One of the best parts about Minecraft is creating unique worlds for other players to enjoy – or downloading worlds already made available, yourself. Custom maps are maps made by other players, who then upload those maps to various Minecraft related websites so players can download them and play them. There are literally thousands of unique worlds out there, but the process is the same regardless of where you get them.
Downloading Maps
This is the easiest step toward installing a custom map. All you have to do is go to your website of choice and pick a map file to download. Sometimes you will be getting a world file directly, but other times you will need an archival tool like Winzip to unzip a compressed world file and make it usable. Once you have your world file unzipped and ready to go, it’s time to move it into your Minecraft directory.
Installing Maps
This next step isn’t exactly difficult, but it can be confusing for those who don’t already know how to track down their Minecraft directory. Just follow the appropriate directions for your operating system and you should be able to just breeze right through this step.
For Windows Users
- Press the Windows or Start button, then press R. This will open the Run prompt.
- Type %appdata% into the prompt and run the command.
- A folder filled with other folders will now open. Just find the Minecraft folder among these and open it.
- In .minecraft you will find another folder, saves. Move your world file into this folder and you’re all done.
For MacOS Users
- Access your particular user’s folder through Finder.
- Now you’re just clicking through folders. Go to Library, then Application Support, then .minecraft, then saves.
- Just put your world file in the saves folder and you’re all done.
For Linux Users
- Using a file manager of your choice, access the following path: ~/.minecraft/
- Find the saves folder here and move your world file into it.
Again, the process is more or less the same regardless of the operating system you’re using, but getting to your .minecraft folder does require doing something different with each of these systems.
Sharing Maps
Maybe you’re not looking to download any custom worlds – maybe you have one of your own which you want to share with the rest of the world instead. Sharing maps is a kind of cornerstone to the Minecraft community. It’s also relatively easy to do. All you have to do is open your .minecraft folder, go into the saves directory and find the map you want to share. Compress it using Winzip or another archival tool to make it upload faster for you and download faster for users who want to get it, then upload it on any file sharing website you choose, like Mediafire for instance.
You might want to consider signing up for a Minecraft themed website or two and posting news about your custom map if you want more people to download it. You could have the greatest map of all time and it wouldn’t make a bit of difference if nobody knew it was available, right? This step is optional, but if you want more people to download your map and maybe to get more feedback from users, you have to advertise a little.
Custom Map Types
There are many popular types of custom maps which tend to fall into specific genres. These will be outlined below.
Puzzle
Essentially, puzzle maps are courses which players try to traverse while solving puzzles or answering questions along the way. Score can be kept using gold ingots, diamonds or even pieces of flint, really – this is up to the map creator. There are redstone machine puzzles and mazes, mainly.
Action
These maps tend to have more, well, action. There may be some puzzle elements to them, but action maps are more about fighting monsters and getting enough food to stay alive. Survival maps are just like Survival mode in Minecraft, but CTM and Arena maps offer much more than a standard experience.
Parkour
Parkour maps are all about jumping; courses that go high up into the sky or across a wide expanse of ocean will force players to run, jump, shift-walk and more to get from the start to the end. Simply put, parkour is a test of agility and dexterity.
These are just a few of the main custom map types available for play. There are also creative maps, adventure maps, PVP maps and more to choose from. That said, there are certainly custom maps which cater to every player’s tastes, and you will undoubtedly find one or more which you enjoy if you take the time to go looking for them. Check places like Planet Minecraft to find map listings or links to maps hosted elsewhere.