Exploring your world or the worlds of friends on Minecraft is exhilarating. But, it can be frustrating without the option to zoom further in on, or away from elements in a world you’d like to view from a different perspective.
Read on to learn how to zoom in and out in Minecraft by adjusting the FOV (Field of View) slider in the Settings menu. For any other questions, to learn about available mods, or if you’d just like a little extra information, please see our FAQ section at the end of this article.
Table of Contents
How to zoom in and out in Minecraft (Java Edition)
- Open the Minecraft application from your Java PC’s desktop. The app launcher resembles a block of in-game grass.
- Once the start-up screen appears, hit the ‘Play’ button to begin your session.
- Next, choose your preferred game mode from the available options: Singleplayer, Multiplayer, or ‘Minecraft Realms’.
- Now, choose to enter a game/join a world by selecting one from the list and clicking ‘Play Selected World’ or ‘Join Server’. Alternatively, you can start a new game from scratch by choosing ‘Create New World’.
- Once your game has loaded, hit ESC (escape) on your keyboard to open up the game menu.
- Finally, click ‘Options’ and at the top of the next window you’ll see a slider labelled ‘FOV’ which stands for ‘Field of View’.
- To zoom in on Minecraft, drag the FOV slider to the left, thus ‘lowering’ your Field of View and making objects appear closer.
- To zoom out on Minecraft, drag the FOV slider to the right, thus ‘raising’ your Field of View and making objects appear further away.
- To reset the zoom to default, simply drag the FOV slider back to the center until it reads ‘Normal’
How to zoom in and out in Minecraft (Bedrock/Windows 10 Edition)
- Open the Minecraft application or game from your PC’s desktop (the app launcher resembles a block of in-game grass), or from your mobile’s app folder, or game console’s game folder.
- Once the start-up screen appears, hit the ‘Play’ button to begin your session.
- Next, choose the world you wish to play in or create a new world by either pressing ‘Create New’ or selecting the appropriate world.
- Once your game has loaded, open up the game menu.
- Windows 10 – press ESC (escape) on your keyboard to launch the menu
- Mobile/tablet – tap the ‘Pause’ sign at the top of the screen to launch the menu.
- Game consoles – press the standard menu button: (☰) or + or ‘Options’
- From the game menu, scroll down to and click/tap on ‘Settings’
- Finally, locate ‘Video’ options and click on this tab. In ‘Video’ options, you’ll see a slider labelled ‘FOV’ which stands for ‘Field of View’.
- To zoom in on Minecraft, drag the FOV slider to the left, thus ‘lowering’ your Field of View and making objects appear closer.
- To zoom out on Minecraft, drag the FOV slider to the right, thus ‘raising’ your Field of View and making objects appear further away.
- To reset the zoom to default, simply drag the FOV slider back to the center until it reads ‘Normal’
And that’s all you need to know to zoom in and out on Minecraft Java, Windows 10, and Bedrock editions! If you’d like any more information or have any further questions, please see our FAQ section below.
FAQs
Why would I want to zoom in and out in Minecraft?
Minecraft is one of the world’s most beloved video games, giving its millions of fans the chance to create an unlimited number of unique worlds at their fingertips. By mining for resources, and then channeling those resources into builds that may take many months to complete, Minecraft fans can create stunning realms.
Many users like to display these realms in walkthrough videos, which they record in-game and either stream to Twitch or upload later to YouTube. One of the best ways to make these in-game recordings look cinematic is to have greater control over the depth of field (or field of view), and the zoom level of the view.
More than this, though, being able to zoom in on Minecraft can simply give you, the player, the chance to explore your world in new and exciting ways.
Why is there no native way to zoom in and out in Minecraft?
Unfortunately, there is no native, in-built zoom mechanic in Minecraft (technically speaking). Instead, there is the option to expand or contract your FOV (Field of View). Whilst this does give a similar effect to a zoom mechanic, it isn’t technically the same.
We’re not exactly sure why Minecraft would elect not to have an in-built zoom function in their games. Perhaps, since their games are already huge in scope, they deemed a zoom feature an unnecessary add-on; a waste of engine space.
Whatever the reasoning behind it, we recommend that you try out the FOV adjustment methods described above. We’re certain you’ll find them an acceptable substitute for an actual zoom button.
Are their mods which I can use to add a zoom feature to Minecraft?
Yes! If you are a part of that community of gamers that uses the Java version of Minecraft (rather than Bedrock), then you’ll likely already know that you are lucky. You, and you only are able to download and install mods to ‘modify’ your Minecraft experience. Windows 10, mobile, and console Minecraft gamers are not afforded the same luxury.
If you’re looking for a Java mod that will give you a zoom function (which you can assign to a key of your choosing via the Settings menu), then check out OptiFine, here: https://optifine.net/downloads
Having followed the link, make sure to click on the ‘Mirror’ button, and not the ‘Download’ button. Then, hit download on the next screen and confirm the download with your computer/browser. Open up the download in your documents folder once it’s complete, and double-left-click it to install it. Finally, open Microsoft and to the left of the green ‘Play’ button on the start-up screen, hit the drop-down arrow, and choose to activate OptiFine.
OptiFine will allow you to actually zoom in, for as long as you hold the assigned key. It does not, however, give you options to zoom out.
Why can’t I install mods in Minecraft for Windows 10, mobile, or game console?
Some PC gamers like to lord it over those of us who prefer to game on our tablets, phones, or gaming consoles. Primarily, this is because whilst we are restricted to playing the game as it was intended, or as it has been sold to us, they are able to play an almost infinite rotation of versions of the game, simply by ‘modding’ it.
The mod community is huge and allows many PC gamers to enjoy games in ways the rest of us can’t hope to. But why can’t we hope to? Well, the answer to that depends on a few key factors: the desire of the production company and game designers to allow their work to be altered, the capacity of the game console/device to run a modded game, the specifics of the mod itself (i.e. what devices it was made to run on).
In short, game consoles have never harbored a capacity to run mods (other than official patches and DLC), mobile phones and tablets are generally too small, and without the computing capacity, and Windows 10? The mods just aren’t made for it!
