Fly plays Minecraft
Which of the fly's circuits carry over to a 3D game world, and which fail?
This experiment is on the roadmap
It will run on the local runner once its game bridge is ready. The description below explains the plan.
What happens
In September 2026 creators wired the MaleCNS and FlyWire connectomes into Minecraft, mapping the game's view onto visual neurons and descending neurons onto key presses.
Minecraft needs its own game client and server, so this experiment will only ever run on the local runner. The plan: a small bridge that reads the player's surroundings, feeds them to the runner with the same sensor format as the driving experiment, and turns steering, walking and escape neurons into movement and jumps.
Status: planned. The runner protocol it will use is already live for the FlyWire experiments above.
Inspired by: “I Put A Fly's Conscious Brain into Minecraft”, the video that started the trend in September 2026.
How the brain is wired to the world
The mapping is part of the experiment design. Everything between senses and motor output is the connectome.
- Blocks close on the left or right → EPG right or left
- Mob or falling block approaching → LC4 and LPLC2
- DNa02 right minus left → turn
- Giant Fiber → jump
- Moonwalker neurons MDN → walk backwards
Dataset: FlyWire connectome v783 with Schlegel et al. 2024 annotations. About this dataset
Run it locally
Every experiment can also use the local runner, which simulates the brain on your own computer. It is required for connectomes too large for a browser.
git clone https://github.com/berkeyc/connectome-lab.git cd connectome-lab pip install -r local/requirements.txt python local/runner.py # listens on ws://localhost:8765
Then choose “Local runner” in the player controls and press Restart. Your browser may ask for permission to connect to a local device.