Have you decided to start building stuff in Minecraft, but are unsure what’s required or how to do so? Don’t fret—we’ll explain everything. Six-sided blocks, combined into chunks stacked next to each other in all directions make up the enormous world in the game. Therefore, placing and removing blocks (and portions of blocks shaped as various items) represents the foundation. With the basics in mind, all that’s left is to collect or add the required items, then place them as you see fit. Whether they will be random and mediocre or resemble an artistic, remarkably detailed shape is where ingenuity, talent, and dedication come into play. Thus, let’s get into how to build things in Minecraft.
1. Pick out a suitable building site in Minecraft
Though this seems a spur-of-the-moment decision, choosing an adequate building site will save you so much time and effort. There’s nothing worse than having to level mountains and close rivers to expand your creation and trust us, you’ll rarely run out of ideas once you start. Additionally, not having to destroy it and rebuild it at a different location will save you a lot of work and time waste. Therefore, try to imagine where the thing you’d like to build would fit best, and give it space for expansion.
2. Gather the necessary materials
Now for the biggest issue—choosing what to build in Minecraft. Even if you know the shape you’re going for, such as a house, mansion, castle, farm, maze, boat, railway, or a massive statue, there are a lot of options. You can use cobblestone or dirt, but we advise against it. Consider rarer or unusual materials such as sand, wool, coral, cactus, clay, glass, stained glass, copper, hyphae, granite, calcite, quartz, ice, or a variety of available wood planks.
You can then craft slabs, i.e., half-blocks that follow that color and texture pattern to make designs unique and add doors. Also plan on adding doors and windows, and think whether you’d like a static design or a dynamic one, through pressure plates, redstone, repeaters, command blocks, and so on. Moreover, learn the properties of some materials. For instance, sand and gravel fall with gravity, so they must be on solid ground. Dirt and sand are easy for hostile mobs to break through, too. Although this is not a concern in Creative Mode, make sure to collect enough materials before you begin in Survival Mode. Also, note that the maximum for stackable items is 64.
3. Prepare the Minecraft tools you need
With mandatory materials in your inventory and hotbar, it’s time to plan the tools you will require. A standard set includes a shovel and a pickaxe, so you can dig out dirt and stone, respectively. Ideally, get at least two of each, as the durability depletes the more you use them. Consider using Minecraft enchants and check our guide on how to repair a bow in Minecraft. That’s because the durability of other tools can be restored in the same fashion. We also propose bringing a sword, if you get caught during sunset and nightfall (check our “how long is a Minecraft day” article to plan your digging activities otherwise). That will protect you from dying to hostile mobs of the night and losing all your items.
4. Start placing and removing blocks to build things in Minecraft
Now for the key activity that all building boils down to—placing a block where your crosshair points. Placing a block where the cursor is in Minecraft, usually in front or below the player, works like this:
- Move the desired block or slab to a slot in your hotbar.
- Navigate to the block so that it’s highlighted in the hotbar and appears in your hands.
- Now, depending on the platform, do the following:
- For Windows 10 Bedrock Edition, Education Edition, and Java Edition for PC and Mac — Press the right-click of your computer mouse.
- On Pocket Edition (PE) — Tap the block in the hotbar to make it appear in front of you.
- For Xbox — Press the LT button on your controller.
- On PlayStation — Use the L2 button of your controller.
- On Nintendo Switch and Wii U — Press the ZL button on the gamepad/controller.
If you did everything right, a block will appear at the crosshair. Note that you must be pointing at an existing block and a solid one. Water, air, lava, and many “dynamic” blocks do not count. If you want to keep rising, climb the block, then jump and place a block underneath you. Plan for a way to descend if you go too high. Placing water at least one block deep around the foundation is often a great way to avoid taking fall damage, no matter the height.
Using building mods (Alternative)
Are you playing in single-player or as an administrator on your server? If so, consider installing a building mod such as WorldEdit for Minecraft. That’s a popular example of a mod we are unaffiliated with. These let you place predetermined shapes such as rectangular, circular, ellipse, and other shapes. You will need to see Minecraft coordinates, then use items they provide to mark starting and ending points. For instance, a diagonal for a rectangle, radius, or diameter for a circle, and pick the remaining coordinate for 3D objects.
The tool can automatically generate blocks you choose between those coordinates in desired shapes. This will save you tons of building work, yet produce ideal results. That’s crucial for gigantic structures such as skyscrapers, bridges, castles, and so on.
5. Hide your creation or protect it from griefing (Optional)
It’s remarkable that, after a lot of effort, you learned to build things in Minecraft. However, you must keep them protected, especially in Survival Mode. Some users hide them inside “natural” things such as mountains, hills, and gargantuan trees. Though it may be too late for the ones you made already, consider hiding the things near bedrock level, below bodies of water, or high in the air.
Note that WorldEdit lets you set coordinates for a rectangular cuboid, and copy all blocks inside it. To clarify, you can duplicate your masterpiece and paste it anywhere you want, including multiple times. Note that many servers have griefing protection. That means only you can build and destroy blocks in a certain zone, usually what you define as “home”.