minecraft keeps lagging and crashing. What can I do to help?
    Community Answer
    While deleting and reinstalling Minecraft may help, there are other things you can do. You can close other programs and apps you aren't using or turn on game mode if that's an option available on your device. You can also go to Minecraft settings and turn down the quality of the game and turn off or reduce things like render distance, particles, clouds, shadows, etc., to help the game run faster. Also, if you're on Java Edition, installing Optifine can help.
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  • Question
    How do you place a block in minecraft on a computer?
    Amrith Center
    Community Answer
    For both the Windows and Dell (Java Edition), the block that you want to place the other object on, highlight it. There should be a thin border that is black when you've highlighted a block. Then click the block and place it. Remember that you should place the + sign on the highlighted block.
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      Tips

      • While you’re sneaking in the game, you can’t walk off of edges. [11]
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      • When you’re playing in Creative Mode, breaking an item will cause it to disappear. In other modes (like Survival), breaking an item will return it to your inventory. [12]
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      • If you don’t have any blocks in your inventory, move around your world and break dirt, wood, and other surface materials you can build with.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://help.minecraft.net/hc/en-us/articles/360059148111-Minecraft-Java-Edition-Hotkeys
      2. ↑ https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/minecraft-controls
      3. ↑ https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/minecraft-controls
      4. ↑ https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/minecraft-controls
      5. ↑ https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/minecraft-controls
      6. ↑ https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/minecraft-controls
      7. ↑ https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/minecraft-controls
      8. ↑ https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/minecraft-controls
      9. ↑ https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/minecraft-controls
      1. ↑ https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/minecraft-controls
      2. ↑ https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/minecraft-controls
      3. ↑ https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/minecraft-controls

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