Skyblock

Skyblock is a community-made Minecraft game mode, revolving around constructing a world from an almost empty world with minimal resources, typically starting off with an island, a chest, and a single tree.

In typical skyblock, the player spawns on a small floating island made of dirt and grass, which contains only a tree for the player to use for wood and a chest containing at least the resources for a cobblestone generator (water/ice and lava), and some seeds to grow food. The challenge is to either sustain oneself using these resources, or, in some variants of the game mode, to venture out onto further islands that may contain the resources necessary to enter the Nether and the End to properly complete the game.

The game mode was created by Minecraft Forum member Noobcrew and was released in 2011.^[1] It has gone on to become a prolific genre of content with YouTubers such as CaptainSparklez and Technoblade,^[2][3] with many different iterations being created by fans.

Although unofficial to Mojang Studios, several Skyblock maps and add-ons have also been released through Realms,^[4][5][6][7] and Marketplace Pass.^[8][9][10] They are a frequent genre on the Marketplace platform, one such map even being considered a fan favorite and promoted during the fifth anniversary.^[11]

As a promotion to various MINECON events, the skyblock map Abstraction: Minecon Earth was released by Jigarbov Productions. The world revolves around a skyblock challenge set on various cubic globes representing various biomes, referencing the logo for MINECON Earth 2018.

Released in 2020, the Skyblock Pack is a content bundle of Marketplace releases. Included in the bundle are the worlds Original Skyblock, Infinity Skyblock, Skyblock HD Skin Pack, the character creator item SkyBlock Cloud Hoodie, and the Elytra emote.^[12] This pack was promoted during the Start a New Minecraft Story campaign,^[13] appearing in its trailer.

Skyblock content would also go on to be featured in bundles not themed to it specifically. In 2022, Advanced Skyblock Mashup was featured in the Dragon’s Pack.^[14][15] In 2023, Custom Hearts Skyblock was featured in the Hearts Pack.^[16]

In the Minecraft: Story Mode episode Order Up!, a parallel Overworld serves as an in-universe interpretation of the minigame, Sky City, being constructed using limited materials across from a floating island.^[17] The asset filenames for generic Sky City citizens contain the term "Skyblock".^[18]

• 👁 A small floating island made of grass blocks depicted on the artwork for Order Up!
  
  A small floating island made of grass blocks depicted on the artwork for Order Up!
• 👁 A view of Sky City from the the dirt island where Jesse and his friends were transported
  
  A view of Sky City from the the dirt island where Jesse and his friends were transported
• 👁 A cobblestone generator placed on the original island of Sky City
  
  A cobblestone generator placed on the original island of Sky City

An April Fools' snapshot 20w14∞ included a dimension similar to Skyblock called "content".

The original Skyblock map was released by Noobcrew in 2011.^[1] The following is the blueprint of its last version, v2.1.

The creator known as Noobcrew, acting through their registered company Mineverse LLC, filed a trademark application for the name "Skyblock" to the USPTO on November 20, 2019 (No. 88699388).^[19] On January 1, 2021, several Marketplace partners jointly opposed the registration before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.^[20] On April 12, 2021, Microsoft separately filed an opposition as well;^[21] the two cases were then consolidated on March 25, 2024.^[22] The opposers alleged that the trademark had been abandoned by the applicant due to failure to enforce it, that the name "Skyblock" had become generic, and that it was a mere description of a floating island.

On May 11, 2026, the Board made its final decision on the matter in favor of the opposers.^[23] The Board found that the word "Skyblock" is merely descriptive of "virtual worlds/maps that feature islands comprised of blocks in the sky" and has not acquired distinctiveness. Therefore, the name "Skyblock" remains not trademarked and can be used freely by anyone. The following day, Noobcrew removed all downloads of the original Skyblock map in protest.^[24]

• 👁 The classic Skyblock starter island
  
  The classic Skyblock starter island
• 👁 The classic Skyblock starter island in an early version of Pocket Edition
  
  The classic Skyblock starter island in an early version of Pocket Edition
• 👁 Key art for 'Abstraction: Minecon Earth'
  
  Key art for 'Abstraction: Minecon Earth'

• Skyblock on Wikipedia