14 years after he set out, Minecraft icon's 'Far Lands or Bust' journey is over

How long would it take you to reach the edge of the world in Minecraft? For YouTube and Twitch streamer Kurt 'Kurtjmac' Mac, it's been a whopping 14 and a half years. Back on March 28, 2011, the exploration enthusiast kicked off a journey he dubbed 'Far Lands or Bust,' in which he planned to travel to the eponymous region, which marks the point so far from the center of the map that Minecraft's terrain generation stops working correctly. On October 4, his long walk finally came to its completion.

If you're not familiar with the Minecraft Far Lands, you're probably not alone. Simply put, it's a glitch that occurs when you get far enough (12,550,821 blocks away) from the initial spawn that the algorithm for creating new areas breaks and creates a messy, broken environment. It hasn't actually existed in the sandbox game for many years, because Mojang made changes to the code that removed the error, forcing Mac to continue his journey on the beta 1.7.3 build.

We last checked in with Mac's escapades in 2021, to celebrate the tenth anniversary, when he told us that he started his journey as a "spur-of-the-moment decision" and "didn't fully grasp the sheer distance, time, and effort that would be required." Once the series became more popular, he took inspiration from the likes of the Zeldathon and Desert Bus for Hope and turned it into a charity fundraiser.

Over the years, he's raised funds for charities including Child's Play, Direct Relief, PAWS, and the Equal Justice Initiative. And now, his travels are over. As he and his companion Wolfie sail across a large stretch of water, the iconic, buggy landscape springs up before them. "Oh! That's a very big ocean," he exclaims with a laugh. You can watch the moment in full here, from the 5:34:00 mark.

With his goal complete, Mac places down a sign: "Here Farlanders first set foot upon Far Lands! October 4, 2025." It's a marathon he originally took on in defiance of the game's original developer, Markus 'Notch' Persson, who had proclaimed that making such a trip was impossible, and now it's finally over.

You might not be able to reach the Far Lands in the modern game, but you can still discover some wondrous worlds with the best Minecraft seeds. Or, spruce things up and add even more weird features using the best Minecraft mods.

Did you catch any of Kurtjmac's journey? Or are you busy with a big Minecraft project of your own? Drop into the PCGamesN community Discord server and tell us all about it.