So, you finished your first week of Minecraft. You have a successful house, good defences and stone tools. Youo re ready to mine. But what you dono t know are the dangers of the underground mines. Monsters, lava, everything you can think of. But you also dono t know how to save yourself from them. You could try going onto peaceful mode for your first mining experience but that wono t help with finding dungeons. I know what youo re thinking, what are dungeons. Well, youo re about to find out.

Dungeons are found in caves but I usually find them way underground. If you want your best chances of finding them you dono t want your normal everyday cave you need the big ravines. Youo re probably thinking whato s so special about dungeons? First of all they have chests of Cocoa beans, Saddles, Buckets and other useful stuff, they have some things what you cannot craft, and some things you need to craft. But beware of the dungeons, as each dungeon contains a mob spawner. But how do you spot a dungeon. Read on then youo ll find out.

So, finding dungeons seems hard but if you know the basics then it will become easy (maybe). The first sign of a dungeon is cobblestone/mossy cobble stone. whenever you see these items always dig to them but beware of mobs. Another way is listening for mobs. If you hear lots of the same mob sounds go towards it. It may lead to a dungeon. Also, look in deep caves, thato s where you have your best chance of finding them but if you want to you can stay in the original caves and hope you will come across one.

Now, abandoned mineshafts. They seem nice enough until you come across a spider. You attack it, seems easy them you suddenly start getting attacked buy 20 different spiders. Thato s basically what mineshafts are about. The good thing about them, if you find one big enough they contain more than 10 chests. Just dono t die and loose everything. Mineshafts are also underground. I usually go into a cave a dig carefully down. I make a stair case so I can get back up and Io m not likely to fall into lava. Most mineshafts have a dirt room, this is a good way of finding them.

So, finding mineshafts can be hard and you do need patience, but after a while you will get the hang of it. So as I said before. Look for the dirt room. It is just a stone cave with a dirt floor. This isno t always a fool proof plan but ito s a start. You should also listen for spider hisses. Also look for any light as mineshafts usually have torches. Look out for webs and spider spawners. To protect yourself from spiders keep every place you go well lit while youo re in there so spiders are calm and if they are calm dono t hit them. Just stick to these rules and you will fine.

Ok, the first rule of mining, know your ores. The amount of times on multiplayer a new player has come on and found Redstone ore thinking they were rubies. So hereo s a guide. Black spots=coal. Coal can be used to smelt iron ore to get iron ingot. They can smelt other ores too and can cook food. It can also smelt sand to make it into glass. White/pink spots= iron .Iron can be used to create better tools and also buckets for water and lava. Ito s also used for mine carts you can also use it for a compass. Yellow spots= gold. Gold can also be used for tools but it isno t very strong. Ito s also used for clocks. Red spots= Redstone dust. Redstone dust can be used for powering things like pistons, doors etc. You can also find these in chests. You need this to craft a compass and clock. Blue spots=diamonds, Diamonds are the most valuable item in Minecraft. Ito s used for tools and armour (iron gold and leather can also be used for armour)

Some pic axes might not be able to collect the things from certain ores so hereo s a little guide...

Wooden pic axe= can break: stone ,coal ore, mossy cobble

Stone pic axe= can break: stone coal ore, mossy cobble, iron ore

Iron pic axe= can break: stone, coal ore, mossy cobble, iron ore, Redstone ore, diamond ore.

Diamond pic axe= can break stone, coal ore, mossy cobble, iron ore, Redstone ore, diamond ore, obsidian

I hope you found this useful, post what you want me to do next. Sorry for it being so long.