Minecraft advancement and achievement system explained

Minecraft is infamous for being a great example of an open-world base-building game that drops players into things without a proper tutorial. However, that's not to say there's nothing in the game to nudge and point players towards features, mechanics, and items. These systems, known as achievements and advancements, are slightly different depending on the game version.

Everything players need to know about Java's advancements and Bedrock's achievements, as well as how they compare, can be found detailed below.

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Minecraft achievements

The achievement interface within Bedrock Edition (Image via Mojang)

Minecraft achievements and trophies are how Mojang lets players track their progress in the Bedrock version of the game. Each achievement has an associated gamescore amount, or trophy level, depending on whether the platform is Xbox or PlayStation. Harder achievements will give players more gamerscore and have a higher trophy level, again depending on the platform.

Mojan's blocky game is an interesting case for achievements and trophies, as its older legacy version is considered different. This means dedicated achievement hunters can unlock many of these achievements twice.

Players on mobile devices and Switch don't have achievements natively. Instead, the achievements are linked to the Microsoft account used when signing into the game.

The final quirk exclusive to Bedrock achievements is that they are disabled if creative mode or Minecraft commands are ever enabled. This makes sense, as players get actual rewards for completing achievements, so unlocking them without working for them shouldn't be possible.

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The advancement system

The advancement interface found on Java Edition (Image via Mojang)

Achievements on Java Edition are instead known as Minecraft advancements. Every world that a player makes has its own advancement list that must be worked through.

There's a button to see advancements in the pause screen. Hitting the "L" key will also open the list of advancements, though this can be changed in the settings. There are five tabs in vanilla, each relating to a different major area or dimension of the game:

• Minecraft
• Nether
• The End
• Adventure
• Husbandry

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How the two compare

The reward are the most unique thing about Bedrock achievements (Image via Mojang)

While achievements and advancements might seem similar, there are a few key differences in their behavior. Since achievements have rewards, they can only ever be unlocked once and are based on the account being used. Each world has a unique list of advancements, however, meaning players can unlock them over and over again.

As mentioned a few times now, Bedrock achievements have character creator items and emote rewards. Java Edition doesn't have a character creator, as it uses classic Minecraft skins. It also doesn't feature any emotes. So advancements don't have any comparable rewards.

As previously mentioned, Java Edition advancements tabs won't unlock for players to look at until at least one advancement is finished in that category. This differs from Bedrock achievements, as those are all listed on a page accessible via the main menu.