As the world slowly renders in around you; the chimes of music begin. You push open an oak door and walk out into a familiar world shaped by you.
Stress leaves your body, replaced with the comfort of home. You mount your horse and ride out to pick up building where you left yesterday.
And then one day you burn out.
Leaving my forever world
After a few months away, it was a little hard to jump back in to my forever world. The problem was the same as with all my other worlds. It had gotten overwhelming.
Despite a focus on 1 chunk builds I had gotten into a couple big projects (like the guardian farm above). After 2.5 years the to do list and other goals I set began making things a little complicated and after a few months away I didn’t know where to pick up again.
This isn’t my first time leaving what I thought was my forever world; however, this time it feels like progress. I’m honing in on what a sustainable Minecraft world looks like to me and it’s all here in the perfect start to survival Minecraft.
What’s been working for me and the perfect start
In general my builds have been getting simpler, more aesthetic and less exploitative. Leading to more immersive and cohesive and worlds.
I’ve been developing a Spanish building style that works well with 1 chunk and smaller builds. This style also works with blocks easily attainable in the early game; stripped birch and oak.
I spawned in a cherry grove and found my way to a nearby meadow biome without much fuss. This meadow is mostly flat, cut by a river gorge on 3 sides. I set up at a high point in the meadow flanked by a forest.
Easy, functional starter base
I started with a small starter base I designed before the break. It has storage and furnaces in the floor, and a bed on the second floor.
I put a few crops together, a composter and some fenced areas for livestock. As soon as I got silk touch I built my simple honey farm.
There was ine downside to building this small; difficulty sleeping at night. Monsters were nearby but that was easily fixed with some walls, copper lanterns and landscaping.
The meadow biome
When the music hits It takes me back to one my favourite bases in a previous world. The relaxing music and a hint of nostalgia set the vibe and get the creativity flowing.
The Spanish build style fits well in meadows as they appear arid. The sparse vegetation of a meadow means two custom trees were enough to make this meadow look unique.
Originally I experimented with pale moss but found it wasn’t quite right. Luckily the OG moss was easy enough to find thanks to Azalea trees, not far from spawn, marking lush caves below.
The brighter green provided more contrast to my build pallette and blended better with the biome grass.
Horses, sheep and donkeys all spawn in a meadow critical in the early game.
Level 15 Enchantments & copper
This is my first time using Copper tools and armour. While they quickly ran out of potential; they made building a starter base easier.
Copper is abundant and easy to get without going deep into caves and easily improved with a low level enchantment.
All enchantments are available at level 15. They won’t be at their max level, for example fortune 1 is available but not fortune 3. That got me a few more diamonds from the ore I was starting to find.
If you didn’t already know, gaining levels is not linear. By level 15 it’s already getting harder to level up. In the early game where deaths are more likely and it’s harder to get experience, leaning into level 15-16 enchanting helped.
And getting those levels was made easier by the zombie spawner in the river valley. But first…
Exploring and the woodland mansion
There’s quite a few structures in Minecraft now, and while you’re out biome specific blocks be sure to check these out. A diamond or two in the early game, even a water breathing potion can help a lot.
I got the pots I needed for a chimney in the trial chamber buried just beneath part of the meadow.
A woodland mansion is a short ride by horseback from my starter base. At the end of a dark forest easily accessible via a birch forest. I have temporarily set up some villages here, and have been dreaming about a transformation.
However, after taking some notes and doing some sketches in notebook I’ve generated some smaller ideas. What started as unrealistic dreams have been honed down to practical solutions for survival Minecraft.
4. Easy single spawner xp farm
This is a super simple farm to set up. Designs I’ve seen and used in the past use a bubble column to lift mobs up so they can be dropped to lower their health.
With dripstone and sulfur stalagmites available this is no longer required. My design uses water to wash the mobs to one side; like most, but then two water streams wash mobs to a single drop chute.
Because the chute doesn’t have to be as tall you are close enough to the spawner for it to activate. This is a lot easier to set up as bubble column elevators can be very finicky with mobs.
Wrap up
The perfect start to survival Minecraft is going to look a little different for everyone. For me, however, this was it.
I left my forever world and started over in a meadow. I took what I had learned from my previous worlds and applied it here. Despite starring over, I feel ahead of where I was before.
My advice to you is:
- Dream big but build small
- Have a theme, lore and rules, but not too much of either; keep it simple
- Keep practicing your skills and don’t worry if you haven’t found everything that is you; with time you’ll find it.
Thanks for reading this one, share something from you’re perfect start in Minecraft in the comments below. If you have a small farm or build you’ve enjoyed let me know, it might help inspire my next build.
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