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Posted: Nov 19, 2015 in Minecraft
By ApexHosting
Here at Apex Minecraft Hosting we believe that this game is not only great for entertainment, but also for helping anyone develop intellectually. Anyone that plays the game on our multiplayer servers will learn how to solve problems, work as teams, design buildings, how to code and many more valuable skills. The greatest part about this is that you do not have to stop playing the game to practice these skills as they are constantly present within the game keeping a player constantly challenged. Today we are going to focus on how Minecraft is helping players to understand code from basic principles to advanced programming.
The entire minecraft server itself allows players direct access to playing with the code that is used to control how the server runs. While our customers are changing configuration settings and server properties, they are actually changing the code that is used to boot up the server. This is the first experience that many players will have interacting with the code that controls the game. This can simply be the basic server settings, to more advanced configuration with some other server versions.
Once players are in the game they will be able to interact with the server by using commands through the console line. This is only available to the owner of the server and they will need to know the syntax used to control different variables within the game itself. Many players quickly learn all of the different commands they can issue which is another simple introduction to learning how syntax and code works with computers. This is a building block of programming and helps train the mind to think like this and translate ideas into commands.
The standard version of Minecraft has an incredibly feature known as a command block. This block is a piece of the game that can execute commands from simple one line queries to more advanced configurations. In the up and coming 1.9 version of Minecraft there will be many more functions available within command blocks that work similar to how actual coding works. These command blocks can easily be done and players figure out how to code while trying to achieve something in the game without even realizing it. These blocks have all of the principles required for someone to understand how actual programming works.
The most advanced example of how Minecraft teaches coding is the vast amount of plugins and modifications that can be done to the game. These are all pieces of code that fit into the game and adjust how it plays. Many players will be interested in how to make a mod or plugin and start researching how this is done. Some will eventually be able to create their own piece of software that possibly thousands of other players will use to change the way that the game plays. Not only does this teach programming, but it also keeps the game unique and allows players to mold it into whatever they want.
Minecraft in education is also very popular and there has recently been a partnership with code.org which uses Minecraft to teach the basics of coding to users. You can read more about this here and start learning how programming works today for free. There are also many other websites that are offering programming courses based on Minecraft which makes the lessons much more interesting to players from young to old, as they will be able to create things that improve their Minecraft experience.