"13" (in-game) or Thirteen (official soundtrack name) refers to both a song composed by C418, and a music disc that plays the song when inserted in a jukebox. The music disc can be dropped by creepers killed by skeletons, or obtained from various structures, where it is commonly found in monster rooms, woodland mansions, or ancient cities. The track begins with a quiet, eerie melody, followed by strange ambient noises, footsteps-like sounds, and increasingly unsettling noises.
Because TNT ignited by a flaming arrow attributes all resulting kills to the entity that fired the arrow, a skeleton igniting a TNT block due to holding a bow enchanted with Flame, or shooting through lava or fire, also causes any creepers killed in the explosion to drop a disc.[1][2]
Previews of tracks in Minecraft have been shortened to 30 seconds on this wiki in accordance with fair use rationale. "11" and "Magnetic Circuit" are exempt from this.
"13" is a somewhat unsettling, cave-themed ambient piece consisting mostly of echoed synthesized ambient sounds that closely resemble those that play in the game's caves, resonating metallic clinks, and quiet wind blowing. The entire track is wholly engulfed in reverb.
At different points in the piece, muffled bow firings, a heavily reverbed hiss followed by a subsequent heavily reverbed explosion and echoed splashes can be heard in the background. The track goes silent for 8 seconds at the 1:30 mark.
The album version of "13" continues into "Excuse".
“
No human was harmed in the making of this recording.
„
— C418 on bandcamp.com
“
“Thirteen” is a creepy little record you can find in Minecraft. I always wanted the player to find it somewhere deep within a cave, because it’s being played by a device, creating a creepy atmosphere. But it turns out it’s just a creepy song being played. We never actually did that in the game though.
With the introduction of jukebox song definition, music disc "13" now has an associated .json jukebox song definition under data/minecraft/jukebox_song
The title "13" is a reference to the 13 cave ambience sounds that existed when the disc was added. Similar sounds can be heard throughout the track.
Because "13" was created in 2010, it actually uses older sound effects from earlier versions of the game for bow firing, arrow impacts, explosions, and water splashing, which have since been replaced.
The background noise also bears resemblance to a deeper version of the unused and removed cave chimes. Before the explosion, there was also the sound of a creeper fuse which is still used.
C418 initially wanted the music disc to be found deep underground in a cave in-game, being played by some device.[3]
Music Disc (13)
Monster Room
Ancient City
Woodland Mansion
