[hadem]

Out of curiosity, what do you mean by "mapping the world"? I haven't played Minecraft in a very long time, but I thought there was a built in map of some sort? I'd like to hear more as it sounds like we have similar play styles!

[munificent]

There are map items, but you have to carry them to the region in order for them to get filled in.

[drdeca]

There is a map item you can make which adds areas to it when you are holding it and in those areas, which depicts other areas as black.

Not sure if filling out these maps is what they meant.