ChunkShift.com

Building a 1 chunk base in Minecraft

The mycelium storage, a custom biome meets storage system, is nearing completion. As a biome it’s exposed to mob spawns and has no safe place to sleep.

I decided I needed a house with a bed. With that my next 1 chunk project was born. In this post I share my five must haves for a 1 chunk base.

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Kinda like a starter base

I decided to build my storage system exposed and integrated into a custom biome I’m calling the mycelium storage. Playing off  mycelium networks ability distribute resources and to store information.

A path winds around custom giant mushrooms. Caps are red with white spots and others purple. Spruce trees surround one side of the biome and the ocean the other.

What is mycelium and why am I looking at mushrooms, you may ask? Mushrooms are the “fruit” of some species of fungus and mycelium is the root. Mycelium networks are comprised pf various fungal and plant root.

Studies have been shown mycelium to store memories of the ecosystem they are in. Following a disaster they can help regenerate the ecosystem using that memory. I thought leaning into this memory storage was cool lore to bring into my world. But we tend to sleep indoors; therefore, I need a 1 chunk base.

A sometimes home by the sea

I decide to build this 1 chunk base on the hill side, overlooking the ocean, adjacent the spawn chunks. Placing it near but not in the spawn chunks was intentional to maximize the use of the spawn chunks for redstone systems.

A house with a single pitch living roof hangs over a seaside cliff. A round window dominates one side and a stone chimney another. Giant mushrooms and spruce trees surround it.

With the ocean taking up 2 of the spawn chunks and cutting 2 more in half I’m already limited in the available space for building. Building on the hillside was close enough to the storage to be useful without further cutting into those 9 chunks.

A note on chunk loading

As I would find out, these systems only work while I’m in the overworld. I didn’t realize that dimensions time out, fairly quickly. Meaning if you leave a contraption running in the spawn chunks and go the the nether. It stops running fairly quickly and can break things.

On this small island I can travel in the overworld between builds easily if my storage system is running. But it’s something to keep in mind if you’re expecting to leave a contraption running in the spawn chunks. You may need to build a chunk loader if you have a sensitive redstone contraption you’re expecting to run uninterrupted.

An ender pearl stasis chamber is built into the stem of a giant mushroom.

In a recent update the option of using an ender pearl as a simple chunk loader has been added. An ender peal stasis chamber loads only the chunk the pearl is active in. This should keep the entire dimension it is in loaded; in this case the overworld, allowing the spawn chunks to continue working. I’ll update on that when I post about the storage system as a whole if this was a successful approach.

The block palette

I opted for a muted palette against the background of the colourful mycelium biome. I kept the architecture simple; with a living roof, a round window and the makeshift supports adding visual interest.

A skeleton horse is fenced at the front of the house. A path cuts the area in half. The roof lines single slope allows for 2 large windows on the south facing side overlooking the storage area. From this angle the house looks precariously perched with only wooden scaffolding holding it in place on the hillside.

I started with stone as the base for the chimney and slowly added texture. The foundation is purely deepslate and the walls jungle wood with brown mushroom, jungle wood. I needed some dirt mixed in to make the dirt roof line less noticeable.

From here, and to the point of this post, I added my bed and started to work on the quality of life items I needed to round out my storage system. Things that would share the same space if the storage had been built inside.

Things to include in your 1 chunk base

While this 1 chunk base is essentially an extension of my storage system; the list below could be included in a starter, regional or main base.

1. Auto composter/bone block crafter

Seeds. They’re always in our inventory. Building, fighting mobs, gathering resources, just walking… Seeds. And it was like that before moss was everywhere. Now with two types of moss in the game; every time I open my inventory I have seeds, moss carpets and at least 1 variation of an azalea bush.

2 composters on right are fed by hoppers pulling from a double chest above but not visible. The composters feed an autocrafter mostly hidden by the output chest. Centre and left is the redstone that detects the output and activates the crafter. Nestled into the foundation is another composter used to compare the output of the autocrafter.

By adding  a composter I have a use for these items as they begin to overflow my storage. I can easily gather them as they gather in the overflow chest of my storage and dump them into my composter/bone block crafter.

2. Garbage disposal

USE A TRAPPED CHEST. When a trapped chest is opened it emits a signal that will lock a hopper. If you accidentally put an item in here that you didn’t want you can remove it (ex. your diamond tools).

With a regular chest the item would instantly get pulled by the hopper, fed into a dispenser and spit into lava.As I slowly come to terms with my hording tendencies, a garbage disposal has grown in appreciation as an addition to my bases.

Water drips from overhead in a dingy basement. A single lantern lights this small space. A double chest sits on a shelf above 2 barrels and a single trapped chest sits on the floor.

The small trapped chest on the floor is the garbage disposal and the double chest is the output for the bone block crafter I talked about above.

A dispenser, a redstone clock, and your choice of lava or cactus is all you need to keep the clutter away. Just remember lava causes wood to burn and I lowered the lava a few blocks to avoid any issues.

3. Temporary journal storage

I started journal-ling part way through my last play through and kept that going this time. It helps me keep track of some build stats that I post at the bottom of my posts. But the main purpose is some extra game-play.

The player holds a book and quill in front of 2 stacked chisled bookshelves. To his right a table, another mirrored on the other side of a stone brick fireplace. Glow berries, hanging moss and roots hang into the frame from above.

Every 500 days I add a chunk to a town I started on the island. My 1 chunk work-around for a museum. Every 500 days I collect some notable items from my builds, accomplishments and adventures and store them in a new 1 chunk build. This includes my build diaries for completed builds in that time period.

Having a couple book shelves to store in progress build books was a necessary inclusion in my build. If you’re not journal-ling you’re sure to find some books worth keeping in your adventures.

4. Function over form

This interior isn’t going to win any awards for aesthetics. I could have built a kitchen or pantry, the bed could have found it’s own room and the area in front of the fireplace could have had chairs and a table.

A double bed and stone bricks of a fireplace dominate the foreground of the open concept interior. Above some oak trap door railings a crating table, stone cutter, anvil and barrels line a wall below two large windows. The windows filled with oak wood trap doors rather than glass. To the players left a large circular window offers views of the ocean. Along that wall a double chest to feed the composter, a jukebox and a chair.

I have found ways to hide functionality into a kitchen in simple (pic below) but didn’t have space to do so here. Focusing instead on a space that functioned and gave me quick access to my bed.

The doors to a pantry left open expose a ender chest and single chest on the floor. Above this a double chest. This pantry the start to a kitchen with cabinets made of barrels and looms. Grey carpet gives the impression of a slate counter top.

I’m often running through the door as mobs are spawning around my storage. Getting in bed helps with rogue creepers jumping from mushroom caps when rummaging through my storage.

With a lot of my time going into making decisions on aesthetics in other builds It was nice to have this done over chasing perfect. If you’re just getting set up in a new world or a new build area, you’ll find a functioning interior will give you the base you need to start other builds.

5. Horse stable/storage

No horses spawned on my island. I did plan on bringing some foals by boat or some other method; however, one stormy night I was blessed with skeleton horses.

The player leads a skeleton horse in the fenced area in front of the house. The two large windows overlooking the storage are mode visible from this angle as well as a gate using a medium size mushroom as one of its posts.

Skeleton horses are slower than well bred horses but have one unique advantage. They can travel through water. My island is small but is separated from a second smaller island by a “river”.

Map documenting 1500 days progress of the island. The water monument, mushrooms in the storage area, moss spread over the small island and the ravine cutting through the town are the significant changes visually.
I still haven’t named this island, let me know in the comments if you have an idea!

I plan to build under water roads to connect the two islands and my (future) guardian xp farm. I added the map above from my 1500 day build for reference.

My personal needs aside, you wouldn’t go wrong with a fence in front of your house. If it doesn’t keep the horses in, it’ll at least keep the creepers out.

What did I miss?

Let me know in the comments your must haves for bases.

Build stats

Real Life Days: 43

Minecraft Days: 295

Hours: 8.5

This build was a 1 chunk build, if you’d like to see more 1 chunk builds click here.

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