A game as popular and as old as Minecraft naturally likes to hide a few secrets within its code. Over the years, Minecraft has received many small Easter eggs that can be found by astute players. These are not only amusing to look at but also provide an extremely intriguing insight into the game’s development. What started as a one-man project by Notch has now become the most successful game in the world. And accordingly, some of the hidden secrets found in Minecraft are quite quirky and amusing.
Find Surprises in the Minecraft Main Menu
Even before you venture into one of your worlds, you can already discover some cool things. For starters, there’s the Minecraft logo itself. There is a 1 in 10,000 chance that it will display “Minceraft” instead of the usual “Minecraft.” Presumably, enough players have experienced this but clicked away too quickly.
Next to the logo, a splash text appears at every game start, randomly switching between over 500 different displays. Over the years, some Easter eggs have sneaked in here as well. For example, there are many shoutouts to other games, including Terraria, Project Zomboid, or Braid. So it’s worth taking a closer look at the main menu each time you start the game to not miss these secrets.
If you then look into the options and change your FOV to the maximum setting, you will see the text “Quake Pro.” A little nod to the pros of the well-known arena shooter, who always play with an extremely wide field of view.
Discover Secrets in Minecraft’s Wildlife
Minecraft’s wildlife also has many secrets to offer. For this, you need a name tag, which you can rename accordingly in the anvil.
- With a name tag “Grumm” or “Dinnerbone,” you can turn animals, monsters, and even other players upside down.
- Name a sheep “jeb_” and it will glow in all the colors of the rainbow. Unfortunately, you cannot obtain rainbow wool.
- You can obtain a special black-and-white texture for a rabbit with the name “Toast.” This is in response to a request from a player whose girlfriend lost her rabbit in the real world.
- You can also rename a Vindicator to “Johnny.” It will then become a very aggressive monster that kills everything in its vicinity with its axe. This is a reference to the book and film “The Shining.”
In a previous article, we already talked about Ghasts (Discover the New Happy Ghast in Minecraft 1.21.6) . It may not necessarily be an Easter egg, but it’s a funny fact that the sounds come from C418’s cat.
Another nod to another gaming franchise can be found with the Evoker. He turns all blue sheep in his vicinity into red sheep with a spell. Anyone who has played one of the old Age of Empire games might find this familiar!
Explore the Hidden Clues in Minecraft’s Development
Over the many years, quite a few textures have accumulated in the game. And many of the developers want to immortalize themselves in them. A clue that has been in the game since the alpha is a tag within the texture of the Zombie Pigman. This mob was suggested by the user XaPhobia. As a tribute, Notch directly included a dedication in the game files, with a “THX XaPhobia.”
A constantly evolving texture is that of the armor stand. Originally designed by a developer named Searge, who also included his name within the file. When the textures for the 1.14 update were changed, the new artist Jappa added his name as well. Shortly thereafter, the name Chiwi was added, another Mojang employee who further adjusted the texture.
The Creeper also holds some secrets that players might not notice at first glance. Did you know that its texture is actually that of the original leaves? Notch himself once described the Creeper as a foliage monster and said it was “as crispy as dry leaves.” They essentially hide among the leaves, a kind of camouflage that worked really well during the alpha days! Moreover, the Creeper texture is one of the few that has never been changed, likely because it is just too iconic.
Dive into the Minecraft Enchantment Script
Anyone who has enchanted in Minecraft has surely wondered what is actually written in this menu. The script is not randomly chosen but is a nod to the game “Commander Keen,” a well-known platformer from the 90s. While the “Standard Galactic Alphabet” can be read with a translation, it still doesn’t tell you which enchantment you will receive.
But you can also play the entire game in a funny language. Besides many real languages, you can also choose a few rather unconventional ones. How about the Pirate language? Or Shakespearean English? LOLCAT would be an option too. There are also languages from “Star Trek” or “The Lord of the Rings”!
Discover the Hidden References in Minecraft Paintings
Minecraft also offers some beautiful paintings that you can hang on your wall. And here, too, there are plenty of references and Easter eggs, some more obvious than others. Most of them were designed by the artist Kristoffer Zetterstrand, though some were also by Sarah Boeving.
The large “Donkey Kong” painting has likely been noticed by most players, as it’s easy to recognize. Less known is King Graham from the game series “King’s Quest,” an old Sierra adventure. Three of the old 1x1 paintings are based on maps from “Counter-Strike.” The skeleton from “Grim Fandango” can also be found. Additionally, many paintings are inspired by real paintings, which is also exciting for art connoisseurs!
Decode the Secret Messages in Minecraft Music
Finally, let’s take a look at some Easter eggs hidden within Minecraft’s music. Many of these need to be accessed with an external program, a so-called spectrogram. Here, quite a few secrets are revealed, and many of them are a bit creepy.
Record disc number 11 is quite eerie in itself. It’s not only 1 minute and 11 seconds long but also contains no direct music. And in the spectrogram, a strange Steve face appears, along with the numbers 12418. These stand for C418, the composer at the time.
Cave sounds number 14 and 21 also reveal creepy secrets in the spectrogram. Sound 14 shows a Creeper face and Sound 21 a Morse code that spells “behind”. Such knowledge only makes the respective sounds even more unsettling! They are probably inspired by the old Creepypasta of the “Lavender Town Syndrome.”
Conclusion
Minecraft has countless little references that we can’t possibly enumerate. But hopefully, our small list has encouraged you to look at some things in the game from a different perspective. Rent a server for Minecraft with us and search together for some of these secrets and Easter eggs. There’s so much more to discover, and it’s always cool to see what developers have hidden. And, of course, there are plenty of other games that reference Minecraft.
