COMMON MISTAKES

The most frequent speedrun mistakes and how to fix them. Organized by category with severity ratings.

Pacing

Not resetting bad spawns early enough

high

Spending 5+ minutes on a run with a terrible spawn, no village, no lava pool, and no structures nearby. This wastes practice time and builds bad habits.

Fix

Set clear reset criteria before you start. If you do not see a village, lava pool, or ruined portal within 30 seconds of spawning, reset immediately.

Navigation

Zig-zagging in the Nether

high

Changing direction repeatedly while searching for structures in the Nether. This covers less ground and makes it harder to track where you have already explored.

Fix

Pick one cardinal direction and commit to it. Travel in a straight line at Y=30-70. Use the F3 pie chart to detect structures through terrain.

Ignoring the F3 pie chart

medium

Not using the F3 debug pie chart to detect nearby structures. Many runners walk past bastions and fortresses hidden behind netherrack walls.

Fix

Practice reading the pie chart (Shift+F3). Watch for spikes in blockEntities or entities segments that indicate nearby structures.

Wrong coordinates for blind travel

medium

Traveling to incorrect nether coordinates for blind travel, ending up too far from or too close to a stronghold.

Fix

The first stronghold ring is 1408-2688 overworld blocks from origin. In nether coordinates, that is 176-336 blocks. Aim for roughly 200-250 nether blocks from 0,0.

Efficiency

Crafting items one at a time

low

Opening and closing the crafting table multiple times instead of batching all crafting into one session. Each menu open/close costs 0.5-1 second.

Fix

Plan your crafting sequence ahead. Open the crafting table once and batch craft: pickaxe, sword, furnace, etc. Use Shift+click to move items quickly.

Nether

Not wearing gold armor in bastions

high

Entering a bastion without gold armor equipped, causing all piglins to become hostile. This often leads to death or significant time loss fighting piglins.

Fix

Always equip at least one piece of gold armor (helmet or boots) before entering a bastion. Craft gold boots from the first gold ingots you find.

Opening chests before managing piglins

medium

Opening chests in a bastion while piglins are nearby. Piglins become hostile when you open any container near them, regardless of gold armor.

Fix

Either block line-of-sight to piglins before opening chests, lure piglins away, or kill nearby piglins first. Alternatively, open chests and immediately pillar up.

Bartering with only one piglin

medium

Dropping gold ingots to a single piglin instead of distributing them among multiple piglins. This makes bartering take much longer than necessary.

Fix

Locate 3-5 adult piglins and drop ingots near all of them simultaneously. Each piglin processes independently, effectively multiplying your barter speed.

Not collecting enough blaze rods

high

Leaving the fortress with only 6 blaze rods (the bare minimum for 12 eyes). If even one eye breaks during throwing, you cannot fill the end portal.

Fix

Always collect at least 7 blaze rods, ideally 8-10. The extra rods provide a safety margin and one is needed for a brewing stand if you want potions.

Combat

Poor bed placement in dragon fight

medium

Placing beds too far from the dragon or detonating them when the dragon is not perching. This wastes beds and extends the fight significantly.

Fix

Wait for the dragon to begin its perching animation on the bedrock fountain. Place the bed directly on top of the fountain and detonate when the dragon's head is above it.

Dying to self-damage from bed explosions

high

Standing too close to bed explosions in The End and dying from the blast damage. This ends the run and wastes all progress.

Fix

Place a block (obsidian, cobblestone, or end stone) between yourself and the bed to reduce explosion damage. Eat food between explosions to keep health high.

Preparation

Not bringing enough food

medium

Running out of food during critical moments, losing the ability to sprint and regenerate health.

Fix

Always carry at least 16 bread or cooked meat. Hay bales from villages yield 9 wheat each (3 bread). Cook meat from animals whenever possible.

Forgetting flint and steel

high

Building a nether portal and then realizing you have no way to light it. This forces you to find gravel and iron, wasting minutes.

Fix

Prioritize crafting flint and steel early. Check ruined portal chests for fire charges as backup. Always have an ignition source before building a portal.

Movement

Not using the water bucket for MLG saves

medium

Falling from heights and dying because you did not have a water bucket ready or failed the water bucket clutch.

Fix

Always keep a water bucket in a consistent hotbar slot. Practice water bucket clutches in creative mode until they are muscle memory.

Mindset

Comparing yourself to world record holders

low

Setting unrealistic pace expectations based on world record runs. This leads to excessive resetting and frustration.

Fix

Set personal goals based on your own PB (personal best). Aim to improve by small increments. Top runners have thousands of hours of practice.

Ready to improve?

Check out our tutorials and strategies for step-by-step guides on every technique.

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