Tag Archives: Deny blocks

Minecraft Education Edition #MinecraftEE – Part 3: Digging Even Deeper

MinecraftEE_Part3

This is the third post intending to provide an introduction to the newly released Minecraft: Education Edition.

NOTE: You may wish to begin with:

Sunday Evening: Exploring Even Deeper

Minecraft: Education Edition (#MinecraftEE) provides educators with a number of education-specific features that are different from those native to vanilla #Minecraft, and #MinecraftPE (Personal Edition).

In TeacherGaming’s modded #MinecraftEDU, there were dialogue box interface elements and server management features added by TeacherGaming that contributed to education functions in support of managing World files and world features, students permissions and assignments, and a host of other useful functions.

The key (from the end of Part 2, please read) to getting at the important education elements in #MinecraftEE lies in understanding and accessing text-based commands that are “buried under the hood.” To access them, you need to become familiar with using the “slash” / key in the text chat. There is no server option or significant GUI interface for education features at this point in design of the product. In this regard, #MinecraftEE is notably different from #MinecraftEDU. 

In vanilla #Minecraft, there are commands which have no GUI interface but which are accessed by typing syntax-correct text expressions in the chat bar, for example:

/gamemode 0
/gamemode 1
/gamemode 3
/sethome
/home

The statements above are examples of text commands used to toggle to Survival, Creative, or Spectator, respectively, or to set a home base or return to a home base. Some text-based commands are added to vanilla #Minecraft by the addition of mod files.

#MinecraftEE has a set of similar “slash commands” (accessed by typing the forward slash / key) to access. When typing commands, the #MinecraftEE text box employs a nice prediction feature to help save you time typing and cut down on mistyped keystrokes. Use the TAB key while typing a command to auto-complete the command.

Understanding the slash commands is the path to getting access to the various #MinecraftEE education features (NPCs, border/allow/deny blocks, access to camera/portfolio/) so that you as an educator can unlock its current potential.

Text-based "slash" commands in #MinecraftEE

Text-based “slash” commands in #MinecraftEE

Here is a brief explanation of each of the commands present in #MinecraftEE:

  • /ability Sets a player’s ability
  • /clone Copies blocks from one place to another (does not appear at this time)
  • /deop Revoke operator status from a player
  • /fill Fills a region with a specific block/
  • /gamemode Sets a player’s game mode
  • /gamerule Sets or queries a game rule value
  • /give Gives an item to a player
  • /help Provides help for commands
  • /kill Removes entities (players, mobs, items, etc.)
  • /list Lists players on the server
  • /op Grants operator status to a player
  • /say Displays a message to multiple players
  • /setblock Changes a block to another block
  • /setfixedinvslot Places a particular block type in one of the fixed inventory slots
  • /setfixedinvslots Sets the number of fixed inventory slots (from 1-3)
  • /setworldspawn Sets the world spawn (where new players appear the first time they join)
  • /spawnpoint Sets the spawn point for a player
  • /summon Summons an entity
  • /tell Displays a private message to other players
  • /testforblock Tests whether a block is in a location
  • /testforblocks Tests whether the blocks in two regions match
  • /time Changes or queries the world’s game time
  • /toggledownfall Toggles the weather
  • /tp Teleports entities
  • /weather Sets the weather
  • /xp Adds or removes player experience.

For those familiar with using such commands in #Minecraft, knowing that the commands are present and how they need to be used will likely be sufficient. For educators who are newer to #Minecraft or to text-based commands in general, it is important to know that many (but not necessarily all) of the commands require additional text-based arguments (parameters) — details to complete the instruction.

An Example: Changing the weather

The command /weather (which makes in-game changes to the weather) requires one of three possible arguments to identify the type of weather. If you type /weather (and then a space), the three possible options appear above the chat bar as prompts:

rainclearweather

Note that one of these three options is sufficient to effect a change in the weather. Try each of the following, pressing the return key after each to initiate the command.

/weather rain
/weather thunder
/weather clear

Note that the /weather command can also take a second parameter after the selected weather option (clear/rain/thunder) in the form of a number to specify the duration of that weather type. Try the following:

/weather rain 20
/weather thunder 1200 
/weather clear 2400

Time in Minecraft is measured in “ticks.”  20 ticks is about one second in real time. Did you wonder why the rain only lasted for a second? 20×60=1200 (one minute).

The Key: Accessing the Educator-specific Features of #MinecraftEE

The key to accessing the education-specific features of #MinecraftEE is to use the command /ability for whenever you wish to make such changes.  The /ability command takes three parameters to effect this change (a username, the specific ability, and the boolean value true):

/ability GumbyBlockhead worldbuilder true

As of the June 2016 release, there are two possible abilities that may be effected using the /ability command:

ability

Giving yourself the worldbuilder ability as well as setting your /gamemode to creative opens the door to the following:

  • NPCs: place NPCs using the multi-coloured spawnNPC egg (third tab in creative), and edit them by right-clicking to access their name, text box, and learn-more URL.
  • Slates, Posters, Boards: place slates, posters, and boards (second tab in creative) by right clicking. Right-click again to edit.
  • Deny Blocks: place deny blocks (first tab in creative) underneath an area which you do not want users to be able to change.
  • Allow Blocks: place allow blocks (first tab in creative) above existing deny blocks to allow users to make changes to the area above the allow blocks.
  • Border Blocks: place border blocks to restrict movement of players (a larger border around a specific learning area with the spawn inside will stop students from wandering off)
  • Fixed Inventory Slots: provide up to three additional inventory slots (cycle through the by using the 0 key) to the right of the standard 1-9 slot using /setfixedinvslots
  • Set Contents of Fixed Inventory Slots: assign a specific block type (camera, portfolio, etc.) to a specific fixed inventory slot using /setfixedinventoryslot

Try the following:

/setfixedinvslots 3
/setfixedinvslot 1 camera
/setfixedinvslot 2 portfolio
/setfixedinvslot 3 slate

To test things out as the user will experience  (to see if your NPC web links are working, or to test your boundary blocks, etc, you will need to remove your worldbuilder ability.

/ability GumbyBlockhead worldbuilder false

Note that when you use the /ability command, you would specify YOUR username, not mine! As soon as you have typed /ability and a space, your username should appear as a possible target in the pop-up above the text bar.

Clear? 

If you have followed through this far, you are well on your way to understanding the education-specific features of #MinecraftEE Minecraft: Education Edition. Play around with the features and explore.  Feel free to contact me if you have questions! We can learn together.

You may wish to download and check out GumbySample.zip which includes a GumbySample.mcworld file and ReadMe.txt file. Import the world file into your #MinecraftEE using the Import button.

Profile Types

There are 3 types of “profiles” in #MinecraftEE: normal, operator, and worldbuilder.

  • Users who connect to a world over a LAN will join with a normal profile.
  • If you are hosting the world for others to connect to, you will automatically have an operator profile, which gives you access to the “slash commands.”
  • If you have opened the world as operator, you can give yourself the /ability  worldbuilder to make use of the education-specific features.

Learning More

There are a number of posts on the education.minecraft.net/ site that will serve as reference in the initial stages of your exploration of #MinecraftEE. I’m sure other resources will be forthcoming over the next few months.

Keep an eye out for Minecraft Education Edition #MinecraftEE – Part 4: Analysis in the next few days which will offer a comprehensive overview of the options available to educators (#Minecraft, MinecraftPE, and #MinecraftEE) who are looking to use #MinecraftEd in general  with learners.

 

Minecraft Education Edition #MinecraftEE – Part 2: A Tutorial World

MinecraftEE_Part2

NOTE: If you’ve not yet read Minecraft Educaton Edition #MinecraftEE – Part 1: A First Look, you might like to visit that post and then return here for Part 2.

Sunday Morning: A Tutorial World

Sunday morning I came across a tweet linking to a Tutorial world for use with Minecraft: Education Edition, and the file shed some bright lights 🙂 on the as-yet-to-be-seen education features.

The file was easy to download (obtain Tutorial World.mcworld here) and super easy to import with the new Import/Export interface. (NOTE: This one feature for sure beats rooting around (pun) in the Library/Application Support/Minecraft/Saves for a folder of data to share, as is currently the case with vanilla Minecraft!)

#MinecraftEE includes a very easy-to-use Import button for bring in shared world files.

#MinecraftEE includes a very easy-to-use Import button for bring in shared world files.

NPCs: Upon launching the file, I was greeted with an NPC (non-player character) “Tour Guide” who welcomed me to the tutorial. The NPC is a previously-available-via-mod Minecraft feature which has now been built natively into M:EE. Clicking on the “Tour Guide” provided a large space to provide text-based information to learners, as well as an active link to a video on youtube, Welcome to Stage 1. Nice.

It's an NPC Tour Guide! A Minecraft:Education Edition feature has appeared!

It’s an NPC Tour Guide! Hooray! The NPCs dialogue button “Learn More” links out to Youtube. Very cool.

The tutorial world provides a brief introduction to movement, crafting, and an “open world” exploration before introducing the specific #MInecraftEE education features. The tutorial sequence was not unlike that experience found in the MinecraftEDU tutorial world (or the Teacher Training Zone #TTZ) on the GamingEDUs Professional Play server, but it moved quickly through three stages:

Stage One: Movement  (WASD, space) for navigation, mouse-look, lever to open door, breaking blocks, swimming, breaking and placing blocks, climbing ladders.

Stage Two: Crafting (harvesting (punching) wood, inventory, planks and sticks, crafting a Crafting Table, recipe for crafting a pick), and breaking through stone,

Stage Three: Open World (exploring a stone pick, making torches, mining coal and iron ore, building a door, harvesting and replanting carrots and wheat, making bread, and finally making a furnace and smelting some iron — I added those last two.)

Here’s a little video of my adventures through Stages One, Two, and Three.

After working my way through Stages One, Two, and Three, I arrived at the hoped-for Stage Four: Education Edition Features They do exist in this release! Hooray! You just need to know how to find them.

The Camera

New in #MInecraftEE is a camera block, which allows you to easily capture an image of a scene or take a selfie. You can either place the camera on the ground to capture an image, or simply right click while holding the camera in your hand. Note that the ability to take full-screen captures exists in vanilla #Minecraft through the F2 key — the only challenge is (again) rooting through and digging the images out of the Library/Application Support/Minecraft/screenshots folder. #MInecraftEE makes this a bit easier for learners and teachers alike, although I would like a full-screen option as well as the “polaroid” form factor image. You can see me holding the camera block in each of the “polaroid” images below.

Hooray! We've struck #MinecraftEE teacher features!

Hooray! We’ve struck #MinecraftEE teacher features! I’ve taken a picture with the built-in camera!

The Portfolio

The Portfolio provides a two-page-at-a-glance book interface, with a captioning option.

The Portfolio provides a two-page-at-a-glance book interface, with a captioning option. The Portfolio can be exported.

The Portfolio collects images taken with the Camera, and provides a captioning facility to allow learners and teachers to provide a brief annotation. The text is styled in the blocky-Minecraft script. It’s a bit hard to read, both on-screen and when the images are exported via the Portfolio’s export function. (The portfolio creates a .zip file, which contains one file for each “photo” taken — any added caption is included as part of the image.) But again, this is a step-up from the vanilla F2 screen capture.

Allow and Deny Blocks

Allow and Deny Blocks allow and deny changes above or below them.

Allow and Deny Blocks allow and deny changes above or below them.

#MinecraftEDU provided a number of options for ensuring that areas of an instructional world file remain unchanged by visitors. Essentially a binary pair of blocks (placed below ground level) either permit or deny changes to the blocks above. The #MinecraftEE Tutorial World has the Allow and Deny Block on display, but they are really not implemented in the tutorial so as to demonstrate how they might be used. Rather, the educator is prompted to “think about how you can use Allow and Deny Blocks in your worlds.” This is something likely to be remedied in an updated Tutorial World file in the near future, I’d guess.

Slates, Posters, and Boards

"Slates, and Posters, and Boards. Oh my!"

“Slates, and Posters, and Boards. Oh my!”

Upon seeing the Slates, Posters, and Boards,  my second thought (after asking “Why can’t I break or edit these?”) was, “Why aren’t these iPads or electronic display boards?” I find it odd that we revert to the blackboard metaphor in this day and age. Granted, they are a step up from wooden signs, but only just.  (The answer to “Why can’t I break or edit these?” appears in Part 3. You’ll notice I was able to detach them from their placements …

Boundary Blocks

Fancy-looking, fiery-red animated Boundary Blocks. You shall not pass.

Fancy-looking, fiery-red animated Boundary Blocks. You shall not pass!

Another feature that has made it through from #MinecraftEDU is the boundary block.  In the TeacherGaming version, the boundary blocks have no animation, and my application has always been to bury them under ground (with deny blocks beneath). The effect is that a player reaches an impassable boundary, and receives a message to that effect. In the #MinecraftEE implementation, the Boundary Blocks have a red, fiery animation. The effect is the same — the player cannot cross or fly over the boundary — or dig under. Again, my inclination would be to continue to bury them — thus adding a sense of magic to the play. These boundary blocks do not appear to provide a message to the user.

NPCs (Non-Player Characters)

The DemoNPCs speak of great potential, but it is hidden in the tutorial.

The DemoNPCs speak of great potential, but it is hidden in the tutorial.

Mr. and Mrs. NPC appear at the end of new Education Edition features. They are standing there, with their names displayed above them.  Aside from that, they don’t really say or do anything. It appears that NPCs as implemented in #MinecraftEE do not move. They are essentially interactive signs, with the option to provide an active web link. They track to face you as you move about them.

In closing, The Tutorial World was not immediately forthcoming as to how to use the Slates, Posters, Boards, or NPCs.

But as I wound down my second (Sunday morning) session with #MinecraftEE, I poked around a bit and came across a key to what will form the bulk of the next part in this series:

Minecraft Education Edition #MinecraftEE – Part 3: Digging Even Deeper

HEY! It's Gumby's Dad! And a slate, saying "meet Gumby's Dad!"

HEY! It’s Gumby’s Dad! And a slate, saying “meet GUMBY’s Dad!”

That key allowed me post a sign slate, and find Gumby’s Dad! And he even knows the link to GumbyBlockhead.com!!

The story continues ….