How can I make maps of my Minecraft worlds?
Created //
In Minecraft I spend a lot of time exploring and getting lost. But I also find a bunch of interesting things I want to remember and return to. To remember where I've been and find my way around, I make maps. Here's an example:
The two free tools I use for making Minecraft maps are:
Similarities
Both Minutor and uNmINeD do the same thing: they let you see Minecraft worlds as 2D maps.
- Both tools work on MacOS, Windows, and Linux.
- Both can create 2D maps of Minecraft worlds, aiding in navigation and remembering important locations.
- While both tools have a GUI, they can also run from the command line, enabling easy automated map generation for advanced users.
There are many other things these tools can be used for. You can identify chunks where slime blocks spawn, find biomes, and even search for specific blocks or entities.
Requirements
These tools only work on Minecraft worlds saved ON YOUR COMPUTER. You can't view a map for an online server or a Realms world.
But if you can download a world to use offline, you can map it.
Differences
Use the following "Previous" and "Next" buttons to see the differences between Minutor and uNmINeD maps.
Minutor | Default settings
uNmINeD | Default settings
uNmINeD | Fast shadows enabled
uNmINeD | High quality shadows and textures enabled
Minutor
[ Minutor home page | Download latest Minutor release | Github source code ]
- Speed: Minutor is fast!
- Height-level rendering: You can render maps at specific height levels. This lets you focus on specific layers of your world (making it easier for specific types of maps).
- Heat map: This draws an overlay which highlights the areas where players have spent the most time exploring. This makes exploration patterns clear.
- Visual quality: Visual quality is good, but it doesn't have uNmINeD's advanced options like shadows and textures.
Minutor is updated regularly. At the time of this post, the most recent update was June 2023.
uNmINeD
[ uNmINeD home page | Download latest uNmINeD release ]
- Visual quality: To my eye, uNmINeD creates maps with a much higher visual quality. Textures and shadows add detail and a professional look to the Minecraft map. You can adjust contrast, saturation, brightness. You can automatically outline biome boundaries and specific block types.
- Height-level selection: Similar to Minutor, uNmINeD lets you display only certain blocks within specific height levels, providing great control over map details.
- Zooming: You can zoom out much, MUCH further in uNmINeD, showing more of the world in a single view.
uNmINeD is updated regularly. At the time of this post, the most recent update was August 2023.
Being able to zoom out is a huge advantage with uNmINeD. In the image below, the yellow rectangle shows the most I could see at once using Minutor. I can see over 10× as much at once in uNmINeD!
Summary
Minutor is a fast and straightforward map generation tool with the unique feature of showing a heat map for exploration tracking.
uNmINeD stands out with its visually impressive maps, the ability to use textures and shadows, and the option to zoom out for a broad view of the world. However it can be much slower than Minutor.
Both tools are useful when working with Minecraft worlds!
- Minutor is the go-to choice for speedy map exploration
- uNmINeD is the best choice to create high quality map images with shadows.
There are many other mapping tools for Minecraft. Visit the Minecraft Fandom wiki page for more.
// ka
