Minecraftis big, in more ways than one. It’s big as a cultural institution, it’s huge as a sales juggernaut, and eachMinecraftworld is an enormous physical space.Each ofMinecraft’s maps go on for millions of meters, each one filled with diverse biomes and landmasses. A player can walk for hours on end and not reach the edge of the map.
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This is an explorer’s dream and a cartographer’s nightmare. When there’s so much land to explore, it can be hard to keep track of locations. If they’re not careful, it’s entirely possible for aMinecraftplayer to lose track of their house.
This is especially relevant in multiplayer sessions, where players might have trouble meeting up. Thankfully, Mojang included a co-ordinate system to help players orient themselves, and it’s accessible in theirMinecraftRealms server hosting service.
There are two methods, one simple and one a bit obtuse. They both are only available to the realm owner or players with operator privileges.
Updated December 6th, 2021 by Russ Boswell:Minecraft continues to see an influx of players, even moreso in recent weeks thanks to the introduction of the Caves and Cliffs Part 2 Update. Those that are just hopping into the game for the first time, or those that are looking to host a Realm for their friends, might need to knowhow to turn coordinates on in Minecraft Realms. To better help new and returning players understandhow to turn on coordinates in Minecraft Realms, as well as why players may want to use coordinates in the first place, the following list has been updated to include more information.
Enabling Coordinates in a New Realm
The most simple version is to enable coordinates before uploading the map. In a currently offline map, the creator can open the settings page, go to “world settings,” and click the “show coordinates” button. The coordinates will appear on the top left corner of the screen. Once uploaded, these will appear for all players on the server as well.
Enabling Coordinates in An Established Realm
Once a realm is online, enabling coordinates can be a bit tricky. The slower method is for the owner to hit the settings button on the realm list, which looks like a pencil, and hit “Download Map.” They can then follow the instructions above, return to the realm settings, and hit “Replace the Map” to swap it with the coordinates enabled version.
The faster method involvesusingMinecraft’s console commands. In the chat, the realm owner or an operator player can type “/gamerule showcoordinates true” and coordinates will be activated. to turn it off, a player can write “/gamerule showcoordinates false”.
Note thatMinecraftdoes not consider turning on coordinates cheating. If someone turns coordinates on, they can still earn achievements, and other players will still be restricted from using actual cheats.
It does feel like this process should be simpler. While it can be fun to set server-side rules and keep everyone on the same page, it feels like coordinates should be something done on the client-side instead of the server-side. Ideally, each individual player could choose whether they want coordinates, instead of it being an “all or nothing” deal.
What Are Coordinates Used For In Minecraft?
Those that have never hopped into a Minecraft world before may be unaware of how useful Coordinates are. Although Minecraft is a pretty simplistic game in terms of its graphics, it’s actually pretty overwhelming from a survival game standpoint. Players that don’t have coordinates enabled will be tossed into a world that’s filled with dangers and have no way of actually knowing where they are unless they use a map. This can make it an absolute headache for those that build a base and then venture too far from their home in search of materials.
It’s very easy to get lost in Minecraft, especially in the early game. Making maps, using “dirt pillars,” or crafting beacons (which take a ton of late-game materials) are the only ways for players to mark specific locations if they’re not using coordinates. To make matters even worse, players who join a server with friends will have a hard time locating one another without the use of locator maps, which require Iron to make. This can make the early game a hassle for friends that may venture too far from one another. Even locator maps themselves are a bit wonky and won’t show an exact distance.
Overall, enabling Coordinates is a quality of life tweak that greatly improves a player’s Minecraft experience, especially when playing with friends. Those that are looking for a hard-as-nails Survival Mode can leave it turned off, but it’s preferable for most.
Minecraftis available now for PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One, and various other platforms.
