Tutorials/Shelter types

For the sake of your survival, get a shelter!

This page lists types of shelters.

Navigation Help
For ease of navigation, it is suggested that you use the "Contents" above to navigate through the shelters. This makes the page much easier to use.

Organization
These shelters are organized by how long it would take to build them. Obviously, these can vary, depending on how detailed you make them.

Note that a day only includes the daytime portion, not the night. Also, material collection time is not included.

Nomadic: The easiest type of shelter to build. Doesn't offer much protection, especially from creeper attacks. These are generally the type you would build while the sun is setting. These are very fragile, and you shouldn't spend too many nights in them. Time: Almost none.

Easy: These usually work with the map. They offer some protection. Time: 1/2 day.

Medium: These are freestanding structures. They offer a good amount of protection. Time: 1 day.

Hard: These structures can be very time-consuming to make. However, they offer a great amount of protection. Time: 2–20 days.

Extreme: This special range of shelters takes a VERY long time to build, but offers the most protection. Time: 25–100 days.

Innovative: Although these structures are the toughest to build, they may not necessarily offer the most protection. They can also be quite dangerous to live in. They focus on feats of engineering. Time: variable.

Add-ons: While not structures, they add important features worth mentioning.

Emergency shelter
Materials


 * None

Description

The simplest shelter can be made by digging 3 blocks straight down and then capping off the hole with a block of dirt. This requires only a few seconds. While digging down isn't normally recommended, it's extremely rare to run into a cave when digging 3 blocks from the surface. It is safe to expand the shelter from there on. This type of shelter can be done also when your base is already established, but you are caught by the night while far away from your base. This method is safer than it seems; zombies, skeletons, creepers, endermen and spiders can't get in. A problem is getting out; you could dig up into a creeper. One way to fix this is to put a little hut above it. This is not permanent; if you are using this for more than 1 night, you have a problem. Diagram below: To avoid mob spawning if you have no wool to make a bed, you could add torches.

D=Door B=Block S=Space

BBB BSD BBB or you can expand it like this:

D=Door B=Block  S=Space

BBBB BSSD BSSD BBBB

Location

On the ground level in a place with dirt.

Extras


 * Torches
 * Bed
 * Ladders (For getting out)

Crater Home
Materials


 * Creeper (if no basin)

Description

Use a creeper-made crater or stone basin as a temporary (or permanent, if you want) home. Very easy to make, not recommended for long-term stay.

Location

Anywhere with a creeper crater/basin.

Construction

Jump into the crater, and begin digging a 2 block high hole in the side (You may dig down 1-2 blocks if crater is not deep enough) for the opening. Then go in and hollow out a small room inside of that. You may like to dig down a few more rooms, but it is not recommended if you have no lighting. Cover the opening with blocks (dirt or cobblestone works wonders).

Extras


 * Bed
 * Torches

Tree
Materials


 * None

Description

Inside a normal tree. It's a very simple shelter and only works in emergencies, since it doesn't have much expansion possibilities in a short time.

Location

Anywhere with a tree. Or just a sapling and bone meal.

Construction

Remove the exposed tree logs on the base and then remove 2 or 3 of the covered blocks. Pillar jump quickly until you are completely covered by leaves. Then put the 2 remaining blocks on opposite sides to avoid leaf decay and done, you got a practically perfect shelter that blends with the environment! You can get on top of the tree removing the logs and pillar jumping.

Extras
 * More logs to avoid leaf decay.
 * A torch.
 * A crafting table, a furnace and a chest
 * Put the wood above you on one side and place ladders. Then transform it intro a treehouse.

Cliff-side Cave
Materials


 * None

Description

A cliff-side cave is probably the most popular shelter for the first night. It takes only a few seconds to make, and once inside, the creator is safe to expand it. It also offers good protection against most mobs (excluding creepers - they can blow up your rock walls). Since it's a structure inside the ground, building material will be gained instead of lost.

Location

The best part of this shelter is that you can build it anywhere there's a cliff. Make sure there's a solid wall (preferably straight up). Mining down does not usually make a good shelter. A cliff by a large body of water is preferred as hostile mobs cannot spawn in the water. Also, try to find a place with coal for torches, but you don't need to be too picky.

Construction Extremely simple. Mine a 2x2x1 hole in the wall, then enter the hole and close it off. From there, you may start mining deeper.

Extras


 * Torches
 * Mine extension
 * Link to an above-ground base
 * Plenty of rations and tools in case you drop into another tunnel and find yourself trapped.

NPC house
Materials 6 torches 1 bed

Description

Steal an NPC house and live there.

Location

NPC village

Construction

The first part is the hardest: first find an NPC village. Then just customize the inside of the house! Make it home.

If you're just trying to spend the night in the village, the church is usually the best choice, because the door keeps you safe (except that zombies may spawn inside during sieges, or break down the door in hard mode) and because the church has a tower, you can be safe from a surprise Creeper attack in the morning. Just before exiting the church, double-check that there is no creeper nearby from the top of the tower. Then go outside and do your things.

One downside is that the villagers may block your way while trying to get around the village, or even crowd into your house at night. Another is that if you hang around a village without defending it, the villagers are likely to be wiped out over time.

Extras
 * Second floor (which some of the houses come with)
 * Furniture (which some of the buildings come with)
 * Occupy the whole village! The buildings that have a chance of being generated in the village include the Library, which includes bookshelves (which you can later mine using the Silk Touch enchantment) and a crafting table. There's also the Smithy, which comes with two furnaces, a small pool of lava, and a chest of goodies. The Church is a three-story building, the third of which you can use to look over the entire village.
 * Light up and build a wall around the village to ensure that you will be safe while going from house to house.
 * No need to put a workbench or furnace in your house! If there is a smithy and library, just build a house with a bed and a chest. And when you get an enchantment table, place more bookshelves in the library then place the enchantment table.

Images

Desert Temple
Materials


 * At least 15 torches
 * 5 doors
 * A trapdoor

Optional


 * Crafting table
 * Bed
 * Ladders
 * Furnace
 * Fences

Description

Minecraft 1.3.1 adds another great choice for a nomadic or permanent shelter without having to build much: Desert Temples! Desert Temples are not only good shelters, but also contain very worthwhile loot such as emeralds, diamonds, gold, iron, and bones. But do lookout for the secret chamber with a pressure plate.....and a 3x3 grid of TNT!

Location

Desert Temple, found exclusively in Desert Biomes.

Construction


 * Find a Desert Temple. Usually spawn in deserts with a rare chance of spawning in jungles as well.
 * MUST be done first. Get some torches, a pickaxe, and some ladders and dig straight down 2 blocks outside the blue wool in the center.
 * Destroy the pressure plate and take the loot from the chest and the TNT under the sandstone.
 * Use ladders to get back up. You can use the under ground chest room later as a room or to expand from using the 1x1x2 spaces where the chests are as doorways.
 * Add a door at the front, the 2 hallways to the 2 towers on either side, and to the 2 doorways near the top of the pyramid.
 * Add a ladder for easy access to the second floor above the wool.
 * Add a trapdoor onto the hole above the blue wool.
 * Add any necessary items such as chests, beds, workbenches, and furnaces.

Extras


 * Add some fences around the edge of the lower pyramid roof to keep any hostile mobs at bay.


 * Expand from the lower chamber to add farms, an enchanting room, or whatever else you wish.

Pillar
Materials

Lots of dirt. Or lots of any kind of non-entity block.

Description

A pillar of blocks, occupying a 1x1 space. Great when you have lots of one type of non-entity block. Only use a block that is affected by gravity, e.g. Sand, Gravel; if you want to remove the pillar later on. Remember, not a short pillar. A cloud-level pillar.

Location

Anywhere! But preferably a foresty space.

Construction

First, equip your NON-ENTITY block. Then, point at the ground, hold your right-mouse button, and jump. Repeat until you are at cloud level, or any other level that Skeleton arrows cannot reach you. After that, it's all up to you on what you want to do with the shelter. For the Nomadic, just stay up there until the sun rises. Mine the blocks below you, until you reach ground level.

Extras REMEMBER!!! If you are planning on building a real shelter up there, do not build above layer 250.


 * Shelter (basic house)
 * Ladders

Watchtower
Materials


 * About 40 blocks of dirt.
 * A few torches.

Description

A good shelter should not only protect you from any type of hostile mobs during the night, but also prevent a surprise Creeper ambush in the morning. This shelter type achieves this without the need for sophisticated materials such as glass or doors, and can be set up pretty quickly.

The design is essentially a tower with a rim for nighttime protection, but with some gaps between the tower and rim to see what is going on below in the morning, and have a slash at any assembled hostiles before leaving the shelter.

Location

This shelter is best suited for wide open terrain or hilltops.

Construction


 * Build a simple 3x3x2 solid tower.
 * Add a single block atop each edge of the tower, then attach yet another one to the outside of each; remove the former blocks again, leaving the latter semi-free-floating. Atop these, build a 5x5 rim.
 * Add torches.
 * Dig a 2x2x1 shaft in the center of the tower. Wait for dawn down there.


 * At dawn, work your way back up out of your foxhole; have a thorough peek though the gaps between the tower and the rim, and finish off any assembled mobs before leaving the shelter. (Note that the rim will be just too high above ground to jump off safely.)

Open-Air
Not what you think.

Materials

Description
 * Dirt

Sure, it might not stop invading spiders, (TO STOP INVADING SPIDERS: Get some extra blocks to go around the top level of your walls. Spiders may climb, but not upside down!) but at least it works for the first night! The Open-Air is basically walls surrounding you. No roof. This can easily transition into a permanent house. Feel free to add a roof after you build the walls, but it won't be an Open-Air anymore at that point.

Location

Flat, open ground.

Construction

First, gather your dirt and basic necessities. Place your dirt in a (preferably, size is up to you) 5x5 area. Once you've built a 1-layer 'wall', build until you have a 3-layer wall. By this time, it should be sunset. Again, the time will vary, depending on the number of layers on your wall. After you have built your wall, jump down to your 'shelter'. Done! Note that spiders will be able to climb over the walls and enter your shelter, but adding a rim will prevent them from invading your home. Enjoy your night. REMEMBER!!! Don't fill the area! An optional way to do this is to instead dig a pit and dig out the blocks around where the wall is. This way you're gaining materials instead of using them.

Extras


 * Torches
 * Roof (which will turn your Open-Air into a house, in which you're free on expanding)
 * Improved wall (Stone, anyone?)
 * Windows (which is highly recommended to be built only if you want to add a roof)

Mushroom house
Materials


 * A mushroom (Either kind works) and some bone meal

Description

Using a red huge mushroom, you can quickly make a tent to spend the night in. When mining some of the mushroom blocks you can get more mushrooms that you can use to make more mushroom houses later, or some mushroom stew to eat.

Location

Pretty much anywhere flat. Or use a mushroom biome and skip planting.

Construction

For a red mushroom tent, make sure there is plenty of flat space around, dig a single block hole in the ground, plant the mushroom, and use bonemeal on it. Be sure to stand only one block away so you will not be suffocated when it grows. Then remove the stem, and wait until morning, then dig yourself out. Sometimes the mushroom will leave a gap that spiders can fit through, or sometimes even a 2 high gap, just fill it in with dirt. For a brown mushroom tower, just plant the mushroom and fertilize it. No need to dig the hole. Then pillar jump to the top with dirt or sand, or to make it spider proof, place ladders up the stem and a hatch to stop monsters.

Extras


 * Bed
 * Torches
 * Door
 * If you grow multiple mushrooms on top of each other, you can create a tower - see below.
 * A 'Smurf' village
 * Multiple floors and basements-connected by a central ladder

Mushroom tower
Description

For extra security and visibility, why not make your mushroom into a tower? Stacking both Red and Brown Giant Mushrooms can make a great instant landmark/safe haven while traveling (especially in forests or mountainous areas) by growing 3-5 giant mushrooms on top of each other.

Materials


 * 3-5 Mushrooms
 * Bonemeal
 * Torches
 * Dirt
 * Lots of Ladders

Location

A space with nothing above it for 12-15 squares, or the mushroom won't grow.

Construction

When its dark enough, plant a mushroom in a space with nothing above it, use bonemeal to enlarge, put ladder up the side, punch one hole at the top of the ladder. Put a square of dirt directly above the stem and repeat earlier steps two to three times. Since nearly any type of block or useful item can be placed on top of a mushroom safely, a brown mushroom can be easily used as a waystation, with torches to prevent enemy spawning and to aid in visibility, beds to sleep in as well as chests and crafting table/furnaces. Extremely fast process can be used to escape enemies at sundown. Red mushrooms are best used as a very visible landmark, but can be expanded using dirt or cobblestone to use as a waystation as well.

Pros and cons
 * Pro: If you like having tall structures or skyscrapers this can be used for it to be more resource friendly.
 * Pro: If you use brown mushrooms it will always be in a pixilated circle.
 * Pro: You can you easily top your tower off with a sphere if you use a red mushroom on top.
 * Pro: Safe from skeleton archers. (Watch out for creepers hanging around the base of the mushroom.)
 * Con: Requires costly bone meal and mushrooms.

Extras


 * Bed
 * Crafting Table
 * Chest
 * Furnace, especially if built by a mine as a landmark/waystation
 * Torches
 * Trapdoor
 * More mooshrooms

Tree Home
No, not a Tree House. A Tree Home.

Materials
 * 40 to 60 blocks of any non-entity block.

Description                                          Very similar to a Mushroom Shelter, only using an Oak or Birch tree instead. Find any regular tree, and surround the area around the tree so that the leaves act as a roof. Then, mine the log in the center to gain some wood, but leave at LEAST 1 log in the tree to keep the leaves alive. This also has the advantage of telling you the time of day on the "Fancy" graphics option, and getting you some wood for the first day. Here's how:

Tree before

W = Center Log L = Leaves

L L L L L             L L L L L              L L W L L              L L L L L              L L L L L

Tree After:

W = Center Log L = Leaves  B = Blocks. = Nothing

. B B B B B. B L L L L L B              B L L L L L B               B L L W L L B               B L L L L L B               B L L L L L B               . B B B B B.

Location Preferably a Forest Biome.

Extras
 * A bed
 * A few torches
 * A crafting table
 * A furnace
 * A chest

Emergency Treehouse
Materials


 * About 5 dirt or sand.

Description

Find a tree (the bigger the better) and pillar jump up on it. This is a great nomadic shelter, as it takes seconds to build and has a nice view of the outdoors and you can shoot monsters down from it. The biggest drawback is the inability to mine, so a cliff-side cave or cave shelter may be preferable.

Location

A Jungle biome, in a tree. They are very tall, make some ladders and make your way to the top.

Extras


 * Bed, torches, crafting table
 * Stairs or a ladder up with a trapdoor or door to keep mobs out.
 * A sniper nest to shoot monsters from.
 * Bridges to other trees. Make a treetop village!
 * Walls and a roof.
 * Make it a treehouse (see next)

Treehouse
Materials


 * ~80 Wood Planks

Description

Treehouses provide a high base. They are useful especially against creepers, because most are too high for a creeper's explosion to reach. They are often used with a bow and arrows, because they are excellent sniping spots. Another advantage to treehouses is that they are a great lookout point. They give you a good view of the map, helping you find the place for your next shelter. Also, if you are thinking as making a treehouse as your permanent home, you could expand it by linking it to other trees, giving the player an extremely large and good lookout view.

Location

With the 1.2.1 update came a great opportunity for advanced players- Jungle treehouses! This method of shelter does not only help you stay away from mobs at night- It`s a great look-out position, especially if the Jungle borders a Desert or a Plains biome. You can even, after a while, bridge gaps from other trees to make a whole network of treehouses! An added bonus also comes with the location- an almost endless supply of wood!

Construction

The first thing you will build when constructing a treehouse is the staircase. Without a staircase, you cannot reach the treehouse. The amount of stairs you build will vary depending on the height of the tree you are building in. Make these stairs and place them. Remember to place wooden planks under the stairs to support them. (Not only does this make them easier to build, it also makes the staircase look better.) Now you should have a staircase that leads to the top of the tree. Climb this staircase and lay down a 4x5 base of wooden planks. One common practice is to remove a layer of leaves and then build the base. This maintains the same level as you would have had without a base.
 * In 1.2 now vines act like ladders(without a hit box).

Next, build a layer of outer walls. These should only cover the border. To be economical, you could skip the corners, as they are not necessary. Build two more layers on each of these.

Now you will construct a roof. You don't need to add another border level; this was compensated for in the last step. Instead, fill in the top border with wooden planks. This roof should block out most of the light - look in the "Extras" section for ways to counter this.

Alternate No-Stairs Method

A more effective and easy method to construct a pathway for access to the treehouse would be to use ladders placed on the trunk of the tree to reach the entrance of the treehouse instead of stairs to access the treehouse which makes it less likely for mobs to climb onto the treehouse and also the benefit of using this method is that it uses less materials. It is strongly recommended that you use a trapdoor at the very top of the ladders to prevent mobs from gaining access to the treehouse via the ladders.

Alternate roofless method

This method is best in high trees. Simply the same as before but only build walls one high and then place fences on top. It is useful when fighting mobs like creepers.

If you connect with other trees in a jungle you can make a large circular disk platform around each, allowing large, roofless, and safe "rooms". This method is only safe when you have plenty of torches.

Extras


 * Staircase to top
 * Window
 * Treehouse link - Multiple treehouses linked together. Best if treehouse is built in a forest.

Igloo


Materials


 * A lot of snow. (If you have a pumpkin, you could make a snow farm!)
 * A shovel.
 * Optionally some Ice for the windows.

Description Not the strongest tower but hey, if you live in a snowy biome, why don't you use what you have around you?

Location Any snow biome

Construction First get some snow, you'll need a lot. Use a shovel to get snowballs by breaking snow. After you have collected enough, place them in a 2x2 square in the crafting grid. Get the snow blocks. Build your shelter with that.

During construction it might start snowing, but hey, free resources! Note that snow can fall on snows, causing a snow layer to form on top.

These snow shelters often look great in snow biomes.

Extras
 * Windows made of ice
 * A well of liquid water.
 * A fireplace. (Snow blocks do not melt, but ice and snow do)
 * A wooden door. (Although it makes it look less like an Igloo)
 * A snow farm!

Portable House
Materials


 * Wood, Cobble or Stone; any basic material except dirt. Preferably Cobble.
 * Ladders
 * Wooden/Iron Door
 * Trapdoor

Description

Don't want to spend 5 minutes in a hole? Build this mobile fortress that takes 5 minutes to build and 5 minutes to destroy!

Location A 6x6 or 9x9 flat space

Construction

First, build a 1x1 tower 6 blocks up on all the corners. Next connect each corner together. Now build the wall and dig a 1x2 hole for the door do NOT use windows. Now fill in the roof but leave a 2x2 space at a wall for the trapdoors and ladders. Place the ladders under the hole and then on the roof of the house make some battlements. Now place the trapdoor and you're done! You now have a mobile fortress that's safe from creepers! And if a spider gets in you can run down the hatch!

Extras


 * Mine
 * Utilities
 * Extra story
 * Defence Turrets
 * Trapdoor traps

Camouflage House
Materials


 * A stack or two of dirt


 * Wood Planks or stone for the inside wall (optional)

Description

A house made out of dirt that blends in with the environment. There are two main versions of this, a house of leaves in a jungle atop a tree, or a base on top of a hill that looks just like the rest of the landscape.

Location

A forest, plains, or jungle biome.

Construction

Use the dirt to blend in with the environment. Make sure to adjust to elevations. Grass will grow on your roof, so it looks even cooler. For maximum security, conceal your door behind a 1x1x2 stack of dirt and don't add any windows. If you're really ambitous, make a piston door with dirt and sticky pistons. Hide the lever behind a block of dirt. This is perfect in SMP as it hides your shelter from griefers and thieves.

Extras


 * Bed, torches, crafting table
 * Underground shelter underneath the dirt.
 * Tunnel to other camo shelters!
 * Piston door made out of dirt and sticky pistons.
 * Hidden chest full of valuables.
 * Flowers, tallgrass and trees for a hint of realism.
 * stone brick inside, protects against griefers with x-ray mods.

House
The expansion to the Open-Air, in detail.

Materials


 * See Open-Air, in the Nomadic section, for walls but made of something preferably stronger like cobblestone. For the roof, any non-entity. (If made out of glass, will be better than windows for lighting)
 * Torches
 * Sand (for windows)

Description

You've played the game with the walls, now play it with the roof! A basic house.

Location

Flat, open ground.

Construction

First, build a wall, just like the Nomadic Open-Air. After that, close the roof, add windows (smelt the sand with your furnace), and you're set for expansion! If you like, dig your floor and replace it with any block you like.

Extras


 * Mine
 * Upper Levels
 * Lower Levels
 * Traps
 * A door
 * Corners made out of wood
 * Roof made out of stairs
 * Chimney
 * Carpet

Cave Home
Materials


 * Fair amount of construction-type blocks(Cobblestone, Wood Planks, Dirt all work fine).
 * Ample supply of Torches.

Description

A house constructed using a surface cave as its base structure. Can be dangerous due to its initially dark state, but allows for easy expansion. Being a cave, contains a mine already within itself.

Location

This type of house can be built in any surface cave one finds. It is a bonus if you find one with Coal already in it, as you have your supply of torches supplied by your house. A cave with multiple surface entrances can be used, but may prove more difficult to secure.

Construction

Once you have found a suitable cave, the first step is to seal off the entrances. Use any building material to create a complete seal to keep out night monsters. A wooden door may be added if you have enough wood and time. Otherwise, just seal the entrance off completely(make sure to use torches first, or you may find yourself in the dark) leaving no gaps.

If you proceed deeper into your cave, and monsters are found, it would be wise to seal off the rear end of your cave as well. That is unless you are able to deal with the monsters.

After this, you can hollow out the cave to your liking.

Extras


 * Explore the entirety of your house/cave, and extract the riches hiding in your basement.
 * Add more rooms by hollowing out more of the cave. All you need is a pickaxe!

Outpost
Materials


 * Fences (for legs)
 * Wood or Cobblestone as a building material
 * Glass blocks or panes (optional)
 * A couple of slabs - same material as the building material
 * Ladders and a Trapdoor

Description

A nice house to build. Looks nice when built in water and lava, if possible. Can also be used as guardhouses/lookout posts.

Location

In a lake (of water OR lava) or simply on land. (High ground is recommended if using as lookout)

Construction

Once you have found a suitable place to build, start building the fences up from the bottom of the lake on the corners of a 7x7 square, 3 blocks or higher above the ground. Now start building the actual structure on the 'legs'. This should create a 5x5 interior. Then, Dig a hole in the floor wherever you like and extend a pillar of blocks downward. On those, place ladders and place a trapdoor at the top. Then, do whatever you want with the inside. Don't forget to add some light!

Extras


 * Expand to a bigger square
 * Add another floor
 * Start a farm underneath

Freestanding
Materials

64-256 Wood Planks, Cobblestone, Stone

Description These Freestanding shelters are not usually the first shelter that the player builds, because it usually consumes the time fast. These shelters provide good protection against mobs.

Location

You can build these type of shelters anywhere where there is flat ground. You can also clear out a flat area, but this will consume more time and leave you vulnerable in the night if you don't have your house built in time.

Construction

The size of the shelter is decided by you, the player. The foundation can be any size you want, but a bigger building will take more time to complete and, hey, the sun doesn't stay in the sky forever! First make the foundation of the building as wide as you want. Then you can make a wooden floor, or you can just keep the ground as your floor. Jump and place a block underneath you to make the shelter taller. When your shelter is complete, you can make an access to the rooftop if you like. Making a door is very important, because without one, the aggressive mobs can come inside your house and will kill you. Also, make sure your shelter is well lit to avoid mobs spawning inside - the bigger your house is, however, the more torches you will need.

Extras


 * Watchtower (used for sniping and looking for resources)


 * Windows


 * Greenhouse (See Farming)


 * Skylight (extra light and mobs can't spawn on it. Also looks really cool!)

Two-Story House
Materials

About 6 stacks of wood and 28 cobblestone

Description

Just a two story house that has a deck. It provides protection, and the bed is going to be on the second floor. It is very basic.

Location

A flat area.

Construction

Make a 6x6 foundation and fill it with wooden planks, then make a simple frame for the first floor with wooden planks and cobblestone on the edges of the walls. Add 2x2 holes in the center of each wall for the windows but leave the front open with a 2x2 hole for the 2 doors. Do the same thing that you did for the first floor but but a single door on the left side of the front of the house on the second floor. Then add a 6x3 deck off of the front of the second floor. Add a railing and supports to the deck using fence blocks. Now make a staircase to the second floor to the right of the door if your looking at the doors from the inside. Adding Torches are obviously recommended.

Extras


 * A basement.
 * A fireplace inside with iron bars around it.

Hollowed-Out Mountain
Materials:
 * Pickaxes


 * Shovel (for any dirt/gravel you come across)


 * At least 16 torches

Description The title says it all: a mountain, preferably not too big, hollowed out and converted into a shelter! Good protection, as watchtowers and a moat can easily be added after making a basic shelter within the mountain.

Location A small, freestanding mountain, not part of a large mountain range, preferably 25-40 blocks tall. A good advantage is that as you build, you are gaining material, and not losing. Time: 1–2 days.

Construction Find a mountain that matches the description above. Bring along a pickaxe or two, depending on its size. Hollow out the entire mountain, add a staircase/ladders and some floors, and you are ready to begin customizing!

Extras
 * Wooden bridge connection to other nearby mountains


 * Greenhouse


 * Trapdoor drawbridge


 * Armory


 * Watchtowers


 * A castle on top to get rid of all the cobblestone from hollowing out the inside of the mountain

Floating
Materials:
 * Plenty (at least 200) of cobble, planks, or other general building material
 * At minimum, 1 door
 * Other material needed for house additions

Description: A house that floats in mid-air! Protects greatly, as mobs can't get in and spiders have nothing to climb on. However, it can take a bit longer to start building than freestanding structures, about 1–3 days.

Location: A cliff face, preferably over water, is the best place to build the structure. Any large hill is a good starting point (this option is assumed for the construction section). With more work, however, it can be built anywhere, using a staircase or water elevator for access.

Construction:
 * 1) Choose an elevation. Recommended height is over 10 blocks.
 * 2) Build a 1-block wide bridge out about 5 blocks from the hill, beginning the count from the furthest horizontal point on the hill within 3 blocks in any direction.
 * 3) If you want a house below the level of your bridge (a basement, perhaps), make a pillar from the ground up to the desired lowest elevation. Build around it to the desired foundation size. Remove the pillar when construction of the foundation is completed.
 * 4) From this base, build as usual, making sure to place a door at the level of the bridge, with an empty space above it so you can jump to and from the door. Don't forget you are still vulnerable to roof spawning if precautions aren't taken!
 * 5) Make a one or two block gap between the bridge and the door. This is the system that so secures the structure. Mobs coming to you will simply fall below if they attempt to reach you when the door is closed. It is unlikely that they would jump the pit, but it is still a possibility.  If you want Mobs to fall into a pit, place a sign on the block you would jump from to your door on the side facing towards the door and they will think it is another block and walk onto it.


 * 1) Continue building. One great thing about this type of shelter is that you aren't nearly as hemmed in by hills or other terrain! Generally, you can build in any direction for a great distance. The only concern is that you must build the new foundations, and therefore must use a few more materials.

Notes You may have some trouble getting into your house. One thing to make sure of is the door. Since the hinge area is solid even when open, you should jump to the door from the side opposite the hinge. Simply widen the bridge at the end to do so more easily. The area under the pit should ideally have some sort of fall-breaker in case misjudgment of the jump occurs. Once you are confident you can jump it consistently, you can build a mob trap for anything that approaches. Make sure that you can escape it if you DO fall, however.

Extras: These will be the same as a normal house- except anything to do with the underground. Just build that sort of structure on the area opposite the bridge/stairs. Even grass can be brought up with a stair of dirt. Do not use a full stair with lower support, as to prevent intrusion while you wait for the spread.

Also, when playing SMP, cover the outside of the floor with white wool or possibly quartz. People that will look up at it will think that's it's a cloud! And you don't have to worry about griefers!

Bunker
Materials


 * 6-8 stacks of Cobblestone or Stone, depending on size
 * Torches
 * Iron Doors
 * Glass

Description This is a relatively simple shelter to build, although requires a fair amount of gathering and smelting to obtain all the required materials.

Location Can be built on any wide open flat space.

Construction The bunker is a single story shelter made entirely of stone, with the walls always being at least two blocks thick. Size is down to the player's preference, although a 12x12 outer wall perimeter will provide ample space inside for a bed, workbench and multiple chests and furnaces. Ideally an iron door should be placed on at least two sides of the building, in case a creeper remains lurking outside one door in the morning. Stone buttons or levers can be used to control the doors both inside and out. With the walls being at least two blocks thick, the player can safely sleep in a bed at night without having to worry about being awoken by hostile mobs. Windows should be added on all sides so the player can be certain that the outside of the shelter is clear before venturing out in the morning.

Underground Bunker
Description

A place to hide out and undetectable from above ground mobs and players. Perfect if you need cobble and you gain materials not lose them.

Construction

Dig down 12-16 blocks dig out a room. Make an iron door at the entrance or you could build a house above that and make a piston entrance. Any way you're free to expand and decorate.

Bunker#2
Materials


 * 8-10 stacks of Stone Brick or Stone Slab, depending on location(Far or close to a stronghold)
 * Torches
 * Iron Doors
 * Glass

Description This is a harder shelter to build, mainly because it requires lots of stone or exploring.

Location Can be built on any wide open flat space.

Construction The bunker#2 is a single story shelter made entirely of stone, with the walls always being at least three blocks thick. Size is down to the player's preference, although a 12x12 outer wall perimeter will provide ample space inside for a bed, workbench and multiple chests and furnaces. Ideally an iron door should be placed on at least two sides of the building, in case a creeper remains lurking outside one door in the morning. Stone buttons or levers can be used to control the doors both inside and out. With the walls being at least two blocks thick, the player can safely sleep in a bed at night without having to worry about being awoken by hostile mobs. Windows should be added on all sides so the player can be certain that the outside of the shelter is clear before venturing out in the morning. This is especially effective against armies of players, as iron doors and stone bricks are much harder to break, plus, there's the added benefit of having silverfish coming out and attacking the attackers everynow and again.

Good idea would be to put guards on a bunch of these outside your pvp base, with tnt collaspable tunnels if someone breaks through.

Man-made Cave
Materials


 * Shovels and Pickaxes
 * Torches
 * Door

Description A relatively simple but long lasting shelter with excellent protection. Can easily be made at the beginning of the game, or later as a regional base.

Location Any large cliff with a space at least 3 blocks high

Construction Find a cliff that meets the above specifications. Dig a 1x2 tunnel 4 blocks deep. Then, make a 7x7 3-block high space here. Put up the door and some torches, and voila! Your cave is pretty much complete. Put all of your basic minecraft home items on the floor next to the walls. You may also want to replace the ugly dirt and stone in the walls and ceiling with some more aesthetic blocks, like wood or (for a more dungeon-like feel) stone bricks.

Notes Your cave's main weakness is that is has only one exit. You may want to dig a 1x2 "emergency exit" out of your base, so that you can sneak out if there are creepers patrolling your main one. It's also preferable to mark the base so that it can be seen from far away.

Extras
 * A "Balcony" protruding from higher up the side of the cliff, which you can use to snipe mobs.
 * Rooms, rooms, rooms. Make branches coming out of your main room leading to smaller (or bigger)rooms, like a bedroom, smelting room, storage room, etc.

Circular Village

 * This kind of shelter/village is very good on a multiplayer PvP server as it can be defended with a minimum of 3 people with little hassle, if you can't defend it, then you wouldn't be able to defend anything else short of a castle.
 * The one big drawback of this kind of dwelling is that it is highly visible, although it would be possible to create this in an underground cavern.

Materials On ssp, it is possible to make this out of wood for aesthetic purposes
 * Lots of cobble/or some kind of reasonably hard to break block, if possible use obsidian.

Description
 * A circular radiating dwelling designed for defensibility combined with eyepleasing open areas

Location
 * Anywhere flat, including large manmade caves and the nether

Construction This is the center of your village, around it you will construct your other buildings There should be 2 L shaped ones and one straight one so that there are three entrances leading to your central building, like so:
 * On your first night build a small house
 * Next up you need to create 3 buildings around your center one, this may take quite some time.

``````````` `####`####` `#```````#` `#``###``#` `#``###``#` ``````````` `#########` ```````````

` = empty
 * 1) = building


 * There should be no doors facing outwards so that the only ways into or out of the village are through the gaps in the buildings, or through the buildings themselves.
 * The gaps are easier to defend if they are only one block wide. now all you have to do on a pvp faction server is to recruit 2 more people, and when you get attacked, stick one person at each gap.
 * As your faction grows you may wish to build a further group of encircling buildings, but remember to only ever have as many gaps as you have people and, when the outer circle falls, fall back to the middle

Notes
 * Always remember that those gaps arent impervious, and you're pretty darn sure going to get company with that size of village
 * An obvious thing to do with this design would be to cut out 2 gaps and just make a C shaped building all around the outside, you can do this to obvious defensive benefit, feel free but I feel that it detracts from the beauty of it all

extras
 * A panic room. (Never put this in the centre, put it where they'll least expect it!)
 * Farms. (There are two good places to put farms,the first is around the outer edge of your village, in the same style as the buildings, this adds to beauty, and the second is to place them in the gaps between the central house and the others meaning you're less likely to have them griefed or stolen, as players have to get past your cordon first!
 * Bonfire!
 * On ssp, you can redesign your central building into an eating area with a bonfire and ovens, but this is purely aesthetic and will have no use in smp whatsoever, and make sure you don't put any flammable block near the fire.

Fort
A walled base capable of housing multiple players. It is built mostly for defensive values. Basically consists of a wall with buildings attached to it.

Materials 128 to 1000 material of your choice.

Description A square of wall with buildings attached to the inside of it. Towers can be put on the corners. My designs usually have an open yard near the entrance with no buildings nearby.

Construction To start off build a square or rectangle area of bricks (base). Then build walls around the edge (leaving room for an exit/entrance). The next step is to plan your shape and build the internal buildings, like towers, a bedroom, storeroom, etc. Lastly, put roof decks on each building by giving then a flat roof with ladders from inside the building. Give easy access to the walls which should probably be three bricks high, so that it's a safe fall and still spider proof.

Notes
 * Holes can be built into the bottom blocks of the wall, to enable wolf (and chicken)access. Unfortunately, baby zombies can get in too.
 * This is a fort not a farm. You can add farms if you want, though.
 * If you make your wall spider proof, make sure that you have a lip every second brick to prevent mobs from sneaking up on you/ ambushing you as you leave. Not leaving gaps does have the advantage of making skeletons walk under it, rendering them unable to shoot you from the towers (though they will probably ambush you later).

Extras
 * Add escape tunnels just in case that zombie siege happens.
 * With the use of the zeppelin mod, you can move your base (though this renders escape tunnels obsolete). Make a control tower.
 * A mine
 * Farms (doesn't have to be in the fortress)
 * Snow golem turrets (keep in mind that this won't hurt mobs)
 * Dog-holes (mentioned in "notes")

Glass/Cobble House
A nice looking house that stops all mobs and is somewhat easy to build.

Materials 128 blocks of cobblestone 64 Glass or glass panes 32 wood

Construction Make an outline of your building that is one block high out of cobble. Then make studs with the cobble and the glass/glass panes like this cobbleglasscobble. Then top it off with another layer of cobble. Once that is done use the wood to make a roof and you are set. You can use the roof however you like but make sure to prevent spiders from entering.

Notes
 * This design is very good looking and will repel any mobs
 * To add more layers simply repeat the process.

Villager House
A very standard type of home with many different types.

Materials The amount of materials depend on the type of house you plan to build. All possible materials required are listed below: Cobblestone Wooden Planks Logs Wooden Pressure Plates Wooden Stairs Cobblestone Stairs Stone Slabs Lava Iron Bars Glass Panes Bookshelves Furnaces Crafting Tables Torches Chests

Description These homes depend on what you plan to build. How long they take to build will depend on what you plan to build. These are aesthetically pleasing homes, and don't require too many materials to construct them, depending on what you want of course. Construction See Minecraft Wiki:Projects/Village Blueprints for construction details. Notes
 * These are very intricate, but can be completed within one day provided you have the required materials.
 * If you are in a desert or other area and cannot acquire the regular materials, you can use materials in place of those; e.g. use Spruce logs and planks instead of Oak logs and planks or etcetra.

Tower House
Description

This is a tower that has several floors and isn't that hard to build, but takes a while to make and requires a good deal of materials.

Materials


 * Several stacks of wood


 * A good deal of cobblestone to improve the house's integrity


 * Lots of ladders/stairs

Construction Build a one-block layer of cobblestone or other good flooring material. Make it as big as you want, but smaller is better because it means you won't have to make each floor as big. Next, make four three-high pillars of cobblestone on the corners. Make more pillars if you are paranoid of creepers, but the cobblestone should help absorb the blast in case of creeper attack. Fill in the walls with your wood. If you really want no creepers or have too much cobblestone, use that instead. Fill in the top with wood for a ceiling—two blocks high is nice, use slabs if you really want efficiency. Add windows. Use glass panes or iron bars. Repeat this until you reach your desired height.

Notes

Sneak while you build this! Falling is fatal from the 7th floor or above. The author died once while building the seventh floor.

Jungle trees are quite helpful. You can get nine or ten floors from two trees.

Make a quarry near this, especially if you are using several cobblestone pillars/cobblestone walls. Make it in the basement if you have a small area to build.

Try to keep the size down. 8x8 is a nice size.

Add-ons


 * A quarry in the basement


 * Sniper towers/deck

hard!)
 * A farm (make nearby or in basement, luring pigs up three floors is


 * A wall or moat for the really paranoid people


 * Wall-mounted cannons

Hard
These homes are very complex and some may combine other shelters with large add-ons, making them different shelters like the ones below.

Underground Shelter
Description

These shelters are built entirely underground, usually at a depth of 15-25 blocks under the surface.

Tools
 * One or more pickaxes (preferably stone) and some shovels.

Advantages of Underground Homes

Building an Underground Home has several advantages, especially on SMP.
 * Underground homes with no visible entrances are hard to find on SMP, without knowing the exact coordinates of the place to remove the stone or dirt blocking entrance to your home. This is useful for preventing players from stealing your items on SMP servers.
 * Underground bases do not require much building materials or tools—just a pickaxe and a shovel.
 * While building an underground base, you are likely to come across iron and coal ores, caves, and maybe even dungeons.
 * Underground base owners don't often have to worry about Creepers or Endermen on the surface.
 * Building a mine from an underground home doesn't take nearly as much digging as it would if you were building one from the surface; you may not even need a mine, as you collect minerals while digging out the rooms of a base.
 * Simple underground bases are very easy to build, and making them more complex isn't hard at all. You'll never have to move because of your home being too small or simple.
 * While building an underground base, you don't have to worry about monsters pouring in through openings in your unfinished base, unless you are right over a cavern.
 * Underground farming is easier. No animals will come, no fences are needed.
 * Since there are no animals spawning in caves, making a minecart rollercoaster is much easier than on land (because the animals may get stuck in the minecart or they might get in the way unless you have it in the air.)
 * Due to the time and effort of mining, you will undoubtedly get a large mountain of cobblestone as you dig, potentially being able to turn it into other structures on the surface.
 * You could decide to section off part of a cavern which would considerably reduce mining time!
 * When it becomes night time, you can mine and the monsters won't affect you.

Disadvantages of Underground Homes


 * When building a mine from an underground base, you will be constantly attacked by aggressive mobs, unless you're frequently placing torches or are on peaceful mode.
 * Accidentally hitting a lava lake while building an underground base can wreak havoc upon you. This would not be a problem on a freestanding home.
 * Many griefers target underground homes, especially as they are padded with weak materials. This will leave you susceptible to primed TNT explosions when you enter or exit your house.
 * Building an underground home is harder work than a freestanding home, as the player must remove blocks stopping its path to make more rooms.
 * You must go above ground to find loot from passive mobs (unless you decide to add a Mob farm to your home).
 * Depending on how complex the house is, it's entirely possible to get lost and need the assistance of an emergency exit.
 * Some people have Hacked Clients, they could turn on X-Ray and find your house, however this is less likely than somebody raiding a surface home.

Necessary Materials


 * Torches


 * Ladders

Location

The entrances to this shelter can be anywhere, but in SMP, care should be taken to avoid making your location obvious to griefers or thieves. The top of a mountain, the middle of a desert, or even inside another, well-defended shelter are great locations to place the entrance.

Construction

Dig a 2x1 tunnel downwards, placing ladders on the walls every block, and Torches in small alcoves to the side. Once a suitable depth has been reached (20 blocks is recommended, but anything below 10 is acceptable. If you dig below level 16, the shelter will work as your mine.), hollow out a chamber. The size of this room is a matter of preference, but a 5x5x2 space is ideal. Light this area with torches, and your rudimentary shelter is complete. Add-ons can be expansions to the original chamber or separate "rooms" of their own. Separate some of the rooms with doors so if a monster does get in, you can hide in another room where you can figure out how to deal with the mobs.

This type of shelter can also be easily converted from the player's first shelter, provided it was built in the ground or in the side of a hill or mountain. The player can expand on this shelter, adding extra rooms and increasing the size of the rooms. Extra rooms can include a main hall, kitchen, bedroom and mine.

Extras


 * An escape tunnel - Absolutely necessary, as mobs inside your house will spell doom otherwise.


 * Connection to mine


 * At the base of the ladder, make a pool of water 2 deep so you can just jump down without harm instead of having to go down the ladder.


 * Subway/railway station


 * Farms (Make sure to have plenty of torches)


 * Glass, Ice, or Leaves as a roofing to allow sunlight and know the time of day without a clock. Also lets you know if Mobs await you.

Island Stronghold
Description

A large wall and ceiling over an island for lots of protection against mobs, similar to an Irish crannog.

Necessary Materials

About 100-2000 blocks of any building materials depending on the size of your island.

Location

On a small-medium island.

Construction

Find a decent size island and get lots of stone. Then you build a 6-9 block wall with your stone. When you've done this place torches everywhere over your walls and floor and get rid of them afterwards if you need to build. Next you add your roof and you can live hostile free!

Extras


 * A small tunnel leading to a secondary base.
 * A mine.
 * Obsidian shelter in case that Creeper one day gets you.
 * Extra rooms
 * A walled off passage to the mainland

Underwater Shelter
Description

An underwater base for total protection from creepers and other mobs, along with looking good.

Necessary Materials

Any block; preferably glass.

Some form of light, glowstone, etc. Torches cannot be placed on the sides of glass so be wary when utilizing glass for the walls.

Location

In a deep lake or in the ocean.

Construction

Start by filling the space where you are going to build your house, then dig out the inside,. Next start removing the wall and replacing it with the block of your choice. Then add your ceiling and replace the water on the top.For added ease build your house under water out of wood then cover it with any NON-flammable material. Now dig one block under your house and burn it which will remove all the water You now have a "creeperproof" house. (Unless it blows up the water without being in it, although this has only been proved with TNT.)

Extras


 * An underground base below this base.


 * Glass walls and roofs, as the strength of the blocks doesn't matter.

Freestanding - Hard
Description

The freestanding shelter, just bigger and harder to build and also with extra floors.

Necessary Materials


 * Preferred building material (wooden planks, cobble. About 256-2048 blocks)


 * Log


 * Torches


 * Tools


 * Glass panes and blocks


 * Fences for patio and/or balcony


 * Stairs


 * Ladders (to get up or down your floors)


 * Doors


 * Trapdoors

Location

A large, flat area, with room for expansions, underground or to the side.

Construction

The size of the shelter is up to the player, however the bigger your house is the more room you will have for expansion.

1. Build the foundation of your house one block higher than the ground, so you can make a patio and as an added bonus you don't have to clear out the ground to make a floor.

2. Next, build your walls 5 blocks high so the ceiling isn't too low, and the windows don't look weird. The house will also feel bigger that way.

3. Make the ceiling. This means the inside of the house is currently 4 blocks high.

4. Make any rooms you want (crafting room, brewery, bedroom, etc.)

5. If you don't want a second floor, you're done! If you do want a second floor, continue on. Punch 1x1 hole in your ceiling. Pillar jump up on to your second floor, but as you keep going up and down you will have to destroy your pillar, so ladders are recommended here. For the second floor, repeat step 2, 3 and 4. If wanted, you can make glass skylights for both the roof and the floor of the 2nd level.

6. If you don't want an underground floor, you're done! If you do want an underground floor, continue on. Dig down 5 blocks from your floor. Next, hollow out the area you want to use. Dirt and stone don't really make great decor, so wooden planks is the preferred building material. Hollow out the wall and replace it with the planks. You can make entrances to all your expansions here. You may use ladders or stairs to get down to your underground floor.

7. If you don't want a balcony, you're done! If you do want a balcony, continue on. Go outside your house. Pillar jump to wherever you want to place your balcony. Use cobble or wooden planks. Extend your balcony about 3-5 blocks out. Add a fence and you're done! A nice extra is to put wooden steps and a sign by each side, so it looks like a chair.

Extras


 * Greenhouse made out of glass (consider adding a chest or two for keeping your seeds and tools and a crafting table to make quick bread)


 * Universal underground stopping point for all expansions (passageway to guardtower, entrance to quarry or mine, iron door to emergency bunker, etc.)


 * Craft Room - a room full of crafting tables and furnaces for quick crafting and smelting. Add a chest to store valuable ores and ingots.


 * Emergency bunker - Creeper invading your house? Make an underground shelter made out of obsidian or 3 layers of cobble and an iron door. A bed is a must. A chest full of food, weapons and tools are needed. A workbench and a furnace are useful as well.


 * Indoor fishing pond - Useful source of food if a greenhouse has not been created.


 * Storeroom. A room full of chests to keep less valuable materials (dirt, cobble)


 * Guardtower - Make a tall tower (5x4) and about 30 blocks high to survey the land. Add a chest full of arrows and a bow to 'snipe' some mobs.


 * Escape passage - This is a must! You can also add this to your bunker.


 * Emergency kit - Need to leave quickly? Found a group of zombies in your basement? A chest full of weapons, food, crafting table, furnace and tools is helpful if invaded by an army of monsters.


 * Tree farm. Although time-consuming, an indoor tree farm is very, very, very useful. Note the room will have to be very tall as trees are big. The room will have to be well-lit. Consider adding a chest full of axes and saplings.


 * Skylight. Extra light and looks cool. Why not even make your roof out of glass? No mobs can spawn on it!


 * Tunnel to another base - This is very helpful, if you need to go to another safehouse to collect more resources.

Ravine Shelter
Description A shelter situated in a Ravine. Rooms may either overhang on the side, or occupy the entire ravine. These are easier to build if the opening is close to (if not breaking) the surface, and more difficult if deep underground. Sometimes a ravine may spawn above another ravine, so you can use the lower as your shelter, and upper as your farm(s).

Necessary Materials
 * Torches
 * Ladders
 * Cobblestone
 * Pickaxes (Preferably Iron but Stone will work)
 * Water

Location

In a Ravine

Construction If there is lava on the bottom, freeze it with water. Any water/lava from the sides should be plugged. Make the floor flat, and then light up the ravine with as many torches as you can. Start the walls, and put in the items you want in the rooms (Bedroom, Craft Room, Furnace Room, Store Room, Minecart Room). Rooms should be 3 - 4 blocks high (Or if you're building a staircase, whichever suits the staircase best), and once all rooms are at the preferred height, build the next floor. Repeat until the house has as many rooms as you need. You may want to seal off caves, but you don't have to smoothen the walls. Farms can be easily built on the floor, too.A glass floor would also look interesting.

Extras


 * Surface additions


 * Branch Mine


 * Tunnel


 * Obsidian Generator


 * Cobblestone Generator


 * Hidden Cannons (among walls)


 * Infinite Water and Lava Sources

Castle
Description

A castle capable of keeping out an army of monsters

Necessary Materials

About 1000 blocks of your desired block.

Location

A large flat plains, a man-made flat area, or the world type Super-Flat. If needed use map editors, unless playing survival(legit)

Construction

Take the cobblestone and make a 3 block wide, 1 block long, and 1 block high base. Continue across until the length stretches all across your flat area. Then clear out a 6 block long section for a primary entrance. Make the walls about 20 blocks high and make ladders or stairs leading up. Add an overhang to the walls to keep out spiders. Make shelters and useless buildings inside the walls. Takes about 3-7 nights, depending on size.

Extras
 * Catacombs


 * Castle Forge


 * Castle Home


 * Bed


 * Treasury


 * Castle Mine


 * Cannons to obliterate enemy siege weapons


 * Hidden layer of obsidian inside the walls and towers to resist cannon fire


 * Blocks on outer layer of wall, covering every other slot as a reinforcement from spiders, every five blocks change the material to something else.


 * Huge castle basement.


 * Dungeons for prisoners that you're at war with. You'll need to be an admin to stop them using /spawn or /kill to get out with /spawnpoint command blocks. (In fact, to make it a working escape proof dungeon, you'll need so many command blocks you might as well make it the server jail while you're at it).


 * Castle well


 * Farms


 * Execution block, something that kills you via fall, suffocation or other methods of destruction, to use on people (or villagers) you don't like.

Stronghold
Description

A castle built using a village with enough add-ons to become its own mass shelter. Can house many players and animals.

Necessary Materials


 * Lots of Cobblestone (1000–10,000)


 * Water/Lava


 * Torches


 * Tools

Location

Any area with an NPC Village. The village will be a part of your home; keep that in mind.

Construction

Surround the village with Cobblestone. Be sure to add gate houses so you can enter and leave your stronghold. Optionally, leave room for some more structures in the village. When surrounding the village, create a two layer wall of cobblestone. Make the inner layer one block smaller than the outer layer. This will allow you to snipe mobs outside the castle.

Extras


 * Granary to Store Food


 * Quarry for Materials


 * Armory for Weapons


 * Extensions on NPC Blacksmith for Mass Smelting


 * Modify the NPC Houses with extra furniture, beds, etc.


 * Pistons to hold Water/Lava and release it when necessary


 * Farms (Melons, Wheat, Pumpkins, optionally, potatoes and carrots)

Circle Shelter
Description

A normal, circle shelter.

Necessary Materials

3-6 stacks of building material, such as Wood Planks, Stone, Obsidian, etc. 2 Doors

Location

A flat area that is over 15x15.

Construction

The same process as a freestanding shelter, but with the walls formed in a circle instead of a square.

Extras


 * 3 Floors
 * Floor
 * Kitchen
 * Bedroom
 * Attic
 * Chimney
 * Mine

Nether Shelter
Description

A shelter in the Nether.

Necessary Materials

Lots of cobblestone/obsidian.

Location

Nether, preferably next to your portal

Safe construction

It is recommended to build a small shelter before you start any of your construction area before starting to build your home, to ensure you won't get visited by "unexpected guests". If you build in the open, you can`t do this, but if you can you should.

Nether shelter types


 * 1 - Cave home

Safest, because you build it safely away from Ghasts and you are surrounded by walls. Making a Nether Cave home can prove much easier than building a similar home in the Overworld, because you won`t be attacked by mobs. The only mobs you will meet are zombie pigmen which will not attack without reason. You should still be careful around them, though.


 * 2 - Free-standing

Difficult, as you are going to be attacked by Ghasts. Your walls MUST be made of cobblestone. Be prepared to fight at any time, except on peaceful mode.


 * 3 - Fortress Home

This one is fairly easy - just find a Nether Fortress. Be careful, as fortresses will be hard to traverse. Be sure to clearly mark your designated "home" area, or spread your furniture around the entire building. Ghasts may or may not be a problem, depending on the location. Zombie Pigmen won't be an issue unless you attack them first. Magma Cubes and Blazes will likely not be too much of a threat.

 Windows 

A ghast cannot see you through glass (See: ghast). Thus you can build windows in the Nether as long as you stay inside it is safe, to protect your self and your windows, you might want to use Pistons to put some cobblestone in front of the window, which can be relocated by pressing a button. Allowing yourself to be inside the home safely and have a good view of the nether. And when you go exploring you "close" the window, for in case you get hunted by a ghast.

Extras


 * Tree farm


 * Mushroom farm

Extreme
These shelters offer the most amount of protection. Generally very large and made out of obsidian combined with many add-ons.

Ultimate Siege Fort
Description

This is basically a castle, only much, much bigger. Its walls are lined with obsidian so you don't have to worry about creepers.

Necessary Materials

A lot of cobblestone (About 100,000 to 1,000,000 blocks. So don't try to build this unless you have enough for a lifetime.)

About 1/3 as much obsidian to line the walls

Location

Somewhere very flat (It is recommended to practice this shelter on super-flat on creative mode.)

Construction

To start it should take up an area of at least a 5x5 chunks. Make walls, they should be at least 7 blocks tall and 3 blocks thick, mine out the middle layer and replace it with obsidian and break the top layer (to prevent unwanted tunneling extend the obsidian layer about 15 blocks into the ground). Next make the towers, They should be 50 to 250 blocks tall, They should be hollow but don't forget to line the walls with obsidian. Then make the roof. Remember it should be about 2/5 wider than the circumference of the tower. Add the spikes. If you've done it right then the towers should look like those of one of the castles you would see on TV. That's just about it, you now have your very own ultimate siege fort. You can personalize it in any way you like. Don't forget to light it with torches or glowstone.

Extras


 * TNT cannons on the towers. (IMPORTANT!): If you want this feature only make the towers about 20 blocks tall to avoid the fuse range limit.


 * A Lava moat


 * A draw bridge (if you decide to make a lava moat)


 * Snow golems on the walls as guards. If you are clever and only want to stop players from coming in you could use skeletons instead! Note: Skeletons will despawn after 5 minutes, or after you move a certain amount of chunks away.


 * As an alternative to the above, if you're on an SMP server, you can have real players guard your ultimate siege fort.
 * You could pay real players by granting them weapons, and protection if needed.

Obsidian base
Description

A large house made out of obsidian.

Necessary materials


 * About 1000000 obsidian (don't do this if you don't have enough).


 * 5000 buckets of lava

Location

Forest or Jungle biome so the burning trees will increase the defense. Although, rather obviously, this might also be a bad thing but if you have enough materials for this thing, you should be able to survive.

Construction

Build a large skyscraper about 700x700 blocks wide. Use the leftovers for the walls. Add lava at the walls to kill mobs and to set the trees on fire. Add towers the same as the ones in the ultimate siege fort and add lava to the walls.

Extras


 * A moat of pistons.


 * Extra trees.

Pros


 * Creepers cannot blow up the walls EVER.

Cons


 * Very hard to build.


 * It will take more than 50 days to build


 * It requires lots of obsidian to build.

The Obsidian City
The hardest and most protective shelter in Minecraft.

Description

A city under one gigantic obsidian shelter.

Necessary Materials


 * 10,000,000 blocks of obsidian


 * 100,000 blocks of stone/cobblestone


 * 25,000 blocks of wooden planks (oak or spruce)


 * 5,000 fences/nether brick fence


 * Some redstone (dust, torches, pistons etc.)

Location

If you are able to clear all that land, then build it in a Forest or Tundra biome. Of course, these are only recommendations.

Construction

Mark out a plot of land at least 65x65 chunks. It does not necessarily have to be square. (The one the author built was a dome) Then, raise the walls with obsidian at least 30 blocks. Then, add a roof of obsidian. Now, you can add 5 more layers of obsidian. Once you have got that done, install a 5 block high piston operated door made of obsidian at least 2 blocks thick. Line the inside of the giant obsidian shell with stone and wood. You can build lots of things inside there! Finally, add an obsidian 'fence' about 2 blocks thick around the gigantic structure and put actual fences on top. Make the gate piston operated. Just build whatever you like in there!

Extras


 * A Mansion inside the structure!


 * Lava/Water Moat


 * Secret Entrance


 * Dispenser Turrets


 * TNT Cannons


 * Garden outside the structure, enclosed by the obsidian fence. Adds some happiness to the bleak surroundings.


 * Horse Path

Pros and Cons

Pros


 * Extreme levels of protection


 * Looks good if designed properly


 * If you live in this, you literally have ZERO fear of the outside world.


 * You have lots of space to build inside and what's more, they are protected by 7+ layers of obsidian.

Cons


 * Extremely hard to build


 * Takes a VERY long time to build


 * VERY easily spotted. However, this can also be a good thing as you can make it back to the base easily.

Innovative Dwellings
These types of dwellings are mostly to impress other players, or are amazingly dangerous to live in.

Description

This type of shelter can vary in location and security. For example, an innovative dwelling could be located within a double dungeon (with the spawners still there), built into the bottom of an overhang, or above a lava lake! Innovative dwellings are usually much more difficult to live in and build; however, they work with the map and are great for impressing other players.

Location

The location of this type of shelter can vary drastically, depending on the map, and on the player's preference.

Jungle Treehouse
This type of house is hard to make but almost no mobs can get you. First find a jungle and either pillar up a giant tree or use ladders/vines (recommended.) Once on top of the tree, just make a house. It's an awesome idea to make bridges to other giant trees, to use either as a great lookout point or as extra rooms for your base inside the leaves of the tree. If you're feeling ambitious and have a lot of time, make a huge treetop village and invite your friends!

Dungeons
Dungeon dwellings require very little setup on the part of the player. They are not very big, and there is also the risk of spawned enemies as well as caverns nearby. Many are located deep underground, so they can be relatively difficult to locate and navigate to. Leaving the spawner in for decoration can serve as the player's death sentence. However, advantages of this type of home are little setup, free mob drops (if one decides to set up as a mob trap instead), and in SMP, difficulty by other players attempting to locate the home. A good map to use for this type of shelter is seed: 'Brock Obama' (pre 1.8) as you spawn near a sanded in zombie dungeon with attached alcove.

Overhang Bases
There are 3 types of overhang base. The first is built into the underside of overhangs of mountains. Unfortunately, suitable overhangs and ones located in scenic or easy-to-defend places can be difficult to find. Building is another problem, as you would either have to pillar upwards to excavate the home or enter from the top and use water to build on the underside of the overhang. Sand or gravel is recommended, as removing pillars made out of these materials is much easier and can be done directly from the ground. The third is to find a wall (a ravine, maybe?) and make there your base as overhang. As difficult as this setup may be, one can use this type of base as a stealthy reconnaissance outpost, by dropping lava, arrows or even TNT on unsuspecting players or just for viewing epic scenery. The second is built by making walls that go from the ground to the top of the overhang. You can put in many floors and have tons of stuff. You can also connect it to a hollowed out mountain for even more space.

Future/Modern Water Homes
This is regular on creative but is actually one of the BEST homes in survival...It looks nice and can be a dome if you are skilled it contains a lot of decoration and space...this is a modular home as well so can expand well. You must make sure to use the base of the dome or cylinder as a walling material and this must be 4-6 blocks high as your lower floor remember to try to sink it into the ground and maybe connect it to a cave for a tunnel/mine...Then make a walkway with a small hole in middle to have as a second floor viewing the water wonders...you can add pistons to part of the lower floor where its above the ground to exit and do fighting in the water or underwater mining...it also creates lots of clay for you to use and is virtually fully mobproof...mobs swim so will not be able to attack you and water protects from creepers Time to make: Medium dome 2–5 days,large dome 4–7 days, Super sized dome 2 weeks,Corridors (40 block long) 2–3 days

Lava Forts
These are arguably one of the most difficult bases to build, not only because above ground lakes tend to burn wooden homes down, needing a lot of lava as well as the fact that returning home with a stash of diamonds could quite possibly be more risky than hugging a creeper on Hard difficulty. As the player must use nonflammable materials, such as cobblestone, players may not like how the home would look. On the other hand, the lava can protect against all types of mobs, allow animal spawns and is relatively easy to spot from a distance during the nighttime from a high perch.

Mountain Bases
These bases are some of the toughest to build because they are basically on top of a mountain. You're probably thinking, "That's easy to build", but it isn't, because it requires a mountain range or at least two mountains. The idea is you link the two mountains together with 10 block wide bridge, and rooms inside the bridge. That's only the start, to make a proper base you could add floating island around the base and make it better to look at. It's one of the toughest because it requires a lot of stone - and I mean a lot: the one I have built required nearly over 2000 stone and I am still making it bigger, but the only problem is most mountains are on flat lands, so it's very difficult to get wood. I suggest you get 200 saplings and plant them around your base as well as in it. When all this is done it will look amazing and easy to protect from mobs because they fall off the edge of the mountain and plummet to their death, but it will take time to build, it takes a lot longer to build than a Lava Fort. But there is an easy way. If you clear the top of the mountain and make it flat it will be easier and you can just build a simple house. Of course, this is less safe.

Sub-Terranean Stronghold
This type of base is very hard to conquer. One first has to find a Stronghold in their world (a difficult task as it is), light up the entire structure, patch any holes made by caves, and then make a safe entrance from the surface. You can also use a cave entrance, but this makes it harder to find when coming home after a long day of exploring. You also must be wary of silverfish, and be careful not to break any walls. However, once you do conquer the entire Stronghold, nothing can get to you. The main thing to be wary of are creepers waiting outside your exit, wanting to kill you as you foolishly walk up and out.

Extras


 * Windows by your exit are very good to have, to stop the above mentioned creeper attacks.


 * A mushroom, wheat, sugarcane, melon, or pumpkin farms for food and miscellaneous items.


 * Escape tunnels are must haves, to get away from anything that could spawn in that dark corner you missed lighting up.


 * You can also add a tree farm. This will take quite some time, but you will not really need to go above ground a lot.

Obsidian Fortress
This will be a home where you shall never fear external damage. A griefer will never block the entrance with obsidian because the whole house is made of it. Best of all, it will be hidden with 2-4 layers of dirt and stone to cover it. This home will require huge amounts of time,space,materials, and hard work. But in the end, you will have everything you'll have ever wanted.


 * x#x# is length, width, and height.

The layout is quite symmetrical except for the entrance. You should find a big hill or mountain to place the entrance. The actual entrance will a 2x1x2 square of stone that will open when the two sideways sticky pistons on either side revert to their normal position. The doors should open on both sides but the outside switch will be in a 6x1x6 hollow space surrounded by dirt that you will dig through. You then build a 6x25x6 hallway entirely out of obsidian. It should be lit by a torch once every other block on both sides. This will lead to the grand entrance. At the end of the hallway, build an 8x1x8 rim on the blocks in front of where the hallway ended. This will create a big lip around the hallway. Continue building these rims until you finish the 14x1x14 rim. You then pick a corner of the 14x1x14 rim and build another identical rim including the corner of the original 14x1x14 rim. You then build the smaller interior rims just like you did with the first hallway. You'll be going backwards though so instead of going 8x1x8,10x1x10, etc., you'll be going 12x1x12,10x1x10,etc. until you finish the 6x1x6 rim. Repeat for other two passage entrances until the result is a big square with symmetrical entrances on each side. Put a roof on the big square that is horizontal, not something that sticks out.


 * The result of all 6x(#)x6 walls is a 4x(#)x4 space.

For the remaining entrances, build a 6x2x1 floor one block lower than the original floor. Make sure it lines up with the inner 6x1x6 rim. This will be the first of 25 "steps". The ceiling will also be one block lower than the top layer of the rim as well. The ceiling copies the floor, just 6 blocks higher. Make sure walls match the rim as well. Once the 25 steps are finished, repeat at other passageways.

After finishing the stairways, decide what each one leads to. In the main chamber, find the center and make a 4x4x1 square. Make a hole to bedrock with TNT and build whatever you want down there. If safe way down there is not built, please put signs warning yourself and others to not jump in the hole.

Add-ons Projects Under Fortress
 * Living Quarters (preferably tunnel opposite the main entrance)
 * Subway Station
 * Farm
 * Prison
 * Village
 * City
 * Research Laboratory
 * Lake
 * Tunnel to Ocean

Materials
 * At least 1,500 blocks of obsidian
 * At least 200 blocks of TNT
 * 4,000-6,000 blocks of dirt and stone
 * Any needed to keep you alive!

Self-building house
This is a house that will build itself perpetually. It will rebuild itself after creeper attacks if the redstone circuits and pistons arent destroyed. It's a good idea to make the entrance come from underground because doors are hard to keep permanent.

Use an auto cobblestone generator (those aboveground ones that are piston powered). Next make a floating structure for your ceiling. (the outermost block must be obsidian so you have an obsidian rim). Next put upwards pistons on the ground under the obsidian rim. The cobblestone generator should push cobblestone onto the pistons. At the corners, you can either put a piston facing the next side, or another generator. On the area surrounding the wall, you will need a perpetual redstone circuit going to each piston. If the repeaters have the right delay, they should build your house.

Skyscraper
Building up has a number of significant advantages: A skyscraper house can be seen from a long way away, provided it is tall enough. Of course, this can be a mixed blessing in multiplayer, the bad side being griefers can also see it easily. In singleplayer mode, it can serve as a spacious establishment. Besides countless rooms for storage, cobblestone generation (of course if you do build something this big, you should have a lot of cobblestone), smelting, and such, it allows you to stack up farms in a small area, so that all of them will be within chunk update range any time you're home. You can also use the roof, perhaps as a garden, or tree farm. (A sufficiently large building can have the tree farm inside.) You can also dig a quarry underneath your skyscraper to replenish iron, coal, etc.

Mini-Great Wall of China( Or Britain, America, etc.)
Even more pointless than a skyscraper but, in SMP, it will be ridiculously hard for griefers to destroy it whole, and also ridiculously hard to recover after griefer or creeper attacks. Like in real life and for safety, build it in extreme hills. First make a 6x6 tower,then continue on the wall. Every 200 blocks, another tower must be built. You can even use the same technique used in the self building/rebuilding house to make it even harder to fully destroy! Build until it covers nearly the entire biome if you wish!

Forts/Walls
These are often just normal on-ground homes with walls around them.

Description

These shelters offer far higher protection, and if there are no dark places on the walls or inside, then you can roam freely at night without fear of mobs(as long as you are inside the walls), offer a place to attack from, and allows you to build at night.

Location Large flat area

Materials
 * A normal freestanding home.

Construction First pick a perimeter for the wall so you will have space to build in later on, then build a 1 block high wall there. After that keep making it higher and higher until you have the desired height. Then you will build a lip that is at least 1 block over on the top of the wall to prevent spiders and Spider Jockeys from climbing over.
 * As many blocks as you need (Cobblestone is suggested)to at least build a 4 block high wall around your home (preferably higher) and a lip on the edge (optional, but recommended).

Extras


 * Towers can be included on the sides to make it look better and give a better point to attack from.


 * A larger lip can be used to give a better point to attack from.


 * Windows can be added to allow you to see outside.


 * A ditch can be added to trap mobs, kill mobs with lava, or transport them to a lava pit. Edit: With improved mob AI,this is most likely impossible for the fact mobs wont just walk into lava.


 * Walls can be made thicker to resist explosions (not needed if the wall is made of Obsidian or Bedrock).


 * By building by the sea, part of the wall may not be needed.

Ports/Harbors
These are quite obvious additions if you are by the sea, and can be quite useful if you happen to have many bases and mines offshore.

Description

These are built next to water, by a natural sea or possibly a man-made channel, and allow the usage of boats to travel in and out of your base.

Location

Virtually anywhere there is water, most usefully if next to a sea.

Materials


 * Water(If an artificial inlet is to be constructed)


 * Any material,amount dependent on size of the docks


 * Slabs (for landing boats on without destroying them)


 * Doors(Optional, but very highly recommended to stop your boats from floating away)


 * Chests(Optional,used to store materials for voyages and spare boats)

Construction

First, pick a suitable area on the sea or dig a trench you can sail through and flood it. Once you have a waterfront ready, build as many units for boats as you wish. These are generally 2x2 squares that can be dug into land or built into the water, and usually have a double door at the front to stop boats from drifting out to sea. Place boats in each of these and make sure you can sail in and out easily. Place wool or stairs at the opposite side of the doors to stop high-speed boats from shattering when they hit the wall. Add storage, dispensers, or anything else you want.

Extras


 * You can build a redstone wire connected to a music block to be alerted whenever something is coming.


 * Dispensers can be built for boats instead of placing them in storage.


 * Towers can also be built instead as a lookout post.


 * Walls can be built on the sea with iron doors in the water to keep unwanted guests from getting into your harbor.


 * You can have several different sets of docks in a concentrated area, with buildings for whatever purposes in-between, to build an entire large-scale base around the harbor.

Railway System
This is useful if you have several mines, bases, or other places of interest that are too far away to walk to from your shelter.

Description

These are built when you've got plenty of resources and you have need of getting somewhere regularly that is at least a few hundred meters away, or you simply don't have the patience to walk there and back.

Materials


 * 4-30 stacks of rail


 * 6 powered rails


 * A couple of water timers (see here), although other timers do work.


 * 2 redstone torches


 * 2 track switches


 * A mine cart (if it's powered it will simplify the making of the stations).

Construction

First, build a booster with three powered rails(for more information, see here). Connect the T switch to the booster and make a water timer. Wire it up to the track switch. When you enter you press a button to activate the timer. You may want to activate the button when you get in and add a wire to the powering torch. Now make your track and repeat at the other end. If you have 400 meter track, you'll want a 12 second booster. You may want to build the majority of the track a few blocks above the ground and have heavily guarded stations to avoid mobs (particularly creepers) damaging it. With this track you'll go 8 meters/second (or 11.3 meters/second if your going diagonally), which, depending on the terrain you're traveling through, will make your journey 50-80% shorter.

Extras


 * Multiple stations allowing you to have more than two potential destinations.


 * Alarms allowing you to perform an emergency launch or ready your weapons.


 * Some powered minecarts (with enough fuel for the journey) to serve as engines for storage minecarts, to carry chests filled with loot to a safe place (i.e., your base).


 * A system to remotely control all the stations you have built using levers and redstone wire, allowing you to make a cart go past a station without stopping (useful with powered minecarts as you don't need to start them again after they reach a station).


 * A back-up in case creepers or other players destroy it.


 * Stations that are effectively fortresses to be sure you're system is safe.


 * An emergency armory in case your station has some unknown flaw and you don't or can't carry around arms and armor.


 * Towers to snipe from (with ample arrow supply) or to make sure you can find the nearest station if you've gone exploring and you want to go home (or to a mine, library, NPC village etc.).


 * A bed in your stations if you intend to take a prolonged visit to a point of interest.


 * Automated turrets (TNT cannons or golems) in case mobs attack when you are not in the area.


 * A bunker with rations including a few pieces of steak, a farm, crafting facilities and an escape tunnel (useless if you have very well defended stations and not particularly useful if you have an alarm as you can perform an emergency launch, but if you are short on resources (while the railway itself is really to be made when you have plenty of resources you may not actually have that many resources) these have use).

Stable and Horse Path
With the new horses added in 1.6, there is now a faster alternative to walking!

Description

It's basically a house for your horses and a path for them to follow!

Materials


 * Cobblestone or wood
 * Fences and Gates
 * Gravel for the path. (any other material will do, gravel is just a recommendation)

Construction

First, build a wooden or cobblestone 'hut' with a gate for the horses. Make it at least 8x5. Next make a path to whatever destination. Make it at least 2 blocks wide and light it! Once you get the horses, you can virtually ride wherever you want!

Extras


 * Upgrade the stable, make it bigger
 * Piston operated entrance/exit
 * Make it a Horse Shop! (SMP)
 * Feeding area with golden apples and bails of hay

Anleitungen/Unterstände Tutoriels/Types d'abri 教程/房屋类型