Tips and Tricks for Minecraft speedruns

1. Pick a CTM you want to speedrun
2. Investigate the map (i.e. locations of useful loot chests)
3. Look for speedruns of the map by other runners
   • If no previous run exists, see Routing, else skip to step 4
4. Test run
5. Optimize the route. For example:
   • Finding the best path from A to B in an area
   • Major route changes like the order of wool areas
6. Repeat 4 & 5 until you get a good time

Movement

Psycho's movement speed comparison

• Jumping while sprinting (or "bunny hopping") is the fastest form of movement under normal circumstances
  • If you have a speed 2 buff (or higher), jumping is slower
  • Any jump boost effects will also make jumping slower
• If you are in a 2 block tall corridor, mash jump as fast as you can to get a nice boost

Bridging

Psycho's bridging speed comparison

• Bridging diagonally is the fastest, most reliable method of bridging
  • The "Unsneak" method is faster but riskier, yet still practical for runs

Combat

• In most cases it is better to avoid enemies rather than fighting them

  

  Partially disabled monster spawner with 1 light source

• You should craft a shield and crouch to activate it. A shield blocks other player's or mob's attacks. Crafting Recipe: 6 Wooden Planks and 1 Iron Ingot. - DrDino on YT

  

  Completely disabled monster spawner with 2 light sources

• You will deal a critical hit (150% melee damage) while falling
• If playing in 1.9, remember that you cannot spam click
• Punch bows can knock you forward if you shoot fast enough
• Monster spawners can be completely disabled by placing 2 torches/glowstone
  • Placing 1 light source on a spawner will only prevent spawning in a small area

Boots with feather falling enchantments will reduce damage taken from using an ender pearl

• • In addition, protection enchantments on other armor pieces also reduces ender pearl damage, though not as much
• With precise shots and movement you can clip through blocks, for example bedrock (if map rules do not disallow this)
• In certain situations you can manipulate teleports and render distance to warp from long distances (see the current WR for SP02 Overload)

Fall damage prevention

The following methods will negate falling damage:

1. Landing in water, slime block, or cobweb
   • You can place these below you while falling but this requires good timing
2. Grabbing a water bucket
3. Ladder in midair
4. Throwing an ender pearl in midair
   • You need to throw it just before you hit the ground as the ender pearl is slower than you falling
   • The ender pearl itself does 5 points (2.5 hearts) of damage
5. Quit to title, then reload the map (Can be used only in Glitched run)

The following methods will reduce falling damage:

1. Fall while inside mine cart or boat, dismount before hitting the ground
2. Boots with feather falling enchantment
3. Jump boost or feather falling effects
4. Landing in lava (don't try)
5. Landing on a hay bale, a bed, or any other fall-reducing blocks

Routing

When planning a route, consider the following:

• Map objectives
• Map rules (some maps allow nether portals, for example Sunburn Islands and Pantheon)
• Food
• Items that help you clear areas faster (ender pearls, ladders, etc.)
• Items that increase your speed (speed potions, equipment with speed buffs)
• If areas are open to the sky, also take the game time into account

Depending on the map it may be better to leave early areas for later, for example if you can find gear in later areas to speed it up or make it easier. However, you must consider if it is worth the time backtracking.

Practicing your route using peaceful difficulty or map backups is helpful but keep in mind you cannot do this for real runs, so plan your strategies accordingly.

Drawing a map for yourself can be useful, especially for larger CTMs. A flow chart application might be good for this (i.e. draw.io). Here are a few tips for drawing your own map:

• Use spectator/creative mode or MCEdit to investigate the mapCHEATING
• Find and list the chests with useful loot in each area
• Note the location and types of spawners in your routing path, particularly mobs unique to the map
• Locations you can potentially tunnel between areas

Inventory management

General Minecraft tips

• In Minecraft 1.7 or later you can remap your hotkey slots to be more convenient for you
• Memorizing the monument is recommended, it helps you place the objective blocks faster
  • Most CTM maps use the standard wool monument (with some variance on metal blocks), but some are unique

Enchants

• A Respiration enchant on a helmet increases your vision underwater
• An Efficiency 1 tool is about the same speed as the next tier (e.g. Eff.1 stone pick = normal iron pick)
  • Remember that efficiency does not strengthen a pickaxe, e.g. a wood pick cannot mine iron even if it is enchanted to be faster than stone
• Block breaking time calculation (assume using proper tool)
  • (Block hardness * 30) / ((Tool base speed + Efficiency bonus) * (Haste multiplier)) , round up to the next integer, in game tick(1 tick = 0.05s)
    • If the value is less than 1, the block will be broken instantly
  • Efficiency bonus = 1 + Efficiency level ^2 , no bonus if no efficiency enchantment
    • For example, Efficiency V gives a bonus value of 26
  • Haste multiplier = 1 + 0.2 * Haste level
  • Example:

Material	Wood	Stone	Iron	Diamond	Gold
Tool base speed	2	4	6	8	12

Blocks	Hardness	Tool	Efficiency	Haste	Breaking Time (sec)	Instant Break?
Stone	1.5	Iron Pickaxe	-	-	0.4	N
Stone	1.5	Iron Pickaxe	5	-	0.1	N
Stone	1.5	Iron Pickaxe	-	2	0.3	N
Obsidian	50	Diamond Pickaxe	10	2	0.5	N
Obsidian	50	Diamond Pickaxe	32	3	0.05	Y

in case you actually want to speedrun just follow these steps

1. mine 3 logs any wood works craft a iron or diamond pickaxe
2. make stone shovel and axe
3. Find a magma ravine
4. if there is gravel there too mine that until you get one flint
5. mine stone get stone pick, sword, and axe (you can also make shovel)
6. Make sure you get island spawns for buried treasure or shipwreck
7. also make sure you know where or are by a lava pool
8. then go to village and mine all beds(this will help against ender dragon)
9. if there is iron golem, hit a villager so he comes towards you, then run away and stack up 4 or 5 blocks
10. this makes it so that he cant hit you and you can hit him
11. after killing him get the iron and make flint and steel and a bucket (if not enough iron for both make the bucket first and then try to find exposed iron) or as you do step 3. look for iron as well and mine it
12. after that fill the bucket with water
13. then go to that lava pool and make a speed portal(if you don't know how go to YouTube and search it up)
14. as you wait in the portal pray that the fortress is near
15. if not, that's ok just look around (this might waste some time but you can try to make it up)
16. make sure to mine enough nether gold to make boots
17. once in the fortress find the blaze spawn and kill enough to get 7 or 8 rods
18. turn that into blaze powder
19. NOW if you are EXTREMELY lucky you might find a bastion with piglins and gold blocks
20. mine the blocks and turn them into ingots and trap the piglins in a hole or something
21. then trade with them by throwing the gold and wait until you get at least 12 ender pearls
22. now head back to the overworld and make ONLY 2 ender eyes
23. after this you should throw them and head in the direction it says
24. there are some tricks on how to use the ender eyes on YouTube so look up videos to find the stronghold faster
25. once in the stronghold prepare for battle and find the portal room
26. now craft the however many ender eyes you need (don't use all the pearls because they can help you in the fight
27. at some point you should have made a bow and at least 32-64 arrows (probably should have mentioned that earlier)
28. anyways when your in the end be careful, and shoot the end crystals
29. a tip for when the dragon shoots his breath at you, BUILD UP 3 BLOCKS, the breath cant touch you then
30. now when all the crystals are destroyed wait for the dragon to come towards the bedrock portal
31. after she lies down place a bed and some protection
32. then right click the bed and it should blow up and damage the dragon
33. eventually it should kill her and you can jump in the portal
34. you have now successfully speedran Minecraft

Advanced Tricks

If the map rules do not disallow it, you can clip through one block thick bedrock in a few ways:

• Damaging a boat while riding in it, for example with a bow or flint and steel (to clip down)
• Ender pearling (to go up)