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Minecraft can be a little intimidating–an endless, procedurally generated world where creepers await around every corner, and it’s easy to get lost because you can’t remember if the Taiga biome you’re lost in is the same one you’d been lost in before. Part of the fun of Minecraft, though, is turning that cold, empty space into your place–somewhere memorable and warm. Below, we detail five essential tips to help you establish a home in Minecraft.
Take Your Time Finding A Permanent Place
There are dozens of biomes in Minecraft, and each one has its appeal and rarity. The openness of the deserts and plains is balanced by the comparative scarcity of building materials; the lush density of a jungle or dark oak forest makes it easy to get lost, but you’ll have enough wood at your disposal to build a city.
At the same time, if you wait to find something like the super-rare Eroded Badlands biome, you might be holding your breath for a long time.
Build High And Wide
Unlike in real life, there are no property taxes or mortgages in Minecraft, unless you roleplay on a really weird server. You can build wherever you want, and the only limit on how much space you take up is you.
Keep your bearings by building tall. Go above the tree line, higher than the nearest mountains. The last thing you want to be saying to yourself after spending hours building a place is: “I thought my house was over here….” Building tall structures will make it that much easier to find your spot again once you’re out exploring.
By the same token, don’t hesitate to build wide. It’s easy to want to put everything in one room so that it’s all close together and easy to get to, but just like in real life, having dedicated spaces for different things can lend them significance and ensure that you’re not looking at the same places all the time. Variety is the spice of life, and that’s no different here. There’s no reason you can’t have a storehouse of chests separate from your workshop full of various crafting tables.
Lighting The Place Up
While the 1.18 update promises to overhaul lighting in Minecraft in some pretty significant ways, for the time being, there’s no such thing as too much light. In the beginning, you’ll want to use torches, but as you dig in, lanterns will help make your home look less like a makeshift shelter and more like a place you want to stay.
With the current version of Minecraft, you really can’t overdo it with lighting. Make sure to light up every nook and cranny. This is crucial for preventing monster spawns in large places.
Aesthetics Matter! Don’t Build A Cube!
This tip goes back to the idea that you’ll be using this place for a long time. Don’t just make it passably functional; put in the work of making it look awesome.
Not everyone has an architect’s vision, though. If your first instinct is to make a cube out of cobblestone, it’s time to hit up Google, Pinterest (yeah, I know), and YouTube.
Start from a theme: Epic treehouse, mountain chateau, desert castle, vaporwave mansion. Look for real-world examples to take inspiration from and try to bring those to life. If you want a bit more guidance, start looking for tutorials on YouTube. All you have to do is punch in “cool Minecraft house” and start scrolling for limitless videos to pull from, whether it’s how to make an aesthetically pleasing path or to make a roof that does more than keep out mobs.
The more you build, the more you’ll learn, and the more ideas of your own you’ll get. At the same time, don’t feel beholden to a given theme. And never stop experimenting.
Choose The Right Materials
With all that said, there’s more to consider than aesthetics! Choosing the right materials will help you build a sturdier home. For example, dirt is a great starting material because it’s plentiful and easy to collect, but it’s a pretty weak material that won’t stand up to a creeper explosion; the Minecraft wiki rates Dirt as having a hardness of 0.5, while Creeper explosions have a power of 3.
One of the newest materials to be added to Minecraft, Deepslate, has a base hardness of 3, while “worked” Deepslate, such as Deepslate Bricks, has a hardness of 3.5, enough to withstand a blast like that. Moreover, once you start mining deeper into the Overworld, Deepslate becomes pretty plentiful.
Wood is a good-looking, common material that’s fairly durable with a hardness of 1.5, but it’s important to remember that it can catch fire. So if you’re building near lava or want to put a lava trash bin in your home, it’s vital to ensure that it’s well-insulated from any wood in your home, or you could see the whole thing go up in flames.
