Advanced Beginners Guide

This guide gathers and explains some of the more advanced features of minetest in one convenient place to serve as a quick reference for those who have mastered basic gameplay.

Before proceeding you should have already seen:

• Getting Started
• Games/Tutorial
• how to build your first house.

Interface

For a more complete list of keyboard controls, see Controls.

Some important keys are:

• T - Opens the chat window.
• / - Opens a chat window where the “/” has already been typed for you so you can then type a server command right away.
• F5 - Enable/disable debug screen which also shows your coordinates. (Useful for using /teleport command.)
• F10 - Open/close console/chat log. Shows previously issued commands and chat log and also will accept a new command or chat message. (Use Page Up and Page Down keys to scroll.)

Server commands

See Server commands for a full explanation and more complete list of commands. Server commands trigger hidden actions or actions that can’t be activated any other way while playing the game. Beginning with the “/” key just type the command and press “Enter” to trigger it. Some commands only work if certain privileges have been granted.

Some useful commands are:

• /help all - Lists the available commands and a short description and syntax reference to each one. (Press F10 then use Page Up and Page Down to see entire list.)
• /help <command> - Shows a short description about the given command. You can view the help of a command even if you do not have the privilege to issue it.
• /sethome – Sets your current position as the home point for the /home command
• /home – Teleports you to the home point that was set with the /sethome command. This command does not work until the /sethome command has been issued.
• /teleport <x> <y> <z> - Teleport yourself to given coordinates. Coordinates are a set of three numbers that are positive or negative. (Press F5 to see debug info which includes coordinates of current location.)
• /grant <player> <privilege> - Gives the specified <privilege> to <player>.

Privileges

See the privileges page for detailed information on the privilege system. Privileges control whether the player can use certain server commands and certain actions.

Some useful privileges are:

• home – can use /home and /sethome commands.
• teleport – can use the /teleport command
• fast – allows the player to activate fast mode.
• fly – allows the player to activate fly mode.

Minetest.conf

Minetest.conf is the configuration file that sets game options. A file called minetest.conf.example is provided as an example. See that file for a more complete list of options. Many game options can only be changed using this file. Changes in this file affect all subgames. Any changes to the configuration file made during gameplay won’t take effect until the game is restarted. Subgames also have a separate configuration file that will only affect that subgame. All configuration files have an associated example file that lists all available options.

Some useful options are:

• fullscreen = false – determines whether or not game opens in a window.
• screenW = 1024 – Width of game window.
• screenH = 768 – Height of game window.
• wanted_fps = 30 - The amount of rendered stuff is dynamically set according to this.

Mods

Mods (short for modifications or modules) are user-created modifications to the game in such a way that alters gameplay. See the Mods page for more detailed information and how to install mods.

Servers

A great way to try out mods without installing them is to play on a server. Minetest servers allow players to play online with other people. You have no control over which mods are installed on servers so you must find a server that has the mods you like. See the server page for more info.

Contribute

Creating a mod is a great way to contribute to the Minetest community. See the contributing page for more information on how to get started.