Minecraft World Size: How Big Is It? Is It Larger Than Earth?
Minecraft was built on an interesting premise of a blocky, randomly generated world that expands in every direction, spawning various features such as biomes, buildings, mobs, resources, and many other things. If you’ve ever set out to reach “the end of Minecraft,” you’ve probably noticed that it’s extremely difficult, if not nearly impossible. This started the common rumor that Minecraft’s world is infinite and generates as long as you keep exploring it. Today, we set out to address this. Let’s see exactly how big Minecraft World is and whether it’s bigger than Earth.
Editor’s Note: This post was updated in October 2023, and it reflects the most up-to-date state of the game.
Is Minecraft World really Infinite?
Minecraft imposes limits on the size of its naturally generated world. The original game generated a world of sixty million blocks squared and two hundred and fifty-six blocks in height, with an additional two hundred and forty blocks generated beyond the border in every direction.
Considering each block as one meter by one meter by one meter, the surface area of the Minecraft world at its largest is around 3.6 billion square kilometers. On the PC version, the game can create an extensive world once the border is removed, but it’s not technically infinite. The border exists due to the massive file size; a fully generated world, with each block carrying 4 bits of information, contains roughly 410,000 terabytes.
However, this data only accounts for the surface world of Minecraft. Players can also explore The End and The Nether. The Nether is an underworld dimension with a scaling factor of 1 block to eight blocks compared to the Overworld, making it around 53 million square kilometers, slightly less than six times the area of the United States.
If one maxes out the Overworld and Nether alone, storing the file would require a facility similar to those used by companies like Google and Microsoft. To put it in perspective, the fully generated Minecraft world file would occupy the same storage space as 296 days of continuous YouTube video uploads.
Lastly, The End dimension, where the final challenge takes place, has a large island made of end stone and smaller surrounding islands. Despite the biome suggesting an infinite dimension, it shares the same border size as the Overworld.
The extent of a Minecraft world is determined by the abilities of your device’s hardware. This ensures that the game doesn’t crash or experience slowdowns on devices that may struggle with extensive worlds.
From the spawn point, every Minecraft world is technically 30,000,000 blocks in each direction. With each block representing one real-world meter, this makes the entire world five times larger than the Earth’s diameter. The vastness of such a world can be challenging for both human comprehension and the rendering capacity of your chosen device.
How do you add or remove the World Border?
Is it possible to extend the Minecraft world beyond its set limits? The answer is yes, as you can remove the world border by using the commands, provided your device can handle it. However, if we entertain the hypothetical scenario where technological limitations don’t constrain Minecraft, would an unlimited world actually enhance the gaming experience?
While the idea initially sparks interest, it might prove to be detrimental to your overall fun. The challenge that Minecraft presents arises from the abstract nature of infinity, which doesn’t merely imply an enormous size but rather a limitless state. It’s a well-documented phenomenon that when individuals are presented with infinite options, decision-making becomes challenging. In a game offering an infinite array of possibilities, players might find themselves paralyzed by overwhelming choices. But yes, you can modify your world border to make it bigger or smaller depending on your preferences. Here’s How it’s done.
- Press ‘T’ to open the console.
- Type ” /worldborder set number “
- Close the console.
For example, I wanted to make my playable world border much smaller than it originally was and I set it to be 20 blocks in every direction, this was the end result.
What happens outside of Minecraft’s World Border?
What happens outside of Minecraft’s World Border depends on which mode you’re playing on.
In Creative Mode, if you find yourself outside of the world border, you really won’t be able to do anything. The terrain will keep on generating but you will be unable to interact in the world. You won’t be able to mine, craft gather, or talk to villagers. All of the usual activities are off-limits to you.
If you’re playing in survival mode and you accidentally find yourself outside the world border, you will die instantly and be greeted with the message that you “have left the confines of this world.”
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