I’ve always found it interesting and curious how Minecraft incorporates the cycles of the moon into the mechanics of the game. The Minecraft moon has eight phases Full moon, Waning gibbous, Third quarter, Waning crescent, New moon, Waxing crescent, First quarter and finally Waxing gibbous before heading into full moon again on the next night time cycle. Did you know that the phases of the moon have effects on mob spawning and other things in Minecraft? For one, the number of slimes that spawn in swamps is proportional to the moon’s fullness. They are more abundant at the full moon and nowhere to be found at the new moon.
This is only in swamps though, their spawning is not affected in slime chunks below y=40. Also, the more full the moon is the higher the chances are that skeletons and zombies will have the ability to pick up items and to spawn with weapons and armor. A fuller moon also allows spiders to spawn with status effects such as invisibility. Another interesting thing is that half of all cats which spawn under a full moon are black cats. So, if you are looking to adopt a black cat as a pet the best time to visit villages is right after a full moon. Have your raw fish ready!
How long is a Minecraft Moon Cycle?
One Minecraft lunar cycle takes two hours and forty minutes of playtime (not accounting for nights skipped due to the Harbor plugin.) Unlike earth’s moon, the Minecraft moon is always in the same place in the sky with relation to the stars. Therefore, technically lunar eclipses and moon phases should be impossible because it is always in the same place in the sky relative to the sun. The star pattern in the Minecraft sky is based on a seed but not the same seed as the world seed.
It’s interesting to me that some of these things were taken into consideration by Mojang while developing the game. Do you know some other interesting trivia about Minecraft that you would like to share? Drop a comment on this post.
Learn more about the Minecraft Moon on the Minecraft Wiki.
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