What are some cool Minecraft build ideas? The sandbox game remains one of the best of all time over a decade on from its release, but such a long time in one game means you might be running out of ideas. We’ve been there: you’ve already built a city, a castle, or even a Wild West outpost, so what’s next?
Luckily, there are plenty of unique builds, farms, and creations out there to inspire your next Minecraft project. Unlike our favorite Minecraft house ideas or Minecraft castles, for example, this list is more varied, and contains plenty of inspiration. From a stylish Minecraft Nether Portal to automated farms, from massive decorative builds to homely aquariums, these ideas can be copied directly or simply used to inspire your next build.
Here are some of the best Minecraft build ideas to try out in your world:
The Fossil Path of the Great Serpent
There’s no doubt you’ve lived in a regular house, but have you ever thought about living inside the corpse of a giant serpent? Though Minecraft mobs aren’t anywhere near as big as this serpent is, the idea of taking shelter within the bones of a giant creature sounds perfect in a survival game. If your building skills are up to it, you could also take a similar approach with mythical creatures like dragons.
A village in a tree
This one’s a big undertaking if you want to try it yourself, but we couldn’t not share this stunning build after it left us speechless. This incredible Minecraft village in the trees comes from Slooter2 on reddit, and the image above is the best to give you an idea of what you’re looking at, but it doesn’t do justice to the village itself, so we recommend checking out the other screenshots by following the link above to the original reddit post. In short, though, Slooter2 has built this gigantic custom tree to house an entire village on multiple branches and levels, with a majestic view of the world below.
Sword Nether Portal
Turn your Nether portal into the centerpiece of your base by giving it a unique design – in this case, a massive sword lodged into the ground. This design also includes the other half of the sword in the Nether to give the effect that it’s being pierced through the ground. You’ll need almost 60 obsidian for this build among other things, but the design more than justifies its crafting cost.
Easy, automated cow farm
Hunting for food can be a time consuming process, but you can completely eliminate this chore by setting up a cow farm with a built-in lava cooker. Look, we never said this was going to be the most humane farm you’ve ever seen, but it sure is efficient. The general idea is that the adult cows breed at the top of the farm, creating new cows which fall to the bottom of the structure. These cows are then pushed into lava, cooking them instantly. The cooked food is sent directly into the chest located below, giving you access to cooked meat whenever you need it.
Automated Villager wheat farm
If you want to sleep well at night and would rather use a farming method that doesn’t harm any animals, you could set up a wheat farm. Creating a wheat farm does require quite a bit more effort than the cow farm, but once you’ve finished you won’t ever have to make changes to it. The wheat farm runs automatically thanks to the Minecraft villager who works tirelessly to ensure you always have wheat in your chests.
Minecart railway and station
Looking for a new way to travel throughout your Minecraft world? Create an underground minecart rail station in each of your settlements instead of having to trek everywhere. This can be incredibly useful when mining for resources as you always have a minecart nearby to take you back to any of your homes.
Minecraft WorldEdit Pyramid
Ever wondered how some large-scale Minecraft monuments are built? Here’s a time-lapse of a pyramid being built using Minecraft WorldEdit, one of the best Minecraft mods designed to make building massive structures much easier compared to doing everything by hand. This pyramid build took FallenQbuilds just under 18 hours to complete, though we imagine it’ll take a newcomer much longer to build something like this.
Minecraft Aquarium
You know what they say: there’s nothing classier than having your own custom aquarium. Create your own aquarium inside your home, or go all out and build a dedicated aquarium within your base. Take your build to another level by using Minecraft mods to add even more fish including the Minecraft Axolotl. A custom aquarium is a great way to add color to your home in a natural way. Sure, you could just use flowers like everyone else, but where’s the fun in that?
Underwater Base
If you’ve built every type of base you can think of on land, why not go for an underwater home? An underwater build is perfect for players who want a relaxing area to zone out in after a hard day. A secret advantage of an underwater home in survival mode is that it’s arguably safer than having a home on land – you won’t have to worry about any stray creepers lurking in the darkness. This build does look a lot nicer if you use Minecraft shaders to make the water clear, but it isn’t essential.
Secret pirate cove
Have you ever discovered a small air pocket while exploring underwater? You can use this space to create a secret pirate cove hidden away below the depths. These areas are surprisingly large inside, but be careful when chipping away at the walls as you may accidentally break into the surrounding water. As long as you avoid any sudden leakages, you should have a permanent underwater base to surprise your friends with. This could be a great way to start an experimental run where you do things you’ve never thought about trying.
A tribute to H.R. Giger
H.R. Giger’s iconic biomechanical designs are the bedrock for Ridley Scott’s Alien movie franchise, inspiring books, films, and of course, videogames, including 2022’s Scorn. Everbloom Games, a team of professional Minecraft builders, have put together a sprawling tribute to Giger’s work, and it’s as unsettling as you can imagine.
Between the vast atriums cloaked in shadow and a fully realized space jockey nestled in its cockpit, these blocky reconstructions manage to capture the spirit of Giger’s work like never before.
Hopefully these creative Minecraft ideas have given you enough inspiration for your next world. Sometimes, all you need to inspire your next build is a beautiful site though, so check out our Minecraft seeds guide if you’re still struggling for ideas. There are a few farms in the guide which have been made to be efficient, but if you’re looking for something more traditional, check out our Minecraft farm guide instead for plenty more inspiration.
Additional contributions by Christian Vaz.