Summary
Exploring caves inMinecraftcan be terrifying for those new to the game. Caves are dark, cramped, and full of enemies. Bearing this in mind, it becomes especially important to prepare before entering a cave. Just like going on a long voyage, the player runs the risk of getting lost or being slain by mobs and losing whatever resources they may have found along the way. It’s also easy to run out of supplies or become overrun by enemies if the player isn’t careful.
There are many tips and tricks that the player can take advantage of to avoid this fate. This can mean simply carrying a shield or something more advanced like learning the ins and outs of the enchantment system. Here are just a few pro methods forexploring cavesinMinecraft.
Updated Jul 10, 2025 by Gregory Louis Gomez:Minecraft is an ever-evolving experience that aims to continuously enhance and improve on various aspects of its gameplay loop. In this case, caves in particular have seen several major updates that have only made them more impressive over time, with improvements to their generation, loot, enemies, and more.
However, this comes with a catch; for newer players, caves have only gotten harder to navigate over time. With this in mind, a few extra tips have been added so that newer players can explore those scary caves as safely and effectively as possible.
1Craft A Recovery Compass
A Difficult To Obtain Yet Invaluable Tool For Exploring Caves
When the player dies inMinecraft, they drop everything they were holding, and within five minutes it will all disappear, never to be recovered. When exploring caves, it is very easy to become lost and lose track of lost items after death, which can be a real bummer if it were things like diamonds. Fortunately, the player can craft a recovery compass to help them find the location of their death, and thereby recover items more quickly.
Crafting a recovery compass is no small task, however. It requires the finding ofan Ancient City, which, of course, only generates underground. Ancient cities are the only biome where echo shards can be obtained, which are one of the two items needed to craft a recovery compass. It is recommended that the player store their compass in a safe location and only bring it along if they’ve died, as it will not act like a beacon on death.
2Never Dig Straight Down
Unless You Want a Mouth Full Of Lava, Don’t Do It
This is a general rule of thumb for any activities inMinecraftas digging straight down is usuallya recipe for disaster. Players that dig straight down will generally take a lava bath, but the expansive cave systems that stretch below the overworld can be rather extreme. It’s not just lava that players need to worry about anymore, but also fall damage.
Those who make the mistake of digging straight down to find a cave system are flipping a coin on whether they’ll land safely in an enclosed pocket or fall 30 blocks to their doom. It is much smarter to dig diagonally as if to make a staircase downward. This can be used as both a convenient way in and out of a cave system and is a lot safer.
3Leave A Trail Of Breadcrumbs
Leave A Trail To Prevent Getting Lost
Getting lost in caves was easy before, but now it’s even worse. The cave systems that are procedurally generated in the latest versions ofMinecraftare downright massive. They can stretch for what seems like forever, and they go much further underground. Players who waltz into one of these natural caves without a plan to exit will soon find themselves hopelessly lost and forced to dig upward until they can find a way out.
Because of this, the best course of action is to leave some sort of breadcrumb system that will help players return to the surface after they’ve loaded up on materials. “Markers” can be made from a wide array of things, and it’s all dependent on how much effort players want to put into their marking system. As long as players know what they’re looking for, markers can be practically anything. Even cubes of dirt can be a great way to mark the path back as players stretch further underground.
4Pop Up Bases Go A Long Way
Sometimes, Players Need To Stop, Rest And Regroup
Because caves are so spectacularly large now, it’s not a bad idea for players to create a “Pop Up Base” at certain intervals underground. Having a respawn point, storage, and other necessities can mean the difference between life and death when players are deep in these new cave systems. Tons of enemies prowl the depths and players can find themselves quickly overwhelmed if they aren’t careful. Pair this with the ore veins to collect, new materials to find, and all of the other dangers lurking around the corner, and it’s easy to see why players may want a sanctuary that they can hide in or respawn at should things go south.
Taking everything necessary to set up a tiny base with a bed, chests, and furnaces to cook food can be a great way to keep a deep cave expedition going.
5Ender Pearls & Ender Chests
Using Tools From The End Can Prove Resourceful
These twoEnder-related objectscan come in handy when exploring caves. Ender pearls are useful because when they are thrown they will teleport the player to wherever they land, though at the cost of some health. This makes them perfect for quick getaways. They may also be used to survive a high fall if the player is quick enough.
Ender chests can also be a great thing to have as a mobile storage unit for important items. All Ender chests share the same items, which means if the player dies underground, anything they placed in an Ender chest can still be retrieved if they also had one at their home base.
6Consider A Portable Fishery
An Easy Way To Get Food
Many players keep their food storage filled with fish, as fishing is a great way to quickly and easily gather food and other special materials. What many players may not know is that it’s possible to create a manmade lake practically anywhere, opening up the ability to fish in almost any area. This can even be done in caves, giving players access to food, materials, and other stuff they may be short on when on a lengthy underground adventure.
It’s important to note that fishing will be quite a bit slower when a fishing spot doesn’t have direct access to sunlight. This is still useful in a pinch, and players who are dedicated can dig straight up from their proposed pond spot until they reach the waiting sunlight on the surface to speed things up. To make a man-made lake, all players need to do is fill a hole with water. The recommended size is a five-by-five block square that is two blocks deep.
7Torches Light The Way
Players Can’t Mine Anything If They Can’t See
Never explore a cave without a set of torches on hand. Players who forget to bring them will very quickly find that they have no method of not only seeing in the dark but also preventing mob spawning. Placing torches around designated mining spots can do wonders to keep players safe.
Mobs spawn in the dark, so when the player is in a cave, they spawn quite often — use light to keep them away. As of 1.18, mobs only spawn in blocks that are in complete darkness. Torches also make for excellent directional tools. A player may place torches down in such a way that they can safely travel in and out of a cave without getting lost.
8Look Out For Ore Veins
Valuable Resources Spawn In Recognizable Patterns
One of the best new additions in the1.18 updateis ore veins. These massive deposits of Copper or Iron are very rare but extremely rewarding for any player that can identify them. Ore veins are rather large and resemble spaghetti caves rather than typical ore deposits.
Rather than being made of Stone or Deepslate they are made up of either Granite or Tuff with each ore corresponding to these block types in a vein. A cave that’s composed of mostly Granite is a Copper vein while a cave that’s made of Tuff is an Iron vein.
9The Warden & The Deep Dark
Avoiding Wardens Is A Must-Learn Skill For Exploring Deep Dark Caves
Deep dark caves are potentiallyone of the most dangerousbiomes the player can find themselves in. It is home to the skulk family of blocks, as well as one terrifying boss-type mob; the Warden. Wardens are among the most powerful mobs in all ofMinecraft, to the point where dealing with them directly is never advised due to their various deadly abilities. They are spawned out of the ground by skulk shriekers if the player triggers a nearby skulk sensor four times.
The only way to prevent a Warden from being summoned is to either destroy skulk sensors and shriekers while crouching or bring loads of wool. Walking on wool will allow the player to move without triggering a sensor or alerting a Warden. Wool can also be placed on top of a shrieker to stop its call. Given how sound-sensitive the deep dark biome is, bringing wool (either in block or carpet form) is therefore a necessity.
10Craft Some Tools
Don’t Ever Go Into A Cave Without Tools
Obviously,apickaxeis neededto get just about anything in a cave. Iron, emeralds, gold, diamonds, etc. all require some sort of tool to extract properly. Otherwise, the player will simply destroy whatever is they’re trying to mine rather than acquire it.
Weapons such as swords and bows are also necessary for the player to defend themselves against the horde of mobs. Players should go into a cave with at least two sets of swords and pickaxes. This way, they can stay down in a mine longer without getting trapped. Otherwise, the degradation associated with tool use can be a real problem.
