How do I solve the first puzzle in Gears of Time?

Gears of Time is Tynker's immersive coding course, filled with advanced coding challenges. It's recommended that you start with Agent Recall if you haven't had much experience modding.

To follow along with Gears of Time, on Tynker, visit the first world of the course. You'll be prompted to download and install a Minecraft world. Once you have your Minecraft world loaded, enter it — you'll find yourself in a castle. Go forward, then turn left. You should see a hole in the ground, surrounded by orange lava, like this:

This is World 1: Elemental Island, where the first puzzle is. Drop into the portal to begin.

Find the access code in the Minecraft World — that is, move your character around and explore, just like you would in any normal Minecraft game. When you reach the location of the next puzzle, you'll see an Access Code like this one shown below, a set of three icons.

![image5.png](/sysmedia/65205cd4218b2c55e27bdcb8)

You must then enter this secret Access Code into Tynker. This will make Tynker display the correct puzzle module, for the corresponding location in the World.

Read the instructions and use the provided blocks to solve the puzzle in Tynker. Remember you can try more than once if your first solution doesn't work.Make sure your code blocks are connected to one another, or they won't run! For example, here is one solution for Puzzle 1.

Click the Play button to deploy your code to the Minecraft world. You'll see something like this:

Copy the "connect" code using the button provided, then paste it into your Minecraft chat to connect Tynker and Minecraft. (Open chat by pressing "T", while the Minecraft game is running.) It might look something like this.

Then chat to run your code — open chat with T, then type run and press enter. You should see a potion effect in the Minecraft world. Jump over the gaps using the spacebar and a "Congratulations" message should pop up in Minecraft.

After you beat a challenge, press "Challenge Complete" in Tynker. Then in Minecraft, walk to the next puzzle. Begin the process all over again!

Other Common Questions

My code didn't work the first time. How can I redeploy a new solution?

Pause Minecraft and redeploy new code in Tynker. Return to your Tynker screen, and try a new solution by rearranging the code blocks. Then Play your code to redeploy.

How to reset a challenge?

Some challenges require you to deploy an agent to make changes to the Minecraft world — to reset blocks to their initial configuration, use the Reset Challenge button.

What is the Connect Code? Why do I have to paste it into chat?

After writing a script to solve a puzzle using block code in Tynker, you will be provided with a message that looks like the screenshot below (the URL will have a different name). You must use the exact /connect code provided to you, including your custom link and name. This connects your Minecraft world to Tynker, so that your code works! Without connecting, your code won't run.

What is an Access Code? Where are they?

The access code in this course will prompt Tynker to provide you with the correct possible code blocks to solve a challenge. If Tynker is requesting that you enter an Access Code, that's a sign you should explore the Minecraft world and try to reach the next puzzle location. Puzzle Access Codes look like this:

How can I download the world again?

If at any point you need a new copy of the world, you can redownload it by revisiting Zone 1-1 through Tynker.

I hit play but my code isn't running. What's happening?

Make sure you are typing run in chat, if it's required to execute your code (you might be using a code block that only runs in response to a chat message). Open chat by pressing T. Try pasting the connect code into Minecraft again. Lastly, try hitting Stop and Play again to deploy your Tynker code again.

I'm stuck. Can I skip a puzzle?

You can use the following command in the Minecraft chat to skip to the solution: /function test_complete

Is there an Answer Key?

Yes, parents can login to their Parent Dashboard and find the Answer Key section for the solutions to all puzzles and Tynker coursework. Note that many solutions for Training Day are illustrative only — there are no "wrong" ways to transform the look of your skins and items.

How can I fly around the world?

You can use the following command in the Minecraft chat to set the gamemode to creative: /gamemode creative. Creative mode allows you to fly around by double tapping the "jump" key. Return to the default mode by using the command /gamemode survival. WARNING: Creative mode also allows you to break any block, so we advise caution. If you break the world, remember you can redownload a new world by revisiting the first module of the course (Zone 1-1).

Is there any way to jump to a specific puzzle?

You can use the following command in Minecraft chat to skip to a specific puzzle: "/function quickstart/l3/a3" to go to zone 3, puzzle 3. We advise caution though, as this is a developer tool and may cause unexpected behavior…. or even "break" the world. If that happens, download a fresh copy of the world.