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Your first map

In this walkthrough you build a house on a small hill and create a zone that shows a title when you walk in front of the house. At the end, you export it as a Minecraft world and open it in the game. Each step has a Check line describing what you should see on screen. It takes about 30 minutes.

Before you start, finish Install and first launch and make sure a version that has a jar is selected in Target version at the right of the menu bar. For camera controls, see Camera and views.

1. Create and save a new world

Section titled “1. Create and save a new world”
  1. Click File › New (Ctrl+N).
  2. Click File › Save As… (Ctrl+Shift+S).
  3. Create a new folder (e.g. first_map) and save as first_map.npworld inside it.
  • Check: The world name at the right of the menu bar becomes first_map.npworld. The right end of the status bar reads Saved.
  • This folder is the project folder. Export output (export\) is also created here.

2. Lay the ground

Section titled “2. Lay the ground”

An empty world has no blocks. First, lay a single layer of grass.

  1. Type grass_block in the search field of the Content Browser at the bottom.
  2. Double-click the result tile.
  3. Press 1 to select the Place tool.
  4. Drag a large area across the viewport floor with the left button (about 48×48 blocks).
  5. Release the button.
  • Check: Block to place at the right of the toolbar is grass_block. While dragging you see green ghost blocks and a block count; when you release, a grass floor appears.
  • If you cannot see the whole floor, press F to frame it.

3. Raise a hill

Section titled “3. Raise a hill”
  1. Press T to go to Landscape mode.
  2. In the left Tools panel, choose Height brush under Mode, then Raise under the brush.
  3. Increase the radius with ]. A “Radius N” notification appears in the viewport.
  4. Drag over one side of the floor several times to make a low hill.
  • Check: When you hover, the height that will change is shown as a ghost. When you drag, the ground rises, and the top is painted grass and the sides dirt and stone (Auto material).
  • If it gets too high, undo one stroke at a time with Ctrl+Z. Ctrl+drag smooths.
  • For the full set of tools, see Landscape.

4. Build a house

Section titled “4. Build a house”

Walls

Section titled “Walls”
  1. Find oak_planks in the Content Browser and double-click it.
  2. Press 5 to select the Shape tool.
  3. In the Tools panel, set Shape = Box and Box = Walls only.
  4. Set the size fields to Width (X) 9 · Height (Y) 5 · Depth (Z) 7.
  5. Click on flat ground.
  • Check: Before you click, the wall shape is shown as a translucent ghost. When you click, four hollow walls appear.
  • To mix several blocks, enter something like 70%stone_bricks, 30%cracked_stone_bricks in the pattern field.

Roof

Section titled “Roof”
  1. Change Box to Filled.
  2. Set the size to Width (X) 11 · Height (Y) 1 · Depth (Z) 9. This is a slab one block wider than the walls on each side.
  3. Point at the top of the walls, find the spot where the ghost slab covers the walls, and click.
  • Check: A flat roof covers the walls. If it is misaligned, press Ctrl+Z and click again.
  • You can make a pointed roof with Shape = Pyramid · Arch · Slope · stairs.

Door

Section titled “Door”
  1. Press 2 to select the Break tool.
  2. Click the two center blocks (top and bottom) at the base of the front wall.

5. Save the house as a prefab and place another

Section titled “5. Save the house as a prefab and place another”
  1. Press 4 to select the Selection tool.
  2. Drag around the base of the house to create a box selection.
  3. Drag the green face handle on top of the selection box up to the top of the roof.
  4. Click Tools › Save selection as prefab.
  • Check: The status bar shows “Selection W×H×D”. When saved, a “Prefab saved: … (Content “Prefabs”)” notification appears.

Now place the prefab you saved.

  1. Open the Prefabs panel from the Window menu.
  2. Select the prefab you just saved and click Place.
  3. Click another spot on the hill. You can rotate it with R before placing.
  • Check: A second, identical house appears and the tool switches to Selection. You can move it right away with W.
  • Double-click a prefab to open its edit window. If you edit the original and click Save, the placed houses change too. See Prefabs.

6. Plant trees

Section titled “6. Plant trees”
  1. In the mode row of the toolbar, choose Foliage (scatter).
  2. In the Scatter section of the Tools panel, choose Forest (oak · birch) under Stacks.
  3. Click the ground around the houses. You can also switch Stacks to Meadow or Flower field and scatter again.
  • Check: Trees are planted scattered inside the brush circle. A 흩뿌리기/… (scatter) group appears in the Outliner.
  • To plant a single tree, Shift+click. Change the circle size with [ ].
  • For details, see Foliage.

7. Create a zone trigger rule

Section titled “7. Create a zone trigger rule”

Create a rule that shows a title on screen when you walk up to the front door.

  1. Click Tools › Create zone trigger… (drag a zone → template) (Ctrl+Shift+T).
  2. Drag on the floor in front of the door to draw a zone. Clicking without dragging creates a 4×4 zone.
  3. In the Zone trigger wizard, enter Entrance in Name.
  4. Leave When = When a player enters, Who = Anyone, Loop = Every time.
  5. Under Actions, click Show title.
  6. In the Title field of the new row, enter Welcome.
  7. Click Create.
  • Check: A translucent trigger zone box with its name and a one-line rule appears in front of the door (show flag Trigger zones). A one-line rule appears in the Tools › World logic panel.
  • You can undo the whole wizard with a single Ctrl+Z.
  • To edit the rule further, see World logic.

8. Test with Play

Section titled “8. Test with Play”
  1. Move the camera close to the ground near the zone.
  2. Click Play (Alt+P) in the center of the toolbar.
  3. Walk into the zone with W A S D.
  4. Press Esc to return to editing.
  • Check: The moment you enter the zone, “Welcome” appears in the center of the screen.
  • By default, Play starts from the current camera position. You can change this to From spawn point in the ▾ next to Play on the toolbar.
  • Nothing that happens during Play changes the world. See Testing in Play mode.

9. Save

Section titled “9. Save”

Press Ctrl+S.

  • Check: The status bar reads Saved and the changed dot on the menu bar goes out.
  • Even if you do not save, autosave keeps a separate copy every 120 seconds.

10. Export as a Minecraft world

Section titled “10. Export as a Minecraft world”
  1. Click Build › Save as Minecraft world….
  2. Choose the destination folder. The default is export in the project folder.
  3. Copy the generated first_map_world folder into Minecraft’s saves folder (%APPDATA%\.minecraft\saves\ for the official launcher).
  4. Launch Minecraft at the target version and open the world from the Singleplayer list.
  • Check: A “World saved: first_map_world — copy it to .minecraft/saves/ to see it in the singleplayer list” notification appears. In the game you see the hill, houses and trees.
  • World logic rules (zone triggers) do not run in a singleplayer world. Rules are run by the server plugin NP Scene. Build the server files in the Export window (Ctrl+Shift+E). See Export and import.
Section titled “What to read next”
To do thisPages
Work with blocks fasterSelection and region editing · Face extrude
Shape the terrain furtherLandscape · Water, roads and coasts
Add more game behaviorWorld logic · Logic graph
Make it look like the gameGame view and shader pack
Learn the shortcutsShortcuts
Section titled “Related”