What is the “Finding a Player Who Doesn’t Exist” Minecraft ARG?

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All about this creepy horror story & how it connects to other ARGs

Co-authored by Jose Rivera and Marcus Pruitt, BS

Last Updated: November 21, 2025 Fact Checked

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“Finding a Player Who Doesn’t Exist” Explained

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Connection to Other ARGs

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Is “Finding a Player Who Doesn’t Exist” real?

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More Minecraft Horror Stories

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“Finding a Player Who Doesn’t Exist” is a mysterious Minecraft ARG that covers disappearances, mind control, and government conspiracies. It’s another ARG by Wifies (a YouTuber known for his scary Minecraft stories), and it’s one of the freakiest ones yet. In this article, we dive into the “Finding a Player Who Doesn’t Exist” ARG, explaining what it is, how it connects to other ARGs, and more, with the help of Minecraft expert Jose Rivera.

What is the “Finding a Player Who Doesn’t Exist” ARG?

“Finding a Player Who Doesn’t Exist” is a Minecraft ARG that follows a mysterious conspiracy surrounding a player named Alex. Alex constantly plays the game, but after seeing a mysterious figure, he starts acting weird. He stops playing one day, then shows back up, ignoring everyone else and mindlessly mining north.

Section 1 of 4:

“Finding a Player Who Doesn’t Exist” ARG Explained

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“Finding a Player” follows the disappearance of a Minecraft player. Told by Minecraft YouTuber Wifies, “Finding a Player Who Doesn’t Exist” follows a player named Crafty as he asks Wifies for help tracking down a friend named Alex, who he used to play Minecraft with on the “Eternal” server. Crafty’s only been able to track down videos, which give cryptic clues about what happened to his former friend.
- These videos show Alex slowly disconnecting from his friends. At the beginning of the videos, Crafty and Alex built a house together and explored Minecraft like normal.
- While they were finishing the house, Alex froze like he saw something, then asked another player if that was him. It wasn’t, but everyone continued to play like normal until logging off.
- Later videos reveal that Alex saw a black figure in the distance. It was never confirmed who (or what) this figure was.
Meet the wikiHow Expert

Jose Rivera, also known as Ricky Flicks, is a Minecraft expert, social media strategist, and content creator. He has over 200 million views across his YouTube channel and has partnered with brands like Netflix and Disney+.
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Crafty logged back on to see that Alex was gone. While Crafty had logged off Minecraft, Alex never stopped playing. Then, a big day came for the server members: the lighting of the Nether Portal. The only problem was that Alex was now nowhere to be found, and no one knew what had happened to him. It wasn’t normal for him to disappear, especially since he played 24/7. The Nether Portal also wasn’t lighting. But a mysterious link appeared in the chat. Things were getting fishy.
- Wifies checked the link out and was led to a screenshot asking Alex to take a break from the game.
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Wifies found details in a frame of the video, uncovering a conspiracy. After screenshotting a small frame from Crafty’s YouTube video that had seemingly random text and putting it into a decoder, Wifies was led to a video on Alex’s YouTube channel. The video included mysterious terms and conditions to agree to, like “the loss of privileges given to you by your Birthright.” In the video, Alex agreed and continued to play.
- Things continued to get weirder when it was revealed that a mysterious U.S. government division called the Department of Metaphysical Sciences was behind the message.
- In these videos, Alex heard whispers, saw mysterious signs, and was told by someone named Archive to keep playing and go north without wavering.
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Alex’s videos started glitching and he got much weirder. The uploaded videos were rife with glitches, and more messages started to appear about the Department of Metaphysical Sciences. Slowly, Wifies realized Alex was being experimented on by the department through the decoded messages, especially when he was seen following mysterious gravel paths and redstone torches that led north without responding to anyone.
- It turns out the videos were encrypted, from Archive, and only meant to be seen by employees of the Department.
- After some digging, Wifies realized Archive is a division of the Department of Metaphysical Sciences.
Alex used his compass to travel north, mindlessly mining through any blocks in his way. When Crafty tried to talk to him, he didn’t respond, and eventually, Crafty decided he was done with the server. Wifies continued finding mysterious files, though, which showed Alex mining bedrock, getting a call from his mom about having to be taken away, and playing for 6 years.
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Wifies realized Alex was being experimented on through the game. After continuing to discover secret videos and a profile called Wokesheeple, Wifies came across secret government files that explained what happened to Alex. Crafty’s old friend was being experimented on by the Department of Metaphysical Sciences. They were trying to push the boundaries of human control, and they were using Minecraft to do it.
- Alex was hooked up to feeding tubes, tricked with in-game whispers, glitches, and commands, and tested to see how well he could be controlled.
- While Wifies was discovered by the Department of Metaphysical Sciences, they commended his commitment to breaking through the video encryption and declined to punish him.
- They did warn him that this would be his only warning, and future violations would result in more severe punishment.

Section 2 of 4:

How “Finding a Player Who Doesn’t Exist” Connects to Other ARGs

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The Archive YouTube channel appears in other ARGs. The Archive YouTube channel isn’t exclusive to this ARG, as it also appears in “The Minecraft Mod That Hunts You Down” along with a mysterious reference to Experiment M. Though the connection isn’t explained, the Archive lore evidently runs deep, and some fans believe that there’s something bigger going on.
- In a Reddit thread by u/Ok-Plastic-5295, u/SaisenQuesar says they believe the ARGs are connected and tell a larger story.
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The black figure Alex saw may have been Null. Null is a mysterious evil entity who is determined to take over Minecraft. He corrupts worlds and hunts characters down after appearing.^{[1]
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Research source} While he isn’t directly referenced in the ARG, Alex does see a figure that resembles him (all black skin with no other identifying features from a distance) in the beginning of the ARG. Then, all of his other appearances are accompanied by glitches and mysterious noises.
- These glitches and noises are consistent with the effects Null has on players he encounters.

Section 3 of 4:

Is the “Finding a Player Who Doesn’t Exist” ARG a true story?

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No, “Finding a Player Who Doesn’t Exist” is a fictional story by Wifies. Wifies is a YouTube content creator who uploads Minecraft ARGs. According to Rivera, an ARG (alternate reality game) is “a horror narrative staged across social media to mimic found footage through an evolving storyline with hidden messaging.”^{[2]
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Expert Source

Jose Rivera
Minecraft Expert

Expert Interview}
- “Finding a Player Who Doesn’t Exist” is part of a series of Minecraft horror ARGs Wifies has been uploading for years.
- Wifies explains in the description of his video that this is a fictional story that “we all pretend [is] real and try to solve the mystery that the owner of this channel created.”