The Spawn Chunks 334: Temporarily Permanent

Jan 27, 2025 | podcast

Joel, and Jonny talk about bug fixes, bug back tracking, and hints to new cow variants in the latest Minecraft news, then answer listener email about why leaf litter matters, keeping your horse friends close, and temporary builds that become permanent fixtures in your Minecraft world.

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Joel

  • The Citadel | Westhill
    • Finished up the abandoned farmstead build!
      • Added details, and “lighting” to the inside of the run down barn using lighter blocks for texture under the hole in the roof, and darker blocks in the corners where it would be more shadowy. Also added collapsed pieces of the roof on the barn floor.
      • Put in the final details, and textures on what would have been the main gate, an overgrown garden behind the farmhouse, and the main path, then filled in some details in grass areas around the buildings that felt left out.
    • The Citadel – Abandoned Farmstead – Part 9 (YouTube.com/@JoelDugganVODs)
    • The Citadel – Abandoned Farmstead – Part 10 (YouTube.com/@JoelDugganVODs)

Jonny

  • The Minecraft Survival Guide, Season 3
  • Minigames And Challenges
    • Xisuma extended an invitation to try out his new game Tunnel Rats
      • Tunnel Rats Trailer (YouTube)
      • It’s a fun PvP game, but has a cool built in level editor that makes it infinitely repayable.
    • Friend of the show James Turner (James_LRR) suggested a challenge where the goal is to obtain all six types of pickaxes as fast as possible.
    • In Minecraft Bingo, the sub-30 minute times are still illusive. Finding a Pale Garden is tough!

Minecraft News

FROM: Landedpuma
SUBJECT: Leaf LItter And Soil Science

Hello Pix, and Joel,

In response to your discussion on leaf litter in Episode 332, I would like to share some thoughts of my own. I am an agriculture, and natural resources journalist, as well as an aspiring geologist, and I thought this discussion was worth writing in for. 

I’m not a huge fan of the name “leaf litter” either, but I would respectfully disagree with Joel that litter is a bad name for it. In forestry sciences, and disciplines, the leaves, and twigs on the ground are legitimately called litter so it does make sense, far more sense than “dried leaves” or “fallen leaves.”

Taking this further, it works well for educational purposes. Leaf/forest litter decomposes, and makes the top, or A horizon of the soil, and the leaves are considered a sublayer of that horizon. Horizons are different layers in the soil, by the way. 

There are multiple horizons found in different soils, and they go from A, B, C/E and O horizons, depending on the soil type. It gets weird and complicated, but that’s the basics of it. 

All in all, I do think leaf litter is a good name for the block, even if it’s hard on the ear, and I strongly agree with Pix that it should be compostable. That’s how we have soil in the first place. 

Landedpuma didn’t die (for once) because he was paying attention to the pixelated soil layers.

FROM: GundarHStriker
MEMBER: Community Miner
SUBJECT: Horse Utilities

Hello Jonny, and Joel,

I’ve recently begun my first playthrough of Red Dead Redemption II (RDR2), and noticed a feature that could be useful in Minecraft. Currently, in Minecraft we have ender chests that allow us to access an inventory that can be accessed anywhere, anytime, and any place. In RDR2, there is a mechanic in the form of horse stalls, and hitching posts that allows you to recall your current ‘main horse’.

What if a hitching post block (or sculpted block like fences) was added to Minecraft that would allow for a player to recall their in-game horse? Some way of branding that specific horse, perhaps with a saddle like in RDR2, or a name tag, would be needed to keep track of that.

I think this would be useful for local short travel, even in end-game scenarios, and would also provide more options for map builders.

It would be so very “Minecraft” of the hitching post block to recall your horse in the Nether or the End!

Sincerely,

GundarHStriker 🏇

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Permanent “Temporary” Solutions

In response to an email from listener Gajah314, Joel, and Jonny explore the phenomenon of temporary builds, usually quick, and utilitarian solutions in Minecraft that end up sticking around for a lot longer than intended. Why does it happen? What builds in The Minecraft Survival Guide, and The Citadel meet the description of a temporarily permanent? Is it something all Minecraft players experience?

FROM: Gajah314
SUBJECT: Permanent “Temporary” Solutions

Dear Jonny, and Joel,

I was recently thinking about how many aspects of a Minecraft world that we intend to be quick fixes, or we plan to come back to later, often become entrenched. For example, Hermitcraft’s current Nether hub is still a maze of scaffolding on the roof almost a year into the season. Or in my world, to get to my froglight farm, I need to enter on the wrong half of the ramparts, climb up a bit, then down the other side to the bridge over the troughs, and scramble (or, more likely, fall) down the remnants of the bastion architecture. To leave, I have to repeat the process, using a mish-mash of Nether, and Overworld blocks. I keep on putting off the task of making something better.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this phenomenon. Why do you think it happens? What parts of your worlds are like this?

Many thanks for the great show,

Gajah314 tried to swim in lava after missing a jump on the path to his froglight farm.