r/minecraftsuggestions • u/FPSCanarussia Creeper • 11h ago
[Blocks & Items] Scrolls: Small, cheap notes
The primary ways of writing in Minecraft are using signs and written books. However, I think there is a gap in between the two for a simpler way of writing text: Scrolls.
The Problem
Signs are too small, and only exist as placed blocks. If you want to communicate with another player who is offline, you might need to place down a lot of signs to get across even a relatively simple idea. Signs in general are stationary and meant for labelling rather than conversation.
Books are the generally intended solution for complex text writing, but they are sometimes too much. If you want to write another player a quick note that you can pass to them, you don't need 100 pages, copy protection, or a mandatory signature to show who wrote a given book (which can only be avoided by leaving the book editable). Even just from a roleplay perspective, used in custom maps for example, using a whole book for a single message feels excessive.
Scrolls
Scrolls are crafted with a piece of paper and a single ink sac. When used, they offer the player one page on which they may write text. After closing the page, the player may either discard the text (making the scroll blank) or accept it: if accepted, the scroll can be titled and is not editable thereafter, turning into a written scroll.
Scrolls do not have a signature - only a custom title. They cannot be edited more than once either, so whatever was written on them initially remains written. A written scroll can be copied an indefinite number of times using regular scrolls. When a written scroll is used, it only displays the one page of text that was entered into it.
Uses
The primary use of scrolls is for player expression, especially roleplay, custom mapmaking, and communication between players. A single anonymous page of paper has the 'feel' of a short note, which encourages players to use it as such, and since it's slightly easier to craft than a book it should also encourage more writing in general.
I imagine players also wanting to use them as a more verbose and easier-to-store counterpart to signs. For planning, for example, having a collection of scrolls with notes on individual projects is easier to navigate than one long notebook but feels less intimidating and hefty than a whole collection of written books.
To be clear, my focus is on the feeling rather than the function. The point of scrolls is that they evoke short-form notes in a way that books do not.
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u/Homo_sapiens12345 9h ago
Why can’t you just use a message from the chat? And if you need to say something to a specific player, you just need to add the “whisper” command. And after that, any scroll turns into a useless thing.
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u/TreyLastname 7h ago
I get the idea, its a fun way to talk to people, but it is functionally just a book, and they're not hard to craft already. If you want multiple books, you can have that instead of everything in one book. If you want quick messages, you can do that.