One Minecraft fan has shared a method of creating decorative signpost displays using shelves, which demonstrates how these new furniture pieces can be useful for more than just displaying items and sprucing up players' living spaces. Mojang recently revealed a number of new experimental features planned to come to Minecraft with its next content drop, and fans have already been testing them out.
Shelves are a new type of decorative block that works similarly to item frames, since they can store and display up to three items each. Players can interact with loaded shelves to easily swap their contained items into their own inventories, making it easy for players to switch up their tools and weapons in Minecraft on the fly. They can be made out of any existing wood type in the game and are even redstone-compatible, meaning that players can link several shelves together to switch a larger number of items into their hotbar instantaneously. Shelves are planned to officially arrive in Minecraft with its third game drop later this year, but players can check them out for themselves - along with some other experimental features - in the game's latest preview version on Bedrock Edition.
Minecraft Teases New Crossover Content
Minecraft is crossing over with another media property yet again, as the game teases its playerbase with new crossover content.
No matter how simple, pretty much every feature, item, and mechanic in Minecraft can be repurposed in surprising ways, and these new shelves are no exception to this rule. One fan known as PurpleTheFox111 was quick to demonstrate how shelves present one of the only ways in the game to create simple signpost displays of a medium size, and doing so is pretty easy. Players can simply decorate individual banners to feature patterns resembling letters or numbers, and then place these banners inside shelves to create eye-catching signpost displays that only occupy a couple of blocks' worth of space. Each shelf can contain up to three items, but they can be placed adjacent to each other to support sign texts of virtually any length.
Minecraft's Shelves Could Become One of the Game's Most Useful Blocks for Some Builders
Previously, there were surprisingly few decent ways to create reasonably-sized signs in Minecraft. Actual sign blocks are useful in many circumstances, but feature text that is too small for many practical designs, and while players can build elaborate signs out of blocks, this usually takes up too much space instead. Minecraft's customizable banners have provided one of the best ways of creating things such as shop signs without taking up too much space, and shelves simply help players miniaturize these designs further.
Minecraft has seen a few major features this year already, with the Happy Ghast mob and the introduction of Vibrant Visuals on Bedrock Edition, but there's much more to come later in 2025 as well. Mojang recently gave fans a first look at what to expect in Minecraft's third game drop this year, including new copper tools and armor, as well as the copper golem, which fans can also see for themselves in the game's current experimental version.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 90 /100 Critics Rec: 84%
WHERE TO PLAY
Minecraft is a game made up of blocks, creatures, and community. You can survive the night or build a work of art – the choice is all yours. But if the thought of exploring a vast new world all on your own feels overwhelming, then fear not!
Minecraft has no set goal and can be played however you’d like! This is why it’s sometimes called a “sandbox game” – there are lots of things for you to do, and lots of ways that you can play. If you like being creative, then you can use the blocks to build things from your imagination. If you’re feeling brave, you can explore the world and face daring challenges. Blocks can be broken, crafted, placed to reshape the landscape, or used to build fantastical creations.
Creatures can be battled or befriended, depending on how you play. The world of Minecraft allows for epic adventures, quiet meditations, and everything in between. You can even share your creations with other players, or play in community worlds!
- Engine
- LWJGL, PROPRIETARY ENGINE
- Multiplayer
- Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer
- Franchise
- Minecraft
- Number of Players
- 1-4
- Split Screen Orientation
- Vertical or Horizontal
- Genre(s)
- Sandbox, Survival
- Platform(s)
- 3DS, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii U, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PS Vita, Xbox One, Xbox 360
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
- How Long To Beat
- 129 Hours
- X|S Optimized
- No
- File Size Xbox Series
- 1.42 GB (August 2024)
