Village



NPC Villages are a feature that was added in Beta 1.8. The buildings in the NPC villages are naturally generated, and how much space they take up is randomized just like the terrain. In Beta 1.9 Pre-release, Villager mobs were added to spawn in NPC Villages, although they currently do nothing worth noting.

A picture of NPC villages was released by Notch before 1.8 was released. Even though the picture only showed the exterior of the buildings, videos recorded later during PAX revealed the interior. NPC Villages are only spawned in desert or grassland biomes. Eventually they will have their own biome in order to solve many of the problems that were hindering their development.

Structure
Some of the buildings and structures found within villages are:


 * Small Huts made of logs, wooden planks, cobblestone, and dirt, with glass panes for windows. Some also have roof balconies.
 * Homes, which are composed of the same materials listed above. However, they are larger in size and L-shaped.
 * Taverns, which have wooden stairs as benches, pressure plate/fence tables and a double slab bar. They also have fenced-off backyards.
 * Libraries with bookshelves and a crafting table.
 * Wheat Farms, which are, of course, farms of wheat surrounded by logs.
 * Wells, which are 2x10x2 pools filled with water made out of cobblestone.
 * Smithies made out of cobblestone, iron bars, furnaces and small pools of lava. They also have a room located at the back.
 * Churches, cobblestone buildings with a small 3 floor tower equipped with ladders.
 * Lamp Posts, made of stacked fences, black wool and torches.
 * Gravel Roads, which connect most of the buildings.

The amount of buildings within villages vary, and not all types will be in every village. There is always one well, there may be one church and/or one smithy, up to two libraries, up to two taverns and up to three large homes.

PAX
NPC Villages were shown to the public during the PAX demo. For demo purposes, Notch made them appear near spawn so people could see them. (at 3:37) On a live stream from his Android phone during PAX, Notch stated that NPCs have not been added to the villages but that they are coming eventually. (According to Jeb, NPCs for the village will be delayed until Beta 1.9. ) The majority of the NPC structures are made from wood based resources, with frames of cobblestone, and the footpaths are 3 blocks wide and made of gravel. The gravel appears to replace the top layer of dirt upon generation of the village. (at 4:35)

Old Interview of Notch
Notch once answered some questions about an idea he had, NPC Villages, where he revealed some thoughts about them:
 * If you are good to them (giving them items), they'll give you items back.
 * If you are bad to them (attacking/killing them), they'll try to do the same to you.
 * There would possibly be a chest, containing special items, but raiding it will anger the owners of the town/chest.

Trivia

 * Notch originally worked on NPC Villages by himself, but eventually gave the task to Jeb, so that he could work on other things.
 * NPC villages are optional as part of the setting for Generated Structures.
 * It is possible for Mushrooms to spawn inside the buildings.
 * If an NPC village is in the desert, there is a small chance there will be a cactus on the paths, and it will have gravel on top of it.
 * Unlike in the above case, if gravel goes through a tall grass area, tall grass will be removed and it may drop seeds.
 * Jeb has said that, during early tests of villages, the lava in a smithy often set the village on fire.
 * NPC Villages very commonly spawn near the border of desert. When they do, the houses are usually filled with Sand/Gravel.
 * Endermen's nature to move blocks sometimes causes them to flood part of a village by removing tree stumps from a farm's irrigation canal, possibly killing themselves in the process.
 * Farms in the villages avoid overhanging by filling in the area below them with dirt. When the farm overhangs a ravine, this can cause a very tall rectangular dirt structure that at first glance almost looks like a chunk error. An example of this appears at seed 404 at the nearest town in Beta 1.8.1. (It's North-Northeast from spawn as read on a map item.)
 * A good strategy for your first night would be to use a NPC house to shelter you and keep you safe.
 * Occasionally, surface ravines will be generated through NPC villages, causing missing pathways or even entire buildings sunken into the ravine. This also applies to cave entrances and other surface oddities.
 * Originally, NPC-Villages were intended to be populated with pigmen. (citation needed)