Have you ever followed along to a Minecraft tutorial only to find you can’t make it work? We certainly have. Minecraft is big and completely customisable so there’s an infinite number of ways someone can fake a scene, a mechanism or even an entire dimension. This is such a big problem for new Minecraft players that we decided to make it a permanent page instead of a normal post. We can stop this style of tutorial video or post but we can at least help you understand how they do this so you’re less likely to be tricked in the future.
Confusing Is Not Fake
Before we get into actual fake techniques it’s important to understand that there are many tutorials that are confusing or skip over key details that make it hard to replicate their build but aren’t malicious or deliberately trying to deceive you. A common problem is when the tutorial doesn’t properly explain that the build only works in Java Edition where some mechanics are different from Bedrock Edition. The Minecraft community documentation is also huge and created by thousands of people so it can be hard to navigate and sometimes pages may even seem to contradict each other until you understand some hidden detail.
All of this is to say that just because you find a tutorial that you can’t replicate, it doesn’t mean the author is faking it so be careful before you make any accusations. If there are lots of people in the comments who have managed to get it working then chances are the tutorial is legit.
Experience Is The Best Defence
The techniques used to fake Minecraft tutorials are all different ways of implementing non-standard behaviour. The best way to detect this is by being familiar with standard behaviour. Anytime someone claims to have found a trick or “bug” that isn’t documented or directly contradicts documented behaviour you’ll be able to see right through it.
Fake Technique #1 – The Pre-Build
This is the simplest and easiest method of making fake tutorials. The story is probably something like…
You guys aren’t going to believe what I found! First go into the ocean and find a fire coral. Then you need to break it while holding red stone dust. Now dig down two blocks underneath the coral and you’ll find a block of lapis lazuli. Now you know how to get infinite supplies for enchanting!
Another variation might be how to find hidden treasure rooms in certain biomes. These types of tutorials are all based on the author pre-building the scene before they begin recording. They then “discover” the hidden treasure and tell you that you can do the same if you just follow their steps.
Fake Technique #2 – Command Blocks
This is the second technique that uses just the built-in Minecraft behaviour. It allows more complicated tutorials and can be used to implement non-standard game mechanics. The typical story goes like this…
BEST MINECRAFT BUG EVER! Build a pen from oak planks, trap a cow in the pen then kill it with a stone hoe to get a full set of leather armour!
Minecraft allows you to control all types of game behaviour using commands. You can teleport, automatically build structures, open portals to other dimensions, pretty much anything you can do in the game you can do automatically via commands. Command blocks allow you to run a specific command based on some kind of trigger or activation event. The author sets up one or more control blocks hidden outside of view in the recording and then triggers them during the tutorial using a pre-defined behaviour or action and tells you that if you repeat whatever build or ritual they performed you’ll see the same behaviour.
Fake Technique #3 – Datapacks, Mods & Add-Ons
These are the most advanced methods and allow the author to completely customise their Minecraft instance. Datapacks are a way to modify Minecraft Java Edition without modifying the core code. Mods are similar but involve changing the core Minecraft code. Finally add-ons are similar to datapacks but for Bedrock Edition. Common storylines are similar too…
Secret Pokemon mob in Minecraft v1.20.3!
The author of this type of tutorial can simulate absolutely anything they want but pretends like it’s part of the vanilla Minecraft build and that you’ll have access to whatever feature they’ve just demonstrated.
See It In Action
There are some great videos online of Minecraft vloggers who not only detect fake tutorials but also show you exactly how they were made. Below is one from EYstreem who makes this kind of content regularly so check it out if you want to see these techniques in action.