A. MCEdit for Tablets
Throughout the book, you’ve seen how MCEdit can open worlds on Windows and Mac computers, and import .schematic files directly into those worlds. With Minecraft Pocket Edition (PE), fans of Minecraft can also create worlds on iOS and Android tablets. However, MCEdit cannot access the files that hold Minecraft PE worlds while the files are stored on the tablet. (MCEdit can also access Pocket Editions files from your mobile phone and the process you’ll read about next works the same.)
Fans of Minecraft PE don’t need to worry, however: There’s always a way. There’s a simple method (using a free piece of software for iOS devices) to copy a world file from an iOS tablet and getting it on a Mac or Windows computer. Once the file is on the Mac or Windows computer, you use MCEdit as normal to import objects, resize them, move them around, and more.
There is a catch, however. Right now MCEdit can only open Minecraft PE worlds created in version 0.8 and earlier. The current version of Minecraft PE is 0.11.1, and this new version is not compatible (at this writing) with MCEdit 1.0 or MCEdit 2.0.
If you’re running version 0.8 of Minecraft PE, however, you can use the same MCEdit features you’ve seen in this book. After you make the changes to the level.dat file (which contains the information on any world you create with Minecraft PE), you simply copy the world file back to the tablet. The steps for this process are described in the next section.
Introducing iFunbox for Mac and Windows
An application that lets you move your Minecraft PE files back and forth between iOS devices and computers is called iFunbox—it’s installed on a computer and then communicates with an attached phone or tablet. There are versions for both Windows and Mac, so visit http://www.i-funbox.com and download the free version for your operating system and follow the instructions to install it. I’ll be using the Windows version of iFunbox; the Mac version looks a bit different but works the same. Figure A.1 shows the Windows version on the left and the Mac version on the right.
In Figure A.2, you can see a world I’ve created on my iPad using Minecraft PE. If you have an Android tablet running Minecraft PE version 0.8 or earlier, you can also follow the process described here.
After installing iFunbox, save your world and close out of Minecraft PE on your tablet. You’ll need to know the name of your world, so make a note of it if you have multiple worlds created. My sample world, which has a nice river running through two high canyon walls, is called Canyon.
Connecting a Tablet to iFunbox
Connect your tablet to your computer with a USB cable. iFunbox will detect when the tablet is connected, and you should see your tablet appear in the device listing when you click on the File Browser tab, as shown in Figure A.3.
Click on the Managing App Data tab, and you’ll see a list of all the apps on your tablet, as shown in Figure A.4. (As you can see, my sons have a lot of games installed on their dad’s iPad.)
Find the Minecraft PE app icon and double-click it. A new window opens, like the one shown in Figure A.5.
Click on the + symbol next to Documents and continue opening up the folders inside, as shown in Figure A.6. As you can see in the figure, the path to your game files is Documents, games, com.mojang, minecraftWorlds.
Sometimes the name of your world matches a folder (such as the StartMeAJungle folder shown in Figure A.6) and other times it can be hard to find. If you click on a folder inside the minecraftWorlds folder, you’ll see a text file called levelname.txt. If you double-click that, it opens up a document, as shown in Figure A.7, that lists the name of the world so you can confirm which folder matches the world you want to edit.
Create a folder on your desktop to hold the Minecraft PE files that you’ll be editing with MCEdit. I’ve created one called Minecraft PE Levels. Click once on the folder that holds the Minecraft PE game world you want to edit and then click the Copy to PC button. In the window that opens, browse to the folder you created to hold the world files and click the Save button, as shown in Figure A.8.
Once the folder is saved to your computer, you can use MCEdit to make changes, import .schematic files, and use pretty much any of the other features that MCEdit offers.
Save your changes in MCEdit and then open up iFunbox again. This time, however, open up the minecraftWorlds folder once again (after connecting your tablet), click on the Copy from PC button, and browse to the saved folder on your computer. Replace the original folder (still on your tablet) with the new folder (stored on your computer). Open up Minecraft PE, and if everything worked correctly, you should see your Minecraft PE world modified with whatever you did using MCEdit.
MCEdit for Android Mobile Devices
Android phones and tablets don’t need software like iFunbox for you to transfer files to and from a computer—connect an Android mobile device to a computer and it shows up as a basic storage device like a hard drive.
Double-click your Android device’s storage device and browse to the following directory: My Files > Games > com.mojang > minecraft worlds. Locate the level.dat file associated with the world you wish to edit and copy that file to your computer and open and edit with MCEdit. When done, overwrite the level.dat file on your phone or tablet with the one you edited on your computer.