Difference between revisions of "Getting Started"

Revision as of 14:33, 22 January 2023

Language:	English • français

Welcome to Minetest! This page explains what Minetest is all about, how to get it, and how to start playing your first games alone or online.

“What is this strange ‘Minetest’ thing I keep hearing about?”

Welcome to Minetest (Minetest Game, Coniferous Forest)

Minetest is a platform on which you can play many games which are set in a world entirely made out of blocks, voxels.
You can play offline or online, in singleplayer or multiplayer.
Most games (but not all!) have a sandbox gameplay focused on construction, mining and creativity.
The default game is Minetest Game, but there are many more.
You can install mods to modify certain aspects of gameplay. Mods are an inherent part of Minetest, it is even what games consist of.
Mods work out of the box when playing on servers, no additional installations required. Mods are server-side, everything is handled automatically.
The name "Minetest" only refers to the game engine. The name "Minetest Game" only refers to the default game.

Getting Minetest

Windows

Download Minetest.
- The 64-bit build is extremely recommended. Always use this unless you are absolutely sure you're on an old machine that doesn't have a 64-bit processor.
Minetest on Windows is distributed in a portable archive. Extract it where you want, whether it be on your desktop, in your documents folder or in the root of your C: drive.
- Keep in mind you need write permissions to the folder. Do NOT save to C:\Program Files\ or similar, as it will cause problems (no write access).
To run Minetest, open the extracted directory and look for the bin (binary) directory. Inside the bin directory is the Minetest executable, minetest.exe.
- If you want a desktop shortcut or the like, just make create a shortcut to this executable.

macOS

Download Minetest for macOS. You can pick the official .app, Homebrew or the Macports version.

Linux

If you are on a distribution with up to date enough repositories, you can install Minetest from your package manager.

Otherwise it is recommended to obtain Minetest through other means, such as the Flatpak package.

If all else fails, you can build from source by cloning the engine repository and following the build instructions.

You can try to compile Minetest from the latest source on GitHub using this one-line script for installing/compiling Minetest Git, for Debian / Ubuntu / Mint

Playing

Now that you have it installed you can either; play singleplayer, play on a local server or play online by connecting to a server.

Play Singleplayer

When playing singleplayer, you should look at the games that are available. The default game that ships with Minetest, Minetest Game, is best played with mods and might not be particularly enjoyable in vanilla. You can browse the games that are available by pressing the "plus" icon in the gamebar.

To install mods or texture packs, go to the "Content" tab, press "Browse Online Content" and pick the type of package you want to browse. To enable a texture pack select it in the content tab, and to enable mods you have installed, you need to select the world you want to play with mods in, press "Select mods", and enable the wanted mods.

To play singleplayer, simply create a world, select a map generator (optional) and click Play. By default, you start in Minetest Game. Read How to build your first house for your first steps in Minetest Game.

There is the Tutorial game for an interactive introduction to common Minetest gameplay elements.

Play Online

Joining multiplayers server is done in the "Join game" tab. To select a server, click on its name in the server list. If you know of a server from e.g. a friend that's not listed in the server list, you can manually input the address and port to the right.

When you are new to a server, you need to first register. Press the register button and input the username and password you want to use. Next time you log in with this username and password.

Accounts in Minetest are not centralised. This means that accounts are stored on each server, rather than on a central server. You do not have to use the same username, but using different passwords are recommended (however servers cannot see your password, it is one-way hashed during transit). Some servers allow a blank password but using a password is strongly recommended to stop others stealing your player and causing damage. You can change your password by clicking 'change password' on pause menu (ESC).

Basic Controls

Most of these can be changed in the “Change Keys” menu. For a more complete list of keyboard controls, see Controls.

The default and most important controls are:

W/A/S/D: move
Space: jump
Left mouse button: Punch, mine blocks, move an item stack in an inventory
Right mouse button: use (e.g. open chest or furnace), place blocks, move one item or split items in an inventory
Shift+Right mouse button: place blocks
Middle mouse button: move 10 items in an inventory
Mouse wheel: select item in the hotbar
0-9: select item in the hotbar
Q: drop block, item or tool in hand
I: open or close the inventory menu
T: open the chat window
Shift: descend on ladders or sneak (walk slower, prevents falling off ledges)

Gameplay

The common Minetest gameplay is taught in the Tutorial game which is aimed towards complete newbies, it can be installed from the content browser.

A very brief but outdated introduction into Minetest can be seen in this video.

A quick-start guide for Minetest Game can be found at How to build your first house.

The following wiki pages explain some basic Minetest concepts more or less in-depth:

As soon as you grasped the basics, you may want to look up which blocks and items are available and get an overview about farming. Just want to build? Try creative mode! If you want more, consider trying new mods and games. If you want to play online, you should read the gameplay notes for multiplayer servers.

Advanced topics:

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 == “What is this strange ‘Minetest’ thing I keep hearing about?” ==
 [[File:Coniferous_Forest_(Minetest_5.6.0_w-_shadows).png|thumb|300px|Welcome to Minetest (Minetest Game, Coniferous Forest)]]
-* '''[[Minetest]]''' is a program on which you can play many '''games''' which are set in a '''world entirely made out of blocks'''.
+* '''[[Minetest]]''' is a platform on which you can play many '''games''' which are set in a '''world entirely made out of blocks''', voxels.
-* You can play '''offline or online'''.
+* You can play '''offline or online''', in singleplayer or multiplayer.
-* Minetest supports running various '''[[games]]''', which is '''the''' core feature of Minetest
+* Most games (but not all!) have a sandbox gameplay focused on construction, mining and creativity.
-* Most games (but not all!) have a sandbox gameplay focused on construction, mining and creativity
 * The default game is [[Games/Minetest Game|Minetest Game]], but '''[https://content.minetest.net/packages/?type=game there are many more]'''.
-* You can install '''[[mods]] to modify''' certain '''aspects of gameplay'''. Mods are an '''inherent''' part of Minetest.
+* You can install '''[[mods]] to modify''' certain '''aspects of gameplay'''. Mods are an '''inherent''' part of Minetest, it is even what games consist of.
 * '''Mods work out of the box when playing on [[server]]s''', no additional installations required. Mods are server-side, everything is handled automatically.
-* The name “Minetest” ''only'' refers to the game engine. The name “Minetest Game” ''only'' refers to the default game.
+* The name "Minetest" ''only'' refers to the game engine. The name "Minetest Game" ''only'' refers to the default game.
 == Getting Minetest ==
 === Windows ===
-* [http://www.minetest.net/downloads/ Download Minetest]. If you have a 64-bit version of Windows, you should use a 64-bit download, but the 32-bit build will also run on 64-bit systems. The inverse of this is not true – 64-bit builds will not run on a 32-bit Windows.
+* [http://www.minetest.net/downloads/ Download Minetest].
-* Extract the downloaded archive. We suggest <code>C:\Minetest\</code>, <code>C:\Games\Minetest\</code> or <code>%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Minetest\</code>. It doesn't matter where, as long as you have read/write access.
+** The 64-bit build is extremely recommended. Always use this unless you are absolutely sure you're on an old machine that doesn't have a 64-bit processor.
-** '''Do NOT save to <code>C:\Program Files\</code> or similar, as it will cause problems (no write access).'''
+* Minetest on Windows is distributed in a portable archive. Extract it where you want, whether it be on your desktop, in your documents folder or in the root of your C: drive.
+** Keep in mind you need write permissions to the folder. '''Do NOT save to <code>C:\Program Files\</code> or similar, as it will cause problems (no write access).'''
 * To run Minetest, open the extracted directory and look for the <code>bin</code> (binary) directory. Inside the <code>bin</code> directory is the Minetest executable, <code>minetest.exe</code>.
 ** If you want a desktop shortcut or the like, just make create a shortcut to this executable.
-Here is the directory structure you should have:
+=== macOS ===
-<pre>
+* [http://minetest.net/download#macos Download Minetest for macOS]. You can pick the official .app, Homebrew or the Macports version.
-minetest/
-├── bin/
-├── builtin/
-├── client/
-├── doc/
-├── fonts/
-├── games/
-├── locale/
-├── mods/
-└── textures/
-</pre>
-Once you run Minetest, some more folders like the <code>worlds/</code> folder will be created.
+=== Linux ===
+If you are on a distribution with up to date enough repositories, you can install Minetest from your package manager.
-=== OS X ===
+Otherwise it is recommended to obtain Minetest through other means, such as the [https://flathub.org/apps/details/net.minetest.Minetest Flatpak package].
-* [http://minetest.net/download#osx Download Minetest].
-* Extract the file. It doesn't matter where, as long as you have read write access.
-* Open the .app file in the extracted folder.
-Or use Homebrew to install the latest stable version:
-<pre>brew install minetest
-brew linkapps</pre>
-=== GNU/Linux Installation ===
+If all else fails, you can build from source by cloning the engine repository and following the build instructions.
-* If you are on a distribution with up to date enough repositories, you can install Minetest from your package manager.
-* If you are on Debian, Ubuntu or derivative, you can use:
+You can try to compile Minetest from the latest source on GitHub using this [http://forum.minetest.net/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3837 one-line script] for installing/compiling Minetest Git, for Debian / Ubuntu / Mint
-<pre>sudo apt-get install minetest</pre>
-This may however give you an outdated version, see the pages below for information on versions available:
-[https://packages.debian.org/search?keywords=minetest <code>minetest</code> on packages.debian.org]<br />
-[http://packages.ubuntu.com/search?keywords=minetest <code>minetest</code> on packages.ubuntu.com]
-* You can also try to compile Minetest from the latest source on GitHub using this [http://forum.minetest.net/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3837 one-line script] for installing/compiling Minetest Git, for Debian / Ubuntu / Mint
-* On some Linux-systems, you can also install Minetest as a [https://snapcraft.io/docs/getting-started SNAP]-package, see [https://snapcraft.io/minetest snap-store]. Such a SNAP-installation would be separate from a minetest-version installed via apt or compiled, with its files, mods, worlds, screenshots etc. stored under <code>~/snap/minetest/</code>. That means, you could have eg. an old 0.4.x and a new 0.5.x version both ready to play on your pc.
-* Minetest can also be install from the [https://flathub.org/apps/details/net.minetest.Minetest Flatpak package], see also [https://flatpak.org/setup/ Quick Setup] for more information on setting up Flatpak. The configuration file(minetest.conf, mods, world, etc.) will be saved under <code>~/.var/app/net.minetest.Minetest/.minetest</code>.
-<pre>
-$ sudo apt update
-$ sudo apt install flatpak
-(GNOME) $ sudo apt install gnome-software-plugin-flatpak
-(KDE)   $ sudo apt install plasma-discover-backend-flatpak
-$ flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
-(Reboot the system)
-$ flatpak install flathub net.minetest.Minetest
-or Search "Minetest" and install from Gnome Software / Discover.
-</pre>
-=== Folder structure according to CMakeLists.txt ===
-based on the building scripts in [https://github.com/minetest/minetest/blob/master/CMakeLists.txt CMakeLists.txt on github]
-{|class="wikitable sortable"
-!'''DirVariable'''
-!'''WIN32'''
-!'''APPLE'''
-!'''UNIX/Linux/BSD  RUN_IN_PLACE'''
-!'''UNIX/Linux/BSD'''
-!'''Description'''
-|-
-| SHAREDIR|| <big>'''.'''</big> ||${BUNDLE_NAME}/Contents/Resources|| <big>'''.'''</big> ||${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/share/${PROJECT_NAME}||Directory to install data files into
-|-
-| BINDIR||bin||${BUNDLE_NAME}/Contents/MacOS||bin||${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/bin||Directory to install binaries into
-|-
-| DOCDIR||doc||${SHAREDIR}/${PROJECT_NAME}||doc||${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/share/doc/${PROJECT_NAME}||Directory to install documentation into
-|-
-| EXAMPLE_CONF_DIR|| <big>'''.'''</big> ||${DOCDIR}|| <big>'''.'''</big> ||${DOCDIR}||Directory to install example config file into
-|-
-| MANDIR||||||unix/man||${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/share/man||Directory to install manpages into
-|-
-| XDG_APPS_DIR||||||unix/applications||${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/share/applications||Directory to install .desktop files into
-|-
-| APPDATADIR||||||unix/appdata||${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/share/appdata||
-|-
-| ICONDIR||||||unix/icons||${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/share/icons||Directory to install icons into
-|-
-| LOCALEDIR||locale||${SHAREDIR}/locale||locale||${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/share/${PROJECT_NAME}/locale||Directory to install l10n files into
-|}
-for Apple "BUNDLE_NAME" is set to  "${PROJECT_NAME}.app" where the project_name is set to minetest and <br />
-the "BUNDLE_PATH" is set to "${BUNDLE_NAME}"
 == Playing ==
 Now that you have it installed you can either; play singleplayer, play on a local server or play online by connecting to a server.
 === Play Singleplayer ===
+When playing singleplayer, you should look at the games that are available. The default game that ships with Minetest, Minetest Game, is best played with mods and might not be particularly enjoyable in vanilla. You can browse the games that are available by pressing the "plus" icon in the gamebar.
+To install mods or texture packs, go to the "Content" tab, press "Browse Online Content" and pick the type of package you want to browse. To enable a texture pack select it in the content tab, and to enable mods you have installed, you need to select the world you want to play with mods in, press "Select mods", and enable the wanted mods.
 To play singleplayer, simply '''create''' a [[world]], select a [[map generator]] (optional) and click '''Play'''. By default, you start in [[Games/Minetest Game|Minetest Game]]. Read [[How to build your first house]] for your first steps in Minetest Game.
-There is also an unofficial [[Games/Tutorial|Tutorial]] for an interactive introduction into Minetest in general.
+There is the [https://content.minetest.net/packages/Wuzzy/tutorial/ Tutorial] game for an interactive introduction to common Minetest gameplay elements.
-You can also choose to install other [[Games|games]]. We recommend this, because games is one of ''the'' key features in Minetest; if you only look at Minetest Game, you will be missing out on a lot of other interesting creations from the community.
 === Play Online ===
+Joining multiplayers server is done in the "Join game" tab. To select a server, click on its name in the server list. If you know of a server from e.g. a friend that's not listed in the server list, you can manually input the address and port to the right.
-[[File:Password.PNG|thumb|250px|Change password screen]]
+When you are new to a server, you need to first register. Press the register button and input the username and password you want to use. Next time you log in with this username and password.
-Joining a multiplayer server is done in the 'Client' tab. To select a server, click its name on the server list. The address and port will be automatically filled.
-Some servers are not listed on the server list.
-[https://forum.minetest.net/viewforum.php?f=10 Find the server's] topic, and enter the address and port given into the text boxes in the client tab.
-An address will look like <code>redcrab.suret.net</code> or <code>64.3.4.1</code>. The port is a whole number between 1 and 65535.
-After choosing a server and selecting it, you must enter a username and password.
-'''Accounts in Minetest are not centralized.''' This means that accounts are stored on each server, rather than on a central server. You do not have to use the same username as on the forums, and you do not even need to have a forum account. Using a password is strongly recommended to stop others stealing your player and causing damage. You can change your password by clicking 'change password' on pause menu (ESC).
-Minetest [https://github.com/minetest/minetest/issues/1943 uses SRP authentication].
-Some servers require you to request for build privileges on their forum topic, as an anti-griefing measure.
+'''Accounts in Minetest are not centralised.''' This means that accounts are stored on each server, rather than on a central server. You do not have to use the same username, but using different passwords are recommended (however servers cannot see your password, it is one-way hashed during transit). Some servers allow a blank password but using a password is strongly recommended to stop others stealing your player and causing damage. You can change your password by clicking 'change password' on pause menu (ESC).
 === Basic Controls ===
@@ Line 155: / Line 72: @@
 === Gameplay ===
-The basic Minetest gameplay is taught in the unofficial Tutorial game which is aimed towards complete newbies, see [[Games/Tutorial]] for a guide on how to install and start it.
+The common Minetest gameplay is taught in the [https://content.minetest.net/packages/Wuzzy/tutorial/ Tutorial] game which is aimed towards complete newbies, it can be installed from the content browser.
 A very brief but outdated introduction into Minetest can be seen in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJMj8MiqjwI this video].
@@ Line 179: / Line 96: @@
 == See also ==
 * [[Help:Advanced Beginners Guide]]
-{{Languages}}
 [[Category:Tutorials]]