minetest

Minetest is an open source voxel game-creation platform with easy modding and game creation

10,588

1,994

10,588

1,285

View on GitHub

Top Related Projects

minetest_game

1,420

Minetest Game - A lightweight and well-maintained base for modding [https://github.com/minetest/minetest/]

mineflayer

4,874

Create Minecraft bots with a powerful, stable, and high level JavaScript API.

cuberite

4,985

A lightweight, fast and extensible game server for Minecraft

Quick Overview

Minetest is an open-source, free, and portable game engine that allows for the creation of voxel-based sandbox games, similar to Minecraft. It is designed to be highly customizable and modular, enabling developers to create their own game worlds and features.

Pros

Open-source and Free: Minetest is an open-source project, allowing for community contributions and customization.
Cross-platform Compatibility: Minetest is available on a wide range of platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, and mobile devices.
Highly Customizable: The game engine is designed to be highly modular, enabling developers to create their own game worlds, features, and mechanics.
Active Community: Minetest has an active community of developers and players who contribute to the project, create mods, and share their creations.

Cons

Steep Learning Curve: Developing for Minetest can have a steep learning curve, especially for those new to game development or the Lua programming language.
Limited Graphics: While Minetest is capable of producing visually appealing games, the graphics may not be as advanced as some commercial games.
Performance Issues: Depending on the complexity of the game world and the number of mods installed, Minetest can experience performance issues on less powerful hardware.
Lack of Mainstream Popularity: Compared to games like Minecraft, Minetest has a smaller user base and may not have the same level of mainstream popularity.

Code Examples

N/A (Minetest is not a code library)

Getting Started

N/A (Minetest is not a code library)

Competitor Comparisons

minetest_game

1,420

Minetest Game - A lightweight and well-maintained base for modding [https://github.com/minetest/minetest/]

Pros of minetest_game

More focused on gameplay and content creation
Easier for modders to add new features and items
Provides a complete game experience out of the box

Cons of minetest_game

Less flexible for creating entirely different game types
Dependent on the Minetest engine for updates and improvements
May have a steeper learning curve for new players

Code Comparison

Minetest (engine):

function core.register_craftitem(name, def)
    -- Engine-level item registration
end

minetest_game:

minetest.register_craftitem("default:stick", {
    description = "Stick",
    inventory_image = "default_stick.png",
    groups = {stick = 1, flammable = 2},
})

The Minetest engine provides low-level functions for registering items, while minetest_game uses these functions to create specific game content. minetest_game builds upon the engine's capabilities to create a complete game experience, whereas the engine itself focuses on providing the underlying framework and tools for game development.

mineflayer

4,874

Create Minecraft bots with a powerful, stable, and high level JavaScript API.

Pros of mineflayer

JavaScript-based, allowing for easier integration with web technologies
Focused on bot creation and automation for Minecraft
Extensive API for interacting with the Minecraft world programmatically

Cons of mineflayer

Limited to client-side interactions, not a full game engine
Dependent on official Minecraft server implementations
Narrower scope compared to Minetest's full game engine capabilities

Code Comparison

Minetest (Lua):

minetest.register_node("mymod:custom_block", {
    description = "Custom Block",
    tiles = {"mymod_custom_block.png"},
    groups = {cracky = 3},
})

mineflayer (JavaScript):

const bot = mineflayer.createBot({
  host: 'localhost',
  username: 'player'
})

bot.on('spawn', () => {
  bot.chat('Hello, world!')
})

This comparison highlights the different focus areas of the two projects. Minetest provides a full game engine with modding capabilities, while mineflayer is specialized for creating Minecraft bots and automation scripts. The code examples demonstrate Minetest's node registration system versus mineflayer's bot creation and event handling approach.

cuberite

4,985

A lightweight, fast and extensible game server for Minecraft

Pros of Cuberite

Written in C++, potentially offering better performance
Designed specifically for server-side use, which may lead to more efficient resource usage
Supports plugins written in Lua, allowing for easier customization

Cons of Cuberite

Smaller community and fewer available mods compared to Minetest
Less frequent updates and potentially slower development cycle
Limited compatibility with Minecraft clients, focusing mainly on older versions

Code Comparison

Minetest (C++):

void Server::handleCommand(NetworkPacket* pkt)
{
    // Command handling logic
}

Cuberite (C++):

void cServer::ExecuteConsoleCommand(const AString & a_Cmd, cCommandOutputCallback & a_Output)
{
    // Console command execution logic
}

Both projects use C++ for their core functionality, but Cuberite focuses more on server-side operations, while Minetest provides a complete game engine. Cuberite's code structure appears more oriented towards server administration, while Minetest's codebase covers a broader range of game-related functions.

Convert designs to code with AI

Introducing Visual Copilot: A new AI model to turn Figma designs to high quality code using your components.

Try Visual Copilot

README

Minetest

Minetest is a free open-source voxel game engine with easy modding and game creation.

Further Documentation
Default Controls
Paths
Configuration File
Command-line Options
Compiling
Docker
Version Scheme

Further documentation

Website: https://www.minetest.net/
Wiki: https://wiki.minetest.net/
Forum: https://forum.minetest.net/
GitHub: https://github.com/minetest/minetest/
Developer documentation
doc/ directory of source distribution

Default controls

All controls are re-bindable using settings. Some can be changed in the key config dialog in the settings tab.

Button	Action
Move mouse	Look around
W, A, S, D	Move
Space	Jump/move up
Shift	Sneak/move down
Q	Drop itemstack
Shift + Q	Drop single item
Left mouse button	Dig/punch/use
Right mouse button	Place/use
Shift + right mouse button	Build (without using)
I	Inventory menu
Mouse wheel	Select item
0-9	Select item
Z	Zoom (needs zoom privilege)
T	Chat
/	Command
Esc	Pause menu/abort/exit (pauses only singleplayer game)
+	Increase view range
-	Decrease view range
K	Enable/disable fly mode (needs fly privilege)
J	Enable/disable fast mode (needs fast privilege)
H	Enable/disable noclip mode (needs noclip privilege)
E	Aux1 (Move fast in fast mode. Games may add special features)
C	Cycle through camera modes
V	Cycle through minimap modes
Shift + V	Change minimap orientation
F1	Hide/show HUD
F2	Hide/show chat
F3	Disable/enable fog
F4	Disable/enable camera update (Mapblocks are not updated anymore when disabled, disabled in release builds)
F5	Cycle through debug information screens
F6	Cycle through profiler info screens
F10	Show/hide console
F12	Take screenshot

Paths

Locations:

bin - Compiled binaries
share - Distributed read-only data
user - User-created modifiable data

Where each location is on each platform:

Windows .zip / RUN_IN_PLACE source:
- bin = bin
- share = .
- user = .
Windows installed:
- bin = C:\Program Files\Minetest\bin (Depends on the install location)
- share = C:\Program Files\Minetest (Depends on the install location)
- user = %APPDATA%\Minetest or %MINETEST_USER_PATH%
Linux installed:
- bin = /usr/bin
- share = /usr/share/minetest
- user = ~/.minetest or $MINETEST_USER_PATH
macOS:
- bin = Contents/MacOS
- share = Contents/Resources
- user = Contents/User or ~/Library/Application Support/minetest or $MINETEST_USER_PATH

Worlds can be found as separate folders in: user/worlds/

Configuration file

Default location: user/minetest.conf
This file is created by closing Minetest for the first time.
A specific file can be specified on the command line: --config <path-to-file>
A run-in-place build will look for the configuration file in location_of_exe/../minetest.conf and also location_of_exe/../../minetest.conf

Command-line options

Use --help

Compiling

Docker

Version scheme

We use major.minor.patch since 5.0.0-dev. Prior to that we used 0.major.minor.

Major is incremented when the release contains breaking changes, all other numbers are set to 0.
Minor is incremented when the release contains new non-breaking features, patch is set to 0.
Patch is incremented when the release only contains bugfixes and very minor/trivial features considered necessary.

Since 5.0.0-dev and 0.4.17-dev, the dev notation refers to the next release, i.e.: 5.0.0-dev is the development version leading to 5.0.0. Prior to that we used previous_version-dev.

Top Related Projects

Convert designs to code with AI

Introducing Visual Copilot: A new AI model to turn Figma designs to high quality code using your components.

Try Visual Copilot

Top Related Projects

Quick Overview

Pros

Cons

Code Examples

Getting Started

Competitor Comparisons

Pros of minetest_game

Cons of minetest_game

Code Comparison

Pros of mineflayer

Cons of mineflayer

Code Comparison

Pros of Cuberite

Cons of Cuberite

Code Comparison

Convert designs to code with AI

README

Minetest

Table of Contents

Further documentation

Default controls

Paths

Configuration file

Command-line options

Compiling

Docker

Version scheme

Top Related Projects

Convert designs to code with AI