5 most underwhelming features of Minecraft that should be removed

Minecraft is a game full of cool features, but a few don't quite measure up by comparison.

Some Minecraft features have been added that were sadly half-hearted at best or don't necessarily work as well as advertised. A few of these features are so problematic that players have called for them to be removed entirely. Maybe not last forever, but at least in the immediate future until Mojang can return to them and implement them in a more fulfilling way.

No game is perfect, which goes the same for Minecraft, but it wouldn't hurt to adjust or remove certain features until they can more appropriately satisfy the game's player base.

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Disappointing Minecraft features that may warrant removal or a second look

5) Amethyst Geodes

Amethyst sadly doesn't have a ton of uses (Image via Mojang)

Introduced in Minecraft's Caves & Cliffs update, amethyst geodes are often found underground and contain mineable amethyst, which can be broken into shards.

However, these shards don't amount to much. They can be used to create tinted glass blocks, amethyst blocks, and spyglasses. This, admittedly, isn't all that much in the way of functionality, and amethyst likely could've benefitted from more robust crafting recipes and uses.

Geodes do include other blocks, such as smooth basalt and calcite, but these blocks also don't serve much purpose past decoration. Mojang will likely expand these features in the future, but it may not have been a bad idea to hold off on amethyst geodes until they were more complete.

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4) Phantom Mobs

Phantoms attack players who haven't slept for multiple in-game days (Image via Mojang)

Included in Minecraft's Update Aquatic, phantoms are flying undead mobs that appear when a player hasn't slept for three or more in-game days. These mobs do provide membranes that allow for the repairing of Elytra but little else. For the most part, these mobs exist simply to harass players, and they've been seen in a quite unfavorable light by the rest of the Minecraft community.

Few things are more aggravating than a phantom swooping in and striking a player while they're working on an important build, all because the player hasn't slept in some time. They're more inconvenient than most hostile mobs, and the membranes they drop don't quite make their inclusion worth the hassle.

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3) Knowledge Books

Knowledge books are exclusive to Java Edition and are obtained through commands (Image via Mojang)

Added in Minecraft's World of Color update, knowledge books are exclusive to Java Edition and are only obtainable by default with commands. They reveal available crafting recipes to players when used, which is their sole function.

However, if players are willing to use commands to learn crafting recipes, couldn't they simply use commands for the crafting recipe's materials as well? Furthermore, in a world where crafting recipes can be looked up online with little effort, the knowledge book itself is somewhat redundant.

If it had additional features, it might be possible to make a better argument for the knowledge book's existence, but for now, that cannot be done.

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2) Curse Enchantments

Curse enchantments impart negative effects on players (Image via Mojang)

Added in Minecraft's Exploration Update, curse enchantments are enchantments that cause negative effects on players who equip items enchanted with the curses. Though these can be fun to troll other Minecraft players with, they're more trouble than they're worth otherwise. There isn't even much variety with the curses themselves, as there are only two curse enchantments in the vanilla build of the game.

If Mojang expanded on the number of curses available in-game, that'd certainly be one thing, but the current state of curse enchantments is lackluster, to say the least.

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1) New Combat Mechanics

Combat's most recent additions have been divisive for the player base (Image via Mojang)

Minecraft's combat system has seen multiple revisions and updates throughout the game's lifespan, some better received than others. Specifically, the most recent additions to combat, melee in particular, have been polarized within the community.

Players no longer auto attack at a certain speed with a lone button press, requiring repeated presses to continue attacking. Though this has been heralded by some of Minecraft's PvP players, many of those who don't battle in PvP have considered it a considerable inconvenience.

Players may need rapid clicks to defeat a PvP opponent, but killing pigs and cows doesn't require manual dexterity and would do fine with an automatic attack. Mojang has future combat updates lined up already, though there's been no indication that the auto attack will return.

Note: This article is subjective and solely reflects the writer's opinions.