It's a joke about playing the game "right." Mining straight up/down is a rather suboptimal strategy, as: - mining straight up means you either seal your path b

It's a joke about playing the game "right." Mining straight up/down is a rather suboptimal strategy, as: - mining straight up means you either seal your path behind you, or are limited how high up you can go - mining straight down likely traps you in a pit - mining straight down far enough can drop you straight into lava, as many Minecraft players learn early on