Pie Chart (F3) Structure Detection
HardNavigationUse the debug profiler, better known as the pie chart, to find monster spawners, chests and crowds of mobs before you can see them. The chart breaks down where the game spends its time, and a blaze spawner, a buried chest or a bastion full of piglins makes the entities or blockEntities slice jump.
When to Use
In the Nether when looking for a fortress or a bastion, and on beaches for mapless buried treasure. You need the debug screen open for it, so it only belongs in runs marked as F3 runs.
Estimated Time Save
Guessing which way to search
Step-by-Step Guide
Open the chart
In 1.16.1 the profiler opens with Shift+F3. From 1.20.2 (snapshot 23w33a) it has its own shortcut, F3+1. speedrun.com does not allow rebinding Shift+F3 to a single key.
Open the right section
Press the number next to a section to open it and 0 to go back up. For spawners and chests the section to watch is root.gameRenderer.level.entities, where the chart splits into entities and blockEntities.
Set your options
Entity distance is usually 50% or 500%. At 50% far entities are not rendered, so the entities slice shrinks and a blockEntities spike stands out more. If you use Sodium, its Entity Culling option has to be off.
Turn slowly
The game only renders what is in front of the camera, so the slice grows when the spawner, chest or group of mobs is in view and shrinks when you face away. Turn in place and follow the direction where it is biggest.
Read the spike
A blockEntities jump in the Nether points at something like a spawner or a chest; a large entities jump fits a bastion full of piglins and hoglins. On a beach a blockEntities spike can be a buried treasure chest.
Rule out false spikes
Other chests, spawners and mobs cause the same jumps. Check again as you move, and confirm by sight or by digging before you commit to a long trip.
Pros
- +Points at spawners and chests you cannot see yet
- +Only costs a few seconds with the debug screen open
- +The same skill finds bastions, fortresses and buried treasure
Cons
- -Only for runs marked as F3 on speedrun.com, with the F3 screen visible in the video
- -Other chests, spawners and mobs cause false spikes
- -Needs the right settings, and Sodium's Entity Culling must be off
- -The shortcut changed in 1.20.2, so older tutorials show different keys
- -Reading it fast takes practice