What does the Minecraft End Poem mean? Answered

After the roughly half-hour-long credit sequence after defeating the Ender Dragon in Minecraft, the player is met with a poem from an American author H. Jackson Brown Jr., before being sent back into their world. For those who have not seen or missed it, the poetic quote reads, “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” While much about Minecraft’s credit sequence is up for interpretation, this poem is likely the most debatable regarding its true meaning.

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Explaining the End Poem in Minecraft Credits

Determining what the End Poem means for any given player is not easy. After all, over a hundred million individuals from all walks of life have played this globally renowned survival crafting sandbox experience. Therefore, we will examine the poem’s context from the person it was written by, Horace Brown Jr.

For reference, Brown has written inspirational books like A Father’s Book of Wisdom, Life’s Little Instruction Book, Life’s Little Treasure Book on Simple Pleasures, and Live and Learn and Pass It On. From the names of these titles, it is not hard to comprehend the core concepts from which he wrote the poem appearing in the Minecraft credits after the Ender Dragon has been slain. Whether it is 10, 20, or 30 years from now, you will likely regret activities, goals, or relationships that you missed out on, especially those that were in your power to experience. 

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To avoid this “life trap” of missing out on memories that you could have had, Brown instructs readers of the Minecraft End Poem to release whatever is holding them back and let inner instinct, creativity, and imagination guide them to where they should go. Of course, you could take this literally as going outside and “exploring life,” but as a mainly inspirational work-based author, Brown likely meant the End Poem in a mental, emotional, or even spiritual sense. 

As we mentioned above, how you interpret the Minecraft End Poem will be unique to you as an individual. Those with different cultural, ethnic, or religious backgrounds will see the quote through the eyes of their personal lifestyle. However, suppose we combine the context of Brown as an inspirational author and the everchanging sandbox experience of Minecraft. In that case, it is not too farfetched to say that the true meaning of Minecraft End Poem is to enjoy your gameplay experience beyond the scope of the goal of simply slaying a final boss. Explore your imagination and reach new heights in what you can build and accomplish. Such a liberating gameplay perspective can already be observed in the creations of the amazingly talented and visionary Minecraft community.