Summary
- Huge, rewarding builds in Minecraft challenge builders to think outside the box and innovate with shape and design.
- Building in difficult locations such as underwater, in the sky, or on the sides of mountains adds depth to the game and tests creativity.
- Builders are encouraged to explore diverse building styles in Minecraft, from classic castles to modern and futuristic bases.
With brand-new blocks come brand-new buildings, and thanks to the 1.16 Nether update, tons of people have returned to the creative land of Minecraft. The success of Mojang's sandbox building and survival game comes from the fact that there's really no set direction to go. Everything is up to the players themselves.
For any builders wanting to challenge themselves or seasoned experts looking for new ideas to add to their build maps or survival worlds, huge projects tend to be the best way to spend time. They're rewarding to make, but difficult to execute. Here's a bit of inspiration for experienced builders wanting to create massive builds in Minecraft.
Minecraft: 10 Things You Didn't Know About The Nether
Beneath Minecraft's charming overworld is the hostile and hellish Nether. Today, we'll go over some facts and bits of trivia you never knew about it.
Updated on March 20, 2025, by Mati Kent-Nye: 14 years after its release, Minecraft continues to be updated regularly, bringing with it countless new blocks to build with and biomes to build in, whether on land, underground, or at sea. Its creative limits are constantly expanding, drawing in beginner and veteran builders alike. The most recent 1.21 update gifted players with an array of new copper blocks, opening up a whole new world of mechanical-themed builds. A new material mechanic, oxidization, was also introduced. Unless waxed, copper blocks will slowly change color from bronze to teal. They can also be waxed in their semi-oxidized state, making for versatile builds.
22 Desert Futuristic
A Temple-Inspired Sci-Fi Build
- Creator: XevianLight
- Build Difficulty: Medium
- Original Post
The desert biome in Minecraft is usually not the most popular choice for players to build in, but it can be a good place to start for giant builds due to the amount of flat surface. There's also no clearing needed when it comes to trees and shrubs.
XevianLight built this really uniquely shaped futuristic green, white, and grey megabase in the desert. It's a nice homage to desert pyramids as well, with a modern twist to it. Players should never feel pressured to build squares and rectangles when only the sky's the limit with shapes and designs in the game.
21 Sprawling Town
The Perfect Group Project
- Creator: ColtusBoltus
- Build Difficulty: Hard
- Original Post
Anyone who's played Minecraft with friends is almost guaranteed to have built a town at some point. It's a multiplayer staple, serving as a building project that everyone can collaborate on without stepping on each other’s toes. It's also a fantastic way for players to join their bases together in a meaningful way. Each building also gives the builder a chance to express their individuality.
ColtusBoltus chose to go at this challenging build alone, constructing this beautiful life-like town. No doubt getting the layout and building designs right took them a lot of time and careful planning to pull off.
20 Grand Castle
A Home Fit For Medieval Royalty
- Creator: 151owners
- Build Difficulty: Extreme
Medieval and traditional building styles will often reign supreme in Minecraft, due to the game's natural style. The wood and stone textures inspire players to go for these traditional, almost gothic-style builds, as seen in this grandiose castle.
151owners decided to go big for their build, which they named after the very persistence that helped them through finishing this project. Although these detailed, absolutely massive, and epic builds take weeks, sometimes even months to finish, the results are always worth it.
19 Battleship
Build Big, Even In Survival Mode
- Creator: Stickmanhasfeet's
- Build Difficulty: Hard
- Original Post
The trend of building homes that don't look like homes is one of the best ones in Minecraft. It lets players innovate and think outside of the box. A home is wherever the Minecraft bed is, and that could even be a massive battleship docked in the middle of an ocean biome.
Minecraft: Bedrock Vs Java Edition – What Are The Biggest Differences?
Of the two versions of Minecraft available to download, Java and Bedrock, which is the better choice? The answer lies in these distinctions.
Stickmanhasfeet's battleship is impressive as it is, but it's even more awesome when players realize that they actually completed this build in survival mode. The sheer dedication needed for something like this is impressive, but hard work tends to pay off.
18 Beacon Mega Base
An Elaborate & Futuristic Design
- Creator: Trollyn_
- Build Difficulty: Hard
- Original Post
Back to more contemporary and futuristic builds, megabases are another great way to challenge one's building skills in Minecraft. Sci-fi-themed ones are especially fun since they play around with blocks shapes and effects that are typically not used in more classic Minecraft builds.
This beacon megabase by Trollyn_ is absolutely gorgeous and took them over 12 hours to build. That still seems like an insane feat, considering the sheer amount of detail and planning that probably went into crafting something as elaborate as this. Adding beacons into builds is also a fantastic idea, as they can often serve as a centerpiece or something to build around.
17 Dracula's Castle
A Hauntingly Beautiful Castle
- Creator: LaurenArtist
- Build Difficulty: Extreme
- Original Post
Castles are always a safe choice for Minecraft players since they'll often end up looking impressive and fantastical no matter the location or setting. Plus, the blocks and the aesthetics of the game are simply perfect for more medieval-style builds.
LaurenArtist was inspired by the stories of Dracula with this beautiful castle. Here, the choice of location is important too and just adds to the effect of it being a solitary gothic castle in the middle of nowhere. Perfect for players who love to be fancy and a bit dramatic.
16 Lava Blade Home
An Impressive Unique Design
- Creator: Vaalo/AtrixStd
- Build Difficulty: Medium
- Original Post
With all the new Nether-themed blocks there's been a surge in Nether builds as of late. Ranging from dungeons to ominous castles and even builds within the Nether itself, it's a cool change of style for the game which is normally quite happy and bright-toned.
Rather than going for an evil wizard's castle, however, why not instead create a lava blade house, which looks like a sword stuck into the ground? That's the path AtrixStd went for in their build, which also has a tutorial available on their YouTube channel.
15 Cherryblossom Mountain House
A More Natural Approach
- Creator: echo0delta
- Build Difficulty: Medium
- Original Post
Mountains remain one of the most popular places for players to set up their homes. There's plenty of high ground safety and the view is simply gorgeous. However, rather than building on top of a mountain, the new trend seems to be the build a home within the mountain.
Minecraft: Things To Do If You're Bored
Players who have been playing a lot of Minecraft and getting bored should try out these fun new activities to spice things up.
This gorgeous cherry blossom-adorned Japanese-style mansion created by echo0delta is a great example of just how cozy and lovely a mountain mansion can be. It's a nice mixture of modern and traditional build styles, paired with some creative ways to light up the scene with lanterns and glowstone.
14 Diorite Castle
No Block Is Off Limits
- Creator: ToastyPuma
- Build Difficulty: Hard
- Original Post
For absolutely massive builds, the biggest challenge is to get enough material and to actually make them work. Builds like this are probably the hardest feat to accomplish in Minecraft, but it's also the most rewarding feeling ever to finally be able to look at a finished creation.
This castle is made completely out of diorite, which is a creative choice not many end up taking. Diorite is a niche material at best, but ToastyPuma makes it glorious in its highly skillful classic castle creation. This is a home fit for a king, that much is certain.
13 Skull Home
A Sorcerer's Dream Home
- Creator: Bloody_Corpse
- Build Difficulty: Medium
- Original Post
Who said a home has to look like one? Any place that's safe and has a bed is a valid spot to call home, and that thought alone should get anyone's creative juices flowing. Why not make something completely different, something unexpected and even bizarre that most players wouldn't even think of using as a house?
A skull home is a perfect fit for a fantasy-themed Minecraft world, and this creepy yet gorgeous skull rock house by Bloody_Corpse is simply breathtaking. Pair it with a lush forest or jungle biome with tons of overgrowth and it looks like something that's been there for hundreds of years.