Tutorials/Survival in an infinite desert

To create your infinite desert to survive in, simply create a new world, change the world type to superflat, and choose the preset “Desert”. Then start the world.

To create it to be like an actual desert (in which you can mine for ores instead of having to raid villages), go to create a new world, change the world type to customized and change the biome to “Desert”. Then click done and start the world.

Survival
After creating your infinite desert, look around. If you see a desert temple or a village, go to it.

If you are using customized rather than superflat, a river may appear, which will have a low bank, allowing grass and/or flowers to spawn (as the grass is still in the “River” biome). Very rarely there will be a wide enough space here for an oak tree to spawn. Create a tree farm from any saplings you collect from it. As trees are almost essential for normal survival, this would be very useful.

Raiding techniques
Desert temples

If you have a pickaxe, just dig down two blocks away from the blue wool on the floor in any direction. If not,
 * Go outside and dig up 16 blocks of sand.
 * Dig out a piece of orange wool on the floor. Do not jump in!
 * Place blocks of sand into the hole until it is filled up.
 * Dig straight down until you are two blocks away from the floor.
 * If there are mobs, kill them.
 * Punch out the pressure plate in the middle of the floor.
 * Take anything you need out of the chests. Bones are good for bone meal, and any iron, gold, diamonds, or emeralds are also definite needs.
 * Using the jump-place technique, pillar your way out.

Villages

Check to see if the village has a blacksmith. If it does, and it has 3 iron, make a bucket, if it has 3 diamond, make a pickaxe. Use the crafting table in the library. If the village has no library, punch out a log or four wood planks, and make a crafting table. You will also need sticks if you make a pickaxe. If the chest has enough materials to make a bucket and a pickaxe, with 3 of something left over, make an axe. If the village does not have a blacksmith,
 * Destroy all the crops. Don't bother replanting, as you won't be coming back here.
 * Harvest as much wood in the village as you want. About a stack of planks should do.
 * Make a wooden pickaxe.
 * Harvest some cobblestone.
 * Make a stone pickaxe.
 * Harvest about a stack of cobblestone.