Desert pyramid



Desert Temples (also known as Pyramids) are structures primarily made up of Sandstone that occur naturally in deserts. Most of the time, they generate at ground level. However, they will sometimes generate partially buried in sand.

Appearance
Temples mostly consist of Wool, Sandstone, Chiseled Sandstone, Smooth Sandstone and Sandstone Stairs. In the middle of the temple is a block of blue wool. Underneath this blue wool is a 'secret' chamber with 4 chests which contain very valuable loot and a stone pressure plate connected to a 3x3 grid of TNT. Some treasures found in temples include Emeralds (rare), Diamonds, Iron Ingots, Gold Ingots, Rotten Flesh and Bones.

Strategy
The desert temple is now the most valuable structure the game generates, as each temple contains 4 chests with highly valuable items. The colored wool, and 9 blocks of TNT in the trap are also fairly worthwhile loot.

When attempting to access the chests, the player must take care not to step on the Pressure Plate at the bottom of the pit. Just below the sandstone is 9 blocks of TNT - Touching the Pressure Plate will activate the TNT, killing the player unless properly protected, and destroying all four of the chests, including their loot. It is ill-advised to enter the treasure chamber by breaking the blue wool, or any of the eight surrounding blocks. Instead it is best to dig down to the side, and then break the pressure plate when it comes into reach. Luckily the plate is stone, and will not be triggered by falling items, but be careful not to attract a mob down the hole (unless you have already removed the treasure).

An alternative method for retrieving the loot safely uses a bucket of water. By breaking one of the orange wool blocks immediately around the blue wool block and placing water in its place, the player can swim down and break the pressure plate with relative safety. This has the added bonus of leaving the temple more intact, so it can be used as a base or the trap can be reset for an unsuspecting passerby in SMP.

Bugs

 * As there is no light in the lower chamber, mobs can spawn inside and trigger the TNT trap, destroying the chests and loot before any player can reach it.
 * In the towers, there are Sandstone Stairs under a Sandstone Slab, where there should be a Sandstone block.
 * The first floor of the temples does not generate symmetrically - The left side of the wall is closer to the center of the temple than the right side.

Trivia

 * The orange symbols found resembles the symbol for the Ancient Egyptian House of Life, an Ankh , or a Tyet.
 * Rotten Flesh is a common item found in chests within temples, it may be suggested these are the remains of the previous occupants.
 * A temple is currently constructed from:
 * 3,078 Sandstone blocks
 * 184 Smooth Sandstone blocks
 * 39 Chiseled Sandstone blocks
 * 16 Sandstone Stairs
 * 2 Sandstone Slabs
 * 34 blocks of Orange Wool
 * 1 block of Blue Wool
 * 9 TNT blocks
 * 4 Chests
 * 1 Stone Pressure Plate
 * For a short time in Infdev, huge, solid brick pyramids could be spawned.
 * Desert Temples are the first generated structures in Minecraft to use Redstone.