The Entertainment Software Association has told a California Senate committee that private and community servers are illegal and amount to piracy, which would be news to anyone who has downloaded Minecraft's server files from the official website. The ESA gave its opinion while opposing AB 1921, the state’s “Stop Killing Games”-backed preservation bill, with ESA vice president of state government affairs Jennifer Gibbons making the claim about software that publishers provide themselves, since Mojang offers a Minecraft server for free download on its own site. The bill then failed the committee by four votes to three with four abstentions, though it was granted reconsideration.

AB 1921, the Protect Our Games Act, would require publishers of server-dependent games to give players 60 days’ notice before shutting one down, then provide a playable version, a patch, or a refund. Assemblymember Chris Ward, who authored the bill, raised community servers during the hearing as one way to keep games running after support ends. The California Assembly passed it 43 to 16 in May before it moved to the Senate. Gibbons said the ESA considers such servers “piracy,” and argued that community servers are not affiliated with the publisher and don’t uphold the same trust and safety standards.

Mojang publishes a dedicated Minecraft server as a Java file and documents how to run it, while Valve distributes SteamCMD and dedicated-server tools for hundreds of titles, letting players run their own match servers on their own systems. Running a server for a game you’ve bought obviously sits inside what those publishers permit, and for Minecraft, it’s Mojang’s own recommended setup for free multiplayer.

Minecraft isn't the exception here. Palworld, Valheim, ARK: Survival Ascended, and Counter-Strike 2 all ship official dedicated-server software that runs on a spare PC or a rented VPS. The line the ESA steps over is a technical one, since running a publisher's own server binary is a licensed activity, not the unauthorized copy its piracy comparison implies.

Gibbons cited the U.S. Trade Representative’s Notorious Markets reports as precedent for the piracy claim, which have named private servers as infringement hubs. Those entries, such as Warmane and Firestorm in the 2018 report, were World of Warcraft servers that let players skirt past Blizzard's subscription, which is an entirely different scenario from running a free-to-play multiplayer server on a game that’s already been paid for.

Those WoW servers exist only because Blizzard never released its own, leaving operators to rebuild the backend from scratch through reverse engineering, which is what drew those copyright claims. AB 1921 compels nothing of the sort; its remedies let a publisher comply by releasing official server tools — exactly what Mojang already does with Minecraft — and a company distributing its own server software obviously can't be infringing its own IP.

Responding to comments made by Ward that private servers help to keep games alive, Gibbons said, “They’re illegal. They are not in any way affiliated with Microsoft. Microsoft, for Minecraft, has gotten a lot of criticism because of those community servers not employing the same safety standards that Microsoft does on their Minecraft servers.”

Gibbons also referenced two pending lawsuits against private servers, but didn’t name them, nor did the ESA identify the cases in its written statement, which said private servers infringe publishers’ IP rights and that they reserve the right to act against them.

AB 1921 builds on California's earlier AB 2426, which requires sellers to disclose that digital purchases are licenses rather than owned copies. Back in April, a brief 30-day DRM check-in left some PlayStation buyers facing lost access to games that they had paid for due to this.

One of the largest digital archaeology projects has hit a key milestone: Minecraft devotees have just completed downloading and archiving 24TB of data, preserving a million squared block region of the game’s infamous 2b2t server.

This milestone project is retold in the video above, and/or you can read more about the technical details behind the feat on a GitHub page maintained by one of the download team. The project was delivered thanks to the “thousands of dollars spent, and countless hours wasted,” writes Crayne (GitHub organizer), supported by Fuch, Mahan, Steve3, and many more avid Minecrafters.

The archived region comes from the oldest and most infamous ‘anarchy server’ in Minecraft, dubbed 2b2t. It was founded 16 years ago and has been running since then. A dose of anarchy is inevitable in this server/world as there are basically no rules, no bans, and an anything-goes culture permeates the place. Visitors will therefore notice 2b2t is full of griefed landscapes, ruined bases, and remnants of structures, new and old.

As some folks aren’t keen on the undiscovered history and hidden bases of 2b2t being snapshotted like this, the Minecraft archivists had to work carefully. The project was already a massive undertaking, with 24TB of data covering a million × million blocks area of the Overworld (and more) that took multiple enthusiasts years to survey and archive. If the archivists had been detected, some 2b2t players would very likely have hunted and killed their bots. But as of now, the following have been successfully downloaded:

• A 1,024,000² (1m²) area of the Overworld (Dec 25 2025 - Apr 13 2026),
• A 512,000² (512k²) area of the Overworld (Nov 11 2024 - Dec 12 2024),
• A 256,000² (256k²) area of the End (Jan 23 2026 - Feb 15 2026),
• A 100,000² (100k²) area of the Nether (Jun 9 2025 - Jun 14 2025)

So, how and where can you get this 24TB of 2b2t world data? The team says they will need “a few weeks” to create a torrent containing it all. Moreover, they're asking downloaders to be patient – which almost goes without saying for a 24TB archive. Separately, there will be high-res renders and data mining spreadsheets made available, too.

The Minecraft fans behind this project encourage those interested to check out their GitHub for open-source tools related to this massive archive. More large-scale world downloads are teased, so you can also connect with the project team via Discord, Patreon, and the aforementioned GitHub.

Minecraft may be going on close to 15 years old, but the game's popularity is as strong as ever. The game's two editions (Bedrock and Java) introduced some fragmentation, however. The Java Edition's now-dated OpenGL renderer has been a headache for both performance and modding, but Mojang Studios is fixing that with a new Vulkan renderer.

The upgrade is expected to bring performance increases, improved stability, and much-improved support for contemporary graphical effects. In a blog post, Mojang says the Vibrant Visuals update is coming to the Java Edition, with testing expected to start sometime this summer.

Mojang says it kept OpenGL around for so long to make it easy to keep active ports for Windows, Linux, and macOS. That was a double-edged sword, as the studio now cites macOS support as the straw that broke the camel's back. The game was stuck on an old version of OpenGL that Macs can still use, and will likely be dropped entirely.

OpenGL and the game's rendering architecture are simply ancient by today's standards and have long been a thorn in modders' sides, as well as precluding sizable performance improvements. Besides likely being a lot faster on its own, the new Vulkan renderer will run in a separate thread from the main game logic.

Mojang's post expresses concerns about modding, a key feature that maintains the Java Edition as the primary version in the Windows/Linux/macOS space. Predictably, the studio notes the shift to Vulkan will create more work for graphical modders than a simple point update, and encourages them to try and stick to the game's internal rendering APIs as much as possible.

However, Mojang is also requesting feedback from the community, and outright tells modders that "if [the APIs aren't] sufficient for your needs, then come and talk to us", and keeps a Discord server dedicated to technical discussion. When the first test versions with Vulkan arrive, players will be able to switch between them, though Mojang asks gamers to be patient with their modders when the switch-over starts.

The update sounds pretty excellent overall, though perhaps not so for anyone still playing Minecraft on graphics cards without Vulkan support.

YouTuber and Build The Earth project lead MineFact just shared one of the biggest, most detailed city recreations on Minecraft. The creator shared a video of the progress of their team’s build, which so far has covered most of Lower Manhattan. This 1:1 scale build, which started with a team of at least 50 to 80 Minecraft players working together simultaneously, covers nearly 700 square km or about 270 square miles, with some areas being rebuilt multiple times to ensure real-world accuracy.

The team has since completed multiple areas, including Liberty Island, which contains the Statue of Liberty, NoHo, SoHo, Nolita, Bowery, Little Italy, Chinatown, Two Bridges, and every other district neighborhood south of Canal St., except for the Financial District.

The Build The Earth project is an effort started by PippenFTS, another YouTube creator whose dream is to recreate our entire planet on a 1:1 scale on Minecraft. This resulted in a massive effort — 45 teams ranging from a handful of people to thousands of members all pitching in to help bring the project to life one block at a time. BTE New York City is by far the largest group, with over 3,719 members at the time of writing.

This project isn’t just a one-time build either. Instead, they’ve rebuilt several sections to ensure the accuracy of their Minecraft version of NYC. “Over the years, we realized how much details matter,” MineFact said in the video. “Like when a random guy from New York City logs in and finds his flowerpot on his balcony exactly where it is in real life, that’s when you know it’s perfect. Their reactions are always priceless.”

Despite their great progress, the team is just scratching the surface of this potentially multi-decade project. Most of the completed neighborhoods are in Lower Manhattan, although we see good progress in the rest of Manhattan, too. There’s also some good development in Queens and one part of Brooklyn, but The Bronx and Staten Island remain untouched at the moment.

Because of this, the team is continuously looking for volunteers who want to join the effort. You don’t have to be well-versed in creating buildings in Minecraft, as the team offers guidance and basic builds to help you get started. If you’re interested, you can always hop on the BTE NYC Discord server to get started or visit the Build The Earth NYC website to learn more.

Playing PC games on inappropriate displays looks like it is becoming a trend in late 2025. Last month, we saw a PC enthusiast playing Battlefield 6 on the tiny circular screen of a CPU liquid cooler. Today, we spotted a YouTuber who had decided any type of conventional monitor or screen had to be snubbed. Instead, Smilly recorded themselves enjoying a bit of Minecraft using a printer as their sole viewport into the famously blocky game’s universe.

Above, you can see and hear that Smilly isn't having the happiest time in Minecraft, via his high contrast paper-spooled view of the game world.

The receipt printer provides surprisingly rapid updates, which is a welcome feature for any gaming "display." But it isn’t the ‘refresh rate’, which we'd hazard is around 0.5 frames per second, that seems to be frustrating the YouTuber.

“I can’t see anything. Everything is just white.”

Rather, we hear Smilly venting frustratedly about what is (and isn’t) visible in the game world, due to the stark contrasty monochromatic nature of the printouts.

Occasionally, audio clues help give the video gaming fan an idea of what is going on, but such clues are fleeting at best.

“Oh…. Sh*t.”

Mid-video clip, Smilly seems to be settling more comfortably into the black and white super-contrasty world he is adventuring within. But then matters get worse. “I need to go to the inventory now,” states our printer-vision-restricted hero, flatly. Switching to his inventory view shows… an unrecognizable shape surrounded by a murky gray nothingness. “Oh…. Sh*t.”

Gamers enjoy pushing the limits

As we mentioned in the intro, gamers, particularly those on the more open platform of the PC, have long adventured into strange realms. Sometimes necessity is the mother of invention – so you might use your tiny secondary display as your main monitor when the latter is in for repair, or on loan, or whatever.

More and more, though, we see gaming boundaries pushed simply 'because it's there.' That’s certainly the case here, and there's a wealth of prior examples of getting Doom to run on inappropriate gadgets like pregnancy test devices, keyboard keycaps, lawn mowers, and more.

A hardware hacker has installed a Minecraft server on a cheap smart lightbulb. Vimpo shows how this feat was completed and demonstrates the server working in a brief video, embedded below. Key to this achievement was the bulb’s BL602 RISC-V-powered microcontroller.

Hardware hacksawing

Vimpo begins their quest by taking a knife to the unfortunate AliExpress-bought LED bulb. Oldies like me still find it jarring to see a lightbulb popped open without terrible consequences – but LEDs don’t need to reside in a delicate vacuum.

Next up, our intrepid hacker desolders the microcontroller from the center of the bulb, where it sits surrounded by an array of LEDs. Remember, this lightbulb's microcontroller is powered by a BL602, which features a single RISC-V core, running at up to 192 MHz, and partnered with 276KB RAM, 128KB ROM, and sporting a modicum of I/O.

We then see the detached microcontroller with wires soldered individually to its headers. Vimpo confirms the connections are fine by quickly hooking up the wires to turn the lightbulb on and off.

A simple USB-to-serial adapter board is soldered to these connections for a steady, usable interface. We now have a ‘system’ ready, with monitor and input peripherals, upon which to run a Minecraft server.

Software shenanigans

Of course, hardware is only half of Vimpo’s solution. To get a Minecraft server operating on the limited resources of a smart bulb, the hacker has put together a system running an implementation dubbed Ucraft. You can find Ucraft code resources on GitHub, plus a guide to building the server system on a Linux machine.

Ucraft is gloriously compact, with a “binary size is approximately 46K bytes without authentication and 90K bytes with the authentication library,” says Vimpo. “Memory usage varies based on the number of active players. In the worst-case scenario with 10 players, heap usage will be around 70K bytes with authentication and 20K bytes without authentication.” However, the hacker is first to admit that Ucraft “lacks most, if not all, features of the vanilla server.”

In some ways, Minecraft is becoming the new Doom, used as a springboard for outlandish projects. Minecraft is now a leading light in inspiring hardware and software hackers to push the boundaries of the computing world. For example, in recent months, we’ve seen a 5-million-parameter ChatGPT AI model in Minecraft, as well as Minecraft running entirely in 8MB of VRAM on an old GPU, and another Minecraft server implemented using 63-year-old COBOL code.

Minecraft offers one of the largest worlds in any game, but it still has its limits. Earlier versions of the title top out at around 12.5 million blocks, after which the game glitches out, with a jagged, vertical wall, called ‘Far Lands’, appearing on the edge of the map. YouTuber and Twitch streamer kurtjmac decided to reach this mythical land on foot — no teleportation, cheats, or mods — which took over 14 years to finish.

Kurtjmac started this in 2011 on Minecraft Beta 1.7.3, the last version of the game to carry the bug. While at it, he livestreamed the journey while also running fundraisers on behalf of various charities. He could’ve used other means to quickly reach the end of the map; he instead decided to savor the journey, documenting every step of the way on Twitch and YouTube in a series called ‘Far Lands or Bust’, or FLoB.

He finally reached the end of his Minecraft world 5 hours and 34 minutes into his last stream, which is Day 69 of his FLoB-a-Thon Season 12. At the very end, he sees the weird vertical formation expected of the Far Lands, after nearly 14 years of walking.

“We may not be the first people to have reached the Far Lands. But in my book, we are absolutely the first to have brought along an amazing community, a generous community, and I would not have changed any of it or gotten here any sooner,” kurtjmac told his viewers. “And I very much appreciate all of you being here.”

Each Minecraft block measures 1 x 1 x 1 meter, or around 3.2 x 3.2 x 3.2 feet. That means he travelled nearly 12,500 kilometers or over 7,767 miles in over 14 years. This is approximately the distance between New York City and Cape Town in South Africa.

Given that there are 8,760 hours in a year, that means his average walking pace in the game is a little over 100 meters per hour. This might be pretty slow, but our streamer, of course, had to live his life outside of Minecraft, and he also played other maps and games. Nevertheless, this achievement, no matter how long it took, shows that it’s the journey, not the destination, that matters the most.

A developer and enthusiast Minecrafter has showcased a project dubbed CraftGPT on GitHub. In an amazing feat of Minecraft Redstone engineering, Sammyuri — famed for building a 1Hz CPU inside the game — has built a small language model that runs on a computer inside Minecraft, trained on the TinyChat dataset. The CraftGPT project is hewn from 1,020 x 260 x 1,656 blocks in the game (439 million in total), and functions as advertised, but a major usability drawback is that you will have to “wait a couple [of] hours for the response to be generated.”

The video above shows the colossal in-game computer that was built to run CraftGPT. Sammyuri explains that the game’s Distant Horizons mod was needed to capture this ‘fly-by’ footage of the computer build.

Naturally, even with such an impressive Redstone project, CraftGPT isn’t going to replace more traditional methods of getting an LLM up and running on your PC. Sammyuri asks users/testers to temper their expectations. “The model is very prone to going off-topic, producing responses that are not grammatically correct, or simply outputting garbage,” admits the project developer.

So, how did Sammyuri use Redstone to put this project together? Redstone provides electronic components within the Minecraft environment. The video shows the in-game CraftGPT contraption being put together component-by-component. It has tokenizers, matrix multipliers, and so on. Sammyuri explains that the small language model used was created without command blocks or data packs in Minecraft. Moreover, “the model has 5,087,280 parameters, trained in Python on the TinyChat dataset of basic English conversations,” says the developer.

AI-wranglers may also be interested to know that the 5-million parameter CraftGPT “has an embedding dimension of 240, vocabulary of 1920 tokens, and consists of 6 layers. The context window size is 64 tokens, which is enough for (very) short conversations.” Sammyuri adds that “Most weights were quantized to 8 bits, although the embedding and LayerNorm weights are stored at 18 and 24 bits respectively.”

The need for speed

Minecraft worlds are generated on an almost infinite flat plane, meaning players do not have to deal with the curvature of the world they’re building; they cannot traverse the surface of their planet and return to their starting position. However, one software developer by the name of Bowerbyte decided to level it up by making Blocky Planet. It’s not a full-on game yet, with the maker calling it a tech demo, but you can download and install the title on your PC or play Blocky Planet through your browser.

Bowerbyte says that the biggest challenge with creating the demo was converting the flat Minecraft world into a planet. It’s easy enough to build a sphere out of blocks (cubic voxels to be specific) by filtering the centers of these items that are within a specific distance from a point across all three axes. However, even though that will give you a blocky ball, you won’t be able to recreate gravity. This will cause problems whenever you build upward or dig downward.

So, they’re faced with two problems. First, they needed to map a 2D grid onto a 3D sphere (like mapping a flat map to a globe), and then they needed to keep the block size consistent as you move from the surface of the planet to its core (or vice versa). The solution to the first issue is to break the flat surface into six equal pieces and then map them onto a cube. They then further break down each of the faces of the cube into smaller squares, and then the corner of each shape is pushed out to a specific distance from a central point. Bowerbyte likened this procedure to “inflating the cube like you would a balloon.”

The squares are now distorted to follow the shape of the planet, so they’re now referred to as quads. Since changing the shapes of anything will result in distortion, the dev said that they pre-distorted their square grid, which helped the final output look normal.

The next issue they had to solve was with depth. As you go deeper and closer to the center, the blocks will become thinner and thinner, eventually turning into a triangle. They first tried to remedy this by adding more blocks as you go higher, but it would often result in misaligned layers. To solve this, Bowerbyte decided to only add more blocks when the distortion becomes too obvious and then increase it by a whole number to make it easier to align the blocks across different layers. They also grouped multiple layers into shells, making them easier to process.

These were the biggest challenges that Bowerbyte had to overcome to develop the demo. After this, they added the gravity mechanic, where they created their own system that focuses the gravity on the central point of the planet instead of just downward, similar to Minecraft. That way, the player would not “fall off” the side of the planet but instead stay planted on the surface even if they traverse all of its sides.

The dev said that they built this demo during their free time, and that they intend to do more work on it in the future. However, they have no intention of turning it into a full game, as doing so can be quite time-consuming and will compete with the time they need for their real job. Still, Block Planet is an interesting diversion from Minecraft that will give you a more realistic surface resembling that of a planet, instead of a flat, expansive world.

Today, Hacker News brought an interesting new Minecraft world-generation tool to our attention. Arnis uses free geospatial data from OpenStreetMap to generate detailed Minecraft maps based on a specified real-world location. As the developer notes, this tool was initially written in Python. However, the project has since converted to the Rust programming language to learn more about it and utilize its optimization potential. Rust apparently allows for "even better performance and efficiency" than Python.

The name "Arnis" is also derived from the city of the same name in Germany. This is because the city was used to test and debug the algorithm, and its small size made it "an ideal test case" for development purposes. The name being an Easter egg related to the development process is nifty, but there's nothing deeper about it besides that.

As it turns out, there are some precedents for projects like this, even within Minecraft. For example, "Minecraft a la carte" was also developed by the French public institute IGN, which functions similarly. Unlike Arnis, though, it isn't based solely on OpenStreetMap data. IGN (International Institute of Geographic and Forestry Information) also uses its map data in France. In contrast, Wallonia uses Wallonia Public Service (SPW) map data, and locations outside these areas fall back on Bing and OpenStreetMap.

Of course, "Minecraft a la carte" is a government-made solution that requires access to private data that a typical open-source developer doesn't have. Arnis and other projects (which utilize real-world map data for gameplay) made by independent developers almost always use OpenStreetMap since it's free to use, even for these purposes.

One particularly insightful comment in the Hacker News thread also points toward Arnis's limitations. A user reports that their apartment complex isn't rendered within Arnis but only in surrounding areas. That's because OpenStreetMap renders their complex with a "multi polygon" rather than the sets of nodes used for surrounding areas. It would seem, then, that Arnis's ability to utilize OpenStreetMap data with complete accuracy and clarity is still limited in some crucial ways that may not initially be intuitive to its users.

Overall, it looks like Arnis is meeting its laid-out project objectives. If you aren't in an area dense with "multi polygons" on OpenStreetMap, you likely won't have any issue rendering your city or hometown within Arnis and Minecraft.

For more innocuous missing details that Arnis can't do yet, like the most minute street-level details and building interiors, Minecraft is still Minecraft. Flexing your creativity to enhance these generated maps and create something more cool and immersive will likely appeal to people who enjoy this game and other sandbox-friendly titles like it.

This week, another great milestone in the field of running Minecraft in unexpected ways has been met— this time, courtesy of the open-source CobolCraft project, we have a version of server Minecraft with most of its functionality intact that's running on GnuCOBOL, which is derived from the pre-x86 COBOL coding language initially standardized in 1968 and designed in 1959.

COBOL's roots start as a Department of Defense-funded effort to make a highly readable coding language optimized for business workloads and cross-platform, cross-architecture stability and performance. Newer languages are obviously far more powerful and diverse, but updates to COBOL over time have slowly improved this legacy language's modern usability, and CobolCraft highlights just how much can work with COBOL.

The greatest advancement in modern COBOL updates was likely in the COBOL 2002 version of the standard— per IBM's coverage, this iteration adds several object-oriented features and other "advanced programming paradigms" to the language that improve current-gen compatibility. This legacy programming language can still be seen in modern mainframes and is so popular in the private and government sectors alike that COBOL coders remained in high demand at the peak of 2020's unemployment wave.

The version of COBOL utilized by CobolCraft, GnuCOBOL, is a Linux-targeted version of COBOL written in C (with a C++ branch) based on the COBOL 2014 standard. This should mean that those more critical interoperability features are already intact within the version of COBOL being used here, which should help CobolCraft accomplish most functions needed to run a Minecraft server without issue.

Per the official GitHub page, most core features are "already working". These include infinite terrain generation, persistent world and player data, existing world import support, multiplayer with up to 10 players, breaking and placing blocks, block interactions, and typical multiplayer features like chatting, whitelists, console commands, and showing ping / server status.

The CobolCraft documentation notes that "blocks with multiple states, orientations, or interactive blocks require large amounts of specialized code to make them behave properly," but "some are supported."

The most essential interactive features, like torches, slabs, doors, trapdoors, and beds are all fully-functional. However, other objects are only functional in limited form, like non-interactive buttons— which means that the most grand-scale technical achievements within Minecraft via Redstone construction aren't really feasible here. That's not exactly standard gameplay, though, so many players could still have a good experience without the features needed to make a functioning calculator or PC within Minecraft.

Speaking to the MIT Technology Review earlier this week, AI startup Altera disclosed that it had successfully run several experiments of varying scales. It deployed AI-powered "players" into a Minecraft server and saw them dynamically socialize based on their personalities, including picking their roles within the village to create a "society" of up to 1000 "players" simulating human behavior.

This experiment was meant to "push the limit of what agents can do in groups autonomously" and saw lots of human-like behavior develop over time, including an AI chef giving more food based on who showed "him" the most appreciation. Other roles that were seen include "guards" who built fences (and presumably other perimeter features) and an "artist" bot that picked virtual flowers. Of course, "farmers," "traders," "builders," "explorers," and "defenders" all emerged as a natural result of the AI interacting with Minecraft's gameplay systems.

Ways that the agents were collectively tested included the addition of an in-game taxation system that the bots had to pay, complete with tax laws that they voted for. Depending on interactions between AI agents, the tax rate would go higher or lower whenever there was a vote. The testers also got some AI agents to spread the word of The Flying Spaghetti Monster deity of the parody religion Pastafarianism.

Some behaviors also seemed to be almost entirely emergent. In a 500-agent simulation, many of the bots took to pranking each other for their own "amusement" or even taking an interest in environmental advocacy. Of course, these AI agents don't have any accurate self-awareness. Thus, the eco-conscious likely don't know just how taxing their very existence is on the environment— but it's still quite amusing to see how much human-like behavior can emerge under Altera's "Project Sid."

Altera has dubbed the experiment that makes this possible "Project Sid." Sid's AI agents are all given "brains" composed of multiple modules—some are just for understanding the gameplay mechanics of Minecraft, but "some modules are powered by LLMs and designed to specialize in certain tasks, such as reacting to other agents, speaking, or planning the agent's next move."

In the long term, Altera founder Robert Yang hopes to unlock "the true power of AI." In his eyes, that happens when we "have actually truly autonomous agents that can collaborate at scale." This means we could create "agents that can really love humans (like dogs)," though this is sure to be controversial for many AI critics and sci-fi consumers.

In the "apparently" post-copyright age of AI PCs, yet another AI company has introduced a shameless playable ripoff of an actual, copyrighted video game— now it's DecartAI's Oasis world model and Minecraft, with resolution and framerate more characteristic of Nintendo 64 games like Ocarina of Time (20 FPS, 360p) than any modern port of Minecraft.

Even fan ports to platforms like the GameCube and Dreamcast run better than this! Add numerous AI hallucinations that render truly complex gameplay unfeasible, including a complete lack of object permanence to the point that even digging a hole drops you back above ground, and NO environmental fixtures are permanent, and one wonders why anyone would want to play a survival-building RPG in these conditions.

Oasis, developed in collaboration with Etched, isn't necessarily commercial. In fact, according to comments on Etched Twitter, it's apparently due to be open-sourced. How exactly they're being allowed to open source and distribute code so blatantly ripping off (and training with) an existing video game is anybody's guess.

This project is also based on the open-source Minecraft training dataset from OpenAI, Minecraft Video PreTraining (VPT). VPT was trained on 70 thousand hours of IDM-labeled online video.

While AI zealots cheer advancements like AI Counter-Strike: GO and Doom as advancements for the gaming space, it seems clear to anybody paying attention that the most affordable, performant, and sensible option for years, if not decades, to come will be actual game engines running on actual hardware.

Proudly touting a "game" without a game engine, game logic, or code is perhaps missing the point of what makes games fun—or even coherent, particularly considering the fact that these projects simply don't exist without real video games to rip off.

In other words, no— with how this technology works fundamentally, requiring training off existing content, you aren't able to simply AI prompt the creation of a truly complex, original game. The closest thing to that is a shameless ripoff of Angry Birds assembled from AI-generated assets. That is still just Angry Birds, though it is a remarkably more coherent experience than these real-time 3D AI world models, which are so prone to disorienting hallucination as to make them feel like hallucinations to play.

A fundamental limitation of modern artificial intelligence and neural networks is that they aren't good at spatial mapping or navigation without an existing map. However, TechXplore reports that a combination of a predictive coding algorithm and Minecraft gameplay successfully "taught" a neural network how to create spatial maps and subsequently use those spatial maps to predict the following frames of video, yielding a mean-squared error of 0.094% between the predicted image and the final image.

The project demonstrates genuine spatial awareness of AI, which still isn't seen in the impossible architecture and other strange glitches that come with things like OpenAI's Sora.

These findings come from a paper published in the Nature Machine Intelligence journal on Nature.com, automated construction of cognitive maps with visual predictive coding, from James Gornet & Matt Thomson of the California Institute of Technology (aka Caltech). The paper, released to the public just yesterday, details exactly how this was achieved in exhaustive detail and even shares the code on GitHub and Zenodo.

One of the two researchers who worked on the project, Matt Thomson, spoke to TechXplore and provided a few noteworthy quotes about the process and what led them to undertake it.

Per Matt Thomson, "There's this sense that even state-of-the-art AI models are still not truly intelligent. They don't problem-solve like we do; they can't prove unproven math results or generate new ideas. We think it's because they can't navigate in conceptual space; solving complex problems is like moving through a space of concepts, like navigating. AIs are doing more like like rote memorization— you give it an input, and it gives you a response. But it's not able to synthesize disparate ideas."

James Gornet, the graduate student who led the project, encouraged the use of Minecraft and studied neuroscience, machine learning, math, statistics, and biology under the Department of Computational and Neural Systems (CNS) at Caltech. He did not provide a quote about the process, but Thomson says that CNS is uniquely suited for James's work and that "we're hoping to learn about the brain in turn," not just advance AI.

Microsoft has fueled outrage among many gamers by deleting their old Mojang Minecraft accounts. The deletions came because the gamers neglected to migrate their accounts from old Mojang accounts to Microsoft accounts.

After Microsoft purchased Mojang (and, naturally, Minecraft), it announced that legacy Minecraft and Minecraft: Java Edition owners would need to migrate their accounts to Microsoft accounts. The migration process began in October 2020 and was originally scheduled to be finished by March 2022. Microsoft extended that cutoff date to Sept. 19, 2023.

What happened to accounts that weren’t migrated in time? According to Microsoft’s web page and emails to Mojang account. holders, they would not be able to sign in to Minecraft.net or the Minecraft launcher. Eventually, the accounts would be deleted.

Even before deletion, though, Microsoft advised gamers it would be unable to continue account migration after Sept. 19, 2023. That date was declared as the final cutoff date, but many players claim they were not notified. Microsoft wanted to get all Minecraft players onto its own servers for better security and access to new features.

This means if you didn’t migrate your account and want to start playing Minecraft again, you have to purchase a new license. This has many gamers understandably upset. Thousands have turned to Reddit to express their outrage, including one who insists they’ll just pirate every Minefield game from now on, along with the upcoming Starfield expansion and Elder Scrolls VI.

The angry Redditor wrote, “The fact they can just take away your license to the game like that is [expletive] insane. This is why I’ll never support DRMs, if a game has a DRM you do NOT own it. Only a license to temporarily play it.”

The post drew 1,100 comments before moderators locked the post.

"Comments locked because it's just a battle of the 'this was an easy thing to do and you had plenty of warning' crowd VS 'you should be able to keep the game no matter what if you paid for it' crowd," the moderator wrote.

Many of the commenters commiserated with the original poster, but seemingly just as many offered no sympathy. They pointed out the migration had been ongoing for years and that Microsoft gave more than 12 months’ notice of the looming deadline.

Nvidia has set up an interesting new research group called GEAR. A clue to the research group’s goals is provided by expanding the GEAR acronym - Generalist Embodied Agent Research. GEAR has basically been set up so that Nvidia can further advance and build capable AI-based entities that can operate with skill in both the virtual and physical worlds – we are, therefore, talking about things like intelligent NPCs and robots, respectively.

The GEAR group at Nvidia has been co-founded by Jim Fan and Yuke Zhu, who have collaborated on several projects previously. Introducing the new research group this weekend, Fan sketched out his vision concerning GEAR. “We believe in a future where every machine that moves will be autonomous, and robots and simulated agents will be as ubiquitous as iPhones,” wrote the newly appointed Research Manager and Lead of Embodied AI (GEAR Group) at Nvidia. “We are building the Foundation Agent — a generally capable AI that learns to act skillfully in many worlds, virtual and real.”

Fan’s enthusiasm spilled over into stating that “2024 is the Year of Robotics, the Year of Gaming AI, and the Year of Simulation.” We hope that it could be, but such a timescale would seem optimistic given typical development times.

The lab's homepage provides four bullet points spelling out the research agenda. The GEAR team indicates it will begin its efforts by progressing multimodal foundation models, general-purpose robots, foundation agents in virtual worlds, and simulation and synthetic data.

The research group’s portal also shares a quartet of prior projects, which are the fruits of Fan, Zhu, and various other researchers. Two of the projects concern proficient and proactive AI-powered agents that have been inserted into the popular Minecraft game. Another project concerns an optimized reinforcement learning technique for robots designed to precipitate “dexterity at super-human level.” Last but not least, the researchers have also collaborated on multimodal prompts for robot task specification and developed a benchmark for such actions.

If the above stirs you deeply, you may be interested to know that GEAR is actively recruiting for at least three positions to help them reach their stated goals. As well as senior positions attracting salaries up to $333,500 per year, they are also seeking a Research Intern (paid $19 to $93 per hour).

If you own a 3D printer, you can fuel your passion for Minecraft games by downloading and 3D printing these interesting 8 designs.

One of the most exciting aspects of Minecraft is its unique visual style and all the details it contains. The marketplace is filled with Minecraft action figures, Legos and other toys. However, you don’t need to head to the store as there are numerous, free 3D models you can print at home.

If you search for “Minecraft” on leading design repositories such as Thingiverse or Printables, you’ll find hundreds of STL files available right now. However, not all of them are equally worthy of your time. These are the best 8 Minecraft prints we’ve seen. Just download the file(s), slice them in your slicer and send them to your printer, perhaps one of the best 3D printers.

1. Articulated Steve

Steve is an iconic character model that is the main protagonist in the game, and it features a blocky humanoid figure. It wears a light blue shirt, blue jeans, gray shoes, and a light brown beard stubble. Steve’s hair is dark brown, and his skin is a rich brown, with blue eyes.

The design comes with five parts: the arms, head, legs, pickaxe and torso. The designer 3D recommends printing the model at a resolution of 0.15mm and a 15% infill with supports. 

Designer and link to download: Kirby Downey via Myminifactory

Number of downloads: 4,074

2. Minecraft Creeper Mini Figure Kit

This is a quick-to-print and assemble design, and you can effortlessly detach the parts from the frame by simply twisting them without the need for cutters or clippers. You can use the kit as a display piece and a functional keychain ornament, and you can download the files, open them in any 3D modeling software or STL editor, and customize them based on your needs.

Despite its small size, the figure maintains the distinctive cubic body with its signature sad expression. It's a great way to showcase your love for the game or add Minecraft flair to your keychain.

Designer and link to download: Chiz via Printables

Number of Downloads: 4,137

3. ESPADA

These Minecraft sword keychains provide a great way to showcase your love for the game while adding a touch of gamer style to your keys, and they can also spark a conversation when you meet with your fellow gamers. You can also download and 3D print them and give them to your closest friends, kids, or anyone who you know enjoys Minecraft games.

Designer and link to download: Youbit via Cults3D

Number of Downloads: 2,800

4. Textured Minecraft Grass Block Box

A textured Minecraft Grass Block Box is another attractive Minecraft design whose lid is designed to resemble the top face of a grass block, complete with the signature vibrant green color and coarse texture that players recognize from Minecraft's blocky landscapes. 

The lid fits well, just like a puzzle piece, and it is removable. It is about 69 mm³, and the interior dimensions measure around 58 * 58 * 60 mm. You can 3D print the design and use it to decorate your desk or gaming setup. It can also serve as a great gift for a family member or friend with a gaming passion. The designer has provided STL files that anyone can download and customize based on their needs. It should be 3D printed with supports, especially the lid, but the base doesn’t require supports. 

Designer and link to download: MARCELWO41EDYNKI via Cults3D

Number of Downloads: 852

5. Minecraft Chess Set

Minecraft chess set not only offers the classic game of chess but also adds a delightful layer of Minecraft-themed strategy and fun. It's an excellent way for fans of both chess and Minecraft to enjoy a unique gaming experience that combines the best of both worlds. 

Just like the rest above that we have described, this set makes for a fantastic gift, a collectible item, or a centerpiece for your gaming setup. It has eight parts, and the designer printed it with a layer height of 0.1mm and a 10% infill.

Designer and link to download: Guilbert Benjamin via Myminifactory

Number of downloads: 2,100

6. Minecraft Block Lamp

A Minecraft block lamp is a decorative piece replicating one of the game's recognizable blocks, like the grass block we have just described above. The lamp emits a soft and comforting glow, making it a great bedside lamp. 

You can also place it on a desk, shelf, or any spot where you can emit the light well. Whether reading, gaming, or simply relaxing, the Minecraft block lamp creates a warm and inviting atmosphere with a nod to your favorite virtual world.

Once you 3D print the parts, you can use glue to stick the four faces together and you add an LED strip. The designer recommends using 100% infill, a layer height of 0.2mm, and no supports or rafts are required.

Designer and link to download: Bithur_Factory via Cults3D

Number of downloads: 827

7. Minecraft Portal Style Phone Charging Dock With Animation

The swirling pattern and vibrant colors of the Minecraft portal-style phone charging dock replicate the Nether portal from Minecraft. It adds a practical functionality of a phone charging dock and a touch of interactivity to your charging experience through the animations. 

You can put a phone measuring 80 x 165 x 12.8mm inside. If your phone is smaller, you can scale the design until you achieve the perfect size. You can use glue to stick the detachable pieces together. No need to use supports when 3D printing, and the designer recommends using 8% v-roid infill, four overlayers, and four underlayers. 

Designer and link to download: Impresoen3D via Cults3D

Number of downloads: 1,300

8. Minecraft Chest Single and Double

You can download and 3D print these Minecraft boxes and use them for storing your items and keeping them secure and organized. The single chest provides a single storage compartment with 27 available item slots. The double chest, on the other hand, is an expanded version of the single chest and provides a much larger storage capacity. 

You can 3D print each panel without a brim. When 3D printing the double chest, the designer recommends printing with an infill of 20%, 0.2mm resolution, and no need for rafts and supports.

Designer and link to download: Spradlinb via Printables

Number of downloads: 1,465

MORE: Best 3D Printers

MORE: Best Budget 3D Printers

MORE: Best Resin 3D Printers

Minecraft players and those who run Minecraft servers face a new and dangerous security vulnerability which could allow bad actors to run remote code on their computers. Dubbed 'BleedingPipe,' by a user group called MMPA (Minecraft Malware Prevention Alliance), the exploit uses Java deserialization to infect servers or clients that have one of many popular mods installed. If you don't play Minecraft on a server that has one of the mods and don't use the mods, you can't be infected. 

The number of vulnerable Minecraft mods is extensive. A German Computer Science Student who goes by Dogboy21 on GitHub, has identified three dozen popular mods that have the vulnerability, ranging from AetherCraft to Immersive Armors to ttCore. Dogboy21's Github page also has a patch to fix the problem, which involves getting a new JAR file to put into your mods folder. The MMPA's blog post lists even more mods that are affected and claims that, specifically, 1.7.10 and 1.12.2 version modpacks are those which are vulnerable.

BleedingPipe works by taking advantage of a problem with the ObjectInputStream class in Java. A hacker can feed data to the server with code that does something malicious and then, when the server receives the code and "deserializes" it (changing it from binary into an object), that code gets executed on the server side. Similarly, if the server itself is infected, it could feed binary data back to a client (a player) whose PC deserializes it locally and executes the code.

There's a fantastic YouTube video that explains how deserialization vulnerabilities work on the PwnFunction channel.

If a bad actor is able to execute code on either the server or client side, the possibilities are nearly endless. They could find ways to exfiltrate your user data and use it for identity theft or could take over your computer and use it for Botnet attacks on other systems.

In early July, a player who goes by Yoyoyopo5 was running a public server using Forge 14.23.5.2860 mods and, during a live stream, a malicious user exploited BleedingPipe to gain control and execute code on every connected players' device. In his post on the incident, Yoyoyopo5 says that the hacker used the remote code to steal browser, Discord and Steam session info.

According to the MMPA, a bad actor has scanned all Minecraft servers on the IPv4 address space and may have deployed a malicious payload to them. So any server running an affected mod could be infected.

BleedingPipe is similar to, but apparently not the same, as another recently-discovered exploit within Log4j, a Java logging library. Minecraft.net, an official Microsoft site, has a warning up along with mitigations for the Log4j vulnerability.

So what should you do to protect yourself? If you're a player who plays on other peoples' servers, MMPA recommends checking for infected files in your .minecraft directory, using a scanner such as JSus or jNeedle. Dogboy21 recommends downloading his patch if you are using any of the mods.

If you run a server, MMPA suggests running JSus or jNeedle on all of your installed mods. MMPA also suggests updating to the latest versions of EnderIO or LogisticsPipes, if you are using those. It also says to use the "GT New Horizons" fork of BDLib, if you are using that. The group has also created its own security mod called PipeBlocker, which is supposed to block these attacks.

Today, it seems like AI chatbots are everywhere, from search engines to online stores. Someday soon, we can expect most games to use LLMs (Large Language Models) such as GPT-4 to make their NPCs more lifelike. And, if you play Minecraft Java edition, you can incorporate AI chat right now via your choice of mods.

Our favorite Minecraft AI mod right now is AIMobs, which allows you to have conversations with individual mobs (Minecraft's term for NPCs). You can converse with an Enderman, a Creeper, a Sheep, a Villager, a Cow, or any living (or undead thing) and it will tell you specific things about itself. For example, an Iron Golem told me that it's not actually a robot, but a magic creature. You can also ask more generic, Minecraft or non-Minecraft questions and the mobs will give you an answer. 

Keep in mind, though, that you only get to chat. You can ask a mob to help you with a task, but it will only give you advice. For example, when I asked an Axolotl for some Netherite, it told me that I could find some in the Nether. If you don't want to chat with mobs but do what ChatGPT available from the Minecraft chat function, another mod called MCChatGPT provides that service.

Below, we'll show you how to install and use both AIMobs and MCChatGPT to get AI /  ChatGPT functionality in Minecraft Java Edition. To use either of these,  you'll need the following:

Minecraft AI / ChatGPT: What You Need

• An OpenAI API Key: You can sign up for a free account on OpenAI and register for an API key on its site. Note that you have to pay for use of the API key, though you may get a small amount of free credit when you sign up. Depending on how much you chat, the cost may be quite small. During all of our Minecraft chats writing this tutorial, we used up $0.70 worth of API credits.
• Minecraft Java Edition: This will only work with Java Edition, not with Bedrock.
• The AT Launcher: You can get the AT launcher here.

How to Use AIMobs to Get ChatGPT in Minecraft 

AIMobs operates on the principle that you can have a conversation with any individual mob in Minecraft and that it will give you some answers that are customized for its mob type. For example, when we asked an Axolotl if it would like to return to the ocean, it  said "that would be very nice. I would love to see the ocean again." And when we talked to a Zombie it said "I need you to find me some brains, so I can satisfy my hunger."

However, none of the mobs can do anything more than talk and they seem blissfully  unaware of what's actually happening to you or to them. For example, when we punched mobs while talking to them, they didn't say anything about it. Also, conversations continued even with mobs that had died or mobs that were miles away on the other side of our world.

You can talk to any mob by shift-clicking on it and starting the conversation in the chat (always available by hitting "t"). The conversation isn't over until you type "goodbye," even if you walk away or kill the mob. Here's how to setup AIMobs.

1. Open ATLauncher.  if you don't have it installed, you can download it.

2. Click Vanilla Packs in the right column.

3. Select  Minecraft 1.19.3 and Fabric (under loader) then click Create Instance. You may also want to change the name of the instance to something memorable for you. Version 1.19.4 (the latest version) doesn’t work with the AIMobs mod yet.

You’ll get a message when the instance has been created and you can click OK to dismiss.

4. Click Instances in the right column.

5. Click Add Mods under your instance.

6. Select Modrinth from the leftmost dropdown menu. This is the website where it will look for the AIMobs mod.

7. Enter “aimobs” into the search box, hit Enter and then click “Install Fabric API" if prompted.

8. Click Add in the dialog box that appears (if you needed to install Fabric mod).

9. Click Add under AIMobs.

10. Click Add in the dialog box.

You’ll soon get a notification saying that AIMobs has installed. If you can't close the dialog box (which happened to us every time), right click on the ATLauncher tray icon and select “Kill Open Dialogs.” 

11. Click Accounts and Login with Microsoft if you are not already logged in. Finish your log in.

12. Click Play under your instance on the Instances tab.

13. Click Singleplayer to start the game. Multiplayer games require this to be installed on the server.

14. Click Create New World after choosing the settings for your world (or leaving the defaults).

15. Enter /aimobs setkey [APIKEY] in chat where [APIKEY] is your OpenAI API key. To get to Minecraft chat, hit “t.”

16. Enter /aimobs enable in chat. 

17. Shift + Left click on a mob to begin a conversation with it. You can then type any questions or responses into chat.

18. Enter "goodbye" when you want to terminate a conversation with a mob.

You can use the following commands with the AIMobs mod.

/aimobs - see configuration

/aimobs help - see list of commands

/aimobs enable - turn it on

/aimobs disable - turn it off

/aimobs setmodel [model] - Allows you to change the LLM. However, we were only able to get the default, text-davinci-003, to work.

/aimbos settemp [temperature] - set the temperature ("creativity") of the AI

How to Enable Regular ChatGPT in Minecraft

If you want regular ChatGPT in Minecraft, without the pretense that you’re talking to a mob, you can use a different mod called MCChatGPT. To set it up:

1. Open ATLauncher, log into Minecraft and create an instance if you don't have one already. 

2. Click Add Mods under your instance on the Instances tab.

3.  Search for “chatgpt” and click Add. Make sure you are searching the Modrinth server. If you don't have Fabric API, you'll need to install it here.

3. Click Add when prompted to install the Architectury API. 

4. Click Add in the dialog boxes for Architectury and MCChatGPT. 

You’ll soon get a notification saying that MCChatGPT has installed. If you can’t close the dialog box, right click on the ATLauncher tray icon and select “Kill Open Dialogs.”

5. Start a game of Minecraft by clicking Play on that instance, logging in if necessary and selecting a single player game. You should create a new world if one doesn't already exist in that instance.

6. Enter /mcgpt-auth [APIKEY] into chat where [APIKEY] is your API key.

MCChatGPT is now set up and you can use the following chat commands with it:

/ask [prompt] – ask a question

/setcontextlevel [0-3] – You can provide a context level that gives the bot more information about the player and the world, allowing it to provide more specific answers to your questions. Level 0 provides no context information while three provides player, world and entity information, but at a cost of about 1,000 tokens (lots of $) per request.

/nextconversation – begin new conversation

/previousconversation – go back to the prior conversation

/listconversations – get an index of all those you have had

/setconversation [conversation id] – return to a prior conversation from the list

MORE: How to Run a ChatGPT Alternative on Your Local

MORE: How to Run ChatGPT on Raspberry Pi or PC

After 12 years on the market, more than 238 million copies sold, numerous updates, mods and spin-off games, Minecraft remains one of the most popular titles for kids and anyone who is young at heart. Players can build houses, secret lairs or even in-game devices such as a computer that plays Minecraft  (totally meta). But up until now, if you wanted to create anything in the game, you had to spend minutes or hours gathering the materials and putting them together. What if you could just ask a bot to do it for you?

According to Semafor Technology Editor Reed Albergotti, Microsoft has internally demoed a Minecraft feature which would allow players to use natural language commands to direct the characters or create things. Albergotti writes that, though the demo used AI, it was not powered by OpenAI's Prometheus Model, which underpins the Bing Chat service. However, he notes that "Microsoft has no immediate plans" to deploy this feature to a public build of Minecraft.

Albergotti cites "people familiar with the matter" as his sources for this information so it clearly falls under the category of a rumor or leak. However, it make sense that Microsoft would be testing AI technology in gaming and there's no better title to try it with than Minecraft, because it's a sandbox game where people constantly want to create things.

Microsoft would not be the first to use AI with Minecraft. In a research paper from June of 2022, OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT and Bing Chat, showed how it had train a "behavioral cloning model" to perform actions in the game by showing it 70,000 hours of videos. The model was able to perform complex tasks such as building a crafting table, crafting a stone pickaxe or constructing a wood shelter.

We've also seen a number of individuals attempt to use ChatGPT with Minecraft. However, the fact that AI is not built into the game and its prompts (and that ChatGPT just outputs text) limits its functionality. For example, a YouTuber named SmallishBeans used ChatGPT to get advice about how to build an attractive house in the game, but he still had to do the actual work.

I asked my ten year old son, who plays Minecraft obsessively, what he would do with AI in the game and he said he would use it to build complex structures that otherwise take hours of manual labor to design. Having a bot take this work away raises interesting questions about the purpose of the game: is it to create with your own hands (or clicks) or just to see your ideas come to life? And if you ask the AI to create something for you and it makes lots of subtle design choices, whose design is it? 

Some players would be excited by the possibility of avoiding the rote work of Minecraft: digging, chopping and constructing commonplace objects such as swords. Microsoft could also solve these "problems" by changing the mechanics of the game to automate these processes, but at what point is it no longer a rewarding play experience? If I train an AI to beat every level of Pacman for me, do I still feel a sense of accomplishment from playing the game?

We may be about to find out what affect natural language processing and advanced machine learning have not only on Minecraft but a slew of other games. Microsoft is well-positioned thanks to its ownership of key gaming IP, ranging from Flight Simulator to Halo.

Do you have a pre-teen or early teen child? Are you struggling to think of what to get them for Christmas to complete or complement their PC setup? It’s that time of year again when we’re only a couple of weeks away from Santa leaving presents under the tree. If you’re still deciding what to get your loved ones, you don’t have much time left before there won’t be enough time to get your items delivered, so you’d better have a good think about what you can get your little monster for their gaming setup. 

My son is 13 going on 26 and plays a mix of games from Minecraft, and Roblox, to many a zombie game. He also likes to hang around with his friends on their own little Discord server while they play multiplayer games together and stream their gameplay to each other . Having watched a lot of YouTube videos, my son has been well indoctrinated into the RGB-everything persona when it comes to the decor in his room. Studio 54 never had such a light show, even during the disco days.

Headsets: Go for Quality, Wireless is a Plus

So, what are some affordable options for kids who play PC games? I’ve found that my son goes through peripherals fairly quickly, thanks to a mixture of abuse, and the fact that some devices just don’t meet the needs of an active and excited teenager.

Headsets are always the first to go. I started off by letting him have my hand-me-downs when he was younger, but as he matured, he started to take more of an interest in the products that he wanted to use. The cheaper, flimsy headsets would only last a few months, so I started upgrading him to sturdier name brands and quickly became a fan of the quality and price of headsets like the HyperX Cloud II, which you could often find discounted - especially on sales holidays such as Black Friday.

It’s definitely worth spending a few extra bucks to get a product that’s more durable and likely to last a while. One thing he’s wanted recently though is a wireless headset, especially for using with his VR headset, as there are already enough cable issues when using that. So this year I’ve opted for a HyperX Cloud Alpha wireless headset and hope it will meet his expectations.

Wireless gaming headsets are a particularly good idea for kids, because they can get excited and accidentally yank at the wires of corded ones. On the other hand, you need to make sure that the headsets stay charged and have decent battery life. It almost goes without saying that you want a headset that uses 2.4 GHz wireless technology, not just Bluetooth because Bluetooth quality isn’t as good. If you want to find a top-tier headset, check out our list of the best gaming headsets. There are also a couple of good headset deals right now:

• HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless: now $165 at Amazon (was $199)
• HyperX Cloud II: now $49 at Amazon (was $99)
• Logitech G435 Lightspeed Wireless: now $49 at Amazon (was $79)

RGB Mouse Mats: A Really Cheap Gift

A simple and inexpensive present that I’ve gotten for my boy over the last few years is a new mouse mat. Sometimes it’s just a plain color, and other times it may be decorated with whatever currently trending interest he may have. A mouse pad is usually a little stocking filler as they don’t usually cost much, but of course, you can go crazy and spend a small country’s GDP on one with flashing lights and wireless charging if you’re so inclined.

As it so happens, Tom’s Hardware maintains a list of the best RGB mouse pads and we test them to make sure they really shine. There are a couple of solid sales on pads now too:

• SteelSeries QcK Gaming Surface XL: now $34 at Best Buy (was $59)
• Corsair MM700 RGB Mouse Pad: now $49 at Best Buy (was $59)
• HyperX Fury S: was $14 at HyperX (was $29)

Keyboards: Compact and Colorful

When it comes to keyboards and mice, it’s all down to preference, and the prices of these range from quite low to obscene. Think of factors like size, space, mechanical or membrane, RGB, and price. For my son, it has to have the RGB; for him it’s more important than the functionality of the product, but I’m going to make sure it’s capable of both and also a good value for money.

He has a small desk in his room and doesn’t ever use the number pad on his current keeb, so I’ve opted to get him a smaller TKL (Ten-Key-Less) board which still keeps the functionality of the F-keys but makes a little more room on the desk. I opted for a Logitech G Pro TKL which I managed to find on sale for around $50, this keyboard comes with mechanical switches and all the RGB he could wish for.

We maintain an up-to-date list of the best gaming keyboards. There are also a few compelling keyboards on sale right now:

• Logitech G PRO Mechanical Gaming Keyboard: now $89 at Amazon (was $129)
• Corsair K70 RGB MK.2 Low Profile: now $99 at Best Buy (was $149)
• ROCCAT Pyro Wired Mechanical Keyboard: now $49 at Best Buy (was $79)

Mouse: Save By Staying Wired

Also for a mouse, I found a Logitech G Pro Wired for $30 that conveniently matches the keyboard and is nicely priced. He’s not worried about having a wireless keyboard and mouse and going wired for these two peripherals usually saves you a lot of money, and does away with the pain of your mouse or keyboard running out of juice at the most inconvenient time.

We have a list of the best gaming mice that’s based on our extensive testing and research. However, there are also some great gaming mouse deals right now:

• HyperX Pulsefire Haste: now $24 at HyperX (was $49)
• Logitech G PRO Wireless: now $49 at Amazon (was $129)
• SteelSeries Rival 3: now $21 at Best Buy (was $29)

Monitor: A Dramatic Upgrade, But Not Cheap

The last thing I bought my son for Christmas is a new monitor, as he was using a very old second-hand monitor that I had passed down the line many years back, just like the PC he’s using - made from all my old bits and pieces. The first thing to take into consideration when thinking about getting a monitor is the use case, and then, think about what hardware you have powering it. A monitor is one of those pieces of kit that can last multiple PC builds, so worth making the right choice.

My son uses his computer for school work and gaming and has an older Nvidia 6GB GTX 1060 powering the graphics. Space on his desk is also important, so I wouldn’t want anything larger than a 27-inch screen. Being a little gamer, and enjoying the FPS games, something with a decent refresh rate of 144 Hz plus would be nice, but with the GPU he has, he’s not able to play games at a higher-than-1080p resolution. So I’m considering a monitor that’s limited to a 1080p (1920 x 1080) resolution.

Going for a 1080p monitor also gives you a lot of options and keeps the price low as high-speed, 1080p displays are available for less than $200. If you’re willing to spend closer to $250 or $300, you can get a 2K (2560 x 1440) screen that will make text and images sharper. Either way, if you upgrade the graphics card in the future, then you can think about another monitor with a higher resolution and perhaps convert the one you buy today into a second monitor.

We have a very detailed list of the best gaming monitors you can buy, based on our testing. However, these screens are on good sales at the moment:

• Dell S2721HGF (27-inch, curved 144 Hz, 1080p): now $179 at Dell (was $259)
• Dell G2722HS (27-inch, 165 Hz, 1080p): now $149 at Dell (was $279)
• Alienware AW2521HFL (25-inch, 240 Hz 1080p): now $199 at Best Buy (was $249)

Bottom Line

The main takeaway from buying any bits of computer, peripherals, or monitors is to think about the purpose you want them to fill, the amount you’re willing to spend, and if it’s for the holidays, whether your child actually wants them.

Be sensible and shop around for good deals and prices and don’t make any rush purchases. Hopefully, you’ve already got your shopping done, but if not, check out our lists of the best deals on PC hardware and tech right now and the best monitor deals.

In a recently published report into DDoS threats in Q3 2022, Cloudflare observed that the most forceful attack of the quarter targeted a Minecraft gaming server. An individual or organization launched a 2.5 Tbps DDoS attack via a Mirai botnet variant, aimed at the popular Wynncraft MMORPG Minecraft server.

Cloudflare says that multi-terabit attacks have become more frequent, and its automated content protection and DDoS mitigation services responded to several >1 Tbps attacks in Q3. 

Interestingly, the Wynncraft targeted attack was "the largest attack we’ve ever seen from the bitrate perspective" — which leads one to wonder about the motivations behind it. Minecraft is not political, nor does it have anything to do with state security. However, it seems to be a popular DDoS target during tournaments, where rivals are jostling for any possible competitive advantage.

According to Cloudflare, the Wynncraft server attack came form multiple vectors and consisted of UDP and TCP data packet floods. Luckily for Minecraft gamers engrossed at the time of the powerful DDoS attack, Cloudflare’s systems managed to filter out the attack, negating any of its intended impacts.

The report also highlighted some key DDoS trends of the last quarter. Some of the attacks certainly looked political, such as the surges in attacks against Taiwanese and Japanese sites and institutions. (For context, China got pretty upset about US Speaker Nancy Pelosi visiting Taiwan in Q3, and North Korea likes to poke at Japan.)

In good news, ransom attacks (in which attackers offer to scale back DDoS for a fee) appear to be trending down — though September saw a spike. It's possible this has something to do with the reducing value of cryptocurrencies, which is what attackers usually asked to be paid in. 

It's also interesting to see the top source countries for DDoS attacks charted. China is a clear leader, despite (or because of?) the government’s iron grip over the internet. “Attack traffic from China-registered IP addresses increased by 29% YoY and 19% QoQ,” according to the Cloudflare post.

If you want to create a private Minecraft world that you can share with your friends online, you need a place to host that experience. You can pay a hefty $7.99 per month for Minecraft Realms, which is easy to use but doesn't have all the customization options or you can rent a Minecraft server from a paid hosting service such as Shockbyte. Or you can set up your very own Minecraft server on a Raspberry Pi and have it hosted right from your living room for free. 

Note that you'll need either a Raspberry Pi 3 or 4, preferably a 4 with at least 2GB of RAM. And all the traffic on the server will be going in and out via your home internet service so, if you're planning to have a ton of users on all the time, it may take up some bandwidth. But if you're just planning to play with a few friends, creating a Raspberry Pi Minecraft server is easy, cheap and fun. 

Below, we'll show you how to set up a Minecraft server on your Raspberry Pi, make sure that server starts at boot and that it allows connections from outside your local network. We'll also explain how to log into that server from Minecraft Java Edition. Note that we're using a plain, vanilla Minecraft server and Java Edition, without mods. However, once you've got the hang of these instructions, you can install server-side mods or different versions of the server.

How to Set Up a Raspberry Pi Minecraft Server

1. Set up a Raspberry Pi if you don't have one already. See our stories on how to set up a Raspberry Pi or how to set up a headless Raspberry Pi (if you want to control it remotely). 

2. Open a terminal window on the Pi or an SSH connection to the Raspberry Pi.

3. Make sure your Raspberry Pi is up to date, by running the latest update commands.

sudo apt updatesudo apt upgrade -y

4. Install JDK and git. The Java Development Kit (JDK) is the foundation for Minecraft Java Edition. Without the JDK Minecraft would not work.

sudo apt install default-jdk

5. Create a directory to store the files and enter that directory. We'll call ours mcserver.

mkdir mcservercd mcserver

6. On your PC, navigate to the Minecraft.net server download page and copy the address of the latest server jar file.

7. Enter wget at the command prompt where is the URL of the jar file you copied. For example, ours was:

wget https://piston-data.mojang.com/v1/objects/f69c284232d7c7580bd89a5a4931c3581eae1378/server.jar

8. Launch the server using the following command. This will allocate 1GB of RAM to the server and then run the downloaded .jar file.

java -Xmx1024M -Xms1024M -jar server.jar

Add nogui to the end if you want to launch without an interface. You will get an error message saying that you need to agree to the EULA.

9. Open eula.txt for editing. It's easiest to use nano.

nano eula.txt

10. Change eula=false to eula=true in the file and hit CTRL + X then press Y and Enter to save and exit.

11. Launch the server again.

java -Xmx1024M -Xms1024M -jar server.jar

It will take several minutes to start up as it generates a world and prepares a spawn area. You will see a percentage as it goes.

Now your server should be running and you can log into it. However, if you ran the server from an SSH window, it will close the moment that you close the window (unless you put "nohup" before the server load command). And, even if you run it from a terminal window on the Pi (or via VNC), the server is not set to restart should you need to reboot the Raspberry Pi. 

Below, we'll show you how to create a script that will start the Minecraft server every time you boot the Raspberry Pi and should also restart the Minecraft server if it crashes but the Pi itself does not.

How to Start the Raspberry Pi Minecraft Server at Boot

1. Create a new file called mcstart.sh in the same folder as the server files (in our case, mcserver). You can create and open the file with nano.

nano mcstart.sh

2. Enter the following code to your bash script.

#!/bin/bashcd ~/mcserverwhile truedo   java -Xmx1024M -Xms1024M -jar server.jar   sleep 10done

What we're doing here is changing to the directory where the server is and then running an endless loop that starts the server and then, if it ever stops, waits 10 seconds and starts it again. If the server never crashes, it will never get to the "sleep 10" part of the loop. 

If the path to your Minecraft server is something other than /mcserver on your Raspberry Pi, make sure to change that part of the script. 

3. Save and exit the file by hitting CTRL + X.

4. Set the mcstart.sh file to be executable by all users.

chmod a+x mcstart.sh

So now you can just the mcstart command from the command line, but that won't do you much good unless the system runs it automatically at boot. 

5. Open the crontab editor.

crontab -e

If this is the first time  you've opened crontab on this Raspberry Pi, you'll be asked to select an editor. Select nano if given a choice.

6. Enter @reboot and the path to mcstart.sh at the bottom of the crontab file and save it by hitting CTRL + X. In our case, the line looked like this but yours may vary based on the path to your home directory and what you named your server directory.

@reboot /home/pi/mcserver/mcstart.sh

7. Reboot your raspberry pi and see if it works.

How to Put Raspberry Minecraft Server on the Internet

If you've installed a Minecraft server on your Raspberry Pi and configured it to run every time you boot up, you and anyone on your local network can now log into it. However, unless everyone you want to play with is in your home,  you'll want to make that server available on the Internet.

1. Configure the Raspberry Pi to use a static IP address. If you don't know how to do this, see our tutorial on how to make Raspberry Pi use a static IP address. A static IP benefits you, because you want to make sure that its local IP v4 number is the same even if you reboot it.

2. Set a port forwarding rule on your router that forwards port 25565 to your Raspberry Pi Minecraft server's internal IP address. The process will differ slightly on each router. You need to get into the admin panel, look for the port forwarding menu and then create a rule. 

3. Determine your public IP v4 address. The easiest way is to navigate to whatismyipaddress.com. Googling "what is my ip address" usually works, but sometimes you just get the IP v6 address that way. 

You can now give this address out to your friends and they can use it to log into your server. However, unless you are paying your ISP extra for a fixed IP address, you can't count on this IP address staying the same. If you unplug your modem, lose power temporarily or experience anything that takes your home offline, you may have a different IP when you come back on and have to look it up again.

If you are satisfied with giving out the IP address to your friends every time they want to log on, you can stop here. Otherwise, consider the next step.

4. Use No-IP, a dynamic DNS service, to create a hostname that directs traffic straight to whatever your current home IP address is. The service has a free tier you can sign up for on noip.com The company also has Instructions for installing the relevant software on your Pi .

Logging into a Raspberry Pi Minecraft Server

1. Launch Minecraft Java edition on the computer you wish to play from.

2. Select Multiplayer.

3. Click Add Server.

5. Enter the server's hostname or IP address and give it a name (or leave it as "A Minecraft Server." That name is just for your benefit. Click Done when done. 

The server will appear on your list of servers. 

6. Click the icon for the server to enter it.

And that should get you in and playing on your local Raspberry Pi Minecraft server. 

If you're trying to access a Raspberry Pi on your local network, there are times when you'll really need its IP address. Sure, you can usually SSH or VNC into a Pi by using its hostname, but for something like port forwarding on a router (which you'll use to create an externally-accessible Minecraft server or web server), an actual IP v4 address may be needed. The problem: every time you reboot your Pi, the IP address can change, based on what the router decides to assign at the moment.

Fortunately, there's a simple way to make sure that your Raspberry Pi always gets the same IP address on your local network or, at least, always tries to get the same address on your local network. It almost goes without saying that if, at the time it boots, another device that's powered on is already using the address in question, your Pi will either have no IP v4 address at all or (if you configured it as such) it will choose an alternative one. So keep that in mind.

Note that this tutorial assumes you already have a Raspberry Pi that's connected to your network. If not, please see our tutorials on how to set up a Raspberry Pi and how to set up a headless Raspberry Pi (no monitor required).

How to Assign a Static IP to a Raspberry Pi

1. Determine your Raspberry PI's current IP v4 address if you don't already know it. The easiest way to do this is by using the hostname -I command at the command prompt. If you know its hostname, you can also ping the Pi from a different computer on the network.

hostname -I

2. Get your router's IP address if you don't already know it. The easiest way to do this is to use the command ip r and take the address that appears after "default via."

ip r

3. Get the IP address of your DNS (domain name server) by enter the command below. This may or may not be the same as your router's IP. 

grep "namesever" /etc/resolv.conf

Now that you have the IP address your Pi is currently using, the router's IP address and the DNS IP address, you can edit the appropriate configuration file.

4. Open /etc/dhcpcd.conf for editing in nano.

nano /etc/dhcpcd.conf

5. Add the following lines to the bottom of the file. If such lines already exist and are not commented out, remove them.

Replace the comments in brackets in the box below with the correct information. Interface will be either wlan0 for Wi-Fi or eth0 for Ethernet.

interface [INTERFACE]static_routers=[ROUTER IP]static domain_name_servers=[DNS IP]static ip_address=[STATIC IP ADDRESS YOU WANT]/24

In our case, it looked like this.

interface wlan0static_routers=192.168.7.1static domain_name_servers=192.168.1.1static ip_address=192.168.7.121/24

You may wish to substitute "inform" for "static" on the last line. Using inform means that the Raspberry Pi will attempt to get the IP address you requested, but if it's not available, it will choose another. If you use static, it will have no IP v4 address at all if the requested one is in use.

6. Save the file by hitting CTRL + X and reboot. 

From now on, upon each boot, the Pi will attempt to obtain the static ip address you requested.

Using the Raspberry Pi OS Guide to Set a Static IP

If you already have all the information about your router's IP and DNS IP, you can configure the static IP address using the Network Preferences menu instead of editing the dhcpcd.conf file.

1. Right click on the network status icon and select the Wireless & Wired Network Settings.

2. Select the appropriate interface. If you're configuring a static IP for Wi-FI, choose wlan0. For Ethernet, choose eth0.

3. Enter the IP addresses into the relevant fields.  Your desired IP address will be in the IPv4 field, followed by a /24. Your router's IP and DNS server's IP will be in the fields named after them.

4. Click Apply, close the window and reboot your Pi.

Your Pi will now attempt to use your desired IP address at each boot. However, the Network Preferences menu sets this as a preference, not an absolute. So, if the IP address you asked for is not available, it will use another.

AMD's latest Adrenalin Edition 22.7.1 driver launched yesterday with claims of OpenGL performance improvements up to 92%. AMD achieved an impressive figure on the company's refreshed Radeon RX 6000-series graphics cards. (The mileage will vary on other less powerful Radeon graphics cards.)

YouTuber 54 FPS has tested the Adrenalin Edition 22.7.1 driver on the prominent Radeon RX 580 in Minecraft, and the results were nothing less than spectacular. It's important to note that this is the vanilla Minecraft and not the Microsoft Store version with ray tracing. The driver does not affect the latter.

In the first test, the Radeon RX 580 delivered an average framerate of 302 FPS with a low 1% of 71 FPS on the previous Adrenalin Edition 22.6.1 driver. With the new driver, the Polaris-powered graphics card pushed the average framerate up to 547 FPS and a low 1% of 32 FPS. So we're looking at a whopping 81% improvement in average framerates.

The Radeon RX 580 finished the second test with an average framerate of 254 FPS and a low 1% of 60 FPS on the old driver. With the Adrenalin Edition 22.6.1 driver, it managed an average framerate of 454 FPS and a low 1% of 61 FPS. Performance increased by 79%.

The OpenGL performance boost isn't strictly in games, either. Synthetic benchmarks that leverage OpenGL, such as Unigine Heaven, also benefit from the Adrenalin Edition 22.7.1 driver. YouTuber Cary Golomb tested Unigine Heaven with AMD's Ryzen 7 6800U mobile APU, which wields the Radeon 680M iGPU. At 10W, the APU delivered 12% higher scores. The performance uplift scaled with the power limit. Increasing the TDP to 15W and 20W raised the scores by 19% and 21%, respectively.

Emulation fans will also be delighted with the Adrenalin Edition 22.7.1 driver. Golomb's benchmarks in Ryujinx, a Nintendo Switch emulator, showed double the performance.

AMD released the Adrenalin Edition 22.7.1 driver yesterday along with the company's Noise Suppression technology and other goodies. You can download it directly from AMD's website.

Update 6/21 02:18

The adapter has now gone on sale for $19 direct from Clockwork. The kit includes an ultra-thin heat sink and a Wi-Fi gain antenna. In a series of tweets, @Hal_clockwork has been testing the Compute Module 4 via Blender and Minecraft alternative Minetest. This upgrade could now be the ultimate portable Raspberry Pi 4 setup.

Original Article:

The DevTerm modular computer from Clockwork has a hint of a significant upgrade, after its creator posted on Twitter to show an adapter to fit a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 board into the slot previously occupied by a Compute Module 3. 

 As you’ll already know, the Compute Module 3 came in a SO-DIMM form factor, with an edge connector that could click into place if a suitable slot was provided. The Compute Module 4 eschewed this, instead being provided as a PCB the size and shape of a credit card, lacking the all-important edge connector and thus compatibility with earlier modules. This means it wasn’t the drop-in upgrade for Compute Module 3 projects it could have been. Although Raspberry Pi have created the Compute Module 4S. A Compute Module 4 in a Compute Module 3 form factor. A version that is not for general release, sadly.

With a suitable adapter, however, the two rows of connectors on the base of the Compute Module 4 can be wrangled into talking to a host via an edge connector, and that’s precisely what Clockwork Pi’s founder Hal has shown. The adapter has Clockwork branding on it, suggesting it’s a soon-to-be available product rather than a one-off experiment.

The DevTerm is an A5-size notebook PC with a retro aesthetic, including a 6.8in ultrawide screen, full QWERTY keyboard, mini trackball, and 58mm thermal printer attachment. Inside, however, it’s all modern, with a choice of ARM or RISC-V SoC modules depending on the level of power required. The Compute Module 3 was soundly beaten in spec by two six-core options available, but the Compute Module 4 will closely match those, while allowing for 8GB of RAM to be available to the machine, which previously topped out at 4GB.

The Twitter account gave no further details, at the time of writing, about when the adapter board would be available, or how much it would cost.

These days, the Meta Quest 2 (aka Oculus Quest 2) is the best VR headset for just about anyone. The $399 headset allows you to play VR games either sitting or walking around. It runs as a standalone device or it can tether to your PC and run PC-based VR games either over a wired USB connection or Wi-Fi, the latter of which Meta calls AirLink.

If you want to play Minecraft in VR, there are three ways to do that on the Meta Quest 2, each of which has its own setup method. The best method to use is QuestCraft, an unofficial port of Minecraft Java that runs as a standalone app on the headset and supports a variety of mods as well as roomscale tracking. However, it’s an unofficial port and so could break or be blocked by Mojang at any time. 

Here are the pros and cons of each method, and we’ll explain how to install below.

How to Install QuestCraft: Standalone Minecraft VR for Meta Quest 2

While other methods rely on you using a PC to run the game and then sending the VR images over a USB or Wi-Fi connection, QuestCraft allows you to run the game entirely on the Quest 2. It’s an unofficial port of Minecraft Java, so you’ll need to enable developer mode and sideload the APK, a process which is fairly easy if you follow the steps below. 

You’ll still need a legitimate Minecraft Java account to log in and play QuestCraft. However, since it’s an unofficial port, it’s always possible that future updates will break it.

1. Enable developer mode in the Meta Quest mobile app on your phone or tablet. To get there, tap Menu->Devices->Developer Mode and toggle it to on.

2. Download and install SideQuest, if you don’t already have it. This program allows you to sideload apps onto the headset.

3. Launch SideQuest with the Quest 2 plugged into your PC via USB. The app should detect your headset automatically. If this is the first time, you will see a prompt on the headset to allow USB debugging and you’ll probably want to accept “always allow from this computer” so you don’t get prompted again.

4. Enter “questcraft” in the SideQuest search box and click the top result.

5. Click Download App (Sideload). It will download and install. A status bar will quickly show when it has finished but then disappear. In our case, the process took less than 10 seconds.

6. Disconnect the headset and put it on.

7. Navigate to the apps menu on the Quest 2.

8. Click the filter button in the upper right corner.

9. Select “Unknown sources” from the pulldown menu.

10. Select QuestCraft to load it.

11. Click Login on the QuestCraft splash screen and follow the instructions to sign in.

12. Click Play.

It will take a few moments to download assets and load the game. The screen will turn black for a bit while it's loading. Don’t take off the headset or quit. When it shows you in a box made of Minecraft dirt blocks, it’s almost done loading.

Installing mods in QuestCraft: You can install some, but not all Fabric mods in QuestCraft. To do so, click Mod Manager in the QuestCraft menu and then click on the searchbox and use the keyboard to query for the mod you wish to download. Then click on the result to get information and then the down arrow button to install. If a mod is incompatible, the game won’t launch or will have bugs. You can see a community-maintained list of compatible mods here.

How to Configure Meta Quest 2 to Work in Wired Mode

If you don’t want to use QuestCraft, you’ll need to connect your Meta Quest 2 to your PC via either wired or wireless (Wi-Fi) connection. This is true whether you want to use Vivecraft (Minecraft Java in VR) or Minecraft for Oculus. As you might guess, wired offers much better performance, with the obvious trade-off that you must be near your computer.

It almost goes without saying that your PC has to meet the very modest system requirements for Meta Quest Link in order to run in wired or wireless mode. These include having a 4th Gen Core i5 or first-gen Ryzen 5 or higher CPU, Windows 10 or 11, 8GB of RAM and some kind of discrete graphics. Minecraft’s system requirements are even lower than these, but if you want to use ray-tracing, you need an Nvidia RTX or Radeon RX 6000 series graphics card.

1. Install the Oculus desktop app on your PC if you don’t have it already.

2. Launch the Oculus app.

3. Navigate to Devices.

4. Click Add Headset.

5. Select Quest 2 and click Continue.

6. Select Link (Cable) for wired connections. If you wish to use a wireless connection, skip to the section below on using Air Link for wireless connections.

7. Connect the Meta Quest 2 to a USB 3 or faster port on your PC and click Continue.

8. Navigate to Quick Settings on the headset and select Meta Quest Link. As long as your controllers are paired with the headset, they will automatically connect to your PC. 

How to Connect Your Meta Quest 2 to PC via Air Link 

Air Link is Oculus’ system for connecting your Quest 2 headset to your PC via Wi-Fi. Air Link works with either Minecraft for Oculus (Bedrock) or Vivecraft (Java), but it is the laggiest solution.

In order to work, both the PC and the headset must be connected to the same network. To reduce latency, It helps if the PC is connected via Ethernet. If you are using a mesh network, make sure you configure the router to only allow both devices to use one node so they are on the same node (or else it won’t work).

1. Navigate to Devices->Add Headset->Quest 2 in the Oculus desktop app as shown in steps 2 through 6 in the section above.

2. Select Air Link and click Continue.

3. Navigate to Settings->Experimental Features on the Oculus Quest 2.

4. Toggle Air Link to on.

5. On the Quick Settings menu, click Oculus Air Link.

6. Select the PC you wish to pair with and click pair. A pairing code should appear on your PC’s screen.

7. Click Confirm on the PC.

8. Click Continue and then Launch on the Oculus Quest 2. 

How to Launch Minecraft for Oculus (aka Bedrock Edition in VR)

The only first-party method for playing Minecraft in VR is the simplest, but most limiting. If you already have Minecraft Bedrock edition installed (aka Minecraft for Windows or non-Java Minecraft), setting up VR will take just a few seconds. However, you won’t be able to use mods like you can with the other methods.

1. Create a desktop shortcut to launch Minecraft VR using the location of minecraft://Mode/?OpenXR=true. To do this, right-click on your desktop and select New->Shortcut. Enter minecraft://Mode/?OpenXR=true as the Location, click Next and name your shortcut Minecraft VR (or something similar).

2. Open the shortcut to launch Minecraft on your Oculus Quest 2. You’ll see Minecraft load in a Window on your desktop and on the headset view screen at the same time. It may take several seconds before the title screen appears. 

How to Play Vivecraft (Minecraft Java VR) on Meta Quest 2

Vivecraft, which is a third-party VR launcher for Minecraft Java, provides the most immersive VR experience of any method. With Vivecraft, you can move your arms to perform tasks such as attacking, something you can only do with the controller in other versions. You can also use Forge mods.

As with Minecraft for Oculus, Vivecraft requires a wired or wireless connection to your PC.

1. Download and install the Forge Mod Loader (client), preferably the latest version. You will need to have the Java runtime library installed, which you do if you already have run any mods on Minecraft Java edition.  Be careful because there may be a pop-up ad that tries to fool you into downloading malware. If you get the ad, wait until the skip button appears and click "skip."

2. Download Vivecraft from Modrinth. Be sure to select a the version that matches your Forge Mod Loader. Note that Java is required to install Vivecraft.

3. Launch the Minecraft launcher.

4. Click the folder icon next to Forge in the Installations tab. You won't see the folder icon until you hover over "Forge. 

File explorer opens to the Roaming\.minecraft folder.

5. Create a subfolder called "mods".

6. Copy the Vivecraft .jar file to the mods folder.

7. Open the Oculus Desktop app and connect your Quest 2 headset.

8. Launch Steam (install it if it’s not already installed).

9. Launch SteamVR from within Steam. If it’s not already installed, install it.

10. Enable Meta Quest Link on the headset by going to the Quick Settings menu and selecting Meta Quest Link then selecting the computer that appears. If that doesn't work, check your connection.

11. Click the Play button next to Forge in the Minecraft launcher.

12. Click "I understand the risks" and Play if you receive a warning.

13. Click Yes when asked "would you like to use VR."

The game may ask you if you want it to ask you next time about using VR. We recommend saying "yes." 

After this, the game will load and start on your headset. You can then navigate through the title screen and start playing.

Minecraft VR Controls on Oculus Quest 2

These controls apply to Vivecraft:

• A - interact / place
• Y -  pause
• B - quick actions menu
• X - inventory
• Left joystick button - jump
• Left joystick - movement
• Right joystick - rotating, turning
• Left front trigger - teleport
• Right front trigger - mine / attack / select from menu

In Minecraft for Oculus (Bedrock edition) and QuestCraft, the controls are:

• Y - toggle immersive mode / living room mode (is radial menu in QuestCraft)
• X - opens inventory
• B - crouch
• A - jump
• Menu button - pause
• Left joystick - movement
• Right joystick - rotating, turning
• Right front trigger - mine / attack / select from menu
• Left front trigger - interact / place
• Right touch controller is cursor movement

MORE: Oculus / Meta Quest 2 Review

MORE: Best VR Headsets for PC and Gaming

MORE: Virtual Reality Basics 

The unofficial Minecraft-inspired NFT game "Blockverse" appears to have become one of the latest scams in the crypto world. At launch, and in a mere eight-hour period, Blockverse raised more than $1 Million from a community of users through the sale of 10,000 NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) priced at 0.05 ETH (~$127) each. Little did the users know that they'll lose their funds soon after in a rug pull - a sadly classic cryptoverse move.

Rug pulls (the term coined for when blockchain-based projects disappear with users' funds) are a constant of the daily blockchain life - in 2021, around 3,300 projects pulled rugs on their users, stealing approximately $7 billion worth of investor's money. Rug pulls work in much the same way that snake-oil sellers did back in the day: promising a product but not delivering it; cue the charlatan running away with his clichéd dollar-marked bag of money. Blockverse seemingly carried this out a mere two days later. The project deleted its digital footprint - website, Discord server, and game server all disappeared, and so did the only connection from users to their investment - their access-granting NFTs rendered worthless.

The possession of one of these 10,000 NFTs would give the limited player pool of users access to the game upon its launch. Being a digital token, these NFTs are also inherently tradeable, meaning that single accounts could hold more than one of these "access slips." Blockverse pulled off a significant pre-order event if it were a legitimate project, selling the equivalent of 10,000 licenses. Users paid $127 for a digital pre-order game. But a digital trail may have forced Blockverse to come back - partially.

The game's community members managed to track down a Coinbase address linked with the Blockverse founders. This address had funded most of the efforts with establishing the Blockverse; alongside it was a Cloudflare IP. So it would certainly be enough for law enforcement (or someone with less stellar intentions) to arrive at the founders' identities.

Three days after closing all of Blockverse's digital presence, and with the paper trail leads already disseminated through the community, its founders took to Twitter to explain the events from the following previous days. First, they claimed the project's legitimacy and explained that the reason for the flight was nothing more than an attempt at protecting their safety. But, according to them, several overwhelming and concerning complaints regarding some of the Blockverse's elements - gas fee prices for the NFT acquisition, lack of player capacity at 10,000 users, and lack of utility in the $DIAMOND tokens that only served as an access license.

"The FUD [fear, uncertainty, and doubt] quickly descended into harassment, threats, and doxxing," the creators wrote on Twitter. "The team noticed all this and panicked, deleting the discord server on impulse. Everything else was closed to prevent the continuation of harassment that had occurred so far. Even then, the plan was to reopen once everyone had time to calm down."

"There is absolutely no reason for us to leave permanently, as all the technical work and infrastructure for the project thus far has already been put in place. It was more work to take things down than to leave it up, but again, everything was done in the interest of protecting personal safety."

Despite this relative show of face (the project website is still down, for example), investors appear to be on the edge regarding the legitimacy and intentions of the project's founders. However, many have lost confidence in the project's founders. As a result, a group of community members is now negotiating that the original Blockverse developers cede control of the project. Interestingly, Blockverse's founders have sat at this bargaining table and agreed to hand over all relevant contracts and code while keeping the 500 ETH raised by the initial token sale - essentially paying themselves around $1 million for the initial development work. Blockverse has also apparently made a similar proposal to ArkDev, the founder of blockchain gaming platform NFT Worlds, although there's no public information of where that offer stands.

Even more surprisingly, the troubled project community members seem to be willing to cut their losses by settling with the founders. They're eager to let them keep 100 ETH (worth approximately $250,000 at current market prices) for the project's data while using the remaining funds to hire a development team. 

"What we really want are the assets and 200-400ETH to hire people to run the project," they said. "Most rug pulls recover little of anything, so the community is realistic in terms of a settlement. We are in agreement to letting them keep some. We just want enough to run the project."

The Raspberry Pi and retro gaming have become two peas in a pod over the years, but this project by maker Kgsws is pushing the boundaries of that relationship. With the help of our favorite SBC, the Raspberry Pi, Kgsws is able to control multiple Game Boy LCD screens simultaneously.

In a demo video shared to YouTube, Kgsws is seen using nine individual Game Boy screens arranged in a grid formation. He uses a tenth Game Boy to load a game and play, while the video outputs to all nine screens as one display.

Developing this project required extensive research on Kgsws’s part. An explanation behind the LCD signal interpretation is available in the original demo video. This work was used to adapt the Raspberry Pi in a way that it could output video to the screens.

Because the Raspberry Pi is running a full Linux OS, it’s also possible to output video of a desktop, using the Game Boy LCD array as a display for the Pi. In the demo, Kgsws loaded up a quick Minecraft session and can also be seen browsing the internet. As a bonus, eight of the panels can be used to function as a Game Boy LCD clock.

To get a closer look at this project, check out the original video shared to YouTube by Kgsws and be sure to check out the source code over at GitHub.

Andorra Telecom, the only ISP in the principality of Andorra, suffered repeated distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks during a multi-day Twitch gaming tournament. The DDoS attacks occurred during the scheduled SquidCraft Games tournament in Minecraft, one of the most successful Twitch Rivals tournaments ever broadcast. Eight or more Andorran streamers were eliminated from the Twitch tournament after the second day of attacks due to their repeated disconnects. There is some suspicion that perpetrators planned the DDoS attacks on Andorra Telecom to cheat the Andorran's of their chance to win the $100,000 pot.

The SquidCraft Games was a highly anticipated Twitch streaming event designed to emulate the hit Netflix series called The Squid Game in Minecraft. As noted, it has been a viral game streaming event with a peak viewership of over a million on day two of the event. As per the TV series, this is an elimination game, and in this Twitch event, there is a healthy prize pot of $100,000 to ensure participants would be highly competitive. The event will end on Tuesday.

Ordinary Andorran Internet Users Become Collateral Damage in the SquidCraft Games

A significant portion of the 150 SquidCraft games participants lives in Andorra. Spanish language reports of the event confirm that day one went without a hitch for all players, in terms of fairness. The games "green light, red light," and "hide and seek" ran smoothly to their conclusions. 

The "cookie game" had to be suspended on day two due to a programming glitch. After that, however, the DDoS attack on Andorra Telecom began, and eight or more remaining participants from the principality all had their connections and Twitch streaming cut simultaneously. Unfortunately, the whole of Andorra had little or no internet connectivity for over half an hour after the start of the DDoS attacks.

About an hour after the DDoS had caused the above Twitch tournament calamity for the streamers, Andorra Telecom Tweeted to admit that it was getting back to normal after a DDoS attack. Until that time, the disgruntled SquidCraft Games participants could only postulate on the reasons for their disconnects. The Andorran contingent returned on the following day of the tournament, but another DDoS on Andorra Telecom inspired an exasperated sounding Tweet from the ISP.

All the Andorran participants in the SquidCraft Games got eliminated from the Twitch tournament. It is sad and unfair to go out this way, but the organizers didn't have a lot of choices. 

Highly Suspicious DDoS

Some suspect that DDoS attacks targeted Andorra Telecom due to this tournament and the large prize at stake. For example, on Twitter, Internet observers NetBlocks asserted that the Saturday evening attack was confirmed to be targeted at Team Andorra. Hopefully, some follow-up investigations and reports will point the finger more accurately, and the perpetrator disclosed.

Meanwhile, The SquidCraft Games continues into day four of six later today (from 2 pm ET), with 42 Twitch streamers left. 

WCCFTech recently interviewed the lead programmer for Far Cry 6, discussing some of the graphical upgrades we'll see when the game launches on October 7. More importantly, it seems the next generation consoles won't be getting all the enhancements, specifically the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X won't get ray tracing effects—or FidelityFX Super Resolution and CAS. There are good reasons to limit the consoles, but what it all boils down to is that the consoles simply aren't as powerful as PCs with the best graphics cards, and the visual improvements offered by ray tracing in particular aren't worth the loss in performance. Shocking, right?

It has now been over three years since Nvidia attempted to usher in the era of real-time ray tracing for games with its RTX 20-series Turing GPUs. There have been some good examples of how ray tracing can improve the look and feel of games, the best being Control, Cyberpunk 2077, and Minecraft—and Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition probably warrants inclusion in the list as well now. 

All those games make use of multiple ray tracing effects for reflections, shadows, lighting, and more. I've also been impressed with the visuals in the upcoming Bright Memory Infinity, which will also use multiple RT effects. But for each of those games that makes better use of RT, there are multiple games with RT effects that make me wonder why the developers even bothered.

Let's just be blunt. The ray traced shadows in Call of Duty, Dirt 5, Godfall, Resident Evil Village, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and World of Warcraft feel like a waste of effort. It's not that they're bad, but they're just not enough of an improvement over good shadow mapping—and they still cause a 15–30% loss in performance, depending on the game and hardware you're running on. 

The global illumination used in the original Metro Exodus also only mattered in select scenes, and RT reflections that are only visible on a few surfaces also don't make a huge difference in how a game looks and feels (Battlefield V, Doom Eternal, MechWarrior 5 Mercenaries, Watch Dogs Legion, and Wolfenstein Youngblood). Again, it's not that ray tracing is bad… it's just not good enough that it's really necessary in most games.

Of course, I'd say the same for the ultra presets that are in a lot of games as well. It's often a placebo setting, providing negligible improvements over the high preset for a 10–20% loss in performance. PC gaming enthusiasts have become conditioned to think that if we're not running with every setting cranked up to the maximum, at more than 144 fps, we're missing out. Console gamers manage to survive with 30–60 fps gameplay and predefined settings, and they're happy. But that's a separate topic.

Eschewing ray tracing on console versions of Far Cry 6 is a telling stance for Ubisoft to take. Forget all that nonsense about RT on consoles because the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X simply aren't fast enough to do RT justice, which we've known for about a year now, ever since the RX 6000 series launched. Add a few minor ray tracing effects and you can get okay performance on the RX 6000 GPUs and the latest consoles, but those minor ray tracing effects are just that: minor. 

So far, every RT-enabled game promoted by AMD has been in that same category, which makes sense as even the fastest of the consoles — the 12 TFLOPS Xbox Series X with 52 CUs and 52 ray accelerators — can't even match the RX 6800, never mind the RX 6800 XT and RX 6900 XT. 

And yet, when we looked at ray tracing performance across a suite of games, AMD's best only matches an RTX 3070 Ti, and sometimes it can't even beat the RTX 3060 Ti. And Far Cry 6 isn't even going all-in on ray tracing for PCs. It includes RT shadows and hybrid RT reflections—it uses a combination of RT reflections with SSR (screen space reflections), providing a compromise between quality and performance.

Ultimately, even with the fastest ray tracing GPUs right now—the GeForce RTX 3090 and RTX 3080 Ti—we're still coming up short when trying to get high performance and compelling image quality in a lot of games that use ray tracing. RT might look better in a lot of cases, but the visual improvements aren't large enough that turning off RT and getting a boost in framerates isn't generally the better choice. 

We're probably still a couple of generations of hardware away from the point where all games can start doing multiple RT effects without tanking performance, and even five years from now, developers will still have plenty of reasons to keep doing traditional rendering. Just look at the latest Steam Hardware Survey, where the combined percentage of gamers with RTX 20- and 30-series plus RX 6000-series hardware accounts for less than 25% of the market — and more than half of those are RTX 2060 6GB cards that are slower than even AMD's RX 6600 XT at ray tracing.

So, bring on RDNA 3 and Lovelace, and then give us RDNA 4 and whatever comes after Lovelace — the RX 8000-series and RTX 50-series hardware. Maybe then we'll finally have hardware that's fast enough to handle all the bells and whistles without breaking a sweat, hopefully with GPU prices and availability that aren't completely bonkers as well. 

We might also have PlayStation 6 and Xbox Series Zzyzx by then, with performance that's still a step down from the fastest PCs but with enough RT hardware that Ubisoft won't feel the need to further dumb down visuals on consoles in pursuit of 60 fps. Probably not.

Note: As with all of our op-eds, the opinions expressed here belong to the writer alone and not Tom's Hardware as a team.

There's no doubt that the pandemic gave gaming a popularity boost over the past year, but that's also been accompanied by a boost in cyberattacks on gamers. Kaspersky reported this month that the number of malware and unwanted software posing as popular PC games that it detected (and prevented) surpassed 5.8 million from Q3 2020 to Q2 2021. 

Kaspersky examined attacks pretending to be the 24 most popular PC games and found 2.48 million detections globally in when pandemic-related lockdowns hit in Q2 2020. That's a 66% increase compared to Q1 2020. We'd expect even higher numbers would be reported if Kaspersky expanded its detection range. Kaspersky said the "increased volume may be connected to the rapid growth of gaming activities during the pandemic." 

Out of the 24 PC titles Kaspersky listed, the top five games with the highest amount of disguise malware were: Minecraft, The Sims 4, PUBG, Fortnite and Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V), with Minecraft far and way leading the pack.

These results aren’t too surprising since Minecraft, Sims and GTA V are especially known for their modding communities. Mods in general are rarely distributed through one secure location and are often distributed in many locations. This gives cybercriminals an easy way to disguise malware as gaming mods, especially to oblivious eyes.

The best way to ensure the security of game mods is to know exactly where the mod came from and from what platform. Downloading torrent files from an unknown source is an easy way to get attacked.

Thankfully, things seems to be getting better in 2021. In Q2 of 2021, Kaspersky only detected 636,904 detections such attacks compared to the 2.48 million recorded in Q2 2020. Kaspersky didn't specify why. We suspect it's due to PC gamers moving to other activities as the pandemic gets better. Or, perhaps, PC gamers have become incredibly smart...one can hope.

Mobile Gamers Also Targeted

Kaspersky also looked at the 10 most popular mobile games and reported that the number of affected mobile gamers grew by 185% from February 2020 to 3,253 mobile gamers in March 2020. 

On top of that, even though lockdowns have eased, cyberattacks on mobile gamers have continued as people keep playing on their phones. 

"Furthermore, the number of users striving to unwind on mobile phones did not drop significantly after the two waves of the pandemic, showing on average just a 10% drop in users attacked per month in Q2 2020 versus Q2 2021. This showed that mobile threats remained attractive to cybercriminals even as lockdowns were being lifted across the world," Kaspersky said. 

It's hard to believe that Bop It, the popular handheld game from the '90s, is over 20 years old. Many new features have been added to the device over the years, but this Raspberry Pi project adds a few more that we haven't quite seen before.

The best Raspberry Pi projects are ones you can play with, and this Bop It hack was definitely made for gaming. The project was created by maker Seth Altobelli who programmed a Raspberry Pi Pico to interpret input from the Bop It as output for a video game controller.

The Pico registers as a USB device when it's connected to a computer, and then the computer can recognize any twist and pull from the Bop It as a regular button press. Altobelli even managed to use the Bop It controller in Minecraft—the target game for this project.

Altobelli had to add a component to control player movement. First, he installed an accelerometer, making it possible to move around in the game by tilting the Bop It. Then he programmed the input, which was arguably the most challenging part of the design process.

Visit Altobelli's official YouTube channel for a demo of this controller in action and more details about the math behind the accelerometer code.

Hosting a Minecraft server looks more appealing than ever, thanks to this exciting Raspberry Pi server project from a maker known on Reddit as ehisforadam. This Pi-powered server is designed to look like a block of ore from Minecraft and can be adjusted with custom RGB LEDs.

Inside this ore-inspired case, you'll find a Raspberry Pi 4 running a Paper MC SMP server (this application is used for hosting Minecraft servers). The setup also uses a 128GB Samsung Evo 960 M.2 SSD. There are boards inside, salvaged from an Argon One case, used for mounting the Pi and SSD into place.

The entire case was designed by ehisforadam using CAD software. The outside of the case is made from laser-cut plywood with an inner layer of acrylic to diffuse the LED lights.

Check out the complete thread on Reddit for more details about the project. You can also explore our list of Best Raspberry Pi projects for more cool creations from the maker community.

This isn't the first Minecraft Pi-project we've featured. This LED sign project uses a Pi to illuminate one letter in the Minecraft logo for each friend detected online for a particular server. 

If you or your kids ever wanted to use Raspberry Pi to create cool projects, learn how to code, program games, or conduct scientific experiments, then the CrowPi2 may be the perfect learning platform for you. The all-in-one kit comes with a Raspberry Pi 4 4GB-based laptop, complete with a screen, a wireless keyboard and mouse, and a smorgasbord of sensors, motors, connectors and components that connect to the single-board computer’s all-important GPIO pins. 

You can get the CrowPi2 laptop in silver or space gray. It is also available in three models: Basic, Starter and Advanced. At $170, the Basic model contains just the minimum sensors and components, but does not ship with a Raspberry Pi, forcing  you to bring your own. The $260 Starter kit comes with additional modules, a Raspberry Pi 4 with 4GB RAM, and a 32GB microSD card  for $260. The most expensive option is the Advanced kit at $330, which includes even more sensors and an upgrade to a 128G microSD card. 

Please note that the pricing information mentioned above are from Elecrow’s Kickstarter page and will not be final pricing for the kits. The pricing is expected to go up a little after launch.

There are just a few more days left for the campaign. Elecrow’s Kickstarter for CrowPi2 will end on August 15, 2020. 

Elecrow CrowPi2 Design 

What’s unique about the CrowPi2 design is the Development Board that sits under the wireless keyboard. Seeing the array of sensors readily available and organized all in one place is quite impressive and very convenient especially for new learners.

While the original CrowPi comes packed in a briefcase with handle, the CrowPi2 has been reimagined with a clamshell laptop design. Though it may not be built for heavy computing, you can use it as a regular laptop for writing documents or creating spreadsheets (via LibreOffice apps) and browsing the internet (via Chromium). We even tried using it to do a quick video chat and the experience was decent considering we are only using a 2MP camera and as long as you can ignore the sound of the fan in the background.

For an IPS 11.6-inch screen with 1080p resolution, the image quality on the CrowPi2 is great. It’s a small screen size, but the images appear clear and crisp and the colors are bright which makes it enjoyable for watching videos and playing the built-in retro games in the system. Unfortunately, it does not support touch, which the previous version did.  

The kit comes with a mouse and keyboard that connects wirelessly through the same USB receiver. You can take out the keyboard easily through a latch and slides back quite easily and is held in place by magnets. You may want to type rather gingerly because the keyboard is quite thin and felt rather flimsy. I would have to say that the wireless connection wasn’t all that great either, I have to constantly try to turn the devices off and on, wiggle or change batteries, or change to a different USB connector to get traction.

Another design feature worth mentioning is a not-so-secret drawer located at the back of the laptop. This is meant to store the optional 5V USB battery for mobility, but could double as storage for jumper wires, resistors (see resistor color codes) and LEDs. To open the drawer, you just push it in and the tray pops right out. Unfortunately, the evaluation unit we received did not come with the optional battery pack, so we weren’t able to test or make use of this feature. You can purchase a battery pack for Raspberry Pi 4B at Amazon for $23.95.

Aside from the missing internal battery, the kit also needed, but did not include:

• 1 button cell battery for the remote control
• 1 AA battery for the mouse
• 1 micro USB cable to charge wireless keyboard

Elecrow CrowPi2 Specifications 

Elecrow CrowPi2 Setup 

Setting up the CrowPi2 was relatively easy and each cable was labeled to eliminate any guess work. The evaluation unit we received came with the Raspberry Pi already mounted. But for testing purposes, we took out the Raspberry Pi and had no issues with reassembly by following the directions in the manual. Make sure to pull out the USB cable that is tucked away in the bottom compartment and connect it to the USB port to activate the camera and microphone. This was a step we missed initially. 

Operating System and Software 

Our evaluation unit of CrowPi2 included a Raspberry Pi 4B board with a microSD running Raspbian OS 10. Elecrow preloaded a series of custom apps with the lessons geared toward STEAM Learning. 

When you boot for the first time, you will be greeted by the Welcome to Raspberry Pi Desktop dialog that will guide you through the initial setup process.

Setup includes:

• Localization Settings
• Change password for default Pi user account
• Screen setup
• Network connectivity
• Software Updates

Learning with CrowPi2 

Once you’re up and running there’s a lot to do and take in. Our review experience started with creating separate login accounts for my tween and 7 year old to keep track of which projects they have done. 

My tween took on the more challenging Python projects and my 7 year old programmed in the block-based Scratch language. What’s great is that both languages are industry standards that are very well supported and used everywhere. That’s a huge plus when you consider how many STEAM learning kits force kids to learn proprietary programming languages that they’ll never see anywhere else.

Projects on CrowPi2 

The Projects section is a good starting point to see what the CrowPi2 can do and get some inspiration built up for the learning ahead. You just run the programs and follow the activity instruction - no coding required here. 

Included in this section are pre-built apps like an intrusion alarm, light detector, remote controller, environment monitor, voice and face detector, and Passive Infrared Sensor (PIR) activated video. While my tween wanted to jump right into Minecraft, going through these projects was the key to coaxing my 7 year old to try out the system. It took a few tries to get it to work, but the voice and face recognition apps ended up being her favorite projects.

Learning Activities: Scratch vs Python 

CrowPi2 offers learning opportunities using both Scratch and Python. There are fewer lessons in Scratch and they are also quicker to get through. This is partly due to Scratch, a block-based programming language, being geared towards young coders. While Scratch gets you to the finished program quicker, it does not involve writing of actual code. 

Python, on the other hand, is a programming language that is easy to read and write. Regardless of your learning level, Python might be a good place to start if you are interested in serious Raspberry Pi programming. Python is one of the most popular programming languages for development of Raspberry Pi software and it’s used on a variety of other platforms as well.

Scratch Programming on CrowPi2 

Scratch is a free block-based visual programming language that is geared towards young learners. There is a reason that it is popular in learning systems and that is its fun factor and accessibility. The difference here is that Scratch is set up with loads of lessons that leverage the full set of features in CrowPi2 and if you’re somewhat new to making and programming, you may want to start here for near-instant satisfaction as you create sprites and use block programming to do cool stuff. Lessons include how to make an automated fan, flashing LED, morse code, tilt-activated light and some games. 

The Scratch lessons in CrowPi2 are progressive, so you must finish the first lesson before you can access the next. You cannot skip ahead because the rest of the lessons will be grayed out. That’s pretty much like leveling up when playing games to unlock the next challenge. 

The very first lesson provides an introduction to the program and a detailed guide to the main elements of Scratch - the stage, sprites, the script, the program board and what each block module does depending on the color of the block. It then goes to an explanation of the Raspberry Pi GPIO, its functions and how to use it when programming with Scratch. 

The beginning concepts are quite dry and little ones may likely lose interest, but with a little encouragement they should be fine. The lesson does pickup interest once the action starts to happen and the guide starts going into an example that your child can follow. There is a video for each step (which is very helpful) so the kids can still follow along if the instructions were not clear enough. It would’ve also been more helpful, though, if the videos had audio. 

Once you get to the end of the lesson, you move on to the next. The program does not check your work.

Python on CrowPi2 

Older kids or adults will benefit most from the Python projects as Python is the main language used by real Raspberry Pi developers. Python 2 and Python 3 are preloaded on the system, and while the system default is Python 2 the projects all use Python 3, which the IDE Thonny points to by default. 

While it might be tempting to leap straight into Minecraft, the Python lessons really open up the CrowPi2’s feature list and set the stage for more advanced maker projects, including the last couple of Minecraft projects. The Python section on CrowPi2 has 32 available lessons and explores activities such as:

• Making a buzzer alarm
• Using the vibration module
• Using the tilt sensor
• Breadboarding a circuit
• Controlling a step motor
• Powering an 8x8 RGB LED*
• Detecting motion with a PIR sensor
• Controlling an LCD display*
• Using the sound sensor
• Detecting light with the light sensor
• Using an ultrasonic sensor
• Using the DHT11 sensor (humidity+temperature)
• Using an IR receiver
• Morse code translator*
• Plant water level monitoring

* These are my tween’s top 3 Python projects.

We finished most of the lessons and it was a blast moving through the maker kit and exploring all the sensors onboard and accessories included in the bundle. The key thing about the lessons here is that each one gives you important Pythons skills that you’ll need for the next one. 

While you aren’t forced to do the CrowPi2’s projects in a particular order, we recommend following the order to start small and work your way up. Similar to Scratch the first lesson lays down the basics of Raspberry Pi GPIO and Python 3. But unlike Scratch, there are no videos provided for Python tutorials.

Once you start a new lesson in Python, the guide (Emma) will provide an overview of the lesson/module, starting from the concept, definitions and even include diagrams. We found these details to be very helpful, minus the occasional grammar errors and misspellings. You can go at your own pace and click on the arrow button when you are ready to go to the next step. Emma breaks down the code by section and explains why it is being used. You can copy and paste the code into the editor or type it in yourself. As the lessons progressed, our tween just started typing the codes in herself even before the code was presented on the page - it was a great moment! This was when I knew she was definitely understanding the lessons and learning the basics of coding. 

At the end of each lesson, the entire code is shown as a recap where you can double check your work or you can just copy and paste the entire code. Then you click the green arrow button at the top of the editor to execute your program. Any errors will show at the bottom section and you can begin the wonderful task of troubleshooting or debugging. If the code is done correctly then the program will execute producing the expected results. 

Some of the areas of Python explored include:

• Understanding the Python interpreter and IDE
• Control flow tools
• Data structures
• Writing and installing modules
• Input and output
• Errors and exceptions
• Classes
• Standard Library
• API Libraries

Minecraft Pi on Elecrow CrowPi2 

If the Projects were the starting line, for many the Minecraft portion of the CrowPi2 would be the finish line. Kids, teens and adults will all have fun with this section and may be surprised at how much they can do with Minecraft once they learn how to code Python and get an insider’s view into one of the most popular maker-style games out there. 

CrowPi2 comes with Minecraft Pi Edition, Mojang’s free version of Minecraft built especially for Raspberry Pi with a revised feature set and support for multiple programming languages. Using the CrowPi 16 lesson set, players will understand everything from how to start the game to using the hardware to interact with customized Minecraft environments. CrowPi2 comes with five tagboards that have Minecraft block cut-outs especially made for one of the coolest lessons below, generating blocks with NFC cards. Warning: The blocks were hard to cut out and there were many sore fingers afterward!

After these lessons, Learners will:

• Understand the Minecraft API for Python
• Be able to create objects to control the game
• Get positions of players
• Change player positions 
• Generate, manipulate and position blocks
• Use the onboard LCD module with Minecraft
• Use the onboard buzzer module with Minecraft
• Integrate the game controller and onboard joystick module with Minecraft
• Use the RFID module to write data to NFC cards
• Generate blocks based on NFC card date using block cutouts

For my tween especially, programming for Minecraft Pi on the CrowPi was the learning experience that opened new doors. As an experienced Minecraft user, she was introduced to some great skills that gave a new appreciation for the game. 

The great thing about this learning area is the integration of Minecraft game programming with the onboard modules. While we didn’t investigate the possibility of integrating the NFC card data with her Mac gaming environment, it’s something CrowPi users might have fun looking into. An important note is to read the lessons carefully. We had an issue getting Lesson 15 to work for the longest time, until we realized that it was because we had named our Python module “minecraft_block.py” per the documentation, but in fact the code itself was looking for “minecraft_blocks.py” with an “s”. Some minor grammatical errors in the lessons also require careful reading to avoid mistakes. 

AI Learning on Elecrow CrowPi2 

There are guided lessons available under the AI header for Speech Recognition and Face Recognition which unfortunately we were unable to test at this time.

Learning areas include:

Speech Recognition

• Waking up CrowPi2 with speech
• Asking for weather information
• Activating onboard RGB lights with speech
• Asking for ambient conditions
• Telling CrowPi2 to run a self-check

Face Recognition

• Working with OpenCV, a real-time computer vision library
• Coding with LBPH (Local Binary Patterns Histogram) to train face recognition
• Activate hardware and animation using face recognition
• Move objects with face movement tracking
• Organize and ID tag face library for advanced ID checking via face recognition

Arduino and micro:bit

The Arduino and micro:bit IDEs are preloaded, but you can only use them if you have the corresponding boards. Considering that one can always install these applications on one’s own, having them preloaded isn’t much of a benefit.

Gaming on Elecrow CrowPi 2 

Here’s an overview of the games CrowPi2 ships with.

Retro - There are a variety of retro games available in CrowPi2. We tried playing some of the games despite the small window size and interesting background music pairings, they definitely were quite entertaining.

Retro games include some familiar titles like:

• Sokoban
• Pacman
• Bomber Man
• Maze
• Tank War
• Tetris

Minecraft - While we’ve talked about Minecraft already from the coding perspective, you can still enjoy playing Minecraft Pi edition if you just want to practice building things in creative mode. You can also check out the Minecraft Pi website for more information on what you can and can’t do in this version. 

Bottom Line

Out of the box, this all-in-one Raspberry Pi laptop and STEAM kit pretty much lived up to its promises. While we did encounter a few hiccups mainly due to minor deficiencies in documentation, we should also note that overcoming challenges through research and community interaction is part of the experience anytime you use a Raspberry Pi. 

The Elecrow CrowPi2 is a perfect system to dive into as a kid, teen or adult who is eager to learn how to code and use Raspberry Pi as the tools are there for you to accomplish each project, and once you’ve overcome any hurdles, the rewards will be worth the work. Whatever your background, if you’ve little experience either in coding or with Raspberry Pi you’re sure to come out more knowledgeable and ready to tackle your own maker projects.

About two weeks ago someone made a new mod for Minecraft that allows you to build a computer in-game, and pull in the display from a virtual machine. Of course, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what that will lead to -- within less than 5000 downloads of the mods you can already run Windows 95, Doom, and even Minecraft.

Would you like some Minecraft with your Minecraft?

Installing the mod itself is rather straightforward as it just drops into your mods folder, but you will have to go through the process of getting VirtualBox (version 6.1 or newer) running, which involves setting up virtual drives and installing an operating system in the virtual machine. 

But, your job won't be done there. Once in the game, you'll have to build an ordering tablet and use it to order your PC parts from space. You'll have to order a case, monitor, keyboard... you get the gist. You'll even have the choice of installing a 32-bit or 64-bit motherboard!

Of course, take into account the limited gaming power of a virtual machine -- the possibilities are not quite endless. But what would you run on a Minecraft PC? Will you write your next school essay like this, run Doom like this guy, or surprise us with something else?

This Raspberry Pi-powered friend notification sign will seriously take your Minecraft server up a notch! The project was created from the ground up by a developer known as Wes from Geeksmithing on YouTube.

The sign relies on a Raspberry Pi Zero W, so you don't need anything big like a full-sized Pi. But you definitely need the Pi Zero W edition for its Wi-Fi support to get real-time updates.

When the Pi detects a friend has logged onto the server, a letter in the sign will illuminate. The LEDs are RGB and can be programmed with custom effects.

The case was built entirely by hand to spec by Wes. The lighting system is comprised of 49 Adafruit NeoPixel lights, carefully arranged behind each letter. When the lights are illuminated, the light is diffused behind a sheet of white acrylic.

If you want to examine the code behind the project, you're in luck. Wes shared everything used to drive the sign on Github. You can use this to recreate a similar project of your own.

If you want to see more of his work, check out the official Geeksmithing channel on YouTube. You can also follow Wes on Reddit for future Pi projects.

Mythic Beasts, a private ISP hosting platform, announced the addition of the Raspberry Pi 4 to its Raspberry Pi Cloud service this week. Users can now choose to use a Raspberry Pi 4 model to host their server needs, a considerable upgrade to the previously offered Raspberry Pi 3.

Mythic Beasts pegs its Pi hosting service as a great way to access Pi hardware and Raspberry Pi OS "backed by network storage" and pay for it monthly, quarterly, annually or on demand. 

Raspberry Pi Cloud relies heavily on network boot order. This helps ensures hardware reliability. But when the Pi 4 came out, it didn't have any network boot support. Thanks to a new firmware upgrade with full PXE boot support, the Pi 4 is officially on the table for Pi Cloud. 

As the latest Pi, the Raspberry Pi 4 offers much more performance than predecessors. Mythic Beasts is offering up to 4GB of RAM (it doesn't offer the 8GB Raspberry Pi 4). The network card also operates at full gigabit speed. This should increase bandwidth and significantly reduce the amount of time it takes to access files.

The Raspberry Pi Cloud service is ideal for web-based server needs, like web hosting and even low resource gaming demands, such as a Minecraft server. Pi Wheels, a project to pre-compile Python installation candidates for many packages, uses Pi Cloud and has beta tested it with Pi 4, Mythic Beasts' announcement said. 

If you're interested in hosting a server on the Raspberry Pi Cloud, pricing for the Pi 4 server starts at  £7.25 per month. 

For those who'd like to run their own Pi-based web server, visit our instructions on how to set up a Raspberry Pi web server. 

Gamers, beware: the new Minecraft Dungeons game could wipe your computer’s data during uninstallation, according to a new bug report from Mojang, the game's developer.

“If you have installed Minecraft Dungeons in a custom directory,” the report reads, “there is a chance uninstalling the Minecraft Dungeons Launcher and/or the game will remove the parent directory and everything in it.”

The bug first came to the company's attention when a player by the name of Daniel reported that when he uninstalled the game’s launcher using the Windows Add/Remove programs tool, the rest of his SSD got wiped out too.

A Mojang mod quickly replied, saying that the issue only affects the version of the game with the launcher and not the one players can download from the Windows Store. Another mod added that a hotfix was on the way.

That hotfix is now here, according to a detailed reply from Mojang employee Marcio Oliveira, though you’ll still want to check to make sure you’ve updated your launcher before uninstalling either it or the game.

“Before uninstalling anything, please ensure the Minecraft Dungeons Launcher at least uses Bootstrap version 166 or higher. You can check this at Settings > About > Bootstrap,” the report reads.

Oliveria’s comment, meanwhile, goes into detail about the bug’s origin.

“When a player selected a custom ‘Install Location’ in the Dungeons installation dialog, the Dungeons Launcher was taking that location and naively considering that only files written by the Dungeons Launcher would live there,” Oliveria wrote. “Thus, when uninstalling the Launcher, the uninstall logic would simply delete that ‘Install Location’ folder, to leave no traces of program files created by the Launcher on disk.”

Oliveira then admitted that the team, unfortunately, didn’t consider that files belonging to non-Minecraft Dungeons programs might also live in a player’s custom install location.

“The fix we released soon after hearing about the first report (which is in Bootstrap version 166 and up) is to delete only the folders that the Launcher knows about, under the Dungeons install location,” he added. 

If your launcher isn’t using Bootstrap 166 yet, then, restarting it should update to it and apply the hotfix, according to the report. Otherwise, avoid uninstalling the game.

“We are very sorry for the inconvenience this might have caused to players and will surely take this as a learning experience for improving our quality assurance process,” Oliveira said.
 

It's that time again when a bunch of new games are coming out, and Nvidia is ready for them with its new Game Ready driver for GeForce graphics cards. The latest version carries version number 446.14 and is WHQL-certified.

Nvidia's new driver brings support for the upcoming titles Valorant, Minecraft Dungeons, Disintegration and Crucible. Next to that, it also adds support for the Windows 10 May 2020 update that should be rolled out to your system soon.

Valorant is an upcoming title from Riot Games, the studio that also made League of Legends. It comprises a fast-paced first-person shooter with its own, unique elements. The game will be available as a free-to-play title on June 2, so make sure you have this driver installed before then.

From the looks of it, those are all of the changes this driver brings. 

You can find and download the new Nvidia graphics driver here. 

Last month, Nvidia and Microsoft dropped Minecraft RTX, which takes the once easy-to-run game and turns it into a ray tracing title demanding a beefy graphics card. Now that your GPU has had time to rest after running through the first six RTX maps, Nvidia is back with more to make your best graphics card sigh like a bowl of petunias.

The five new maps provided are truly impressive and well worth having a look at. Just look at the video below, and we bet you'll be tempted. 

The first world is called Hilltop Lifestyle RTX, and presents an Italian village on a hill island made by PearlescentMoon. 

The second map is an egg hunt based on Feed the Beast and is essentially a mini-game where problem solving motivates you to explore more and more.

The other maps show a dark village, a medieval village and The Observer, which spawns you deep underground, drawing you through various rooms, each more impressive than the last.

What we like about the new maps is that while the old maps acted largely as a technical showcase, these new maps do more than just show you what ray tracing can do with Minecraft. The new Minecraft RTX maps also draw gamers in and make them want to explore further with puzzles and Easter eggs.

To meet the Minecraft RTX minimum specs, you'll need an RTX graphics card and a copy of Minecraft for Windows 10. You can download the maps for free from the in-game marketplace by searching for RTX. You'll also want to enable Nvidia DLSS 2.0, as you'll need it to keep the game running smoothly, no matter what resolution you use. 

Today marks the public beta of Minecraft RTX—we've already tested Minecraft RTX performance on a bunch of graphics cards and CPUs to see how it runs. But how low can you go with your hardware and still get a good experience? If you want ray tracing, which is likely why you're here as it's the only real change with Minecraft RTX, you'll need one specific piece of hardware: a GeForce RTX graphics card. These are some of the best graphics cards available, and we've been recommending them since they first launched in 2018. Fans of Minecraft who own one of these cards will be treated to some of the best ray tracing effects yet. Just be prepared for much lower performance than traditional Minecraft.

What are the official hardware requirements for Minecraft RTX? Microsoft specifies a GeForce RTX card, a Core i5 or better CPU, and 8GB of system RAM. You'll also need Windows 10, of course—and it's probably best to go with the latest 1909 build, aka the November 2019 update. That means, at a minimum, you need a GeForce RTX 2060, which now costs around $300—a big expense just for Minecraft.

Here's the thing: There's no mention of the generation of Core i5 hardware that's required. 1st Gen Core i5 would mean something like the Core i5-660. That's a 2-core/4-thread CPU running at 3.33 GHz hailing from 2010! Could that actually run Minecraft RTX? Actually, yes, it could. Based on our tests with a Pentium Gold G5400 (a 2-core/4-thread CPU running at 3.7GHz), you might get slower performance than a state-of-the-art Core i9-9900K, but your bottleneck is still far more likely to be your GPU—especially at the default settings. 

In our testing, at 1080p with DLSS enabled and the default 8 chunk ray tracing render distance, the slowest CPU we tested averaged just 5% lower frames per second (fps) than the fastest CPU we tested. And that's with a $1,000-plus GeForce RTX 2080 Ti. What about using something a little less beefy, like a GeForce RTX 2060? Yeah, we checked that as well and here are the results: 

So even if you have a relatively pathetic CPU—most desktop chips made within the past decade should suffice—Minecraft RTX should run acceptably at 1080p with an RTX 2060. There's certainly more variability in performance than normal, but the Core i9-9900K wasn't even able to deliver a consistently faster result at the default settings (DLSS 'Quality' mode with 8 chunk render distance). It has a slightly better 99th percentile framerate, but ended up 1 fps slower on average than the Pentium. Increasing the ray-traced render distance to the maximum 24 chunks flips the tables, giving the i9-9900K a 1.7 fps advantage on average (5%) but a slightly lower 99th percentile fps (-2%).

Unless you're running an RTX 2080 Ti, or at least an RTX 2070 Super, you probably don't need to worry about skimping on your CPU. Maybe more complex Minecraft worlds will tax the CPU a bit more, but clearly full ray tracing is pounding the GPU and its RT cores. It is worth noting that slower CPUs do have one noticeable disadvantage: object pop-in (eg, blocks loading) with a higher render distance becomes more noticeable. You can see it even on a Core i9-9900K or Ryzen 9 3950X, but loading in and processing all the extra chunks appears to take a bit more time on something like a Pentium G5400. 

Minecraft RTX PC Builds 

Just because it's possible to run Minecraft RTX on an ultra-barebones PC doesn't mean that's what we recommend, of course. If you already have even a modest PC in your house, sure, buy a GeForce RTX 2060 Founders Edition or one of the other $300 RTX 2060 cards. You might lose a bit of performance or have slightly longer load times than someone with a brand-new Core i9 or Ryzen 9 build, but that's about all you're missing. But if you want to build a new PC for the express purpose of playing Minecraft RTX, here's what we recommend: 

Minecraft RTX Budget PC Build for 1080p 

• AMD Ryzen 5 2600 ($119)
• ASRock B450M Pro4 mATX ($88.99)
• Patriot Viper Elite 2x 8GB DDR4-2666 ($64.98)
• Crucial P2 500GB M.2 SSD ($66.99)
• EVGA GeForce RTX 2060 KO ($299.99)
• DIYPC DIY-A1-W case ($39.94)
• EVGA 450W BR 80Plus Bronze PSU ($49.99)

That's $730 for a respectable gaming PC—not counting the OS, but you can get Windows 10 for free, or as little as $30. Could we have saved even more money? Sure. You could get a 4-core CPU, a slightly cheaper motherboard, 2x 4GB RAM, and ditch the SSD storage to shave about $100 off the price. But then we'd be talking about a PC build that we don't actually recommend.

Nearly half of the total cost is in the graphics card, and we figure anyone buying an RTX 2060 will probably end up wanting to try out other ray tracing-enhanced games as well. Buying slightly more expensive components that will improve your overall PC experience ends up being the far better long-term decision. Or you can go the other way and spend more money for a more potent gaming PC:

Minecraft RTX Mid-range PC Build for 1440p

• AMD Ryzen 5 3600 ($174.99)
• ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming 4 ($143.99)
• Team T-Force Vulcan Z 2x 8GB DDR4-3200 ($69.99)
• Crucial P1 1TB M.2 SSD ($109.99)
• Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 Super Windforce OC ($499.99)
• NZXT H510 case ($69.99)
• be quiet! 600W 80Plus Gold PSU ($89.90)

That's a big jump in price ($1,150) for only a modest bump in performance. You do get twice the storage capacity, a better case and power supply, and a graphics card that's about 30% faster according to our GPU hierarchy. Those are all good things, but it's certainly a lot of money to spend on Minecraft RTX. Or you could just buy the RTX 2070 Super and use it with your current PC, which will likely give you nearly the same performance in the game.

If you're serious about building a new gaming PC, you may also want to wait for the Minecraft beta period to end and see what Nvidia's upcoming RTX 3080 / Ampere brings to the table, along with AMD's Big Navi, both of which should also be out by the end of 2020. You probably won't save money, but you could end up with a significantly faster GPU in the next 6-8 months. But if you simply must play Minecraft RTX today? It's right there in the name: You'll need an RTX graphics card. 

Just yesterday Nvidia and Microsoft revealed that the Minecraft RTX beta is going live tomorrow, and today Nvidia is here with its game-ready driver. (Update: We've tested Minecraft RTX performance on all the GeForce RTX graphics cards as well as a bunch of CPUs to see what sort of hardware you'll need to run it well.) Of all things, this is one of the key three ingredients you'll need to get Minecraft running in all of its ray tracing glory.

Jokes aside, Nvidia does make real changes to the drivers with the Game-Ready releases. They come with optimizations to run the new releases smoother and at higher frame rates than with previous releases and also fix a handful of stability issues you may otherwise experience. 

Of course, even the game-ready drivers come with issues sometimes, but they typically get you most of the way there. And remember, Minecraft RTX will still be in beta form tomorrow; the point is for you to find the problems that Microsoft and Nvidia need to fix.

Naturally, you'll need an RTX graphics card to run the Minecraft RTX beta, and it should be noted that ray tracing will only be supported on the Windows 10 Bedrock edition of the game -- other platforms, including the Java version, aren't supported.

In addition to Minecraft, Nvidia is also adding Game-Ready support for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered, Saints Row: The Third Remastered and SnowRunner. 

Nvidia also announced the additions of the Acer XB273GP, Acer XB323U and Asus VG27B to the G-Sync Compatible displays list.

To download Nvidia's latest Game-Ready driver, head here and enter your system's details to proceed with the download.

Nvidia and Microsoft have announced that the Minecraft RTX public beta will be landing on April 16th, two days from now—so be ready to give it a go. And since we're now past the launch day, we've tested Minecraft RTX performance on all of Nvidia's GeForce RTX graphics cards as well as a bunch of the best CPUs to see what sort of hardware you'll need to run it well.

No More Half-Tracing: Minecraft RTX Features Full Path Traced Render

When it comes to the ray tracing capabilities, Minecraft RTX will be one of the most encompassing titles out there with the full whammy of Nvidia's RTX features. It will come with full path-based ray tracing in lighting, reflections, shadows, and more. Most RTX titles up till today often featured only a few raytracing features, mostly because a full path traced render with all features enabled was simply too demanding in addition to their advanced graphics—in that way, it makes sense that of all games, Minecraft is one to get the full RTX treatment.

With the addition of RTX, the developers also had to build material properties beyond the two values that standard Minecraft works with: Color, and Opacity. In the RTX version of the game, blocks gain 4 new additional properties: metallic, normal, (light) emissiveness, and roughness. It looks like those making textures for Minecraft will have their work cut out for them.

Of course, all that ray tracing is bound to create quite a performance hit, which is why Nvidia also added DLSS (Deep Learning Super-Sampling) 2.0 support to the building game. DLSS 2.0 is Nvidia's latest version of its AI-based upscaling technology. 

Nvidia notes that DLSS 2.0 grants Minecraft RTX a 1.7x increase in performance when playing at 1080p, with higher resolutions offering even greater performance benefits. Minecraft RTX will automatically choose whether to run DLSS 2.0 at the quality, balanced, or performance preset based on the resolution you're playing at—1080p will run at the quality setting, whereas at 4K, DLSS 2.0 will run at the performance preset that upscales the game from 1080p to 4K. DLSS 2.0 will only run when you have ray tracing enabled.

How and When Do I Get Access?

To run Minecraft RTX you'll need a few things. This includes a copy of Minecraft for Windows 10 'Bedrock' edition, an RTX graphics card, and the Game-ready driver that will be published on the 16th.

Yes, RTX hardware is required—while Nvidia supports DXR on select GTX GPUs via drivers, path tracing is too demanding to provide a decent experience and so GTX cards are locked out of using ray tracing in the beta. For what it's worth, Quake II RTX also uses 'path-tracing' and runs at around 25 fps at 1280 x 720 on a GTX 1080 Ti, compared to 85 fps on an RTX 2060.

Unfortunately, RTX won't be supported on the Java version of the game. There will be a tool ready that you can use to port your Java worlds to RTX, though chances are you'll want to start fresh as many materials will behave differently anyway.

Meanwhile, mutliplayer, realms, and cross-platform play will also be limited if you're running the RTX beta. To play with other players while enjoying RTX, you'll need to ensure all players (including those without RTX GPUs) are on the same Minecraft RTX beta release, which sadly rules out crossplay with non-Windows systems for the time being.

The release of the final (non-beta) version of Minecraft RTX is slated for later this year—nobody has quoted an exact release date just yet.

Minecraft’s low-fidelity world is about to get a lot more real for RTX owners, according to a new blog post from Nvidia detailing the process behind the ray tracing features coming soon to the game. First announced at Gamescom 2019, Minecraft with RTX is an upcoming free update for the Windows 10 version of Minecraft, which is set to bring ray tracing to the world’s best-selling game...provided you have Nvidia RTX hardware. 

Ray tracing is an advanced rendering technique mostly reserved up to this point for CG films, which uses virtual rays of light to simulate realistic lighting, reflections, shadows and the like. In the past, this has cost too much processing power to be effective for real-time renders, but for RTX 2060 GPUs and above, Nvidia is planning to use the tricks outlined here to hit a minimum of 60 frames per second at 1080p resolution with ray tracing. 

The blog post details how ray tracing will work in Minecraft, starting up with a free upload of the full 45 minute presentation Nvidia gave on the topic at this year’s GTC. Here, Nvidia discussed adding  real-time ray tracing to the game, including the code behind it. 

PBR, or physically based material, textures are also coming in Minecraft with RTX, and will enable emissive blocks, roughness mapping, volumetric effects and other tools to help players get the most out of their new ray traced worlds. PBR textures are open for both official and fan use, and Nvidia has written a guide for creating your own PBR textures here (or you can watch their video tutorial below).

Prior to this post, we’ve only seen hints of what Minecraft with RTX will look like, including recent screenshots showing a ray traced Minecraft from the Xbox Series X specs reveal, though that version was  running off a custom AMD RDNA2 graphics card instead of the RTX line. To show off Minecraft With RTX, including its PBR textures, more thoroughly, however, Nvidia also recently collaborated with three Minecraft creators to make new worlds that demonstrate what ray traced Minecraft is capable of.

Of Temples and Totems by Razzleberries is an adventure world where players explore and complete challenges in mysterious temples, which focuses on showing off per-pixel emissivity (a PBR texture feature), real-time shadows, and global illumination. 

GeminiTay’s Crystal Palace RTX is a survival map with a “whimsical fantasy theme” that uses ray-traced shadows and atmospherics to focus on realism in a 1:1 scale castle.

Meanwhile, Imagination Island RTX by BlockWorks is a fully explorable theme park with four distinct lands, each dedicated to showing off a different aspect of ray tracing. Nvidia’s screenshot of this world show’s off the visitor center, which focuses on god rays shining down through windows. 

None of these worlds are playable as of yet, although Nvidia has screenshots of each with and without ray tracing effects on, for comparison.

We don’t have an official release date on when Minecraft with RTX will hit Windows 10, but Nvidia’s blog promises that it’s “coming soon.” However, Minecraft with RTX will require the Windows 10 Bedrock Edition of the game, so in the meantime, Nvidia has worked together with the Minecraft creators mentioned earlier to make an unofficial guide for porting Java Minecraft worlds to Bedrock.

It’s no secret that Nvidia is revamping certain classics to add ray tracing support. In August, it revealed that Minecraft was going to be one of these titles. What we did not know, however, is what kind of hardware gamers would require to run Minecraft with RTX. 

If you’re gaming at 1080p resolution, you'll probably need an RTX 2060 or better to hit 60 frames per second (fps), as reported by Game Debate and PCGamesN.  However, this isn't a guarantee; both reports say this is just what Nvidia is targeting. 

For higher resolutions, the RTX 2080 Super and RTX 2080 Ti are expected to be able to smoothly run Minecraft with GeForce RTX at 4K.

Ouch, that's all a hefty ask. However, I suppose the 'I built a $2,000 gaming PC but only use it to play Minecraft' joke won’t be a joke anymore.

That being said, it seems Minecraft may seriously benefit from ray tracing, if Nvidia's screenshots and videos are any evidence.

The RTX 2060 is Nvidia's most affordable card that comes with the RT cores for ray tracing. The Founder's Edition variants carries a $399 MSRP.

It’s not yet clear when the Minecraft with RTX update will land, but we do know that it will come as a free update for those who own the game.

Most people would have a hard time convincing their bosses that playing Minecraft counts as working. MIT Technology Review reported yesterday that Facebook's latest virtual assistant will be able to do just that, however, because it was created to help Minecraft players with a variety of tasks. Why? Because the company wants to develop artificial intelligence that can learn how to do multiple things, rather than just one thing really well.

Most AI is currently restricted to a specific task. Companies develop systems capable of recognizing the subject of a photograph, for example, or wiping the floor with human players in Quake III. There's no denying the effectiveness of these AI once they're properly trained--which is why AI has become increasingly common in the tech industry--but those systems are specialized to the point that they're all but useless when given a different task.

Tech companies effectively created hammers that can swing themselves. Is that a neat trick? Sure. But there's a difference between carrying out a single task, like these AI do, and being truly intelligent. Even a self-swinging hammer is just a tool; a carpenter who knows how to use multiple tools is intelligent. (These are just generalizations, of course, and we're sure we aren't the only ones who've met people dumber than a door nail.)

Games offer researchers ways to create AI that isn't limited to a single task but also isn't expected to learn in an environment as chaotic as the real world. Minecraft offers players a lot of freedom, but even that freedom is found within a system that relies on clearly defined rules. AI can learn how these systems operate much easier than they'd be able to internalize the far more complex rules we humans deal with outside the physical realm.

MIT Technology review said Facebook imagined the Minecraft assistant taking instructions like "build a tower 15 blocks tall and then put a giant smiley on top" and learning how to achieve those goals. That's more complex than it seems: the AI has to define all of those terms, learn how to build the structure and figure out how to decorate it with a smiley face. It seems easy to us because we know what "tower" and "tall" and "smiley face" mean.

Facebook reportedly hopes the assistant would be able to learn from each of these interactions so it could eventually handle more and more tasks. Similar efforts could lead to dramatic improvements in AI that have nothing to do with Minecraft--imagine a voice assistant that could actually follow multi-step instructions rather than going back-and-forth with a string of single-step tasks. That would be far more convenient than current AI allows.

More information about Facebook's efforts can be found in the paper "Why Build an Assistant in Minecraft?" A beta version of the assistant--along with the datasets on which it relies--can be downloaded from GitHub. We'd explain where to find Minecraft, but with more than 176 million copies of the game sold as of this May, we suspect most people who'd be interested in an AI like the one described here already have the game installed.

The PC building crowd is about to get younger. Kano, maker of STEM toys like the Harry Potter wand that teaches code, today announced that it's partnered with Microsoft on Kano PC, a laptop that children assemble themselves. It's part of a combined effort to introduce students to various aspects of computer science. If that's not enough fun, the DIY laptop also comes with Minecraft: Education Edition software pre-loaded.  

Kano PC obviously won't require a bunch of students to handle thermal paste, solder and the other ins-and-outs of putting together a laptop. Instead, the device features instructions with colorful pictures breaking down each step of the assembly process. Every component is labeled, and, thanks to a transparent case, visible even after the Kano PC is put together. They're also replaceable in case of mishaps.

The end result is an 11.6-inch laptop running Windows 10 in S mode--which restricts the operating system to Microsoft Store apps and the Edge browser--that's powered by an Intel Atom x5-Z8350. The CPU has four cores and threads and runs at a clock speed of up to 1.92 GHz. Kano PC also features 4GB of DDR3L memory and 64GB of eMMC storage expandable via a microSD slot, along with one USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0 port, plus a USB-C port for charging it.

Building the laptop isn't the only educational aspect of the Kano PC. Kano PC also features a "How Computers Work" app "that lets you create emojis with binary code, tinker with touch and sound and play with the processor and memory, learning exactly what your computer is doing when you tap keys, talk into the mic, or touch the screen."

The STEM toy is also loaded with a variety of software tools. Here's how Kano described them in its announcement:

• Make Art – Learn to code high-quality images in Coffeescript
• Kano App – Make almost anything, including magic effects and adventurous worlds, with simple steps and programming fundamentals
• Paint 3D – Make and share 3D models and send them out for printing
• Microsoft Teams – To get new projects and content, and share your work
• Kano Projects – Personalized projects on coding and creativity delivered directly to your dashboard

Kano said that it's partnered with Microsoft to offer "hundreds of hours of curriculum, which lets anyone introduce computer science in the classroom in a simple and fun way," via Kano PC. It also provides access to the Kano World platform, which houses over 1 million apps posted by hundreds of thousands of makers from around the world.

Products meant to help children understand the technology around them are becoming more common. Understanding technology is no longer optional, and technical literacy will probably only become more important. Maybe we're biased as enthusiasts, but from our perspective, it's hard to argue against teaching kids how computers work. STEM education is a worthwhile objective for companies like Kano, Microsoft and maybe even DJI.

Kano PC is available for pre-order now from Kano's website and the Microsoft Store for $300 (£300). The STEM PC will also hit education resellers and select retailers in the U.S., Canada and UK starting October 21.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the Kano PC will come with a free copy of Minecraft: Education Edition. However, the software only comes pre-loaded and must be activated by buying a Minecraft: Education Edition license or applicable Microsoft 365 licenses. 

Photo Credits: Kano

Microsoft and Mojang today celebrated Minecraft’s 10th anniversary by announcing Minecraft Earth, a mobile AR game that allows players to build familiar Minecraft structures on top of their real-world surroundings, and opening sign-ups for a limited beta release on Android and the iPhone.

Minecraft Earth appears to focus on four types of gameplay: collecting, exploring, collaborating, and surviving. This is the essence of the base game, too, with the appeal of the mobile AR version being that everything takes place in the real world rather than the virtual confines of a Minecraft server.

Microsoft and Mojang clearly took inspiration from Pokemon Go. (And not just when it comes to bringing a popular game world into the real one—that’s a gimme.) The most obvious influence: A player’s location—along with specific in-game events—will determine what they find in Minecraft Earth.

That setup encourages people to play Minecraft Earth whenever they visit somewhere new, when they’re somewhere that has a specific resource they want, or when they’re around other players. Pokemon Go used similar mechanisms to become nearly ubiquitous when it was at the height of its popularity.

It’s not clear how Microsoft and Mojang plan to monetize Minecraft Earth. Pokemon Go was estimated to have made $1.8 billion in revenue between 2016 and 2018 by selling passes for special events and certain in-game items. But it’s possible that Minecraft Earth will have an up-front cost instead.

Minecraft Earth has a dedicated website as well as a sign-up page where hopeful players can attempt to gain access to the beta release. Everyone who signs up will also be given a limited edition skin for Minecraft Earth and Minecraft Bedrock.

In a little tease at the end of the keynote at Microsoft's Build developer conference in Seattle, the company teased a Minecraft announcement coming May 17.

It took place in the form of a short video in which a man leaves his phone on a bench, and a woman who picks it up sees Minecraft characters in augmented reality (AR).

The game appears to be similar to Pokémon Go in that you can see characters and action through AR on your phone. It is unclear if the game will connect at all to its PC or console counterparts. It's also not clear if Microsoft will use other AR technology, like HoloLens, for the game either (tech demos for HoloLens have been made using Minecraft, but not full titles).

We'll learn more on May 17.