There is a simple version of this and a complete version, and both are below in that order.

Short answer

Do the simple thing first. It is correct more often than the complicated thing people recommend instead.

The accepted community answer is broadly right and wrong in a specific way that matters here. Testing this yourself takes a few minutes and settles it definitively. Minecraft is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look.

The practical answer

Most of the disagreement online comes from people describing different versions of Minecraft. It is worth separating what the game does from what players have concluded it does. Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see. The mechanic behind it is simpler than the discussion around it suggests.

Nothing here depends on a setting you are unlikely to have. Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep. Edge cases are genuinely rare, which is why the simple answer is usually the correct one.

Why it works this way

Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows. If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later.

  • Check which version any conflicting advice was written for.
  • Try the straightforward approach before the elaborate one.
  • Give a method one honest attempt before deciding it does not work.
  • Note the exception cases — they are specific rather than vague.

Worth knowing alongside this

Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing. The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time. Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration.

What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it. The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first. Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over.

What to do instead

It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different. None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of. Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters.

The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice. If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on. There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you.

When the usual advice fails

Everything below is framed around the current state of Minecraft rather than a launch-week impression. The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why. Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts.

Where people go wrong

  • Skipping the prerequisite because it looked optional in someone else's summary.
  • Assuming a guide from an older season still describes the current version.
  • Ignoring the platform-specific note and then wondering why the steps do not line up.

Minecraft FAQ

Does this change between platforms?

The behaviour does not. Where menu paths or prompts differ, that is noted above.

Do I need any mods or third-party tools for this?

No. Everything described here works with the base game on any supported platform.

Is this still accurate after the latest Minecraft update?

The method is; individual numbers may not be. If a value on your screen differs, trust the screen and keep the sequence.

Does this work the same on console and PC?

The logic is identical. Menu paths and button prompts differ, and any real difference is flagged above.

That is the whole of it — if something here stops matching Minecraft, the game changed, not the method.