5 facts players should know about Minecraft Creepypasta Herobrine

Herobrine has been the pinnacle of legends and scary stories for over a decade, but despite being a significant figure in Minecraft, not much, aside from his origin, is known about him.

The first sighting of Herobrine dates back to 2010. This sighting came in the form of an image detailing the encounter, which was posted on 4chan's /v/ board. The legend began to spiral from there; spawning streams, hoaxes, easter eggs, mods, texture packs, and so much more.

The friendly and familiar Minecraft Steve skin takes on a new sense of malice with Herobrine's hollow, white eyes. He watches players from afar; hiding in the fog of their low render distance, stalking, and hunting. His purpose in the game is unknown, but there's no way his cold white eyes look on with good intentions.

In no particular order, here are some facts that could help players looking to deepen their knowledge on the legend of Herobrine.

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5 facts about Minecraft Creepypasta Herobrine

5. Herobrine hasn't ever actually been in the game

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but Herobrine has, and currently isn't, in any version of un-modded Minecraft.

The original 4chan "sighting" that began the legend has been proven to be fake, and has since been deleted. The same applies to the Copeland stream; which showed Brocraft's Copeland entering a room in his survival world and "seeing" Herobrine standing there, that blew the legend into infamy.

Copeland also admits to the stream being staged in an email here.

Notch himself has stated that Herobrine has never existed in the game's files:

"Every single thing in the game gets found out within minutes. People are decompiling the code, and there are even automated tools to do so. It should be obvious to everyone that there isn't a hidden herobrine in there, or it would've been found years ago. Despite this, people keep spreading the rumor, posting fake stories and screenshots, and generally hyping it, so it seems to be something people WANT the game to contain. But the truth he certainly had never ever been in the game when I was working on it, and I absolutely, positively don't have a dead brother. But if people want to pretend it's true, who am I to stop them?"

While there are certainly mods and texture packs that bring Herobrine to life within the game; he has never been canonically in the game's files.

4. The world seed from the original 4chan sighting has been found

"Here is the only evidence I have of his existence" (Image via 4chan)

The legend of Herobrine began with the above picture, and despite this image's infamy it wasn't until nearly a decade after the deletion of the original post that the world seed of this exact sighting was found.

The project to find the original seed was started on September 5th, 2020.

On January 16th, 2021 andrew_555 (Kminster) discovered the original Herobrine world seed at around 12:12 AM UTC (8:12 AM EST).

The seed is: 478868574082066804

Players must be on version Java Alpha 1.0.16_02 to experience the full immersion from the original picture (as this is the version of Minecraft before the hunger bar). But, of course, it's accessible from the current version of Minecraft too.

Alpha coordinates: X=5.06 Y=71 (72.62 eye pos) Z=-298.54

Modern coordinates: X=5.16 Y=71 Z=-298.53

Camera angle: RX=93.75 RY=-1.2

#3: Mojang has hidden him in promotional art for the game

Mojang is a company that certainly has the pulse of their fans, as they've hidden many visages of Herobrine in a number of their promotional pieces.

Herobrine in the header for the 2011 Minecon Event (Image via Mojang)

Herobrine statue next to one of Steve at the MINECON 2011 Xbox 360 booth (Image via Mojang)

Herobrine in the Mojang's "Summer Picnics" Facebook Cover (Image via Mojang)

Herobrine in the LEGO Microworld Booklet (Image via Mojang)

Acknowledging Herobrine is something that the Mojang team seems to do often and very lightheartedly; despite the sinister tone of the myth with white eyes.

The team has even left easter eggs of Herobrine's "removal" from the game in the update notes for early patch releases.

Despite Notch, as well as other members of Mojang Studios, repeatedly stating that Herobrine isn't, and has never, been coded into the game. The team members seem to still have a chuckle sneaking the infamous Creepypasta into whatever they can.

#2: There's a "canon" and "community" lore

What's known about Herobrine is split into two categories. On one side there's the original image, and the Copeland stream; which are both regarded in the community to be canonical. On the other hand, anything that's happened after those two events is considered to be a fan-made adaptation and variations.

For example, Herobrine is canonically Notch's dead brother who was somehow embedded into Minecraft's game files. It is not canonical, and community adapted, that Herobrine is a ghost, demon, or bad omen in the game. Oftentimes these variations theorize from the perspective that Minecraft itself is reality, which, canonically, isn't correct.

There are several other differences in the canon and community lore.

Herobrine was canonically never confirmed to have a set method of transportation, since each canon sighting shows him standing still, and watching the player. It is non-canon that Herobrine can teleport, like an angered Enderman, or even run.

#1: There really is a Minecraft account named "Herobrine"

(Image via Glitchunpatched/Minecraft Gamepedia)

So, Herobrine is kinda real. There is a full account (an account that was bought after the user registered for the account) registered under the username "Herobrine." Whoever owns the account has registered it on a few Minecraft servers, which alerted others to its presence.

It hasn't been reported that the Herobrine account has attended any of the MINECON events to date. This can be seen from the Minecraft skin's lack of a cape texture.

Though, it was stated by ex-Mojang member Andrea Jörgensen that a friend of hers owns the Herobrine account.