34 Cool Things to Build in Minecraft When You’re Bored

It’s easy to feel stuck not knowing what to build next in Minecraft. Luckily, we’ve created a list of 34 exciting project ideas to spark your creativity.

There are countless options to choose from, including houses, statues, bridges, or even castles. To keep your interest alive, pick a project that feels fun and is challenging enough to keep you engaged, but not so difficult that it becomes frustrating.

If your project is too ambitious, you might lose motivation after a few hours and then get bored of the game. A good approach is to split your building idea into smaller parts, so you have a sense of accomplishment after you finish each part. For example, when building a castle, start with the walls, then add a tower, followed by more towers and connecting rooms.

Remember, if you’re playing in survival mode, gathering materials is part of the process. Large projects like skyscrapers will need you to gather lots of materials. On the other hand, creative mode lets you focus on building without worrying about supplies.

1. Castle

Castles are a top choice for a Minecraft build. After all, who wouldn’t want to live in their very own fortress? Castles are usually straightforward to construct because they usually only require simple materials like stone and wood. Castles can range from a small fortress with a few connected towers to a giant walled city.

There are many features you can add to your castle: a wooden gate, a water or lava moat with a bridge, fountains, gardens, and so on. As an added bonus, adding walls or moats will keep hostile mobs outside of your base! Should any mobs get too close, you can use a bow to remove them.

I suggest starting small and expanding as you need more space. There have been so many times where I started building a massive castle which ended up being too ambitious. For more inspiration, see our castle ideas.

2. Mansion

Building a mansion in Minecraft survival mode can be rewarding and fun. Customize your own bedroom, storage spaces, hallways, staircases, and more. You can go one step further and build a fancy fence around your property and build a nice garden or fountain in front of your home. For more inspiration, try looking up real-life mansions as a reference.

Don’t want to design the mansion yourself? Try finding a naturally generated woodland mansion and renovate it to your liking.

3. Town

Create a collection of buildings in a similar style and connect them with roads to make a Minecraft town. For added protection, build walls to protect from creepers and keep other mobs away.

Popular building styles can include: medieval stone and wood, asian pagodas, or desert-themed designs with sandstone. A town project offers a variety of structures to add and customize.

Some ideas for town buildings include: banks, hospitals or medical clinics, storage rooms, hotels, and town halls.

4. Modern City

Building a modern city with skyscrapers, paved roads, lamp posts, parks, and sidewalks is a huge undertaking, but can be quite rewarding if you have plenty of time. Since this project involves a lot of repetitive tasks (like stacking multiple floors on a skyscraper), it might not be the best fit for survival mode.

This kind of build would be way easier to do in creative mode, or using plugins such as WorldEdit to help. Alternatively, you could always do this in survival mode with a group of friends to split up the workload.

5. Farm

Every Minecraft player needs a farm in Minecraft to grow food and supplies. You can start with a simple farm with the essentials like trees and wheat and grow into a more complex farm with a windmill and barn. Another option is to build an indoor or underground farm, but this will take more effort because crops need light to grow, you would have to make sure there is enough light from torches, lanterns, or lamps.

A neat twist could be to make a greenhouse of glass, using natural light to grow your crops. The greenhouse would keep out animals and mobs, but you should still light it up a bit so mobs don’t spawn at night.

6. Gardens

Gardens can go well with almost any type of build, whether it’s a town or simply the front of your house. Decorate your garden using flowers, trees, gravel pathways, benches, and water features. Fountains make a nice centerpiece for gardens, but it can be tricky getting the water flow just right.

To gather flowers for your garden, you can either use bonemeal on grass to grow them or find them naturally throughout the world. Keep in mind that some biomes will have much more flowers than others.

7. Famous Landmark

Find inspiration by searching for photos of famous landmarks and use them as a reference for building something impressive in Minecraft. Some examples of impressive structures could include famous castles like Neuschwanstein, the Eiffel tower, Big Ben, the Statue of Liberty. If you enjoy traveling, you could pick the favorite thing you saw on your trip.

For survival Minecraft players, it could be a good ideas to build a less detailed or miniature version of the landmark.

8. Fountain

Fountains can range from simple designs to elaborate structures. They make a good decoration for gardens, castle courtyards, or even indoors. Creating steps for water to flow and using blocks such as glowstone or glass can add some charm. You may need to do some experimenting to get the water flowing perfectly.

For more inspiration and detailed examples, check out our examples of fountains.

9. Underground City

To build a city underground, look for a large underground ravine or carve out a large space using TnT. Add windows in the walls, hang vines for a natural touch, and have columns of water or lava for a dramatic effect. Don’t forget that if you would like to add farms or trees, you’ll need some height in your space.

On a Minecraft server I played in the past, there was an impressive underground “vault” city that was dug out by the players. It had long hallways with doors to rooms and a huge atrium with trees and a garden. There were even secret hallways and rooms as well. If you enjoy digging, an underground city can be a rewarding challenge.

10. Pyramid

Pyramids are often built in desert biomes using sandstone or sand, and are a great place to put a beacon. To keep an authentic Egyptian theme, try decorating the outside with pools, columns, and sphinx statues.

Pyramid building is fairly straightforward, even in survival Minecraft. The design is simple, build a large square and then keep stacking smaller squares until you reach the top of the pyramid.

11. Arch

Archways are a striking entrance to a town, base, or any build. They fun to create and can be made of basic materials like stone or more luxurious materials like diamond or gold. It’s up to you whether you want a detailed monument or a smaller doorway to an area.

12. Library

Design a building or cozy side-room with bookcases, wood, red carpets, and stained glass, or even just a side-room to use as your enchanting area. For extra fun, use pistons to create hidden passages behind the bookcases. For more ideas, see our library inspiration article.

Libraries are the ideal place for enchanting tables and potion brewing stands. Even if you don’t want to build a large library, a small one near your storage room works perfectly.

13. Cathedral

The world is full of stunning churches and cathedrals, and building one in Minecraft is a challenging but satisfying undertaking. Building an intricate structure can keep you busy for hours on end. To help you guide your design, look for reference photos of famous cathedrals online. Don’t forget to include stained glass!

14. Fancy Nether Portal

Nether portals don’t need to be plain obsidian rectangles and there are so many ways to decorate them. Consider creating a decorated room just for your nether portal or make a large outdoor nether portal. Don’t forget, nether portals can be much larger than the standard, minimum size.

As an added bonus, placing your nether portal in a separate room will keep away any mobs that wander through. For materials, I recommend using materials found in the nether such as quartz, netherrack, nether brick, or lava. This will make sure your portal still keeps its nether theme.

For more inspiration, we have created a guide on nether portal design.

15. Fancy Storage Room

Storage rooms are a key part of any house in Minecraft. They can be spacious, organized, and sylishly decorated. If you have the resources, use expensive blocks like diamond, gold, or emerald blocks in your storage room to showcase your wealth.

For more tips on designing your storage room, see our guide.

16. Floating Base

Floating bases aren’t just for Skyblock. Start by building a large platform up in the clouds, bring up construction materials, and start building your base. Don’t forget a safe way to return to the ground, such as a ladder, slime block, or water pool.

As an added perk, if you are playing on a pvp server, a base in the clouds can keep you hidden from other players. It is a good way to maintain privacy, as long as your build isn’t highly visible from the ground.

Sky bases are one of many survival Minecraft challenges. There are also many Minecraft modpacks such as Sky Factory to add bigger twists.

17. Docks

Try creating a village right on the water, using wooden sidewalks to connect each building. You can also build decorative boats from wood to add a more authentic appearance. Docks can be a relaxing and scenic place to do your fishing.

For the best results, place your dock where there is plenty of water to work with. Rivers are typically too narrow and a beach on the ocean is often better.

18. Tree house

To get started with a tree house, you can either find a forest or build a giant tree to work with. Add structures to the treetops and connect them with bridges across the branches. Be careful if fire spread is enabled as tree houses can be risky!

19. Sewers

Dig out a network of underground tunnels near your base and fill them with a shallow layer of water. Adding decorations such as iron fence gates, vines, and lily pads can add life to the sewer tunnels.

To add some functionality, you could use the tunnels for transportation with minecarts. It’s also a good idea to add pathways on the side so you don’t need to walk through the mucky waters.

For an extra touch of mystery, hide secret hallways behind levers, pressure plates, and piston doors. It’s up to you whether you want to include hidden treasure or prizes in the hidden areas.

20. Subway

A minecart subway system is a great way to transport yourself to different parts of your Minecraft world. Simply dig a long underground tunnel and add ‘stops’ or ‘stations’ along the way with exits to the world above. The subway system could even be used to link different builds or player bases on a multiplayer world.

21. Maze

Mazes are a fun addition to any build and can be easily created using leaves or hedges, especially in garden areas. It’s also possible to build an underground maze or inside a building. To keep things exciting, you could add traps and surprises using pistons like drops, shifting walls, and arrow-shooting dispensers. Be sure to include a reward chest at the end for whoever solves your maze!

If you are playing on survival mode, you’ll want the Silk Touch Enchantment to gather leaf blocks from trees.

22. Statue

If you have an empty hallway or open space in your world, you can fill the space by adding some custom statues. You can build statues inspired by your favorite items, mobs, animals, or even other players. Statues also make a good accent decoration for entryways or courtyards.

23. Bridge

If there’s a large river or deep canyon in your Minecraft world, try building a fancy bridge to get across the gap. Try using crafted blocks like stone bricks, wood planks, or polished blocks as opposed to dirt and cobblestone. After all, players crossing the bridge want it to look safe and sturdy.

Adding detail with pillars, railings, and lighting will make your bridge stand out and more stylish. Whether your bridge is purely functional or an artful masterpiece, it’s sure to be a valuable addition to your world.

24. Lighthouse

If you have an empty space near an ocean, a glowing lighthouse makes an impressive sight. These buildings look best near oceans, so avoid constructing them in open fields or near a river. For a classic appearance, use white material and with some touches of red (like concrete, wool, or terracotta).

If you’re good with redstone, you can even make a rotating light using pistons. See this YouTube video for more information on how to setup the redstone.

25. Boat

If you build a boat out of blocks yourself, it won’t be able to sail and move around. However, most people can’t deny that boats add a nice touch to the water. Most players will build boats out of wood with sails made from wool. Your boat can be as simple as a small sailboat or as large as a cruise liner with sleeping cabins, dining areas, and observation decks.

26. Penthouse Suite

If you are building a city with skycrapers, consider adding a penthouse suite to the top of the skyscraper. From this height, it’s easy to overlook your Minecraft world and keep an eye on things from above.

For an authentic look, keep a modern design and draw inspiration from big city TV shows.

27. Clock Tower

Clock towers are a striking addition to any town, regardless of the overall style. They are usually simple to build and can use a variety of different building materials like logs or stone.

Unfortunately, it won’t be able to tell you the time (unless you are skilled with redstone), but it’s a nice landmark to add to your world.

28. Bank and Vault

The vaults of a bank are a unique and secure way to store your items in Minecraft. Build a bank with a hidden entrance leading to an underground vault to stash valuables. After all, what better place to keep your gold and diamonds than locked up underground?

To add realism, build the vault with strong materials like obsidian with different rooms for item categories. For extra security, lock access to each floor or room from a central security office.

29. Restaurant or Tavern

You will want a convenient place to store and grab your food. Sure, you could put it in your storage chests, but where is the fun in that? Instead, try building a restaurant, kitchen, or tavern complete with a seating area and a spot to pick up food. Your friends and visitors will love it as well if you’re playing on a multiplayer server.

For extra challenge, consider recreating a fast-food restaurant from real life!

30. Hospital

A neat addition to your Minecraft world could be to add a medical clinic or hospital for yourself and visitors. A medical clinic could be a small building with basic supplies and beds, and a hospital could include a reception, emergency room, patient wards, and a helipad.

Using white materials like wool, quartz, or concrete can make a red “H” or cross stand-out. You want your visitors to be able to recognize the building as a medical area easily.

Adding beacons to heal players that enter the building will make the area functional.

31. Courthouse

Constructing a courthouse is a nice addition for any town and can be located near a town square or town hall. Inside, add a seating area for spectators, and a front area for the judge, defendant, and prosecutors. A jail can be added in the basement which can also be functional for punishing rule-breaking players on a multiplayer server.

Many courthouses are decorated with a wooden interior (including floors, walls, ceiling, and benches), even if the exterior is made from stone or another material.

32. Prison

Prison servers are popular on Minecraft, so why not build your own? Be sure to include a secure fence around your prison, complete with watchtowers and ditches.

A well-designed prison is self-sustaining with cell blocks, a cafeteria, security rooms, and more. It’s important to use redstone to incorporate security features such as locked doors.

33. Pixel Art

Building 2-Dimensional art in Minecraft is simple with colored blocks like concrete or wool. It might be a good idea to create a design outside of the game to follow, or use a reference that is already made.

Popular ideas for pixel art include flags, iconic items like diamonds, mobs or animals, and other player skins.

34. Cottage

A cottage on lake or river makes a cozy and charming home. It could be used as a vacation retreat, a second home near resources, or a relaxing fishing spot.

If you’re building the cottage far away from your other buildings, use a minecart rail to keep easy transpiration.