Minecraft Manhunt is a YouTube series popularized by Dream. The concept revolves around a speedrunner who attempts to defeat the Ender dragon ("beat the game") while one or more hunters try to kill the speedrunner. The series has acquired millions of views, and are some of Dream's most popular videos, with Minecraft Speedrunner VS 3 Hunters GRAND FINALE as the most popular and viewed video on his whole channel achieving over 100 million views.
Origin
Minecraft Manhunt is a concept derived from a video in which a random viewer of the runner was added as a hunter every 3 minutes. As far as we can tell, Dream was the first to do it with one of his friends, that being GeorgeNotFound, to make it a more even playing-field.
The Manhunt idea could come from the 2003 video game by Rockstar North, Manhunt.
Overview
A Manhunt typically involves the speedrunner attempting to carry out the following tasks:
- Acquire supplies (tools, armor/shield, food, etc.)
- Create a Nether portal (either by fixing a ruined portal or locating a lava pool) to travel to the Nether.
- Locate a Nether fortress and kill blazes for blaze rods.
- Acquire ender pearls to craft eyes of ender (either through piglin trading, villager trading, or killing Endermen for Ender Pearls).
- Locate the stronghold to travel to the End.
- Kill the Ender dragon.
The sole objective of the hunter or hunters is to cause the death of the speedrunner - if the speedrunner dies at any point prior to killing the Ender dragon (either from dying in combat, dying to a trap, or accidental deaths) - it is a defeat and the manhunt ends. Common tactics of the hunters are to set up traps for the speedrunner (usually at the Nether portal or stronghold), or better equip themselves while the speedrunner is collecting resources (e.g. enchanted armor, potions). The speedrunner does not necessarily have to kill the hunters at any point, though this often happens anyway, as doing so will usually give the speedrunner a significant advantage.
Rules
Dream has stated that Minecraft Manhunt has rules that are developed over time to keep the game entertaining and fair to all players.[1] Some rules which have been confirmed are:
- If the hunters kill the speedrunner before the speedrunner can get away, they restart and do another attempt.[2]
- Victory for the speedrunner is achieved upon killing the Ender dragon and getting the Free The End advancement. If the speedrunner kills the dragon and dies before exiting through the end portal, it is still considered a win for the speedrunner.[5]
Disallowed and Banned strategies/glitches
*Dream has stated that after a Manhunt is concluded, usually new strategies or glitches performed in it are hereby unusable in future manhunts to allow for a more entertaining viewing experience.[6]
Normal Manhunts
- Using the Nether to travel extreme distances[7]
- Trapping or breaking Nether portals[8]
- Deleting an End Portal by growing a mushroom within it (disallowed following Minecraft Speedrunner VS 4 Hunters FINALE REMATCH)[9]
- Respawning the Ender Dragon
- Exploiting the Ender Dragon's perch feature (more clearly listed as no glitches involving the Ender Dragon)[6]
- Utilizing an Ender Pearl stasis chamber (disallowed following Minecraft Speedrunner VS 5 Hunters FINALE REMATCH)[10]
Special Manhunts
- Traveling into the Nether (Minecraft Death Swap)[11]
Variations
There are several different variations of Minecraft Manhunt:
- Slayer/Hunter: The default version, in which the hunter(s) receive a compass which points to the location of the speedrunner. If the speedrunner is in a different dimension such as the Nether, the Overworld compass points to the portal through which they traveled. In early versions of Manhunt, the compass did not work at all in other dimensions - this has since been fixed.
- Detective: The speedrunner leaves an everlasting particle trail (redstone dust) behind them. It has proven to be the worst ability, as the hunter can easily be deceived by the speedrunner retracing their steps.
- Juggernaut: The hunter spawns with full, enchanted diamond armor and has an enchanted diamond sword. The hunter also retains their inventory upon death.
- Assassin: The hunter has the ability to one-shot the speedrunner through a melee attack. This does not work via projectiles such as arrows. Their weakness is that they can be frozen if the speedrunner is looking at them, leaving them unable to attack and vulnerable to damage/death in various ways.
- Mutant: The hunter receives the default tracking compass, and is also able to hear the same in-game sounds that the speedrunner hears, in real-time.
- Survivalist/Hitmen: The survivalist is restricted to a small section of the world, and permanently has the Glowing status effect. They only have to survive for a set amount of time (1 hour in the first video, 1 hour and 30 minutes in the second video) rather than attempting to beat the game. Starting from the second video, the gamemode alternates every ten minutes between regular survival where the chase proceeds normally and an invincibility period where no players can die and is mainly focused on gathering supplies and/or trolling the opposing parties. The hitmen are equipped with the default tracking compass.
- Spy: The hunter receives the default tracking compass, and the speedrunner gains a map that shows the perspective of the hunter.
Videos
Dream
GeorgeNotFound
| # | Thumbnail | Title | Upload date | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
|
Minecraft Hunter VS Minecraft Speedrunner | December 29, 2019 | 18:41 |
| 2 | 
|
Minecraft Hunter VS Minecraft Speedrunner REMATCH | January 1, 2020 | 24:31 |
| 3 | 
|
Minecraft Speedrunner Vs Detective... | February 21, 2020 | 25:33 |
| 4 | 
|
Minecraft Speed Runner Vs. Assassin... | April 10, 2020 | 23:35 |
| 5 | 
|
Minecraft Speed Runner Vs Mutant... | June 3, 2020 | 36:13 |
| 6 | 
|
Minecraft Speed Runner Vs Nether Hunter | August 7, 2020 | 25:58 |
| 7 | 
|
Minecraft Speedrunner Spy VS Hunter | May 14, 2022 | 24:00 |
Trivia
- The title of the first two manhunt videos (Dream vs GeorgeNotFound) were originally "Beating Minecraft, But My Friend Tries To Stop Me..." and "Minecraft Speedrunner VS Someone Trying To Stop Them." These were changed in early 2021 to fit with the titles of the later manhunts.
- Dream has only been hunter in six Manhunts. In two Manhunt matchups, he was the speedrunner in one match and hunter in the other.
- Dream has never lost a Manhunt as a hunter. Conversely, George has never won a Manhunt as the speedrunner.
- Antfrost and Awesamdude are the only regular participants to not have been a solo hunter against Dream.
- Minecraft Speedrunner VS 2 Hunters was the only manhunt that did not have a rematch.
- Minecraft Speedrunner VS 2 Hunters is the first manhunt video in which Dream wins in his first try in a Minecraft Manhunt. In his other first manhunt videos against one, three, four, or five hunters the first time, Dream lost.
- Minecraft Speedrunner VS 2 Assassins is the shortest video for a Manhunt.
- An unedited version of Minecraft Speedrunner VS 4 Hunters FINALE was released by Dream on his second channel, which runs for three hours.
- A second "manhunt" took place at the end of the 4 hunters finale in which BadBoyHalo was the speedrunner and Dream, GeorgeNotFound, Sapnap and Antfrost were the hunters. The manhunt only lasted a few minutes, and BadBoyHalo died by drowning before he even managed to collect any items.
- Minecraft Speedrunner Vs Detective... is the only Manhunt to not feature Dream in any regard.
- Minecraft Speedrunner VS Hunter LIVE is the first Manhunt that was live streamed.
- So far, every player had a victory shown on the first video that starred them as a hunter.
- The most frequently background music that was used for Minecraft Manhunt is Bobby Cole's "Trance Music for Racing Game."
- Since 3 Hunters, there are a total of 5 Manhunts. Dream has won all of them in a 3-2.
- The first video of all 5 Manhunts, Dream lost. The second and fifth video, Dream won.
- Minecraft Manhunt has spanned across 4 major Minecraft updates: 1.15, 1.16, 1.17, and 1.18. (Proposed Snapshot used in Minecraft Speedrunner VS 5 Hunters FINALE)
- Since 3 Hunters, BadBoyHalo is the only hunter to have killed Dream multiple times. He set a lava trap on Dream in Minecraft Speedrunner VS 3 Hunters. He killed Dream with just a fist in Minecraft Speedrunner VS 3 Hunters FINALE. He set an End Crystal to blow up on Dream in Minecraft Speedrunner VS 5 Hunters FINALE REMATCH. The other hunters have only killed Dream once.
- During the recording sessions of Manhunts, there were times the players would eat or drink.
- In Minecraft Speedrunner VS 3 Hunters Extra Scenes, Dream talked about having his Gatorade ready to drink before seeing the lava trap.[12]
- During MC Championship All-Stars, Dream and George mentioned BadBoyHalo ordering pizza to eat in the middle of a Manhunt.[13]
- Dream mentioned George having pot noodle during a server crash while recording Minecraft Speedrunner VS 4 Hunters FINALE.[14] George and Bad were also talking about the noodles in the unedited version shortly before the crash, and the unedited version also mentioned them taking a food break during the crash because they were jealous of George's noodles.[15]
- Sapnap mentioned sneaking snacks to eat without Dream knowing during Manhunt.[16]
- Dream has mentioned the alternative of redoing rounds if the runner died early, which is by having grace periods. He and the other players ultimately decided not to do this as it was more fun without grace periods and added more competitiveness in the rounds, with Dream also commenting that "grace periods are boring."[3][17]
Results
| Video | Speedrunner(s) | Hunter(s) | Result | Ending Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minecraft Speedrunner VS Hunter (FIRST EVER) | Dream | GeorgeNotFound | Killed by hunter | George killed Dream in a duel after both players took a large amount of fall damage. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner VS Hunter (SECOND EVER) | Dream | GeorgeNotFound | Victory | Dream killed the Dragon while George (who had nothing) tried to stop him. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner VS Assassin | Dream | GeorgeNotFound | Killed by hunter | George ambushed and killed Dream by hiding behind a tree. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner VS Hunter | GeorgeNotFound | Dream | Killed by hunter | Dream knocked George into the Void after Dream died and respawned in the stronghold. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner VS Slayer | Dream | BadBoyHalo | Accidental death | Dream died from fall damage after being knocked into the air by the Ender Dragon. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner VS Assassin ft. Notch | Notch, assisted by GeorgeNotFound | Dream | Killed by hunter | Dream ambushed and killed Notch once George had left through a Nether portal. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner VS Assassin (Again) | Dream | GeorgeNotFound | Killed by hunter | George killed Dream using an ender pearl to teleport within attacking distance. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner VS Full Diamond Juggernaut | Dream | Sapnap | Killed by hunter | Sapnap killed Dream after exiting the Nether by trapping him in a cave. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner VS Hunter (Again) | Dream | GeorgeNotFound | Apparent victory | George killed Dream seconds after Dream killed the Ender Dragon. |
| 2 Minecraft Speedrunners VS Terminator | Dream, GeorgeNotFound | OoogaBoooga | Killed by hunter | Dream was killed in an abandoned mine shaft near the stronghold after accidentally jumping into a cobweb. George was also killed shortly after. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner VS 2 Hunters | Dream | GeorgeNotFound, Sapnap | Victory | After George killed Sapnap for fun, Dream caught Sapnap's Ender Pearls, pearled to George, killed him, then killed the Dragon. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner VS Hunter LIVE | Dream; GeorgeNotFound | GeorgeNotFound; Dream | Accidental death; killed by hunter | Dream died from fall damage after jumping into a ravine; Dream killed George in a duel. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner VS 3 Hunters | Dream | GeorgeNotFound, Sapnap, BadBoyHalo | Killed by trap | Dream died from lava placed at the End spawn by BadBoyHalo. |
| 3 Minecraft Speedrunners VS Hunter ft. MrBeast | MrBeast, Karl Jacobs, Chandler Hallow | Dream | Killed by hunter | Dream killed all three speedrunners individually. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner vs 3 Hunters REMATCH | Dream | GeorgeNotFound, Sapnap, BadBoyHalo | Victory | Dream shot the Dragon only a second before Sapnap killed Dream with Strength II. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner VS 3 Hunters FINALE | Dream | GeorgeNotFound, Sapnap, BadBoyHalo | Killed by hunter | Dream killed George and Sapnap but was left on half a heart, and BadBoyHalo killed Dream with a single punch. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner VS PRO | Illumina; Dream | Dream; Illumina | Killed by hunter, accidental death | Dream killed Illumina in a duel; Dream drowned while fighting illumina and evading a drowned with a trident. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner VS 3 Hunters FINALE REMATCH | Dream | GeorgeNotFound, Sapnap, BadBoyHalo | Victory | After Dream killed Sapnap and George, he pearled behind Bad, killed him (with only iron boots) then killed the dragon. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner VS 3 Hunters GRAND FINALE | Dream | GeorgeNotFound, Sapnap, BadBoyHalo | Victory | Dream killed the Dragon after all three hunters died to TNT sent through the End Portal. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner VS 4 Hunters | Dream | GeorgeNotFound, Sapnap, BadBoyHalo,
Antfrost |
Killed by hunter | Sapnap killed Dream while Dream was placing and lighting TNT to try and kill the Ender Dragon. The Ender Dragon did die to Dream shortly after, but as Dream was killed first, it was still considered a defeat. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner VS 4 Hunters REMATCH | Dream | GeorgeNotFound, Sapnap, BadBoyHalo,
Antfrost |
Victory | Dream buried into the End Stone then dug to the center portal, killing the Dragon while the Hunters were distracted. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner VS 4 Hunters FINALE | Dream | GeorgeNotFound, Sapnap, BadBoyHalo,
Antfrost |
Victory | After Dream killed all the hunters with enchanted diamond armor from killing George earlier, he killed the Dragon. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner VS 4 Hunters FINALE REMATCH | Dream | GeorgeNotFound, Sapnap, BadBoyHalo,
Antfrost |
Killed by hunter | Antfrost killed Dream using Splash Potions of Harming II. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner vs 4 Hunters GRAND FINALE | Dream | GeorgeNotFound, Sapnap, BadBoyHalo,
Antfrost |
Victory | After he killed all four hunters with multiple crossbows loaded with fireworks, he entered the end then killed the Dragon. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner vs 5 Hunters | Dream | GeorgeNotFound, Sapnap, BadBoyHalo,
Antfrost, Awesamdude |
Killed by hunter | Killed by George in the End after the Ender Dragon was respawned. Debate amongst the hunters and runner ensued in the Extra Scenes, because the Dragon can't respawn if it isn't dead. However, later in the 5 hunters finale extra scenes, Dream mentioned that the hunters won the manhunt using glitches. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner VS 5 Hunters REMATCH | Dream | GeorgeNotFound, Sapnap, BadBoyHalo,
Antfrost, Awesamdude |
Victory | After getting an Elytra, Dream shot down all crystals and killed the Dragon while the hunters (who had almost all lost their stuff) tried punching him out of the way. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner VS 2 Assassins | Dream | GeorgeNotFound, Sapnap | Killed by assassin | After trapping Dream by linking their Nether Portals, George punched Dream, thus causing Dream to die. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner VS 5 Hunters FINALE | Dream | GeorgeNotFound, Sapnap, BadBoyHalo,
Antfrost, Awesamdude |
Victory | By abusing an exploit, Dream shot the Dragon to death after it perched up to the tallest obsidian block he placed. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner VS 5 Hunters FINALE REMATCH | Dream | GeorgeNotFound, Sapnap, BadBoyHalo,
Antfrost, Awesamdude |
Killed by hunter | BadBoyHalo killed Dream by placing down an obsidian with a crystal on top of it, then hitting it so it combusted, thus killing Dream. |
| Minecraft Speedrunner VS 5 Hunters THE LAST MANHUNT | Dream | GeorgeNotFound, Sapnap, BadBoyHalo,
Antfrost, Awesamdude |
Victory | After dropping TNT on top of 4 of the Hunters, Dream then killed the final Hunter and used his fishing rod to get Ender Pearls and teleport back to the mainland of the End. He eventually killed the Dragon while the Hunters tried punching him to death. (I recommend watching the full video/ending, a lot more things contributed to this victory.) |
| Minecraft Speed Runner Vs Mutant... | GeorgeNotFound | Dream | Killed by hunter | Dream killed George while George was gathering food. |
| Minecraft Speed Runner Vs Nether Hunter | GeorgeNotFound | Dream | Accidental death | George was killed by a wither skeleton while trying to evade Dream. |
| Dream | GeorgeNotFound | Sapnap | BadBoyHalo | Antfrost | Awesamdude | MrBeast Team | Illumina | Notch | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins | 16 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Losses | 12 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1v3 | 1v4 | 1v5 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dream:Hunters | 3:2 | 3:2 | 3:2 |
References
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