PC Gamer Demo

Minecraft-demo-disc — The demo disc packaged with issue 214 of *PC Gamer*.

The PC Gamer Demo is a demo version of Java Edition Beta 1.3, that was bundled with the June 2011 issue of PC Gamer magazine (American edition, issue 214). It provides 100 minutes (equal to five days in-game) of gameplay, after which it tells the player to buy the game in order to continue playing on the current map. Only one splash is on the title screen: "PC Gamer Demo!"

Features[]

The demo gives access to all the features found in the full version of the game, except that the player can access one world called the demo world. The demo world, which uses the seed glacier (or 108181935 when hashed), has been altered slightly to help guide newcomers to Minecraft. The demo spawns the player at x = 166, y = 65, and z = -57.

The demo adds the following to the world:

54 red wool
90 snow blocks
122 black wool
3 chests
a sign
22 gunpowder
a nearly broken iron pickaxe
a nearly broken iron axe
a nearly broken flint and steel
4 coal
5 bread
4 string
12 torches
2 sticks
3 compasses

While the player cannot interact with most blocks, items, or mobs after the demo expires, they can still interact with existing boats, and can milk cows if they have a bucket.

The player's save game is saved in the standard game directory and is fully compatible with the full version, making it playable after purchase. The demo and information can be downloaded here.

The demo contains an exclusive cow skin branded with the PC Gamer logo.

Bugs[]

If the player's game window is at its smallest size at time of playing, upon enlargement of said window, all blocks become transparent until the mouse is moved or until the player interacts with their keyboard. This reveals all underground caves, thus revealing where ores and other valued blocks can be found without the need to dig.
If the player opens two windows of the demo, one of them playing the world, but paused, and the other one, on the home menu, reset the demo world and then click back to game on the other window, an error message occurs, and if the player plays the demo, the time is reset, but not the world, and their inventory items are lost, but not the items in the block entities.

Trivia[]

Purchased versions of Minecraft have code from the demo, which was not used until Java Edition 1.3.
If the player digs directly underneath the sign telling them how to open the chest, they can find a chest that contains 22 gunpowder.

The amount of gunpowder in this chest is supposed to be randomly determined (anywhere from 1 - 88), but the random number generator that determines how much gunpowder is given is seeded with the same number (19) for each new world, thus meaning that it generates the same amount of gunpowder in the same positions each time. It is unknown whether this is a developer oversight, or intentional behavior.

If the player goes to sleep in a bed and skips the night, it removes that time from their clock, decreasing their play time.
While mining, if the player opens and closes their inventory without releasing the attack key, the pickaxe does not move until they stop mining.^{[needs testing]}
The "PC Gamer" logo can be mined. It is composed of snow blocks, red wool and black wool.
By editing the level.dat file, it's possible to change the time. Positive number means less time. Negative number means more time. Entering -999999999999999999 as time causes the demo timer to show 0:00 but the time still counts.
The demo disables the F3 Debug screen, the F8 cinematic camera, and Shift + F2 to take an extremely high resolution screenshot (a feature of retail Minecraft between Beta 1.2_02 and Beta 1.5). These are all fairly obscure and experimental features, which were likely disabled to avoid confusing new players.
The player's score (which is always 0 in the retail Beta 1.3) is not shown upon death.
Due to the developers forgetting to remove debug code, if the Demo is able to print to a log or is launched from a command line, the message "Spawnpos: (a number which is the X location that you spawn at), (a number which is the Z location that you spawn at)" is output to the log every time the player is spawned. An example of this message is "Spawnpos: 166, -57" when spawning into the demo world for the first time.
The second hint message has the old Minecraft Wiki link, at http://www.minecraftwiki.net.
The screenshots showing what other players have made that appear when the demo runs out were made by users in this reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/Minecraft/comments/g2rd8/i_need_your_help_making_screenshots/

Gallery[]

Menu screen logo.
The demo's spawn point.
The chest and sign next to spawn.
The chest items.
The secret Gunpowder chest unveiled.
The giant "PC Gamer" logo, found across the lake from the starting area.
A map of the area around the spawn point in the demo world.
Chat message telling the player that they cannot interact with the world, but they can still interact with some items.

Cow[]

Unique cow skin found only in the demo.
The texture used for the Cow in this version.
The render of the PCG cow available in this version

Demo Messages[]

Day 1: Message when starting a new world that teaches the player how to move.
Day 2: Further explains basics, namely crafting. It uses the old Minecraft Wiki link, https://www.minecraftwiki.net.
Day 3: Explains how the full version and the demo handles worlds.
Day 4: Explains what happens when the player's time is up.
Day 5: Explains full version of the game.
Day 6: Tells the player to buy the game, shows creations.
Day 6: Tells the player to buy the game, shows creations.
Day 6: Tells the player to buy the game, shows creations.
Day 6: Tells the player to buy the game, shows creations.
Day 6: Tells the player to buy the game, shows creations.
Day 6: Tells the player to buy the game, shows creations.
Day 6: Tells the player to buy the game, shows creations.
Day 6: Tells the player to buy the game, shows creations.
Day 6: Tells the player to buy the game, shows creations.
All of the day 6 images in sequence.
One of the texture files for the screenshots that appeared at the end of the PC Gamer Demo.
One of the texture files for the screenshots that appeared at the end of the PC Gamer Demo.
One of the texture files for the screenshots that appeared at the end of the PC Gamer Demo.