Minecraft wiki entry for Things_not_to_do, associated text: Usually, when the player dies, they drop their items and respawn. However, in hardcore mode, once the player dies, they do not respawn. If the player then kept their inventory in a hardcore world, then it actually consumes their items rather than dropping them which would in Multiplayer not allow other players to retrieve the dead player's items they lost. This system could be used if a player does not want items dropped upon the death of a player.