How to improve your Minecraft starter base

The architecture of your first Minecraft base is… probably not much. A dirt and wood hut thrown together in the last minute before sundown. A dug-out hole in the mountainside. Perhaps you got lucky and occupied a village house, in which case this post doesn’t apply to you (make sure to light up the village!)

Should you CARE about the design of your first shack? By any means, no. But if you can, there are a few simple things you can do to improve the aesthetics of your first base, and even turn it into a proper home.

• Gather some sand on your first day. Make a stone spade and get half a stack. You can smelt it and turn it into glass panes – proper large windows will instantly light up your base (literally).
• Make wood slabs for the roof – turning full blocks into slabs is more efficient. Slabs will stop mobs from spawning on the roof. Add a one block overhang on each side to add depth to the roof.
• If you have multiple materials available, such as cobble and wood, use both in your design. For example, add cobble pillars on the corners of your home and fill in the walls with wood.
• Start out with a proper organized storage – make two chests to get you going, and put items in one chest and blocks in the other. Add more chests in the future, such as for wood, rares, mob drops.
• Expand your base – as you survive more nights and gather more materials, make your tiny starter hut more comfortable in size! Have a 3 or 4 block high roof and build more rooms to the sides.
• Farming and self sufficiency – start a mine or explore some caves. Create a basic wheat farm (or carrot/ potato/ beetroot/ melon/ pumpkin/ berry if you have) and gather up some animals.
• Protect your base from monsters. Spawn-proof the roof with torches if you’re not using slabs. If there is a mountain next to your base, fence it off and light it up so mobs won’t fall onto you.
• A first base I made recently: