How One Simple Rule Change Revolutionized Minecraft Speedruns (2024)

The Minecraft: Java Edition Any% Glitchless Random Seed 1.16+ speedrun involves players beating the game as quickly as possible without abusing glitches.This means finding the quickest way to craft Eyes of Ender to find the Stronghold, entering the End, and defeating the Ender Dragon. Previously, a lot of the math involved to find the Endneeded to be done mentally by the runner. However,the use of (previously banned) calculators is revolutionizing the category.

Previously, every run in Java Edition required a bit of luck when leaving the Nether to find the Stronghold. This is because it is in a different location on every random seed,unlike in Bedrock Edition. However,with the use of the bot, there is no luck needed, as the exact coordinates of the Stronghold are provided.

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What Is The Change?

Originally, runners would throw an Eye on Ender while in the Overworld, note the two angle coordinates in the "Facing" section of the game's F3 debug menu, walk five steps in any direction, andrepeat this process one more time. The difference in the two set of numbers would determine roughly where the Stronghold was. For example, if the difference in the angle was zero, the Stronghold would be around 2,000 blocks away. However, the larger the difference in the angles, the closer the Stronghold would be. This process was relatively long and tedious.

Runners would also use a process called "Educated Travel." This was whererunners wouldfind an ideal location in the Nether, where the X and Y coordinates added up to around 220. Then, they wouldbuild a Nether portal and enter, hoping to be near the stronghold.

However, with the rule change, runners can now use a botcalled "Ninjabrain Bot," created by atopMinecraft speedrunnerninjabrain1, who is currently position 21 on the Any% Glitchless leaderboard. This bot inputs the coordinates of two Eye throws, puts these into its calculator, and gives the speedrunner the exact coordinates of the stronghold, including how far away the Stronghold is. This process is much quicker and easier.

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How The Change Happened

In November 2021, speedrun.com, the website thathosts the official world records for every speedrun game and category, held a community poll to decide whether calculators should be allowed in the speedrun. The MinecraftAny% Glitchless speedrun is the most popular speedrun category on the website with over 4,000 submitted runs, and those whohad a submitted run in the Any% Glitchless Random Seed category weighed in.

The majority of voters in the poll wanted tounbanthe use of calculators in speedrunning, resulting in an official rule change.Other factors, including ruleset consistency and community debates were also considered.While seemingly small, thischange revolutionized the Any% Glitchless category.

The Importance Of The Change And What It Means

The addition of calculators revolutionized the run in a few ways. Throwing multiple eyes, doing mental math and doing calculations are no longer needed. Now, players can put precise numbers into a calculator to tell them exactly where to travel to find the Stronghold and beat the game. Not only does this allow them to find the exact coordinates of the Stronghold, but it also meansspeedrunners can be more precise in their movements, wasting less time.

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45 days afterthis rule changewent into effect, theworld recordfor the category was broken. The previous recordof nine minutes and 36 seconds, held by Brentilda, had stood for over nine months, a relatively long amount of time for this category. On January 23, 2022, the record was brokenby Cube1337x, who completed the run with a time of nine minutes, eight seconds and 820 milliseconds with the help of "NinjaBrain Bot."

Now, runners can build a portal anywhere in the Nether, use the bot while in the Overworld, then travel back into the Nether and follow exactly where the bot says to build another portal. This is important because it is faster to travel in the Nether, as every block in the Nether equals around eight blocks in the Overworld. This one simple rule change has revolutionized the speedrun,proving its power by helping a player break the record so soon after the change went into effect. With continued use and further innovations,it is only a matter of time before theworld record is broken again.

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