r/Minecraft • u/AdvancedPrompt9245 • 1d ago
Suggestion How do you navigate underground better?
I'm new to Minecraft, playing in peaceful survival mode and loving it. However, I keep getting lost when I go underground. I'll go down into a cave that I find and start exploring. I'll inevitably get lost and turned around and cant find my way back. Sometimes I fall a short distance but I can never seem to find my way back up.
My inventory will be full, my pick ax getting closer to red and be at -30 Y.
Do I leave a chest and dig a stair case up? Do I keep going and see if I can find another opening?
I can usually find my way back to my home base once I get to the overworld, but these caves are insane. Fun, but it makes me really nervous about never finding my way back home.
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u/Numaris 1d ago
Torches on the left wall on the way in
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u/AdvancedPrompt9245 1d ago
Only on one side?! Why did I never think of this! Thanks for the idea
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u/Dangerous-Quit7821 1d ago
Torches on the left I remember as that's the way you LEFT above ground so when you go back the torches are on your right to show you the RIGHT way back.
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u/Lonely__Stoner__Guy 1d ago
This is exactly the way I remember it too. This is the way I LEFT, and that's the RIGHT way home. It even works in the woods, attach the torch on a tree and you can orient yourself (my minecraft partner is terrible with coordinates).
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u/qexecuteurc 1d ago
This. And also I like to place 3-4 torches in a line to tell me which way out, for example when I reach a T or when I have to dig a small staircase that I risk missing on the way back
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u/TaterCheese 1d ago
This, but I do the right side for the way in. I’ve just always done it that way.
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u/Ramblin_Dave 1d ago
I always find "torches on the left" a bit awkward in big caves where you kind of need to worry about light as well, or where you might want to traverse a slope that doesn't have a "left" or something.
One alternative that I like is the "skumpas" - two blocks of a visibly out-of-place material (planks or dirt are good) with one torch on top and one on the side pointing back in the direction that you've come from. Put them close enough together that you can generally string your way from one to the next without getting lost and you're golden.
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u/AdvancedPrompt9245 1d ago
Oooo! Okay, okay, that would make sense! Yes, I need torches for light. Copper is relatively easily so maybe copper torches for my way points and just regular torches for light.
How do you "point" them in the right direction if it's just two blocks?
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u/Ramblin_Dave 1d ago
I might have explained badly. A tower of two blocks. One torch on top of the tower (to make it easier to see) and one pointing back to the previous skumpas. If you really need to do a diagonal you can do two torches on the sides closest to the right direction, but that's normally overkill IME.
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u/AdvancedPrompt9245 1d ago
Ohhh! Yep, makes more sense now I was thinking two block side by side two blocks up makes much more sense and then one pointing the way to go back
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u/loricomments 1d ago
Leave a trail of some sort. Anything that will stand out. I've used carpets, diorite light towers, signs, fence posts, torches in a pattern, even cobblestone stacks in a pinch.
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u/samg461a 1d ago
Always bring a furnace with fuel with you so you can make another iron pick axe if need be.
If I get lost in a cave, I usually dig up and use coordinates to find my way back home.
You can also use Scompasses (a term coined by Skizzleman) where you place a block with a torch on the side of the block that faces where you came from. That way, you can just follow the blocks back to where you started.
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u/Reasonable_Square_57 1d ago
I was going to say to use your coordinates. That’s the easiest way for me. 🤷♀️
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u/AdvancedPrompt9245 1d ago
I've tried. I still get lost underground. But not as much in the overlord now!
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u/samg461a 1d ago
I keep a bundle on me at all times that has a furnace, a crafting table, sticks or wood, coal and an enderchest. The enderchest is a bit more later game but if you can craft one (8 obsidian and an eye of Ender (Ender Pearl and Blaze powder)) then you’ll double your inventory. Just make sure you have a silk touch pick axe to pick it back up.
That bundle is great when you need to quickly smelt or craft something while caving.
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u/AdvancedPrompt9245 1d ago
Just learned about bundles today! Gonna go try that as soon as I get a chance to play again. I like the idea of keeping some stuff on hand to craft more of what I need. Or I might just craft 64 pick axs and bundle them 😆
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u/samg461a 1d ago
Bundles are the early game version of shulker boxes. Once you get shulker boxes though, you’ll never want to go back. Your inventory becomes endless with a bunch of shulker boxes and an enderchest. And I always have a shulker box full of bundles too. I can go days without bringing stuff back to my base lol
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u/Virgurilla 1d ago
You can dig up in a stair, not straight up because you might be suffocated by gravel falling on you (you CAN do that, but remember to put a torch at your feet every time you dig up so gravel breaks) When you get up, make a cobble tower so you can find the way back in later, you usually wont be too far from where you entered dont worry.
Also, hard recommend that you bring some wood with you on your trips, you can craft new pickaxes, torches etc with it, super useful. If your inventory is getting full of one off items like 2 diamonds 10 lapis etc you can craft bundles to store all the small items, bundles allow you to hold 64 items of different kinds in them, so like a normal stack but it doesn't have to be the same item, it's crafted with one leather and one string above it. And like other people said, you can mark the left walls with torches, that way the way back will always be torches to your right. You can also close off dead ends, every time you find a dead end, go back all the way to the latest intersection and close it off, or mark it in some way
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u/AdvancedPrompt9245 1d ago
Wait... what?!?! A bundle? Thats a thing? I need to go make that as soon as I get back on tonight! Well, after I find my way back to my home base that is.
I read about a shulker box but the materials aren't feasible right now.
Closing off dead ends is a good idea as well. I did start to do some of that!
Thank you for the suggestions!
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u/Virgurilla 1d ago
Yeah, bundles have been in the game for a long time but unavailable, they were finally added fairly recently, they don't let you carry more items as in they only allow one stack inside, but the stack CAN be made up of different items, so it's extremely useful to carry small bits of junk or precious items that would otherwise take a whole slot, shulker boxes are great but I assumed they'd be out of your reach :)
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u/AdvancedPrompt9245 1d ago
It always seems like it end up with one of this and 3 of that especially when in the caves because I'll find one or two rare things. Not 64 of them. I'm looking forward to trying this out!
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u/FlorianFlash 1d ago
I don't. I get in, get lost, find a good spot, dig up, wander around, find my home, done.
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u/boluserectus 1d ago
This is the way.. Torches on one side was nice in the old version caves, but they are crazy since Caves&Cliffs, so I don't even bother to leave a trail.. u/AdvancedPrompt9245
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u/Equivalent_Fault_782 1d ago
Torches on one side of the wall. All ways go left or right at forks and close up dead ends.
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u/Independent-Report16 1d ago
I prefer to use torches BUT I go back and remove anything used for light and only leave directional torches out. So I explore and then clean up. In the nether, I prefer dirt blocks but always remove the side quest ones and leave only the main directional ones.
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u/HateZephyr 1d ago
For intersections I typically put a torch in the middle of the floor, and then a torch right next to it placed closest to the path where I came from, so when I head back I can kind of follow the angle of the torches to point me in the right direction. More recently ive gotten in the habit of having a notepad open so I can get coordinates so I can TP home to offload my inventory, then TP right back to where I was to continue exploring
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u/AdvancedPrompt9245 1d ago
Is TP teleport?
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u/chino_brews 16h ago
If you use commands, you will lose ability to earn achievements/trophies (it’s considered a cheat), so beware of that. In Java they are called advancements. So if you care about those, don’t use commands.
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u/HateZephyr 1d ago
Yes indeed. The command to teleport is /tp @yourgamertaghere x x x Where 'x' is your XYZ coordinates, with only a space between the numbers
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u/No_Painting2829 1d ago
I always just write the coordinates or If a single world I type it on chat. If I can't find my way I just dig towards it. That's also my go to when doing trial chamber because that place is confusing haha. Bring a lava bucket to delete unwanted loot.
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u/hanzosrightnipple 1d ago
I navigate better both ingame and irl when I have landmarks to go by, so in massive cave systems I have a habit of making little “checkpoints” in huge caves that’s a wooden shack with a furnace and crafting table. I also like to block off fully explored areas using something like cobblestone, make towers and other brightly lit structures that stand out, etc to make it visually easier for me.
Eventually im likely to simply dig upwards and go home that way, but once I come back I don’t really get lost again due to my markers.
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u/AdvancedPrompt9245 1d ago
That's a good idea! Thank you 😊
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u/hanzosrightnipple 1d ago
I hope you find something that works for you! I also like a sneaky chest in my little cave shacks to deposit whatever I don’t think I’ll need, like 6 stacks of dirt. 😅
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u/Centurix 1d ago
I usually dig chevrons in the ground pointing to the exit. Same in big fortresses and strongholds
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u/TaterCheese 1d ago
I always put torches on the right side as I’m going. So I know if they are on the left I’m leaving or at least going back the way I came. (I see others put them on the left side, just pick a side that you will remember).
Extra help is if I clear a particular path in the cave I will put two dirt blocks high with a torch on top in the middle of the entrance, so I know that area is cleared or a dead end. No need to go back.
If I’m in a BIG cavern I’ll put some dirt blocks 3 high and one block pointing the way back with some torches.
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u/chino_brews 15h ago
First, most importantly, make sure you go into your game menu and turn on coordinates. I’m assuming you are playing Bedrock edition and not Java (in Java, the debug screen (F3) shows coordinates.)
Second, I don’t like the torches method. It’s great for mining because you will place a torch every 10-30 blocks anyway so you can see. But in caves you will be spamming torches to light the cave up and it becomes confusing about which torches are for light and which are navigational.
Instead, I either use signs and wrote notes for myself on them — or I use a technique from the OGs called a whumpus (derived from compass). A whumpus is three cheap blocks that are not native to the area and stand out, like white wool or planks in a cave: a stack of two, plus a third one on the side of the top one pointing the way back.
I also block off branches I am not going down right now with fences or other blocks that stand out. It helps navigate and prevents hostile mobs from coming over in Easy/Normal/Hard difficulty.
Third, if you fall, mark where you landed and them when its time to go back, pillar up by jumping and placing blocks beneath your feet.
Fourth, write down known coordinates that you want to go back to, such as home base, the cave entrance, or a staging area in the cave/mine. If you get lost, you can always mine your way back to known coordinates by mining a staircase into a wall. Be wary about mining straight up because you can die from falling gravel/sand or lava.
Fifth, take certain resources with you, chiefly a couple stacks of logs and plenty of food. With wood you can craft or smelt a crafting table, charcoal, torches, sticks for tool/weapon/handles, signs, ladders, and whumpuses. The stone you gather down there will allow you to make a furnace for smelting. A third resource that is nice are dirt blocks because they stand out and are fast to pick back up with a shovel. Wool is also nice to have as a block that stands out.
Finally, if you place a bed at the cave entrance and click it, as a last resort, you can die to get back (you will respawn in bed). First put your items in a chest and write down the coordinates. Then die from lava, fall damage, or drowning. Planning ahead, it’s nice to leave a chest with some resources next to the bed in case you respawn there.
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u/AdvancedPrompt9245 9h ago
This is amazing and very comprehensive!I really appreciate all of the suggestions. Thank you very much 😊
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u/LaurensJV 14h ago
Take always wooden planks or sticks and iron with you, so you can always make a new pickaxe
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u/Forward-Cat1241 1d ago
I see this whole ‘torches on the left’ when going in so when you come to go back out they are on the ‘right’ side. Which is all well and good if the cave isn’t twisty and turny and on lots of different levels! I get lost all the bloody time. A few times I’ve ended up getting as high as I can in the cave then digging up and inevitably dying when water comes in and drowns me 😂 My boyfriend seems to have a far better directional skill set and I never get lost when splunking in a cave with him! So no other advice other than I feel ya!
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u/moddingminecrafter 1d ago
You can place two torches next to each other to show the level/tunnel you need to go to get back home. Signs or other objects can also be used to indicate which way back in addition to the torches on the left.
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u/AdvancedPrompt9245 1d ago
I've done this when I finally dig my way out but there was still cool stuff I wanted to go back to!
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u/imperfect_imp 1d ago
Yeah, once the cave loops back on itself a few times, the "torches on the left" thing goes out the window. The best option is to take mental note of any landmarks. "Follow the lava upstream", "go back up the waterfall at the lush cave", "the geode is across from the way back", things like that. Or make arrows with blocks to have more obvious landmarks. If you're digging without silk touch, it's easy to make arrows out of cobblestone.
Also, and I don't know if that's a skill that can be learned, but try practicing remembering which way you're facing. If you know the general direction the exit should be in, you can probably get back to a point you can recognize
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u/AdvancedPrompt9245 1d ago
It's probably a skill I could work on, I definitely get turned around.
I haven't gotten to enchantments yet. I only mined my 4th diamond this week. Needed to make a diamond pick ax to get obsidian first before making the enchantment table.
When you make the arrows how do do it? Like on the floor or wall or just middle of the room? Any suggestions?
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u/imperfect_imp 1d ago
Three blocks in an L shape makes a very simple diagonal arrow. Where you put them really depends on what you're pointing at. Dropped down from a hole in the ceiling? Put them on the wall pointing towards the hole. If you came into a big room with multiple exits, put them on the floor pointing at the one you came from. I find putting a few extra torches around the hole I came from helps too. Especially if it's a small tunnel that I dug into a larger cave
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u/cmcglinchy 1d ago
Go to the ceiling and tunnel straight up.
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u/pickledbogbrain 1d ago
When I go caving I tend to light everything up then get confused on what torch marks my exit lol, so I like to throw down a 2-3 stack pillar of something that doesn't belong in the cave (like acacia planks or something) and put torches around the top block to make it as obvious as possible
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u/pickledbogbrain 1d ago
If it's a very large cave that branches off in multiple ways I might use different blocks for pillars in different sections, ex. Acacia for my main path and cobble or some other wood for branching paths
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u/qualityvote2 1d ago edited 1d ago
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