There was some drama today in chat, regarding griefing, and as such discussion left some questions in player's minds as to what griefing is or is not. I am asking about some scenarios as examples. 1) player A has come along to a dirt stack of 4 dirt blocks, in a grassy area, with no trees or other signs of building or players. This might be natural-spawned or player-placed or enderman affected ... you can't really tell. Can i take dirt blocks to use? 2) player B has come across an area of tilled field with crops and torches. No chests or buildings are present. Can I take crops and replant? even though they are someone else's , but there are no signs. 3) player C has found a natural village in the Waste that has had some blocks added to it. Some decor has been added. Since it is obvious that another player was there, is it considered griefing if you use the village (as Minecraft game intends) as a sort-of found-treasure in the survival game? -taking crops -taking bookshelves -taking villagers (egging them) -taking sand from the area of the village -cutting down trees -taking doors or glass thank you for your time to answer.
1) no. Blocks placed by another player, regardless of what type of block, are not meant to be broken unless you have their permission. 2) no. If there is no mention of their farm being a public farm, it is best to leave it alone. 3) no. It would be best to leave this area alone, as it has obviously been "claimed" by another player. For most cases refer to the rules, however, *every* scenario cannot be covered in the rules so use your best judgement, and err on the side of caution. These answers could change a little given different parameters such as , what if that 4 stack of dirt was IN your personally owned outpost. Usually if there is a grey area, get staff involved and they can come out to look at it.
I understand your answer to 1. But there are scenarios where odd bits of columns occur on chunk borders, naturally. But if there are no 'shaved' trees nearby then you would have to assume it is player made and leave it be. So i will agree with that one. As for 2. The next time i leave bits of farms around randomly in the Waste, i will leave a sign making it obviously public. I thought randomly planting crops was just a nice thing to do for other players and never considered that it might be considered griefing. As for 3. I realize that there are some gray areas here. And I may have asked the question poorly. I thought Villages were for everyone - not just the first person who finds it. Case in point is the chest that refills for players in the blacksmith shops (and it not able to be destroyed). Sometimes there are errors in villages, such as doors and part of the house under ground. Or trees that are growing around the well or the buildings, usually big spruce. So, if i fix those - I do not consider myself as 'claiming' the village. I just do it so the villagers can get out. Or the iron golem wont get stuck between houses. And, I recognize that i am asking about a philosophical question of the game and not a specific incident and that makes it harder to answer. I appreciate your time in reading this.
