Home Building in Minecraft- Part 2, Underground Building- Article 1

Time for another Minecraft series!

When it comes to building in Minecraft, surface structures are usually the first thing anyone thinks about- after all, it’s infinite space (effectively), and you can look at what you built from afar and admire it.  But!  Surface buildings are hardly the be-all and end-all of Minecraft homemaking.  In fact, surface structures are among the least secure buildings in Minecraft, requiring all sorts of care be taken to protect them against monsters spawning on your roof, climbing your walls, or just plain destroying part of what you’ve made.

As you prepare to set up your permanent home in your Minecraft world, whether it’s a solo or multiplayer server, you should consider the benefits of an underground home.

A building laid into the ground- especially stone- of the world is very sturdy, and very secure.  Underground structures are next to impossible to spot from a distance, and have no obvious walls for monsters to lurk outside of.  Lighting is only required for the inside of the structure itself, and the way it looks from outside is also not a concern at all.  With a little intelligence when you build, the only monsters you really have to worry about intruding into your home are Endermen, who, while annoying, aren’t actually dangerous as long as you’re careful.  Building your home underground saves a lot of mining time as well- you can find and dig out resources in the process of building your home, rather than having to take time out of your schedule to wander off somewhere else and do some digging.  Even after your home is built, entering your mining area remains as easy as stepping through a door and going down a few stairs.

Mind, there are some difficulties inherent in building your home underground.  Every last block of space that you want to use will need to be actually dug out from the ground, and while this does give you a lot of material in the form of cobblestone, it can be a bit hard on your tool supply if you’re not lucky enough to happen into several ore veins while you’re digging it out.  There’s really no decent way to make a window that will let you see what time of day it is outside, so heading out to the surface for wood or animals is kind of a gamble.  Speaking of, you also have to build your own farming and herding space underground by bringing dirt down into the stone and carving out enough space for trees to fit, which can be a bit of a pain.  And if your building is shallow enough that these aren’t problems, you may find yourself needing to build a hill around it to keep it secure.

Last of all, an underground home is very, very hard to show off at all, and not terribly interesting from outside.  As part of the attraction in building something interesting in Minecraft is being able to show it to other people, this can be the most discouraging trait of an underground home.

In the end, this one comes down to a personal choice- how much you care about showing people your home, compared to how much you want the benefits of a subterranean living space.  For some people, it simply won’t be worth it; those of you in that category, there’s nothing wrong!  Just go ahead and move on to a different part of the Home Building group of articles.  I’m sure you’ll find more useful thoughts in one of those articles.  For the rest of you, though, read on!