20 best things to build in Minecraft

Minecraft has maintained its spot as one of the most popular games in the market for good reason. Its robust survival and creative modes keep players coming back for more, as almost any project is possible to complete. 

The survival mode puts players in real danger as they deal with enemies and their hunger bar, adding a fun dynamic to the gameplay. There are several projects that can significantly improve your survival experience, ranging from building projects to aesthetic tasks.

Here are the best things to build in Minecraft Survival. 

House

A house or base should be your first project in any Minecraft survival world. A safe place to rest and store your items is essential, especially before nightfall. 

Houses come in many shapes and sizes, and you can customize your living space to match your playstyle and goals. But make sure you build an enclosed area to keep out mobs. 

The best thing about Minecraft is that you can always change your house as needed, so don’t feel pressured to build a perfect space immediately. Let your house or base grow as you collect resources and explore the world. 

Storage Room

Minecraft is full of items that will clog up your inventory space if you’re not careful. Most of these items are needed in crafting recipes, so keeping them organized and available is important. 

Each player should have a dedicated storage room where all their items are collected and sorted. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but having a rough idea of where to find specific ingredients can save a lot of time. 

One of the easiest ways to sort a storage room is by placing an item in a picture frame above a chest to let you know what’s inside. Experiment with different organizational methods to find what works best for you. 

Library

A library in Minecraft allows players to enchant their items with powerful effects that can significantly impact gameplay. An enchanting table must be surrounded by bookshelves for maximum enchantments to be possible, so having a dedicated library is helpful. 

The library should have at least one enchanting table surrounded by books. The rest of the room or building can be customized to your liking. Adding extra storage for books, pages, and other ingredients needed for enchantments is a good idea. Leaning into roleplaying and creating a beautiful library is also an excellent choice. 

Brewing Room

Potions are another critical part of the Minecraft experience, especially if fighting other players. But they are also crucial in solo survival worlds to keep you alive in sticky situations. 

A Brewing Stand is required to make potions, alongside dozens of ingredients that are needed for the various brews. Having all these items in one central location is the best way to make a consistent flow of potions without wasting time.

You can technically place a Brewing Stand anywhere in Minecraft, but having a dedicated room or building can make it easier to create potions without clutter. 

Kitchen 

Hunger is a significant issue in Minecraft survival if you don’t keep a stock of food on hand. It’s important to have a place to store and create these items, especially when making items with multiple ingredients. 

A kitchen with smokers, smelters, and chests can make cooking and organizing food easier without running around your base. Once you have a dedicated farm with crops and animals, you’ll quickly develop a surplus of edible items. Use this area to craft better dishes and to keep your food supply organized and separate from your other items. 

Mineshaft

Mining is easily one of the most important things in Minecraft if you want to consistently improve or craft better gear and items. You can dig straight into the ground to start collecting ore and other raw materials, but a dedicated mineshaft can make it a safer and easier process. 

One of the best ways to build a mineshaft is by building a stairway to bedrock before digging in a straight line in either direction at different levels. Mining deeper in the ground makes it easier to find rare ores like diamonds and emeralds, but you’ll also encounter deadly enemies and areas. 

You can also secure your shaft with a door at the top to ensure no mobs follow you to the surface after your adventure. 

Smelting Room

A smelting room provides the same benefits as a kitchen: a place to store and smelt all of your ores and related materials. A smelting room should have plenty of smelters and blast furnaces to quickly process items brought back from mining trips. Several chests should also be placed here for quick storage. 

Several materials can be smelted to produce unique items that are excellent for building. Having a smelting room that is consistently cooking these items can save time and keep all needed materials in a central location. 

Farm

Food is an essential resource in Minecraft survival. Letting your hunger bar reach zero will result in your player starving and to start losing health. Thankfully, securing a constant supply of food is simple with a farm. 

Players should gather plantable crops like wheat, potatoes, carrots, and melons as soon as possible. After a few successful harvests, you should have plenty of seeds and items to expand your farm. 

Having a dedicated plot for each growable crop will keep the flow of food coming, which can be cooked or combined into other dishes for better effects. Make sure your farm is an enclosed area to prevent mobs from destroying your precious crops. 

Stable

Horses are one of the best ways to quickly travel around the world when exploring or scouting new areas. Having multiple horses is a good idea, especially if you plan on breeding them in the future.

A dedicated stable is one of the easiest ways to keep large animals in one protected area. You can also keep chests here with saddles, carrots, and other horse-related items to ensure you have them on hand when leaving your base.

Losing a good horse is never fun, so make sure to build a Stable to keep your four-legged friends safe. 

Animal Pens

While many of the animals are cute, they’re also an excellent source of food. Building animal pens makes it easier to breed and contain them as needed.

It’s good practice to build pens for each type of animal to make it easier to get the right meat or material when needed. It also makes it easier to breed animals as you can rapidly click on them without worrying about clicking on another type of animal. 

Ensure your animal pens are close to your base but far enough not to hear the animal noises constantly. Dozens of cows mooing at once can be loud, especially when it’s in the heart of your base. 

Base Protection

There are dozens of ways to protect your base in Minecraft. You can build an army of golems to keep mobs at bay or plant a wall of cactus around your walls to stop them in your tracks. Regardless of your chosen method, having some sort of protection is important. 

Another simple way to protect your base is with walls or fences to keep mobs out. You’ll also need a well-lit base to prevent mobs from spawning in your safe area, which is easy to do with torches or lanterns. 

Using the terrain as protection is also an excellent choice. Underwater and mountaintop bases are challenging to build but can be safe choices in the long run. 

Secret Base

A secret base is a fun and safe way to have a hideout where you can store all of your valuable items. A secret base can be in a different location or in a well-hidden area of your main base. 

Part of the fun of a secret base is building in an inconspicuous area that most players wouldn’t consider checking. This could be deep in the ground beneath your house or in the center of a mountain that is only accessible through a secret entrance. 

Make sure you’re never followed to your secret base, as you don’t want your friends or enemies to know where to find your precious loot.

Nether Portal

The Nether in Minecraft is a terrifying dimension full of monsters and lava. But several items are needed to progress, meaning you’ll have to venture into the dark dimension eventually. 

Players will need a Nether Portal to reach the alternate dimension, which can be built from scratch and is rarely found in the overworld. But building a portal is almost always the better solution. 

It’s best to build a Nether Portal a short distance from your house as it emits haunting sounds and can be a bit creepy. But keep one close by to ensure you won’t have a long walk back to your main base. 

Nether Base

The Nether is not a place many players enjoy spending extended periods of time, but having a small place to call home in a dangerous environment is a good idea.

Building a Nether base around your Nether Portal can help to find your way back easier and can also prevent it being extinguished. Getting stuck in the Nether without a way to relight the portal can be devastating, so building a structure is the best bet.

The base can also include chests, crafting tables, and smelters to help restock items without traveling back home. Don’t try to sleep in the Nether, however, as your bed will explode and likely destroy any nearby building. 

XP Farm

An XP farm is one of the easiest ways to earn levels quickly, making it easier to enchant items without a grind.  But building an XP farm takes a bit of work, and consulting a guide is your best bet. 

One of the easiest ways to build an XP farm is with a mob spawner, which can be found while exploring underground. Once you find a spawner, make sure to light up the room and avoid destroying it. You now have the most important part of an XP farm that can get you dozens of levels in minutes. 

Garden

Not everything in Minecraft needs to have a practical purpose. Sometimes projects are only for aesthetic reasons to improve the vibe of your base, which can make the game more enjoyable. 

Planting a garden is one of the easiest ways to improve the look of your house or base as flowers are plentiful in the overworld. You can simply plant them in the dirt in various patterns, or you can place them in a pot for a more structured look.

Experiment with different types of plants and flowers to build the perfect space for relaxing between mining and farming. 

Pier

Fishing is an excellent way to get food in Minecraft while also enjoying a fun mini-game. Sometimes, you’ll catch rare items in the water, adding to the excitement. One of the best ways to incorporate fishing into your gameplay is by building a pier near your base or house to provide a safe place to cast your line.

Piers are also a great place to store boats and provide a great spot to get into the water. Transforming the waterfront of your base can also improve the look of the area with minimal work. 

Armory 

There are several different types of armor and weapons in Minecraft. You’ll almost always wear the strongest armor set available, but you shouldn’t keep your old items locked in your chest, nowhere to be seen.

An Armory full of armor stands, and picture frames containing your weapons is an excellent addition to any house or base, allowing you to take a tour of your precious items. Completing a set of weapons and armor also provides another goal to achieve when playing.

Minecart trail

A Minecart Trail is a great way to travel between bases, villages, and outposts. You can use the rails found in abandoned mineshafts or the extra iron you’ll inevitably accumulate. Minecart tracks can also be built in the air, adding a unique mode of transportation throughout the world.

You’ll also need a considerable amount of Redstone to maintain momentum on your track, so consider building this project later in your playthrough.

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