In Minecraft you’re free to choose what you do and what you don’t, but some things are defined by the game itself. For new players, bigger challenges, or fresh ideas, it’s worth looking at the advancements section. In the Java Edition these are called “Advancements” and they offer a good guideline for what you can do in the game. You don’t have to complete them; they’re simply another aspect of Minecraft. But what if you want to complete all advancements? That’s a pretty tough task, but a cool challenge. Today we’ll take a closer look at Java’s advancements, how they’re categorized, and which ones are particularly quirky.
Introduction: Understanding Minecraft Java Advancements
With version 1.12, the currently available advancements were added to Minecraft: Java Edition. Before that there was the older achievement system, introduced in Beta 1.5. It was less complex and was replaced by the new system in 2017.
You’ll likely unlock your first advancements right when you start playing. A small pop-up appears at the top right as soon as you complete one. For a closer look, open the menu and click “Advancements” in the second row. There are currently 126 of them in five categories. The number can change with new updates.
Advancements are always tied to a world, not directly to your account. You can unlock them anew in every world. That also makes for a great challenge, for example together with other players. With us you can rent an affordable Minecraft server and try to complete all advancements together there. There are also a few advancements that are hidden. You can view most of them directly and read what you need to do.
You might be wondering if there’s any point to completing advancements. Generally not, because in most cases you don’t receive anything for them. Some advancements can reward you with experience points. We already have an overview if you’re looking for unconventional methods for experience points (Minecraft XP Without Monsters: Peaceful Mode Guide) .
It’s also worth mentioning that Bedrock uses a different system. There, the progress is still called “Achievements”, arranged differently, and often has different requirements and goals. They’re also tied to the console or platform, not to a world.
All categories of Minecraft advancements
Advancements in the Minecraft tab: From the start to the End
The “Minecraft” tab includes some of the easiest advancements and those you’ll naturally achieve as you play. There are 16 in total. They mainly relate to direct game progression: upgrading your tools with new materials, finding diamonds, or collecting lava and obsidian for the Nether later on. Crafting armor is also included so you can better defend yourself. At the end are the advancements for discovering a stronghold and entering the End.
The hardest is probably the advancement where you have to cure a zombie villager. The game doesn’t really explain it: first hit it with a Potion of Weakness and then use a Golden Apple on it.
Advancements in Husbandry: Animals and crops
With 31 advancements, this is the second-largest section. It’s all about breeding farm animals and planting crops. Interact with the creatures in your world and gradually fill out the relevant advancements. Fishing, eating, and collecting rare items are also included here.
Some interesting goals include taming all wolf and cat variants, eating every food at least once, or breeding every animal. These take a lot of time, but you’ll interact with many aspects of Minecraft along the way.
Advancements in Adventure: Exploration, combat, and survival
By far the largest tab is “Adventure”, where you can achieve 47 different goals. They cover almost everything, from exploring your world and combat objectives to some very unusual advancements. For example, you have to use your spyglass to observe a parrot, a ghast, and the Ender Dragon. Other unusual goals include playing music in the Meadow biome, trading with a villager at the build height limit, or falling the entire height of your world.
This section will probably take you the most time. For instance, you must visit every biome, kill all mobs, or apply various smithing templates.
Advancements in the Nether: Bastions, fortresses, and the beacon
The 23 advancements in this tab relate, as the name suggests, to the Nether. Most are fairly straightforward and you should be able to complete them during your time in the underworld. Find ancient debris, explore bastions and nether fortresses, or barter gold with piglins. Advancements for the beacon are also included here, since you can only summon the Wither with wither skeleton skulls.
Some goals are more demanding. At one point you have to bring a ghast into the Overworld and defeat it there. Another advancement requires riding a strider 50 blocks over lava, but in the Overworld. By far the toughest is “How Did We Get Here?”, where you must have all status effects active at the same time. Read our guide if you want to pull that off (Minecraft Advancement: How Did We Get Here? Guide 1.21.9) .
Advancements in the End: Ender Dragon, End Cities, and more
The last 9 advancements focus on the End and are actually among the easiest on this list. Defeat the Ender Dragon, travel to the outer islands, and enter an End City. These are all things you’ll likely do at some point anyway.
Some of them aren’t quite as simple, though. For example, you have to respawn the Ender Dragon once, collect its breath in bottles, or get carried at least 50 vertical blocks by a shulker’s Levitation effect.
Conclusion: Use Minecraft advancements to drive your progress
Advancements in Minecraft are a great guideline for players who don’t always know exactly what they want to do. You can use them to set new goals and tasks or discover exciting features you might not know yet. They’re not mandatory, as most of them don’t have a direct reward. Only a few can give you EXP; most are there for completion. Still, it can be a very cool challenge to complete all advancements. Don’t forget the hidden advancements, which are particularly tough.
