There are lots of tricks out there on how to navigate your world and Minecraft, however I really like this one. It doesn’t require a compass, or a view of the sky, just one very easily obtained cobblestone block placed on the ground so that the top is visible, like in the picture. There are several indistinct pixellated blob shapes towards the lower right corner and a smaller narrower bit that seems to point upwards; that bit will always point North. Its like having a compass that works like a compass is actually supposed to work.

Minecraft textures are pretty much Rorscharch inkblots in that you can see pretty much anything you like in them. I’m sure others might see a flower or some bizarre misshapen fruit in the above texture. Me? I see this:

Official bird of angry US sports fans.

Vulgar? Absolutely. Does it make me a terrible stepmom that I told Beastie and Zilla that’s what it looked like to me? I’m sure someone thinks so. Have any of us failed to orient ourselves in a Minecraft world since? Nope. (Have they ever been able to do this without giggling maniacally, though? Nah.)

So. How do you find North in Minecraft? Follow the bird.