What To Build in Minecraft Survival - 10 Awesome Ideas!

Are you all out of building ideas?

You’ve come to the right place!

These designs are here to rekindle your creativity and help you figure out what to build in Minecraft Survival. Whether you’re looking for practical or just plain cool builds, there’s something for everyone here.

Let’s get inspired!

What To Build in Minecraft Survival

You’ve invested many hours into a world, upgraded all your gear, made a strong base — so, now what?

Here are some ideas that will get those creative juices flowing again.

Train Station

Image by Levoirr via r/Minecraft

A train station with a functioning rail system can save you time when traveling. You can have it connect all your villages, bases, and other points of interest. All you need to do is hop into a minecart, and you’re there in a minute! It’s one of the most useful Minecraft builds, without a doubt.

It can also be a beautiful addition to your world: a huge, old-school train station with smaller stops scattered all over the landscape.

However, that’s quite an ambitious project. You’ll need plenty of detector, power, and regular rails to create your tracks. You’ll also need to plan where you want your minecarts to stop. This video provides a good starting point if you’re interested!

Zoo

Image by A_Weird_Creeper via Minecraft Forum

If you’re looking for fun things to build in Minecraft, why not try making a zoo? 

You could collect wolves, foxes, pandas, turtles, goats, ocelots… With so many animals in the game, getting them all in one place can be a challenge. But you can do it! 

You can even create special enclosures to make them feel at home. It will require a lot of fences, glass, and landscaping to get each animal pen just right.

Lighthouse

Image by reppeti via Minecraft Schematics

Are you one of those players who have to build something right next to the ocean? Well, a lighthouse could be right up your alley!

It’s also one of the coolest Minecraft Survival builds because you can make it fully functional — rotating lights and all. It can serve as a huge landmark and a source of light.

To create the tower, you’ll need to alternate between red and white concrete. The actual light source is a bit trickier, though. You can use a beacon or layers of observers, repeaters, and redstone lamps. This short video breaks down the whole process.

Treehouse

Image by BlocksBuild via Planet Minecraft 

Looking for some quick and easy Minecraft builds? How about a treehouse?

You could use an existing tree (it has to be large enough, though) or make the tree trunk out of wood blocks. Try to use the same type of wood so the final product looks even.

When you’re high enough, create your base the way you usually would. Don’t forget to add a trapdoor, a ladder, and some leaves on top of it.

You could even build a whole fantasy treetop city with enough time and materials.

AFK Fish Farm

Image by m_riss via Planet Minecraft 

Some of the most practical things to build in Minecraft Survival are AFK fish farms. In a nutshell, they let you automatically accumulate experience and fish. They’re pretty simple to craft, too.

All you need is a:

• block of wood
• bucket of water
• Note block
• pressure plate
• Trapdoor
• Hopper
• double chest
• piece of fence.

This clip perfectly illustrates the mechanism.

The farm allows you to stand in place and repeatedly cast your line. Everything you catch goes into the double chest. 

Many players use an auto clicker, but there’s a workaround. Simply hold right-click on the note block and then press F3 + T. The game will think you’re still clicking! 

Floating Island 

Image by iHateStuartLittle7 via r/Minecraft 

Floating islands are one of the most iconic Minecraft Survival builds. I mean, who wouldn’t want to have a fantastic sky base?

Here are some pointers.

Your best (and safest) option is to build it over the ocean. That way, you can just jump into the water and don’t worry about fall damage. You’ll also need to stock up on terrain blocks for this design.

So, start by elevating yourself one block at a time. When you’re high enough, start working on the base of your platform. You can use cobblestone and dirt, with some ore blocks sprinkled in.

Try to keep it irregular so it looks more natural. You can spice things up by adding trees, flowers, waterfalls, and hills. 

Cow Farm

Image by 2ManySkillz via YouTube

If you’re interested in useful things to build in Minecraft Survival, cow farms are a must. They can provide you with steak and leather — essential items for food and crafting. 

The required materials include chests, hoppers, dispensers, observers, cows (duh!), and other common items. 2ManySkillz has a video tutorial that’s short and to the point.

After you build the farm, you’ll need to breed up to twenty cows. As soon as they grow up, you can turn them into cooked steaks and leather with the flip of a switch. 

Rooftop Garden

Image by DescoleDesigns via r/Minecraft

Add a bit of greenery to your life with rooftop gardens! They can be small and cute Minecraft builds or grand and complex designs. 

Either way, you’ll first need to build a base out of dirt blocks on your roof. Then, you can arrange trees, flowers, and water into your dream garden.

You’re also free to add fences, gazebos, and bridges. You could even cover it all up with glass for a dazzling greenhouse look.

Creeper Farm

Image by Dusty Dude via YouTube

Want to load up on gunpowder without getting blown to bits by those pesky creepers? Here’s the solution.

Creeper farms are incredibly lucrative and simple Minecraft builds. You’ll need stacks of cobblestone, trapdoors, hoppers, chests, and… cats. Yup, you read that right!

The cats will herd the creepers to the central kill chamber, where they’ll burn to a crisp. The hoppers will then automatically gather your resources and put them in chests for you to collect later. Dusty Dude’s clip explains the whole process.

This specific configuration is brilliant because it prevents zombies, skeletons, and spiders from spawning in the same spot.

Skeleton, Zombie, and Creeper Farm

Image by Jumper via YouTube

But what if you want to kill two birds with one stone? Or rather three types of hostile mobs?

This farm is one of the most convenient things to build in Minecraft Survival. The principle is the same as with most mob farms — they spawn and fall to their doom.

In this structure, they suffocate under 24 minecarts! You can also place carpet pieces to prevent spiders from spawning and clogging up the trapdoors. Feel free to check out this video for a step-by-step guide.

Wrap Up

There’s so much to do in Minecraft — you can practically create anything you set your mind to. And that’s precisely why it can be hard to focus on only one thing in that endless sea of possibilities!

Hopefully, these suggestions will help you decide what to build in Minecraft Survival next. So, write down the materials and get crafting!