1. How can Minecraft be used
to explore real world topography.
Adam Clarke
12 May 2014
Slide 1
Minecraft is a game played by over 100 Million people around the world. Its popularity is partly due
to the fact that there is no end goal. It is a sandbox game where the players can create anything
they can imagine using simple cubes or blocks. This element of creativity has tapped into a large
community, hungry to share, learn and develop tools to play Minecraft in ever more interesting and
creative ways. It is therefore not surprising that teachers want to know the secrets of how to get
young people to engage and learn within Minecraft itself.
In this talk I will show you how I have used real world topographical radar data, taken during a
space shuttle orbit 14 years ago, to explore the north of England and its historic monuments such
as Hadrian's Wall, Carlisle Castle and even coastal wetland bird habitats.
Video games are often played on maps and have a history of using real world data to add realism
and environmental narratives to game play. However, games-based learning has started to use
game maps for engagement and learning.
Slide 2
First let’s look at what Minecraft is and what a normal Minecraft map consists of. Minecraft is a
sandbox construction game created by Mojang founder Markus Persson, AKA Notch, and inspired
by the Infiniminer, Dwarf Fortress and Dungeon Keeper games. Gameplay involves players
interacting with the game world by placing and breaking various types of blocks in a three-

2. dimensional environment. In this environment, players can build creative structures, creations, and
artwork on multiplayer servers and single-player worlds across multiple game modes.
The starting area is called the Overworld and a normal Minecraft map is infinite. However, the
number of blocks the player may walk on is limited. The area on the X/Z axis that a player normally
plays, is: 30,000,000. There is also a height limit of 255 blocks. Beyond this edge, world generation
is significantly simpler, any chunk after the edge consists of just dirt, sand, stone and water with
absolutely no vegetation. Because of these limitations, the maximum blocks that can be generated
in a world is approximately 921,600,000,000,000,000 (nine quintillion, two hundred and sixteen
quadrillion). Which is pretty big….
The Overworld is also subdivided into biomes. Biomes may have varying sizes, and each has its
own features. For example, a forest biome will have large quantities of trees, and a snow biome
will have snow and ice.
Chunks are the method used by Notch to divide maps into manageable pieces. They are 16 blocks
wide, 16 blocks long, and 256 blocks high, each containing 65,536 blocks. By adjusting the render
distance, differing numbers of chunks will be loaded into memory, ranging from 25 to 1089. Only
chunks which have been loaded may experience activity such as spawning, de-spawning, growth,
fluid movement, or player interaction. Upon reaching the required distance away from a chunk, it
will be unloaded from the memory, but not deleted. Thus, upon re-entering that area, the game will
reload the chunk(s).
So this give us a near infinite world for players to explore, with random limited resources and a
host of dangers and challenges . It make for a very engaging gameplay and, without any final
goal, the players are left to create narratives and rebuild the world as they see fit. It is this
engagement that first caught my attention and led me into investigating Minecraft’s educational
possibilities.

3. Initially, Minecraft offers simulated typography and generates maps through a procedural formula
that takes a random number as a starting point — referred to as a seed — and uses it to generate
all the terrain. Using a specific seed generates exactly the same world each time, and thus
interesting Minecraft worlds can be shared between players.
As interest in Minecraft grew, so did the creative community around it and it wasn't long before
Map generators and World editors appeared. This gave me the tools to reshape and design new
Minecraft maps and topographies. It was at this point that I started to explore real world
topographical data from The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) which obtained elevation
data on a near-global scale. SRTM consisted of a specially modified radar system that flew
onboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour during an 11-day mission in February of 2000.
Slide 3
One of the first Maps I produced was a Minecraft version of Cumbria. I did this by first
downloading an SRTM file — there are lots of places to do this on the internet and I can give links
at the end. I then used MicroDEM software to extract and export a black and white height map,
using instructions from YouTube videos to work out how to do this. I used this height map in
another program called World Painter, that is designed to create and paint Minecraft maps.
Slide 4
This program allows you to import height maps and using it, I was able to produce realistic
topographical Minecraft maps. The software also allows you to overlay images, which meant that I
could overlay historical maps and even where Hadrian's Wall was. The software is designed just
like Microsoft Paint and uses simple brush tools. So it is easy to paint a landscape or historical
remains or roads, rivers, forests and so on. Excited by this, I showed my map to Tullie House
Museum and Art Gallery in Carlisle, Cumbria, who asked me to create a much more detailed map
that explored Roman Cumbria.
Slide 5

4. We collaborated on a Minecraft history project that became part of the Museums At Night Event in
2013. The audience were students and members of the public who were interested in discovering
stories and narratives about Hadrian’s Wall and also interacting with the Wall in a novel and new
way.
Slide 6
We encouraged participants to help, build and discover roman buildings and learn about urban
planning.
This was just the seed, so to speak — the learning potential within Minecraft can:
Slide 7
1. Promote ‘Learner Engagement’, specifically across multiple age groups.
2. Hear and amplify the ‘Child’s Voice’, specifically as part of a chorus of engaged voices
3. Promote ‘Shared Responsibility’, specifically among peer groups (a hard nut to crack ordinarily).
4. Encourage ‘Collaboration’ and ‘Negotiation’.
5. Facilitate ‘Judgement’ and ‘Decision Making’.
It is also a powerful mechanism for encouraging learners to focus on ‘Outdoor Learning’ by
inspiring through play an interest in landscape, structure, people and place. thus challenging the
common criticism that is levied at Games, that it discourages young people from being outside.
As well as my own work within Minecraft, there are other significant Games-Based Learning
practitioners working globally. One of these that I would like to cite is Stephen Reid, of
ImmersiveMind. Some educational examples of his work include: Pompeii and a working volcano;
minefields and the relocation of human populations after a war or natural disaster; whole cities in
which town planning and green spaces can be explored for health and wellbeing; pyramids and
tomb traps as part of Egyptian studies. As you can see, the scope for learning is vast.

5. Slide 8
‘Data Analysis’ and ‘Bringing data to life’ is fundamental to the success of learners across a wealth
of subjects, from people and population in geography to number crunching in Mathematics and
science data gained from experimentation in physics, chemistry or biology. Data analysis can
sometimes feel time consuming and laborious. With Minecraft, data analysis becomes ‘Fun’ and
playful.
There are many other examples of topographic data being used for education within
minecraft - here are a few of the best….
Slide 9
Block by Block
"Block by Block" is an innovative partnership between the United Nations Human Settlements
Programme (UN-Habitat), the UN agency promoting sustainable towns and cities, and Mojang, the
makers of Minecraft. “Block by Block” involves young people in the planning of urban public
spaces. Minecraft has turned out to be the perfect tool to facilitate this process. A four-year
partnership plans to upgrade 300 public spaces by 2016.
Slide 10
Denmark 1:1 scale Minecraft model
There are many opportunities to use Denmark's free spatial data in a Minecraft world for teaching.
By walking around in the virtual world and compare with the physical world, it is possible to
increase the spatial understanding of pupils. The game consists of blocks of 1x1 meters and is also
a representation of Denmark 1:1, which provide good opportunities for doing exercises with the
measurement of distance, circumference and volume.
Students can also calculate prices for construction works by counting the different types of blocks
and can also calculate how high a bridge must be for a truck to get under it.

6. Language is also explorable in the Danish Map. There are inserted addresses in the game, so it's
possible to have a discussion of place names and their meanings.
You can also take students on a virtual field trip to places you normally can not reach physically.
And this leads to the danish map to promoting Outdoor Education where you can using spatial data
and maps get an overview of the school's immediate environment and thus the potential to move
education out of the classroom.
You will be able to plan field trips together. Students can put their findings into the wild into the
game. Denmark's free geo-data in a Minecraft world can bridge the gap between the classroom
and the school environment.
Slide 11
Brisbane City
Brisbane City Council has developed a custom Minecraft map for the city of Brisbane which is
available as a free download.
The custom scaled map includes a number of city icons such as City Hall, the Brisbane River,
South Bank lagoon, Brisbane Square, the Story Bridge and the Gabba.
Users can explore these real life buildings which have all been built to scale using Council's Virtual
Brisbane 3D modelling objects. The Council sees the game and the map it has developed as
providing a number of educational benefits for children from reading, writing, maths, geometry,
collaboration and general creativity. It highlights Brisbane as Australia’s new world city and a
leader in digital communication through the use of games to educate.
Slide 12
This platform enables endless amounts of learning opportunities, from storytelling to urban renewal;
reminiscence engagement to real world climate change modelling; exploring the science of human

7. body and discovering the history of art. Minecraft has become a tool for artists and educators, social
activists and community developers, scientists and other organisations around the world. It is being
recognised for its ability to engage young people in ideas and concepts that go beyond playing a
game. People are using Minecraft to develop transferable skills such as political awareness,
mathematics, literacy, humanities, scientific concepts - the list is without limit.
Slide 13
What Minecraft has shown us is a window to a future where games based learning is changing the
face and shape of education at all levels, from primary into corporate and government training. It has
shown us that the boundaries between play and education are not fixed and can enhance each other
to encourage innovative creative response. Through the connections and collaborations made within
game, a community has grown that is beginning to shape the way in which we learn and influence
change on a local and global scale. Through its simplicity, it has given the player a sandbox in which
the imagination can expand and ideas can grow.
However, it is important to remember that, at the heart of all this potential, Minecraft is a game, and
is, at its core, about having fun with your friends. Which is why it is games-based learning, not
learning based games.
Material has been remixed and adapted from http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/
Content is available under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 unless otherwise noted. Minecraft content and materials are trademarks
and copyrights of Mojang and its licensors. All rights reserved.
http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/srtm/
http://blockbyblock.org/about
http://www.gst.dk/emner/frie-data/minecraft/ideer-til-brug-i-undervisning/#
http://www.worldpainter.net/