Compass

May 4, 2022
Compass
  • In vanilla Minecraft, the compass always points to the world's spawnpoint, which is where new players enter the world, and where players will respawn upon death if they didn't set a personal spawn point. On Empire Minecraft, however, the compass has been completely re-purposed. You can choose to point it at all sorts of important locations on the map.

    You can get a compass by crafting it yourself, but a better idea is to use the Empire Assistant. Use the /assist new command to get one if you do not have one already. The Empire Assistant is not a regular compass; it is Soulbound, meaning you will not drop it upon death. The Empire Assistant also cannot be used in crafting recipes such as empty maps.

    A compass also appears at the top of your screen to help guide you, so that you don't need a physical compass in your inventory. More information can be found below.

    You can also use the command /compass ui to get to an interface that you can interact with to set where your compass points to rather than the Commands below, if you so choose.


    Finding your way back to an outpost (default)(top)


    If you are venturing out into the Wastelands or into the Frontier, you need to get back to an outpost before you can use certain EMC features again (for example, things like teleporting or opening up your Vault). When you have a compass with you, all you need to do is follow the red needle: this will direct you straight to the outpost you came from. As soon as you enter the Wilderness, the compass will automatically target the outpost you teleported to.

    Finding where you died to retrieve your items(top)


    We have all been there before many times: you die, drop all of your stuff, and then you are back to the outpost you came from. Now what? There is a command, which can be used by typing /deathlog (/dlog in short), that will direct you to the coordinates in which you have died, but there is an even better way to find this place again: this is where using your compass becomes handy.

    If you die, your compass will automatically point to your death point. So, all you have to do to retrieve your items is by simply following your compass. This is also why using the Empire Assistant can be so beneficial. It is soulbound, so you will never lose it, even if you die, and, since it is a compass, it simply works as you would expect, and will help you retrieve your gear.

    Once you have retrieved your items, this command will point your compass back to the outpost again: /compass spawn.

    Finding your bed (your personal spawn point)(top)


    Using a bed on the Empire will set your spawn point, so if you die, you will End up at your spawn point. This can be very helpful to prepare yourself for a dangerous situation or journey. If you somehow manage to get lost, your compass can help you with finding your way around again. Use the /compass bed command, and it will point to your bed. This can help you with finding your base in the wilderness without having to rely on the coordinates.

    Finding a specific area(top)


    Your friend is waiting for you at a specific location, and he sends you his coordinates (you can easily find out where you are by using the /loc command). There is no need to start staring at the Minecraft debug screen (see F3) in order to find these coordinates; just use your compass!

    You can point your compass to a specific location using the command: /compass set <x> <z>, where x and z represent the x and z coordinates (the first and third numbers in a coordinate system).

    Some in-game examples(top)


    Here are some examples of how some players on the Empire would use their compass.

    Finding a boss again(top)

    You are busy mining, while suddenly, you hear a loud noise, and a red message appears on your screen: a boss has just spawned. You really want to fight it, but right now, you would be no match because you do not have the right equipment on you, or maybe you want to bring your friends along first.

    This situation is no problem with a compass. First, you could use /loc to display your coordinates, and then press F2 to make a screenshot. This will help you to retrieve your location later. Then, when you are ready to hunt the boss, pull up your screenshot, and point your compass to the coordinates. For example, /compass set -360 425 would set your compass to point to those coordinates (this example assumes Momentus is around the coordinates -360, 70, 425). Follow your compass, and you will soon find the boss.

    Securing your items and finding your base again(top)

    You and your friends have been busy mining in the Wastelands, and you got a good haul out of it. You guys prepared yourselves by making a small mining outpost, and even used beds to spawn nearby in case a monster kills one of you. However, since your inventory is getting full, you decide to head back to the Town to store your items, and then head right back.

    A compass can really help out here. By default, a compass will automatically point to the outpost in which you have spawned, but if yours is not pointing there, you can make it point there by using the command /compass spawn. Now, follow your compass, and you will soon be at the outpost. Once you have emptied out your inventory, you can easily find your base again by using the command /compass bed. Now, the compass will point to the bed you last used, and, in this case, it was the bed near your mining operation.

    On-screen Compass(top)


    An on-screen compass was introduced on May 30, 2020. It is displayed at the top of your screen, so that you can find cardinal directions, as well as your compass target easily. The compass is updated a few times each second. Each of the 4 cardinal directions (N, S, E, W) are displayed, as well as your compass target with "X".
    The on-screen compass can be toggled with /compass toggle.
    In the image below, West is straight ahead, and North is to the right. A compass target is marked to the southwest with "X".
    If the compass target is higher than where you are looking, the symbols next to the "X" will appear as "^". If the target is at the same y-level, the symbols will show as "=". If the target is lower, the symbols will show up as "v".


    Overview of compass Commands(top)


    Please see the Commands: Empire Assistant and Compass page for a full list of the compass's Commands.

    EMC has many features to take advantage of that revolve around certain aspects of multiplayer Minecraft.