Hytale Already Has Me Missing Minecraft’s Most Iconic Block

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As someone who’s played Minecraft for a long time, Hytale feels like exactly what I’ve been hoping for in a next-generation crafting game. Even though it’s still in development, Hytale already has a strong foundation as a survival and crafting sandbox, and I’m excited to see the RPG elements added later on. My biggest issue right now is that the developers removed a key block from Minecraft that made gathering resources at the beginning of the game much easier.

It’s hard to talk about Hytale without mentioning Minecraft, considering the developers at Hypixel Studios originally became known for making Minecraft modifications. While Hytale still uses the basic gameplay style of Minecraft, it simplifies some things – like crafting, where you don’t need to worry about precise patterns on a crafting table. Hytale does a great job making crafting feel smooth, but I think its ore smelting feels less refined than Minecraft’s system, which has been well-established for over 15 years.

Minecraft’s Coal Block is Sorely Missed in Hytale

In the early stages of Hytale, the furnace is a crucial crafting station. You’ll need it to turn ores like Copper, Iron, and Thorium into usable ingots. These ingots are essential for upgrading your workbenches and creating better armor, weapons, and tools. Getting enough ingots can be a real challenge, so it’s important to gather the corresponding ores quickly. However, Hytale‘s smelting process is a bit more involved than in Minecraft – you’ll need to obtain a fuel source before you can actually start processing the ores.

Hytale’s Fuel Sources Leave a Lot to Be Desired

Fuel Source Burn Time
Wooden Stick 5 Sec
Charcoal 6 Sec
Sap 6 Sec
Plant Fiber 2 Sec
Log 9 Sec

In Minecraft, coal is the go-to fuel for furnaces when you first start playing. It’s easy to find and mine in almost any cave. Hytale is different – it has several types of wood that can be used as fuel, along with charcoal. But charcoal in Hytale isn’t found directly; you have to make it by burning wood in a campfire or furnace. This makes charcoal feel like an extra, unnecessary step between getting fuel and making things, unlike Minecraft where you can just mine coal straight from the source. I find this charcoal system in Hytale quite frustrating.

Logs Are Efficient, But Are Needed Elsewhere in Hytale

In Hytale, Logs are the most effective fuel source, burning for 9 seconds per unit, and they can also be used to create other items. However, it’s better to save logs for crafting instead of burning them in furnaces or campfires. Similarly, Wooden Sticks are incredibly useful for making tools, weapons, and even cooking skewers, so using them as fuel doesn’t feel right, even if it does produce Charcoal.

Charcoal’s main purpose is as fuel, with limited uses like making Halloween pumpkins or simple lights. Getting it by burning other resources feels less efficient than simply mining coal, as is done in Minecraft, and it adds an extra, unnecessary step when you’re trying to turn ores into useful metal bars.

While furnaces and campfires in Hytale have two input slots to speed up cooking and smelting, getting Charcoal as fuel is still a slow and cumbersome process.

Hytale Still Has the Chance to Improve Its Resources During Early Access

I’ve found the crafting and resource gathering in Hytale a bit annoying, but it’s important to remember the game is still being developed and has time for improvements. A simple fix would be to add Coal, similar to Minecraft, so players could easily find fuel while mining. However, Hytale is aiming to be unique, so a different solution to this problem would probably be best.

To fix the issue with fuel in Hytale, I suggest making Charcoal a naturally occurring resource found throughout the world. Currently, getting Charcoal requires using up valuable materials, which feels counterproductive. Instead, Charcoal could be found directly in certain biomes, like the Charred Woodlands and Cinder Wastes, where burnt trees already exist. Having these trees drop Charcoal would make sense within the game’s environment and provide a more sustainable way to gather fuel later in the game, without constantly needing to process large amounts of wood.

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2026-01-27 02:05