Ultimate

Building
 Book
for Minecrafters
 Amazing Building
Ideas and Guides
You Couldn’t Imagine
Before

Copyright © 2014 by
Minecraft Library

All rights reserved. No portion of the book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any
means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any other informational
storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Minecraft Library.
 Table of Contents

Introduction……………………….….…5

Some Amazing Examples …………...6

House Building ………...………….…12

Style …………….…………….…….13
Building Your Home ……………....16
Materials ………..…………..….…..18
Addons ………….……………….…25

Interior Decorating ……..…………...31

Furniture ………..……………..…...32
Paintings …….……………….....….37
Crafting/Enchantment ……….…....38

House Guides ……………….…..…41

Cave House .…………………….41

Basic Home ………….……….…46
Mountain Fortress ….….………..51
Tree House …….………………..61
Dungeon Theme …………….….74
Sky House …..……………….….81
Japanese Pagoda Style House .88
Blacksmith Themed Area ……...97
Barn House ………….…..……..102

Conclusion..………………………..108
 Introduction
Minecraft is one of the most popular video games in the world, and one of the main reasons for this is
the ability for just about anyone to jump into the game, and build anything they can dream of. There
really is no limit to what you can create, only your imagination is holding you back!

But that doesn’t mean that it’s not a good idea to get some helpful tips from others along the way.
Minecraft has been around for a long time now, and there are some very experienced builders out
there. So in this guide, we hope we can provide you with the basic skills and ideas you can use to
create something amazing and original in the world of Minecraftia!
 Some Amazing Examples
For this small section of the guide, I wanted to show you just how versatile Minecraft is as a building
platform. I feel like some of the examples below are really some of the most amazing creations in
Minecraft to date, but of course they only scratch the surface of the incredible building community.
All of these constructions were not made by me, and belong to their respective owners, if I can find
who made them I will link their websites/similar so please check them out!

I hope that these examples can help you to understand just what you could accomplish in Minecraft. I
say it a lot, but your imagination really is the only limit! So enjoy these amazing builds, and then
follow the rest of the guide to get started on your very own Minecraft adventure!
Space Shuttle by Crpeh
This amazing space shuttle was made by a user called crpeh. I think it’s a great build, as it obviously
takes a lot of time and effort to make, but isn’t quite as difficult as some of the other examples here. I
really think if you put your mind to it, you too could make something as awesome as this!
 Galleon by Chrome

Here is another great example of a build which is not ridiculously over ambitious, but looks amazing.
Notice how he has used glass blocks and panes to look like ropes, and the use of wool and ice blocks
to create the wake at the front of the ship. Amazing attention to detail!
Minas Tirith (From The Lord of the Rings) by Cornbass
Here we have one of the most impressive projects that I have
come across. The whole city of Minas Tirith from The Lord
of the Rings films, made entirely in Minecraft! I can’t even
begin to imagine the amount of time and effort required to
create something like this, and if this doesn’t get your
imagination going, I don’t know what will!
The Battlestar Galactica by Ragnur Le Barbare
Up next is one of my favourite creations. This user has tirelessly recreated the entirety of the starship
The Battlestar Galactica, from hand. It is not just an external model either, it is fully detailed inside
too! Apparently it contains well over five MILLION blocks at this point, and he is still refining the
build! Absolutely incredible!
 The Winter Palace by Rigolo

Finally, we have what is regarded by many as one of the most detailed city building attempts to date.
Youtuber “Rigolo” has worked with many others to create this amazingly detailed city.

I hope these examples that I’ve shown you have helped you to realise that in Minecraft, anything is
possible, and anything can be built!
 House Building
A home is something that just about everyone will try to build when they first start playing Minecraft.
After all, who doesn’t want to create their very own house! It’s important you build a house to protect
you from all of the native creatures of the Minecraft world, to provide you with somewhere to store
all of your treasures and loot, and to have somewhere to sleep, among other things.

But a lot of people tend to create a simple home, often made from dirt or cobblestone, and then don’t
know where to go from there. Choosing a style is important, and below we have helped you to get
started, by providing a few basic guides on how you may want to go about constructing your home!
Style
 Traditional
Traditional is usually used to refer to the more simple Minecraft houses. hey are usually made
entirely from wood (logs and planks), cobblestone, glass and dirt. They are usually easier to make, as
these materials are a lot less difficult to acquire. They are also called Traditional, as their designs
tend to be more conventional.
 Sleek
Sleek houses, sometimes called “Modern” houses, are often of a much more contemporary design,
and use more expensive materials, such as stone blocks or bricks, metal blocks, gold, diamonds and
more. The designs of the houses can sometimes be very outlandish, and are often less about function,
and more about looking fancy! They are obviously a lot more difficult to build for a new player, as
they can need a lot of hard to acquire materials, and need a lot of outside thinking to come up with.
 Unique

Unique homes are really used to classify any homes which are really very different to anything else.
They often don’t really look like conventional homes, and are instead modelled after real life objects,
or shapes.

These sort of homes are really only limited by the builders imagination, and represent some of the
best and most original homes made by Minecraft builders.
 Building Your Home
When you start building your own designs into Minecraft, the most important piece of advice I can
give is to make sure you plan ahead! The further you get into your design, the more difficult it gets to
change. Try to make sure that you know what you want from the beginning, and layout the foundations
to help you plan exactly where everything will go, before you start the main bulk of the building
work! It will save you time later!

Once you have the foundations placed, it should be relatively easy to add the main walls to the house.
Make sure you know where you will want to place the windows and doors, and place these too. Make
sure your house is looking like you will want it at this stage before moving on, as after this it will
become very difficult to change!
You can easily add as many floors as you want to your house, just by building the walls up and then
placing ceilings intermittently. Remember, you can always use ladders or stairs to get between floors,
so you should make sure you plan this in advance, so you have enough space for these.

Once you’ve completed the rest of the house, you just need to add the roof. A lot of people will just
place a single block, flat roof, and of course this is fine. It will stop monsters getting in, and will keep
the rain out! But it’s really up to you how you want to do it, lots of people have come up with a
variety of patterns and designs for their roofs, see what you can come up with!
Materials
One of the most important decisions you can make when building your house, is what materials to use.
There are over 150 different blocks in the current version of Minecraft, and this is growing all the
time! Different blocks work well with different styles, and some work better with certain blocks than
others. It’s really up to you to find the best combinations of materials to make the best looking house
you can!
 Cobblestone

Cobblestone is one of the easiest materials to acquire in Minecraft, it comes from mining stone. It can
be great for starting houses, but doesn’t look great, and can often be frowned upon in anything above a
starter house. Smelting it in a furnace produces smooth stone, which looks much better!
 Wood

Wood is another material which is relatively easy to come by, but it comes in a lot of different
flavours. Currently in the game there is normal oak wood, along with spruce wood, birch wood,
jungle wood, acacia wood and dark oak wood. They all look different, and can be found in different
parts of the world. Explore to find them all!

Wood can also be used either in its natural form (logs), turned into planks, or other items such as
stairs. This makes it really versatile, so it’s used in a lot of housing projects.
 Dirt

Dirt is, as you would expect, one of the easiest materials to come across. It’s great for beginner level
houses, and can even be used in some more advanced projects, if placed properly. But it normally
doesn’t look too great, so try to use it sparingly!
 Brick
Brick is more difficult to come by, you have to make it my smelting clay. But it does pay off, as brick
houses always look great. It’s a great material for any housing project, and looks really authentic.
 Other

There are so many materials in Minecraft that you could use to build, that there is no hope of listing
them all here. However, I feel the ones above are some of the best for newer players to use, and you
can then move on to some of the more exotic materials, like obsidian, gold, sandstone, etc.

Experiment at your own pace, there is no race in Minecraft to make anything, and it’s always worth
taking the time to learn new techniques!
 Addons

Aside from the basic house itself, there are lots of additional things you can add to most buildings to
make them more useful, more interesting, and more attractive. Some of the addons I have listed below
are just a few of the things you could try yourself!
 Balcony
A nice small balcony is always easy to make, and can be a nice addition to your house. Some more
extravagant houses can have huge balconies, as a kind of centrepiece, which look amazing!
 Garden
A simple garden can be very easy to make, and very effective. Lots of houses often have “dead land”
around them, with not much in it. A nice garden area, of flowers, grass and trees can look great and
really bring your house together.
 Tower
Lots of people don’t even consider towers for their houses, as they are often seen as something that is
only added to castle style homes. However, a tower can really be made in just about any style, and
add a big presence to your home. They are also very useful for finding your house when you are out
exploring, as they are able to be seen from far away!
 Fountain

Fountains can look great by themselves, or when mixed with other addons, like the garden, or statues.
They are very pleasant, and relatively easy to build, with a near infinite number of designs to go with.
 Fireplace
Fireplaces can be a great way to make a room more appealing, if you can’t think of anything else to
put in it. You do have to be careful however, as if your home is made of flammable materials it could
start a fire! Don’t build one unless you know what you are doing, unless you want to risk it!
 Interior Decorating
It’s all well and good making a house which looks amazing from the outside. But what about the
interior? Interior decorating is a whole other skill to learn, and can require a whole lot of patience.
But hopefully this part of the guide can give you a brief taste of the topic, and then you will feel
comfortable to move on by yourself!
 Furniture

Furniture is a bit different to how people might expect in Minecraft. There aren’t many actual blocks
that represent furniture, instead people have learned to use other blocks to make things that look a lot
like it! Below are just a few examples of furniture that you could use to smarten up your home!
 Tables

A very simple table design, is to use a fence post and a trapdoor placed on top. Obviously this is a
very basic idea, there are a massive variety of ways to create tables. But this one is the best place to
start!
 Chairs
For chairs, the most common method, as seen below, is to use a wooden (or stone) stair block, with
two signs on either side to represent arms. Again, there are lots of ways to change or improve upon
this style, but this is one of the simplest and most commonly used.
 Counters
Counters are easy, as just about any normal block is the right height for one! Using pressure plates,
buttons and trapdoors can help add some variety to your designs!
 Desks

Mixing together the previous designs, you can create more complex
pieces, like a desk. You need a chair, with some tables or counters, and
can make it. There are lots of ways to combine smaller articles of
furniture to make larger ones!
 Paintings
Paintings in Minecraft are a fantastic way to liven up a home. There are a lot of different designs, and
they will change each time they are removed, so if you don’t like the one that appears when you place
it, simply take it off and replace it, for a different one!
 Crafting and Enchanting
Crafting, alchemy and enchanting make up some of the most important mechanics in Minecraft
(besides the building of course!). Crafting and enchanting allow you to make just about everything that
you will ever need in your Minecraft adventures, and having a space set aside for them in your house
is always a good idea.
 Crafting
For crafting, you will need, at the least, a furnace and a crafting table, but a brewing stand and
cauldron is also very useful! Furnaces allow you to turn ores and similar materials into bars, which
can then be used at the crafting table to make weapons, armour, and all sorts of other things!
 Enchantment

For enchanting, you need an enchanting table, and at least one bookshelf, which you need to place one
block away from the table. However, it is best to place the maximum number of bookshelves, to
improve the efficiency of the table (15 is the most you can use)
House Guides
 Cave House

This style of house is one of the easiest to build quickly, ideal for someone who hasn’t played much
Minecraft before, and just needs to make sure they are safe. As you can see from the picture, they are
usually dug into the sides of hills. Below I will show you how to make this house style.
Step 1:

Find a nice flat area, with a small one block rise, as shown here. You will then proceed to dig down
to create the entrance to the home.
Step 2:

Dig down one block, one block away from the wall, and the dig two blocks down right in front of the
wall, creating a step down. You can then start to hollow out the area inside the hill, where you will
live!
Step 3:

Create some hollowed areas to the sides for a furnace, crafting table, and chest as shown. These give
you decent access to these important tools. Don’t forget to put a door in the entrance to stop nasty
mobs from getting in!
Step 4:

Now create a small area for a bed, and add some torches to stop it from being too dark at night. A bed
is really important, as it lets you instantly pass night without having to wait around in the house!

This house is obviously a very basic one, and I would usually only use it to get me started, giving me
a good base to keep my materials in, and then move up to something nice from there.
 Basic Home

My idea for a basic home, is usually one like this. It is made from bricks, wood planks and glass
mostly, and the interior can really be adapted for anything you might want. This part of the guide will
show you how to create the exterior, and you are really free to complete the inside however you might
like it!
Step One:

First, you need to find some nice flat, level ground, and then lay the foundations of your house. Here I
made the wall foundations with brick, (5x5), and then put down some wood flooring in the centre.
Step 2:

Next I started to build up from the ground using the bricks and wood planks. I put some wood planks
in the corners to make it look a bit nicer. I also added a door (need to get in somehow!)

Step 3:
Next, I continued to build up the layers, and added some glass. Glass is great, as it looks nice, and
enables you to see what’s going on outside! Much better than a cave house.

Step 4:
Finally, I added the roof, using wooden planks, and stairs, which create a nice edged effect. I also left
a small glass area as a skylight!
 Mountain Fortress

The mountain fortress is a great style of house to build, and will be sure to impress your friends. They
can be easier to build than conventional houses, because you don’t have to place blocks, just dig out.
They really can be made however you like, so the design below is much more a rough idea, than a
complete plan, but it should help to show you how to get started.
Step 1:

The first step in building your fortress, is to find a good spot. Ideally it
should be a fairly flat cliff face, with some stone visible, such as I have
found in the picture above.
Step 2:

Next, you need to make the area flat, and make sure there is enough room for an entranceway.
Step 3:

Next, you need to hollow out the mountain. It’s really up to you how much space you want, and you
can always change it later. I have also dug down one block here, to give you a bit more headroom
inside, which is always nice.
Step 4:

Now you just need to cover the entrance, and add some doors!
Step 5:

Now that you have built the main structure, it’s up to you what you would like to put inside. Here I
have added a small treasure room, with 4 double chests, which you can use to store all of your things!
Step 6:

Here I have added a crafting room to the fortress, with lots of furnaces and some crafting tables.
Step 7:

Here I have added an enchanting room. Enchanting is a pretty complex game mechanic, so don’t
worry if you don’t understand it yet, or if you have trouble with getting the materials for this (you
need Obsidian for the Enchanting Table). But if you do understand, it can be a very useful room to
have in your fortress!
Step 8:

I have added a potion brewing room here too. This is another mechanic which can be a little
complicated, but once you understand it, it can really help you out! All you need is a cauldron and a
brewing stand, as shown here (I have 2, because it looks nicer!)
Step 9:

Finally, add some beds, and some decoration! As you can see, paintings really bring a room alive!
They are easy to make, and look great.

As you may have realised now, there really is so much you could do with a base like this, you have
really only scratched the surface of its potential with a base like the one above. Experiment! That’s
what Minecraft is all about!
 Tree House

Tree houses are one of the most visually impressive house types in Minecraft. They look really great,
and you always have a great view from the top!
Step 1:

First off, you need to find a tree! The jungle biomes in the game tend to have the largest trees, such as
the ones you can see here.
Step 2:

Now you need to clear the top of the tree. It’s important to make the top as flat as possible, to give
you a good platform to build upon.
Step 3:

Next you need to create a layer for the main floor of the treehouse. Planks are usually best for
treehouses, as you don’t see many brick ones for example!
Step 4:

Now you can move down into the tree a bit, clearing away the leaves and the trunk. This will give
you room to add a lower room to the house. Don’t go down too far, as you could end up ruining the
look however!
Step 5:

Build a floor and some walls around this new lower level, which meets with the trunk of the tree. It
might be a good idea to leave a side open, so you can add a balcony!
Step 6:

Now you can expand the balcony from the open side of the lower floor. It’s probably a good idea to
make it so that it doesn’t expand past the width of the floor above, but it’s really up to you.
Step 7:

Now be sure to add some fencing to the edges of the balcony, to make sure nobody can fall off!
Step 8:

Next, in the lower room, you can remove some of the wooden wall and replace it with glass, to make
a nice window which will provide some natural light.
Step 9:

Back on top of the house, you can now start building out the main structure. What you add here is
really up to you, I have used some wood logs which give it a natural look, and plenty of glass
windows to make sure the house is well lit up throughout the day.
Step 10:

Finally, you can place the roof. I used wood planks, and then left a large space, into which I placed
glass blocks for a large sunroof. This makes the building even more lit!
Step 11:

Back in the bottom floor, you need to remove a part of the wall, and place a ladder. This enables
access from the vines on the side of the tree, into the main part of the house. Don’t forget to do this, or
nobody can come in!
Step 12:

Finally, you just need to place some ladders so that you can move between the floors, and your Tree
House is finished!
 Theme Dungeon

I always enjoy making themed areas, and this dungeon theme always looks great. It’s not perhaps
actually that cosy to live in, but hey, it looks awesome, so it doesn’t matter!
Step 1:

First off, you need to dig a hole! Make sure when you are digging you don’t run into any caves or
water, and if you are playing in survival, make sure you have ladders!
Step 2:

Next, you need to hollow out a cave. Obviously, the size you will want is very much up to you, and
you can always change as you go along.

Step 3:
The main thing to remember, is to replace the normal stone walls, with either cracked stone bricks, or
mossy stone bricks, as shown here. They both look much better for the style we are trying to achieve.
Step 4:

Using a flint and steel, you can place and light some Netherrack, which will burn forever! If you put
this out of site, and cover the flames with Iron Bars, it will give a great atmospheric lighting effect, as
well as the sound of the fire itself.
Step 5:

Here I show a few more tips for theming a dungeon. Redstone placed on the ground can look a lot like
blood, and vines add a lot to the abandoned feel. Placing a few extra blocks, and removing a few
others here and there will further make it feel like a “real” dungeon. Lava can also be safely
contained behind Iron Bars, which can provide another cool addition.
Step 6:

Using this simple setup, you could create a secret redstone door! Simply place two sticky pistons
behind the two blocks which will move. Then make sure that the redstone connects to both pistons in
a straight line, then to a lever. When the lever is pulled the door will open or close!
 Sky House

This next tutorial is a bit more advanced, and I won’t be showing you exactly what to do in every
step. But hopefully it will still give you the idea you need to build your very own sky island house!
Step 1:
First of all, you need to build a big pillar up into the sky. This isn’t going to be an actual part of the
build, but it’s so you can actual start building, as you need to build from a block!
Step 2:

Now you will want to create a large flat area for building upon. The idea is to make it look like the
house is on a cloud, so I’m using plain white wool here for mine, but you can use anything you would
like. Also, at any point now you can remove the tower you built up to here, you don’t need it.
Step 3:

Then, you need to style the platform a bit, to make it look more like a cloud. How you do this is very
much up to you, I tend to prefer a random pattern, as shown here.
Step 4:

Next, you of course need to build your house! Here you can really make whatever you want! I made
my cloud fairly small, so have decided to make a nice pleasant bedroom, but you can really do what
you like. On larger clouds, large stone castles can look great, but of course just about any style will
work here, so pick what you think looks best!
Step 5:

As you can see here I’ve now finished the main part of my house. I used a lot of glass one 3 of the
walls, so cut back on the opposite wall so as not to have just too much glass. I think it can be tempting
to use a lot of glass when building in the sky, but be wary of how much you use, as it can start to look
a bit overt.
Step 6:

Finally you will want to decorate your cloud house. As you can see here, you might end with having
real clouds floating through your home! Don’t worry though, they don’t hang around for long. Here I
made a small lamp post, using fences and a redstone lamp. They look great, and of course they also
help to keep your home well lit, which is always nice!
 Japanese Style Pagoda House

Pagoda houses always are sure to catch people’s eyes, and while they look really complex, are
actually pretty simple, once you get the hang of the styling.
Step 1:

As usual, the first thing you will want to do is find some nice, flat ground. Near hills, rivers or ponds
will help make the visual look even more striking, but it’s really up to you!
Step 2:

Now create the base for your house. I made mine 15x15, but you can go for whatever size you feel
comfortable with. For this house I will be mostly using Oak Planks, Oak Wood, Fences, Stairs and
Smooth Sandstone.
Step 3:

Next I raised the base by another level, added fences around the edge and put some stairs up to where
the front door will be.
Step 4:

Then I built up the walls for the first story. I used the Oak Wood to make corner pillars, and then
filled in the walls with the smooth sandstone. I cut some holes and put fences in them to make
windows
Step 5:

Then, I added a roof to the first level, with an overhang. On this, I placed some stairs, and underneath,
some fences.
Step 6:

Now I have added on another level, using fences to edge, as I did with the original floor. This
example is not designed to have access to anything other than the first floor, as it is for decoration, but
it is possible to make a much larger pagoda with much more space. You can then essentially repeat
this until you have as many levels as you want, when you will then move onto the next step, when you
will create the top of the building.
Step 7:

The top-most floor, should ideally be as small as possible, as shown here. Now we are ready to
move on to the more extravagant decoration.
Step 8:

Using Oak Planks, and Oak Stairs, you can create these nice looking corner pieces. Add them to each
corner on each level, to create a nice effect. Feel free to experiment and add more as you see fit!
There are lots of examples of similar style buildings, hopefully you can make one you like!
 Blacksmith Themed Crafting Area

As I mentioned earlier, I really like to theme things that I build, and Minecraft makes it very easy!
Here I will show you how to make a crafting area that is functional, and looks great!
Step 1:

Before this, I created a flat area using stone bricks, but I’m sure you know how to do that by now!
Anyway, here is my favourite part of the blacksmith theme, having a cool lava trough. It’s open to
how you want to do it, but I always think it’s great to have flowing lava!
Step 2:

Next, I added some Anvils, which are both useful, and cool looking, and placed a furnace at the
bottom of the lava trough. This makes it look like lava is powering the furnace, and helps add more
usefulness to the build.
Step 3:

Then I added some storage, by placing some chests on shelves. Keeping them up in the air like this
makes them take up less room, and it looks neat and tidy!
Step 4:

Finally I used layered red and white wool to create a marquee style roof for the blacksmith.
Obviously you need to be careful with the lava nearby, so make sure it’s not too close! You could
really use anything you like for the roof and make a style you think suits best, but I often go for this as
it’s one of my favourites.

It’s really up to you where you go from there, I like leaving it fairly open.
 Barn House

Barns are a great way of keeping your tamed animals safe and in one place. For this one I chose to
use the new Acacia Wood, which looks great with a nice orange colour.
Step 1:

As always, the first step is to create some suitable land. I have marked out the edges with the acacia
wood, and left the centre empty, as I haven’t decided what to make the floor from yet.
Step 2:

Next I created the rough framework, using acacia wood and planks. The exact shape here is up to you,
I tend to prefer a small curved roof style, some prefer flat, while others prefer a steeper roof. It’s up
to you!
Step 3:

Then I built up the walls and roof. I added an extra line of acacia wood to the walls to make it look a
bit more authentic, and left some gaps in the sides as windows. Don’t make them too large or animals
could jump out!
Step 4:

Next, I added a floor to the barn, and built a large, fake door, to make it look like it had been opened.
Obviously Minecraft only has one size of door, so this is common technique to make it look like there
are larger ones.
Step 5:

Inside I placed some fence posts (which you can hitch horses to), and some hay bales, which suit the
theme well.

From there you can add whatever you like! This barn is quite small, so it will only house a few
animals, but you can make it as large as you might like!
 Conclusion
Minecraft is a game, which at its core is about creativity, and is only limited by your imagination. I
hope that this guide has provided you with some insight into the Minecraft building world, and that
now you might feel comfortable to go out and make own creations from scratch!