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Minecraft isn't known for being a particularly scary game, even if some of its more dangerous mobs, like the Warden, are downright terrifying. However, there was something inarguably scarier about the older alpha and beta versions of the game: textures were harsher, sound effects murkier, darkness darker, and caves much more claustrophobic.
While much of what made these earlier versions of Minecraft so horrific has been lost to time and smoothed out as the game has become more appealing to a wider audience, these nightmarish memories remain. Detailed below are five of the scariest things from older Minecraft that are creepy even to this day.
5 scary things from older Minecraft
1) True Loneliness
The older versions of Survival Beta are perhaps some of the best examples of isolation in gaming. These worlds featured next to no passive or friendly mobs, with the only interaction often being arrows sailing through the air or creepers exploding. Additionally, only one of Minecraft's oldest structures exists, in the monster room, now called dungeons.
The lack of nearly anything of note creates a profound sense of isolation that the modern game doesn't have and can never have. This immense isolation is further enhanced by the amazing atmosphere of these early betas, resulting in worlds that feel haunted by how empty they are. It's really no wonder why creepypastas like Herobrine took off. The game is tailor-made to ignite the player's imagination.
2) Oppressive fog
The fog found in the game is often seen as a nuisance and is automatically removed by many important mods, including Minecraft's Optifine mod. However, this fog is worth considering keeping due to how much it adds to the atmosphere of the game.
Fog used to be much harsher and harder to see through. This would result in worlds on lower render distances feeling almost like blocky versions of Silent Hill rather than traditional survival worlds. Coupled with the generally tenser atmosphere, it's no wonder why many memories of these older versions are filled with dread.
What's amazing about this fog is that while it's been removed from the game officially, it can be added back via a few amazing Minecraft shaders and mods.
3) Generation causes oddities
Minecraft has incorporated a lot of updates over the years. One of the biggest features to be updated and revamped over the years is the game's terrain generation. These are the formulas that control how Minecraft's best seeds are converted into 3D worlds to play in.
Older terrain generations would create strange doorways and small starter base-like holes generated throughout the world as if there were other players exploring and attempting to survive. This just leaves an eerie vibe, especially when combined with how much scarier and atmospheric the early versions are, as previously mentioned.
4) White Eyes
Herobrine is Minecraft's most famous creepypasta by far, but it's actually based on a lesser-known, older fan figure known as White Eyes. This entity, as the name implies, shares Herobrine's iconic bright white eyes and was rumored to stalk players throughout the underground, from just out of sight, in much the same way that Herobrine supposedly stalks players.
Tales like this just don't come out of the modern game, and the idea there could be something outside of human comprehension—watching, waiting—is truly another level of existential dread.
5) Horror Ambiance
Given the game's adorable visuals and Mojang's desire to encourage exploration, the cave sounds and ambiance music discs found throughout the world are surprisingly unsettling. Lacking natural sounds like running water or shifting stones, they instead seem tailor-made to create discomfort and cause the player to start to hallucinate sounds and sights deep underground.
In fact, these two pieces of the game feel strangely antithetical to how Mojang operates today. It's entirely possible if the game were made now, these strange, otherworldly noises wouldn't have ever been added to begin with.
