Minecraft's chiseled bookshelves made their debut in the 1.20 update, allowing players to manually slot books within them as opposed to them being filled by default (like ordinary bookshelves). However, one fan of the game recently took to Reddit to share their ideas for allowing chiseled bookshelves to operate like general storage shelves.
On December 25, 2023, Redditor u/Qzimyion shared concept art for their revamped chiseled bookshelves on the game's subreddit. They imagined what the blocks might be like if items other than books could be stored within and be reflected by a block texture change. Fans in the comments shared their approval of the idea, remarking that they yearned for real shelves in the vanilla game.
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Minecraft Redditors discuss the prospect of adding shelves to the game
Although chiseled bookshelves in Minecraft have many uses, plenty of players agreed that they wished genuine shelves were available in the game without them having to resort to mods or add-ons. Fans remarked about the decorative possibilities for enchanting and potion-brewing rooms alongside many other build tricks that could be utilized simply by using u/Qzimyion's concept.
Needless to say, the idea put forward by u/Qzimyion's concept art would also convert chiseled bookshelves (or simply shelves, as many fans put them) into a bonafide storage block. This isn't to say that a reworked chiseled bookshelf would have to display textures for every block or item stored within it, but there is certainly potential to expand on the concept.
Unfortunately, there aren't many means of recommending new features or improvements for Minecraft beyond Mojang's feedback site. Although the developer has implemented previous suggestions like cherry trees, there's no guarantee that any singular suggestion will be seen or taken on by the game's development team.
Moreover, while improvements to Minecraft blocks happen, the constant cycle of developing new features, blocks, items, and mobs can often put entire block reworks on the back burner. Mojang doesn't lack resources or funds after its acquisition by Microsoft, but other factors may be at play. Regardless, u/Qzimyion's idea seems to have garnered a lot of support since it was initially shared.
Fortunately, u/Qzimyion stated that if Mojang didn't take up the recommendation, they would provide a mod that altered chiseled bookshelves to reflect their concept art. It likely won't arrive quickly, as u/Qzimyion stated they were quite busy, but it's certainly something to look forward to.
Several mods already exist that offer some form of shelving, although not often through the medium of Minecraft's chiseled bookshelves. All in all, these mods often spawn from a collection of features that players wished were in the vanilla game, and the community has long wished that Mojang would take more cues from them for future updates and developments.
Regardless of what Mojang decides to do, the fact that fans continue to come up with their own ideas and convert them into mods is comforting. Mojang can't account for everything, but players are there to fill in the gaps when they can, enriching the overall Minecraft experience.
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