You know it from the moment you spawn in and start punching trees. If you want to survive the night, you need to find yourself a nice place to live. But we all inevitably suffer the Minecraft equivalent of writer’s block, and we are in need of some awesome Minecraft base ideas and designs. Of course, building houses and walls has always been a fundamental part of surviving the nightly onslaught of Spiders and Skeletons. But our earliest endeavors inevitably turn into dirt cubes or simple oak cabins. Pretty soon, we all need to level up. So, when you join a multi-player factions server and need a brilliant secret base, or you reach the point in a survival game where you have more diamonds and redstone than you know what to do with, it is probably time to get a bit more creative. But where do you start? You have a lot of options. From mechanized doors to mob spawners, there will be something for everyone in this list of design ideas and all the essential things to put in them! If you are still looking searching for more, check out our list of 50 things to build! Before we start, are you using Optifine? This mod can give your new base an incredible new sheen. It even adds a bunch of optional graphics features like dynamic lighting. Find out how to Install Optifine in Minecraft now!

10 of the best Minecraft base ideas

So, your Minecraft houses suck. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone, we’ve all been there. You can’t help yourself but craft large, angular, vacant, straight-line-clad bunkers that look like they’re straight out of the 1940s. Minecraft is a game where everything is cubic. But all the best Minecraft building design ideas ultimately come down to either putting the cubic aesthetic to interesting use or transcending it entirely. Alternatively, some players reimagine the idea of a Minecraft base altogether: picking up sticks and locating their new base of operations in the sky, the ocean, or the nether. Here are some of the coolest base ideas out there right now to get you inspired:

1 Double-Pod Underwater Base

Credits: SheepGG

If you shudder at the thought of Creepers, Spiders, or Skeletons barging into your home – your best bet is to build a base underground. This Underwater Base by SheepGG allows for a restful slumber with the lull of calm waters completely surrounding your home. This underwater pod extends into two sections and is connected by a main central hub that connects you to the surface. Inside the base, you don’t have to worry about any leaking as the water is remarkably held back by the crushingly resistant duo of Quartz blocks and Glass panes.  The cozy, atmospheric lounge area contains all your chests and essentials to bring along for adventuring. On your way up the indoor ladder, you can enjoy the sight of an idyllic seaweed garden at your pods’ roofs too.

2 Minecraft Mini-Fortress

Credit: Reimiho

This ‘Ultimate Survival Base’ Tutorial from Reimiho has everything you need to survive the night… and many nights after. Essentially, this base idea is a spin on a simple fortress. A stone wall surrounds the complex with a large gate in front, and inside the walls of the fortress stands a modernist cobblestone, oak, and glass structure. Everything you need to sustain your lifestyle is present here, but it’s hardly spacious. That’s not always a bad thing – the less ground your valuable base covers the easier it’ll be to defend. But the most important thing about this design is that it’s extremely three-dimensional, which is one of the reasons it looks so great. Not even the glass panels that cover the expansive walls are flat!

3 Circular Ground Base

Credit: Moby-Dick

Another architectural marvel is this gorgeous Circular Underground and Ground Base by Moby-Dick. This Colosseum-like homestead eclipses Minecraft’s cubic limits with its gigantic cylindrical features. This underground base uses Wood and Wood-type blocks across all its wooden floors. On the second and highest floor of the complex, you’ll find yourself in the middle of a wheat field primed for harvest, lit up by spaced-out lanterns. Below it is an open, paved space that’s reminiscent of an outdoor lobby area.  Perhaps not the most fortified, but nothing some Minecraft wall designs or fences can’t fix. The lobby area also comes with contemporary gardens and stone-fenced fish ponds overlooking the open-air basement. The basement or underground area is where you’ll get the most foot traffic. Chests, furnaces, and enchanting tables all scatter around the circular bottom floor. Unlike most secured Minecraft base designs, your treasured valuables are plainly visible from the outside.

4 Mountain Face Base

Credit: IrieGenie

We’ve all done it: we built our home base by mining at the heart of a mountain countless times before. This Survivalist Cozy Mountain Abode by IrieGenie takes our penchant for that by carving an impressive overhanging abode in a steep mountain face. The interior is as stunning as it looks on the outside: a busy brewing room on the top floor, a modern kitchen and dining room right below it, a master’s bedroom, and a serviceable toilet area. Loving this look? Here are some unique Minecraft furniture ideas to keep your Minecraft heart burning with inspiration!

5 Stone Bridge Temple Base

Credit: Moby-Dick

Ever wanted to live like a Greek god or goddess? With this Stone Bridge Survival Base by Moby-Dick—you can turn your dreams into a reality in Minecraft. This entirely Stone structure features an intricate layering of Cobblestone Slabs, walls, Stone Slabs, and Blocks. A staircase acts as the first barrier of defense against hordes of enemies looking to thrash the premises. Inside, a golden hue of light greets you after a busy day exploring and foraging the nearby wilderness. Just as fun it is to stroll and admire this marvelous domicile, we recommend catching some slack by exploding some stuff up as well in this Minecraft Duplication Glitch tutorial.

6 Survivalist Underground Base

Credit: IrieGenie

For some, sky-rise buildings and stone castles are getting a bit stale and overused. If you share the same sentiments, you may be enticed by this Modern Underground Base by IrieGenie. This contemporary bunker-like shelter contains all the homey elements you’ll ever need—a bedroom, storage area, furnace, and kitchen. If you’re scouting for your base from the outdoors, the biggest adjustment from your typical multi-story fortresses is how little indication there is of your base’s location. Within your Skinned Log walls are cozy living quarters that can make for a great home. Instead of towering walls, you get Stone Brick slabs surrounding the vicinity of your rooms. These are your only real line of defense—so make sure you’re home’s wired with Redstone traps to prevent enemies from making any unwelcomed visits

7 Tower-House Hybrid

Credit: BlueBits

This ‘Ultimate Starter Base Tutorial’ from BlueBits combines the best Minecraft towers and protective fortresses have to offer, helping you keep everything you’ll need to survive and thrive in either a survival world or a multi-player factions world in one very compact unit. Inspired by Medieval/Castle-themed homesteads, this is designed to be a starter base. But it will likely take quite a bit of resource preparedness before you can get building. This relatively simple wood and cobblestone house is complemented by a trim platform on the roof, alongside a multi-level farm and crafting station. Best of all, there are two towers built-in, protruding through the top. This not only makes your house look awesome, but it’s also hard to overstate how useful a vantage point is from fending off attacks – whether they are mobs or enemy factions.

8 Underwater Mountain House

Credit: Zaypixel

Have you ever heard of an ‘Underwater Mountain House’? This tutorial from Zaypixel shows off this unique concept, which takes a lot of the tenants of a classic underground base and throws it on its head. Essentially, the design takes an expansive chunk out of an ocean wall and fits in all the utilities you’d expect from a modern Minecraft base. In the tutorial, you can see a bedroom, a crafting room, and a kitchen, just to name a few. But best of all is the awe-inspiring view of the deep blue sea out your living room window to top it off. This concept is infinitely customizable –