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Simple marks, like towers of dirt, can be quick and easy solutions for the short term, but there are significantly better methods of keeping track of crucial areas, such as one’s home or other locations of interest. One of the most straightforward manners of navigating is to use a Compass, which, most of the time, will point to the exact spot where the player spawned into the current world.
However, if one wants to direct a Compass to point somewhere of their choosing, players can create and interact with a Lodestone. This block can be helpful for those relocating one’s base or to keep track of a specific location with only a Compass due to a Map being unable to help for whatever reason. Making one can take a bit of time and effort but is worth it for ideal world navigation in the procedurally generated Minecraft.
How To Craft a Lodestone
Lodestones need to be crafted from 1 Netherite Ingot and 8 Chiseled Stone Bricks. Both of these will be a bit tricky to get a hold of, particularly the former, as it requires spending a lot of time in the Nether. The crafting recipe will involve placing the Netherite Ingot into the center of a Crafting Table and then surrounding it on all sides with Chiseled Stone Bricks.
How To Get Netherite Ingots
These need to be made from 4 Netherite Scraps and 4 Gold Ingots, which makes each pretty expensive and time-intensive to obtain. Gold Ore can be found deep underground in Minecraftia, but for Netherite Scraps, players will need to dig deep into the lower layers of the Nether to find Ancient Debris, which can be smelted into Netherite Scraps.
Placing 4 Netherite Scrap in the upper left of a Crating Table while filling the rest of the slots, except the bottom-right one, with Gold Ingots will allow players to obtain 1 Netherite Ingot.
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How To Get Chiseled Stone Bricks
Chiseled Stone Bricks are a variant of the Stone Brick block that has an ornate design. They can be found in strongholds, various kinds of ruins, and other significant locations, but the easiest way to get some is to craft them by using lots of regular Stone blocks. However, the process is a bit lengthy and can be tedious, albeit relatively resource-cheap.
Firstly, smelt some Cobblestone in a Furnace to turn it into Stone, then combine 4 Stone in a square on any crafting surface to get Stone Bricks. Following this, place 3 Stone Bricks in a horizontal line on a Crafting Table to get Stone Brick Slabs, 2 of which are needed to make 1 Chiseled Stone Brick. The final step to getting this ornate grey block is to place 2 Stone Brick Slabs in any crafting menu (place one directly on top of the other). Repeat this process until one has enough for their crafting needs.
What Lodestones Do & How To Use Them
How To Activate A Lodestone & Pair It With A Compass
By holding a Compass in one’s hand and using it on a Lodestone, players can make the Compass’ needle point to the Lodestone from now on instead of pointing to the location where players spawned into the world. After this is done, a colored glint will appear on the Compass that is paired with the Lodestone.
Lodestones & Different Dimensions
Lodestones are only useful for navigating in the dimension that they are placed. For example, Lodestones in Minecraftia will only interact with the paired Compass and show its position if the player is also in Minecraftia as opposed to in the Nether or the End. If one enters a different dimension and pulls out their paired Compass, it will spin randomly like how such devices do when one normally enters the Nether or the End.
Destroying & Replacing Lodestones
If a Lodestone is destroyed, the paired Compass’ needle will begin to spin wildly, however, if one places a new Lodestone in the same exact spot as the original, the pair Compass will return to functioning normally. This indicates that the paired Compass is actually pointing to a signal location that a Lodestone emits as opposed to being connected to the specific Lodestone with which it was initially paired.
Lodestones, Pistons, & Breaking
This ornate navigational block cannot be moved or broken by Pistons and Sticky Pistons, thankfully, as this could be used for annoying yet subtle trolling in online Minecraft servers. Lodestones can, however, be broken by other means, so be careful that one only mines them with a pickaxe for collection, as using one’s hand or any other tool will simply result in it being destroyed.
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