Selecting the best Minecraft build ideas to stock your inspirational cupboards? Nobody gets their Minecraft architecture projects Frank Lloyd Wright from the start—we all need to practice, research, and experiment to develop our style. We’ve gathered up building tips and tutorials covering a variety of styles of Minecraft builds, all to help keep your inspirational double chests overflowing.
If you've already nailed down a specific type of build but need even more inspiration, try out our Minecraft house ideas, or for the more cozy check out some Minecraft cabin ideas. If you're thinking on a grander scale, try out one of our Minecraft castle ideas or these majestic Minecraft mansions.
Underground base
Underground base ideas
Do you crave the depths like the dwarves of old? Do you want to repurpose your existing mine into something a bit more luxurious and a bit less dusty? An underground base is a classic Minecraft build, and with just a few touches you can whip up your very own modern style sunken base, or fantasy fortress.
Going underground is a great pick for someone looking for security, safety, and something stealthy. It’s easy to be covert when your build ideas start at sea level and go down from there—so don’t overlook them if you want to hide your hard earned resources away from prying eyes.
Tips for underground bases
- Plan carefully, because every block of space your build occupies is twice the work, since you have to dig it out too.
- Make sure to fill in or light up any pockets behind your walls that you leave behind so that mobs don't start spawning into them and surprising you during renovations—or just haunting you with creepy sounds.
- Crops can be grown underground just fine as long as you have adequate light sources (9 or above), and in fact with artificial light like torches they’ll grow at night as well.
- You can use glass blocks and shafts leading to the surface to give yourself natural lighting during the day, even deep underground.
- If you’re trying to stay hidden in a multiplayer server, an underground base is the perfect choice for a hidden door or hidden staircase entrance using redstone.
Underwater base
Underwater base ideas
Whether you’re still getting your sea legs or you’re practically a glow squid, building an underwater base can help you hide in plain sight just like an underground one, or you can leverage it to show off the ultimate in build opulence. From sprawling complexes and glass domes to cozy ocean cabins with the ultimate in aquariums, there are countless ways to block up your new hangout.
In contrast, actually building your new underwater base can be a whale of a task if you’re not forewarned and forearmed with knowledge. Get your build prepared and gather together your sponges—it’s time to dive into underwater bases.
Tips for underwater bases
- It’s a good idea to build a surface platform for storing your build resources—even if you plan to remove it before you’re done.
- As of Java 1.20, you can utilize doors to breathe underwater: just place them on the seabed and then open the door and it will provide a 1x2 pocket of air you can swim into.
- Make sure to take advantage of the properties of Soul Sand and Magma. Magma will pull you downward through the water, while Soul Sand creates columns of bubbles that propel you upwards (and restore your oxygen).
- For exterior lighting, you can use glowstone blocks, sea lanterns, or jack o' lanterns depending on what look you prefer.
- Sand and gravel are invaluable for clearing large underwater areas, as you can drop them from above to clear water out.
Lighthouse
Lighthouse ideas
While there aren’t any ships to ward off the rocks of your Minecraft beaches, lighthouses provide both an incredible aesthetic and a guiding beacon for those of us who tend to get lost in our own worlds. If you’ve ever made a dirt pole with torches on the top to help locate your home base from afar, you’ve already taken your first steps towards lighthouse construction mastery, so why not make a proper one with its own suite of details and maybe an attached living space?
Plus, if you leave space for it, a lighthouse makes an excellent launching point for future elytra-based travel, putting you a head above the trees and any other obstructions you might waywardly crash into.
Tips for lighthouses
- Don’t feel beholden to the traditional lighthouse colors—you can easily swap red and white for other colors to better match your other builds, or just stand out from the crowd.
- Be careful how you choose your light. If you have fire spread turned on, a gorgeous lighthouse with lit netherrack on top can quickly become an inferno.
- If you’d like more of a medieval style, consider your build as more of a ‘signal fire’ a la the beacons of Gondor from Lord of the Rings. You can even use a series of these structures to mark the path to your base on a larger world.
- If you want your lighthouse visible at a distance, make sure you take advantage of natural hills and cliffs—especially important if there are a lot of trees around.
- There’s a ton of iconic lighthouses out there for inspiration, my personal favorite is the Point Betsie Lighthouse, but there are tons of examples from traditional to weird.
Statues
Statue ideas
There’s no bigger flex than a monument that reaches to the sky, and the best statues make excellent centerpieces for your finest builds. Whether you want a giant version of your favorite Minecraft mob, a way to mark the path to your settlements, or just a trojan horse to hide your valuables inside—there’s nothing as stylish as a proper statue.
There’s a particular skill to building statues both tiny and enormous, so be sure to check out lots of examples to find the best fit for the space you have to work with. After all, a towering behemoth of a monument can overshadow the rest of your work just as much as an underwhelming little statue can look out of place next to the grandest Minecraft castle.
Tips for statues
- If you’re really looking to show off, you can just convert some of the blocks in your statue plans to expensive and flashy ones—like emerald or gold.
- Don’t shy away from using color gradients. Things like andesite can be valuable to add texture for stone statues, just like deepslate can work with blackstone, and so on.
- If you’re looking for more of a mural, you can convert images into 2D build plans using one of the many Minecraft image converters available online.
- For more complicated builds, consider breaking down your build into layers, so you can avoid mistakes you only discover far later.
