Sneaking

File:SteveSneaking.png

A player can activate sneak mode by pressing ⇧ Shift (default) in Minecraft PC and Windows 10 edition, pushing down on the right joystick in Console Editions, or by clicking the corresponding button to the action in Pocket Edition (that can be either on the left or right-hand side of the screen, depending on how the settings are configured).

Mechanics

Sneaking helps accomplish a lot of things, such as walking on ledges without falling, preventing a player from falling off of blocks if stopped partway up a ladder, etc. It can also be used to prevent a player's username from being visible through blocks. However, when viewed up close, others can still see the username.

There are some negatives to sneaking. It causes a player to move 1.3 m/s, much slower than the normal 4.3 m/s. As mentioned above, walking near ledges without falling can only be done while sneaking, but it is still possible to step off a block onto an adjacent surface only half a block lower, such as from a block to a slab, or down some stairs. Sneaking also affects a player's reach distance.

In the Minecraft 1.17 update, sneaking will possibly negate sounds detected by the Warden and Sculk sensors. 

Trivia

• By using F5 (default), viewing oneself in 2nd or 3rd person view will display a player as bent-over.
• Sleeping in a Bed while sneaking will allow a player to sleep, but they will be barely visible.
• Sneaking was added in one of the Seecret Updates.
• When it was originally added, a player could still fall off ledges while sneaking.
• It is still possible to fall off a ledge by moving to the edge of a block and jumping off of it.
• Sneaking darkens a player's name tag in multiplayer mode.
• Sneaking while blocking on soul sand that is on top of ice, through a cobweb with the Turtle Master status effect is the slowest form of movement a player can achieve without commands, at approximately 1 block every 42 seconds.

Gallery

• 2013-08-03 13.39.59.png

  A player sneaking.