The popular game of Minecraft is known for its building blocks, but how big is a Minecraft block and how big are Minecraft characters? Because of the virtual nature of the Minecraft world, the size ends up being very amenable to different measuring systems. However, there is an official developed-stated measure for how big a block is, and this uses the metric system. We begin with a short introduction to Minecraft before discussing the block size. After this, we discuss the size of an in-game character, and finally mention some further interesting Minecraft facts.
Minecraft: a wildly popular game
Minecraft is the highest-selling video game ever to exist. It is a game where player interaction with the gaming world plays a central role, i.e. a sandbox game. Minecraft is developed by Mojang Studios, a Swedish video game developer. It was released by the company in November 2011, after years of test versions. Over 238 million games have been sold, and the game has around 140 million active users. The entirety of Mojang Studios and Minecraft were bought by Microsoft in 2014.
Minecraft has won many video game awards, and has even been called one of the best games of all time by several influential publications. An annual live stream called Minecon is hosted by Mojang, which was important in popularizing the game. Because the game world is fully moldable by the player, the game has been used in educational contexts, too. For instance, it has been used in the teaching of computer science and chemistry.
There are several game modes. These range from a survival mode with limited resources available to players, to a creative mode where players’ characters never run out of energy and they can even fly. Players explore the algorithmically generated world to discover raw materials and create tools and other items. The creation of such things is called “crafting” in the game. Players then use these tools to survive in the game world and fend off against other players and in-game hostile creatures.
How big is a Minecraft block?
Although the blocks are fully virtual and only exist within the digital space of the Minecraft world, there is an established “real-world size” for each block, but how big is a Minecraft block? The Minecraft world uses the metric system, and each block is supposed to be 1 m * 1 m * 1 m, which means they are one cubic meter or 1000 liters in volume. The height of a player in the game is 1.8 meters.
| US customary | Metric system | |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 39.37′ x 39.37′ x 39.37′ | 1 m x 1 m x 1 m |
| Volume (general) | 35.31 ft3 | 1 m3 |
| Volume (fluid) | 264.17 gal | 1000 liter |
The blocks can be used to easily measure distances in the game. This is often done by placing blocks in such a way that four empty spaces exist between each block, and then multiplying the amount of blocks by five. This is the distance in meters, and every second block represents 10 meters when placed in this way. There are other ways that players use to measure distance in the game, such as using in-game coordinates or the size of the UI crosshairs in a creative way.
Minecraft block size in pixel
Because the blocks exist in the digital world, their size can easily be normalized to whatever measurement system one desires. For instance, one might decide that instead of the blocks being one meter by one meter cubed, they are one yard cubed. This would actually be around 0.90 meters instead of one meter.
The visual style of the game resembles enlarged pixels, and the pixel length of a block varies from 16 to 516.
The greater the amount of pixels, the more processing power is needed from the computer, as the pixels are the structural units in the game. This is to say that when a player for instance starts editing the environment, the number of pixels per block determines how many separate parts each block divides into. With the pixel size set at 16, each block has 161616 units, which means the block has 256 granular components.
How big is a minecraft character
There are two basic characters in the game, called Steve and Alex. A randomly generated new character is equally likely to become either of these, and other skins are modifications of Steve and Alex. Both characters are 1.8 blocks tall. This makes them 1.8 meters tall in the metric system, or 5.9 foot. The characters are 0.6 blocks wide.
| US customary | Metric system | |
|---|---|---|
| Dimensions | 5.91′ x 1.97′ | 1.80 m x 0.60 m |
The dimensions of the characters change when they do different activities. For instance, while sneaking their height is only 1.5 blocks. When swimming or gliding, the height is further reduced to 0.6 blocks. When sneaking or swimming, the width of a character does not change from 0.6 blocks wide. However, when the characters are asleep in the game and lying down on the ground, their height is 0.2 blocks and width 0.2 blocks.
These characters can reach 3 blocks away when attacking, and build things 4.5 blocks away. They can jump 1.2522 blocks high (without any jumping boosts), and crawl automatically when the place is below 1.5 blocks high.
Other Minecraft facts
Dynamic elements in the game (animate objects that are not blocks) are called entities. For instance, Alex and Steve are both entities. Some example of other entities are mobs (computer-controlled group of hostile creatures), boats, Minecarts, arrows, eggs, and tridents. Most entities cannot pass through blocks, and blocks cannot be placed on the same position as an existing entity. If an existing block falls on an entity or otherwise enters its space, the entity can move out of the block.
Three different versions of the game exist: Java Edition, Bedrock Edition, and Education Edition. The Java Edition is the original version, running on Java. The Bedrock Edition extends the compatibility of the game to more platforms, such as the Xbox. The Education Edition uses the Bedrock Edition as its base, and has features that allow for easier use in the classroom. These include ways to collaborate more easily in building projects and solving problems, and guide characters that do not influence the world but give instructions to students.
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