Minecraft Xbox: Here’s How To Tell What Level You Are On

Seeing X and Y levels in Minecraft is incredibly important for navigating through a Minecraft world that is too big for our own good. It’s no secret that all you have to do to see the levels are open up the debug screen, but that only holds true for Java, so how do you tell what level you are on in Minecraft Xbox?

Can you open debug screen on Xbox?

Sadly, there is no free way to open up the debug screen that holds incredibly valuable information and can even help you find your way back to your home or previous locations without using a map on Xbox. No Bedrock Edition Minecraft can open the debug screen. It’s been a topic of controversy for years now.

A couple of years ago, when talking about Pocket Edition Minecraft instead of console versions of the game (even though it is easily applicable to consoles since Pocket Edition is still Bedrock), a Mojang employee stated that giving players that much information is practically cheating and how the only reason why Java Edition has it is that it was part of the original game and would cause a major backlash if it was suddenly removed.

It’s hilarious to me how this was their statement, and yet, the debug menu is updated quite frequently. I’m not a Bedrock Edition player, but I would be quite furious with the fact that Java has it and Bedrock doesn’t. Still, you can see your coordinates even in Bedrock Edition by following these steps:

1. Create a new world
2. Go to the Worlds Options menu
3. Turn on Show Coordinates

If you want to display coordinates in a world you’ve already created, go to the main menu and open up the screen where all your worlds are shown. Click on the Edit World button next to your world; it should display a pen, and repeat the process of turning on the Show Coordinates button. That’s it; you can now easily make your way through the vast jungle that is one Minecraft world.

How to read X and Y levels in Minecraft?

When I first started playing Minecraft, a friend told me that I could read the coordinates to find my way back to where I wanted to go after I got lost; I was confused. I guessed that the X and Y had something to do with the X and Y axis in maths and making graphs, but it was still very confusing in practical uses. It’s safe to say that I didn’t find my way back, and my friend found me and held my hand while leading me back to my base.

If you don’t have a friend like mine that will help you find your way back, it’s time to learn how to read the coordinates. The X coordinate can have positive and negative values. Positive values are displayed to the East of 0,0, your spawn point, whereas negative values are displayed to the West of 0,0.

On the other hand, Y coordinates don’t have anything to do with your spawn point. Y Coordinates show the player’s altitude. The block you currently stand on will be displayed in the Y coordinate. Z coordinates is another part of helping you find your way in your Minecraft worlds because it displays a player’s location in blocks South of 0,0 in positive values, whereas negative values are to the North of 0,0.

If you can’t quite picture it, here is a visual of how it works. To determine where is south, you should try to find a travel direction where the Z- coordinate increases. X values will stay the same, though. By using coordinates to determine which direction you are facing, you use two of the debug features simultaneously; the info that shows which direction you’re facing and the XYZ coordinates.

Other important info on the debug screen

There’s much more info on the debug screen than first meets the eye. I won’t bother you with it too much, but if Mojang ever decides to implement the debug screen to Bedrock, here are a few things you should know about it.

• Block – shows the XYZ coordinates of the block the player is standing on but rounded to a whole number. It also has numbers in brackets which display the position of a player within a chunk.
• Client Light – shows you what light level you’re surrounded with. This is excellent for making sure that your rooms are lit up enough so that no mobs can spawn in your base.
• SC – Shows the total number of mob spawning chunks. Usually, this value is 289, but it can get higher if you’re playing in a multiplayer world. This value is important for players looking to increase their mob spawning rates.
• M(first) – another feature important for players looking to increase their mob spawn rates. It shows how many monsters count toward the mob cap.
• Targeted Block – Whenever you look at a block, this section on the right side of the debug screen will display exactly what block you’re looking at and its tag. This might seem useless at first, but the below info shows what liquid you’re looking at. This allows you to know which blocks are located under lava, for example, when you’re looking for diamonds.

There’s much more information that the debug screen holds and can help you with your worlds, but these are the most common ones I use and seem to find useful regularly. Other information that someone might find useful varies from player to player.

The problem of no debug screen in Bedrock

I can understand why Mojang wouldn’t put the debug screen in Bedrock, and I can even understand why Java players do, but what blows my mind is that Bedrock Edition Minecraft has the debug screen but only in developer mode. Mojang doesn’t have to say anything about it, but it’s clear what they’re trying to say: ”We can put the debug screen in Bedrock, and there is one in the game; we just don’t want you to have it”.

Important Y levels to know about

The Y levels might not be useful in terms of the player managing to find their way in a Minecraft world, but it’s important for one thing that is universal to all Minecraft players, Bedrock or Java – diamonds. Besides diamonds, there are other important Y levels you should know about in Minecraft that’ll help you get the ores you want.

It’s first worth noting that 1.20 distributes ore in a triangular geometry, and the ores will be the densest in the center of the triangle. Each ore has a distribution range assigned to it, so if an ore has a distribution range of 10-30, the best place to find this ore would be at 20.

• Coal – it has the greatest distribution range in the game and can be found on all Y levels above negative values. The best Y level to find coal, though, is 96.
• Redstone – You can find Redstone between Y levels 15 and -64, but it’s most abundant on Y levels -59
• Iron – Iron has 3 different distribution ranges, but it is best to mine it on Y level 15. Prior to the 1.18 update, coal and iron were hard to find, but they changed, and now you can easily get both ores in no time.
• Lapis Lazuli – Lapis Lazuli can generate in a triangular and even shape. Its distribution range is 64 to -64, whereas its triangular distribution range is 32 to -32. The ranges overlap, which means more lapis lazuli for you. It’s best to mine it on Y level -1.
• Copper – Copper is most abundant in dripstone caves and at Y level 48. You can also find it in copper veins that generate below Y level 0.
• Gold – Even though you’re better off just mining for golden nuggets in the Nether, for those of you who want to get raw gold in the Overworld, you have the best chance of finding them on Y level -16.
• Diamonds – Diamonds have a distribution range of -14 and -64, but you’re most likely to find them on Y levels -59. Some will argue that it’s best to mine for them on Y levels -58 and -57 because of lava pools that you have to avoid. I always say stick to what you know and perhaps bring a pickaxe with the looting enchantment while you’re at it.
• Emerald – Emeralds are the rarest naturally occurring resource in Minecraft, and to mine them, you won’t have to dig them but go high up in the mountains. The biggest chance you have of finding them is on Y level 236.

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