Endermen block historical record in Minecraft by 0.25 seconds

Even after executing all steps with surgical precision and defeating the Ender Dragon in record time, speedrunner "skycrab1" had his attempt frustrated by a technical detail and unlikely bad luck: an Enderman killed him frames before the final credits, nullifying what would have been the first world record of Minecraft in a random seed below seven minutes.

The race started with promising signs: skycrab1 spawned near a ruined portal and a village, which allowed for quickly gathering essential materials and the necessary obsidian to enter the Nether. There, he timely found the Bastion Remnant and the Stronghold, collecting the Ender Pearls and Blaze Rods needed to create the Eyes of Ender - items that allow access to the End portal.

During the final showdown with the dragon, the technique of bed explosions was used to speed up the fight, a method revered by speedrunners. Everything was under control. At 5:49, the player threw the final pearl, started the animation for entering the credits, and landed on the ground with half a heart left. At that exact moment, an Enderman, supposedly provoked by an accidental gaze of 0.25 seconds, teleported and finished the player.

The Minecraft speedrunning community reacted with sorrow. One user summed up the collective frustration:

“This is the most depressing thing I've ever seen in my life.”

Another highlighted the emotional impact of the moment:

“I keep rewatching, hoping that, in some version, he doesn't die.”

Even with the defeat, some see the attempt as historic:

“You broke all segment records and still killed the dragon. If that doesn't prove you deserve the record, nothing does.”

Despite the failure, skycrab1 achieved unprecedented marks in all splits of the race, reinforcing the technical advancement that the random seed speedrunning scene has been experiencing. It is worth noting that, to this day, no player has officially managed to complete Minecraft in a random seed under 7 minutes, a symbolic barrier comparable to sub-5 in Super Mario 64 or sub-10 in Celeste.

The incident also sparks discussions about luck factor in games with procedural generation, like Minecraft, where millimetric decisions and RNG combine to define the success or failure of an attempt. And in this case, a 15-frame gaze sealed the fate of one of the most impressive runs ever recorded.