Raspberry Pi Minecraft: Installing and Playing the World’s Best Selling Video Game

Minecraft is the best-selling video game of all time. While you can play the game the conventional way, you can benefit from installing and playing it on a Raspberry computer if you want to learn to program. Raspberry Pi Minecraft has an API that allows you to interact with the virtual world using python programming. We will look at how to set up and play Raspberry Pi Minecraft, so read on to learn more!  

What is Minecraft?

Minecraft is the biggest game in the world. It is a sandbox game with no defined missions. It gives you multiple biomes (mountains, beaches, beaches) and several blocks from which you can extract and discover raw materials. These materials help you build tools, machines, structures, and earthworks to develop your world and maintain health.  

The Minecraft game

 

How to Play Minecraft on the Raspberry Pi

You will install Minecraft Pi Edition (the version specifically built for the Raspberry Pi). It is the bare-bones version of Minecraft because it runs on the old game world format, with a maximum block size of 256 x 256 x 128. Additionally, the game is in creative mode only, and there are no mobs.  

Equipment List

• Raspberry Pi (either 1, 2, 3, or 4)

A Raspberry Pi computer

 

• Power supply
• MicroSD card
• WiFi or an ethernet cable
• USB keyboard and mouse
• HDMI cable
• Monitor
• Raspberry Pi case (optional)

 

Installing Minecraft for your Raspberry Pi

Newer Raspberry Pi OS versions usually have Minecraft installed, so check under "Main Menu > Games" first.   If not installed, update and upgrade all current packages by running the following commands on the terminal window:

After that, download and install the Minecraft Pi Edition using this setup script.

This command will also install all the required python libraries. However, this step requires an active internet connection.  

Running Minecraft on your Raspberry Pi

Once installation is complete, launch the game. After it loads, click the "start game" button, then the "create new" button to create your game world. Minecraft will generate the world, and the player (you) spawns immediately into it.  

Interacting with Minecraft through Python

This part is by far the best thing about the Minecraft Pi Edition. You can type your lines of code in Raspberry Pi's nano text editor or use dedicated code editors like Visual Studio. However, we will use the nano text editor for this interaction. Begin by typing

After that, import the Minecraft python code library using the following library.

Next, create a link to the Minecraft client using the create function.

If you want to text in the chat, use the postToChat function by running this script.

Save the code file by pressing "ctrl + x" then "y." Since the filename is minecraft.py, run the code by typing the following command on the terminal.

You should see the text "Hello World!" in the game.  

Various Functions of the Minecraft Python API

You can use various functions to interact with the special edition Minecraft, such as the following.  

Find the Player's Position

You can retrieve the player's location using the following python code line.

The playerPos variable can get the player's x, y, and z coordinates using playerPos.x, playerPos.y, and playerPos.z. Alternatively, you can use python's unpacking feature to store these variables separately from the getPos() function using this line of code.

 

A Minecraft player (default avatar) and several biomes (jungles, dry and green plains)

Source: Wikimedia Commons  

Player Teleporting

Player teleportation uses the setPos() function. For instance, these lines of code teleport the player vertically by 20 blocks in the virtual world.

The player should appear in the air and then drop down when you run this script.  

Block Setting

The API also allows you to manipulate blocks using the setBlock() function, which has the format setBlock(x, y, z, blockID). You can spawn a block position in the following way.

This code places a stone block one position away from the player horizontally. Once you run the script, the stone should appear directly next to you, and you might have to spin the camera to see it. Here is a list of the types of blocks with their IDs to use for this function.  

Multiple Block Setting

You can also set multiple blocks using the setBlocks() function. It takes seven arguments, six for the positions, and one block ID.

The first three position markers define the starting area, while the last three show the endpoint for block setting. For instance, to create a block of bricks, use the following script.  

A Minecraft block

Source: Pixabay  

Running this code should create a giant 6x6x6 block of bricks close to the player.  

Multiple blocks in Minecraft

 

Retrieving a Block's ID

Lastly, you can retrieve a block's ID using the getBlock() function. For example, you can retrieve the block ID of the block the player is standing on by running the following code.

 

Raspberry Pi Minecraft Server

Multiplayer gaming is always more fun than playing alone, and you can create a cost-effective private server to play Minecraft with your friends. The best solution is to install the spigot version. The amount of memory Java allocates for the GUI is high, so it is better to boot into the terminal and install from there. Alternatively, you can use Raspbian Lite, but Buster is better.  

Update and Configuration

First, update the OS using the following commands.

Next, make some changes to the config file. Bring up the configuration options by typing:

Go to "Advanced Options > Memory Split" and change it to 16 to free up more space for the server. Also, set the boot option to CLI, overclock to high, and enable SSH. Finish and reboot. Once it powers back on, get the Raspberry Pi's IP address using the hostname command to connect to the server.

Set the IP to static so that it does not change.  

Building and Launching

To build and launch the server, you need Java and Git installed. Install the default JDK package using the following command.

Next, use the Spigot builder tool to get the Minecraft server file using these commands.

After that, run the build tools file to create the Spigot server using the following command.

However, this will fail if running any Raspberry variation before Pi 2. You must generate the spigot.jar file first on a more powerful PC. Remember to add the latest version number to the end of the command to get the most recent version (--version number). Ensure to create the server configuration files in the "/home/pi/minecraft" folder. Launch the server using the following command for Raspberry Pi 1.

For Raspberry Pi 2, 3, or 4, use this command.

But the server will stop right away because you must agree to Eula, which you open using this command.

Change the false to true, then save and exit the file by pressing "ctrl + x" followed by "y." After that, relaunch the server and modify your username to be able to use all the server commands once logged in.

 

Summary

In conclusion, creating a Raspberry Pi Minecraft client or server is not such a challenging task, and the steps above should get the job done. We hope this article has been insightful, and if you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to contact us.