10 best Minecraft fantasy build ideas

Minecraft's biggest claim to fame is how open-ended it is. Players can delve into the depths to extract natural resources, never settle down by exploring the wilderness, or, as is the case with many people, build.

In this game, nearly anything imaginable can be recreated so long as players can convert their vision into blocky cubes. One of the most popular aesthetics to use while building is fantasy, and for good reason: many of Minecraft's blocks, items, and textures appeal to this genre specifically, given their rustic and low-tech vibes.

This article shows 10 examples of fantasy build ideas in the game.

Note: This list is subjective and solely based on the author's opinion.

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10 best fantasy build ideas for Minecraft

10) Rustic pathways

While making a pathway or road might seem incredibly boring, these builds can actually be quite make-or-break in the grand scheme of a game's world.

If players fill a world with many different large-scale builds and leave them totally unconnected or connect them with basic pathways, it can have a negative impact on the surrounding builds. Players should take the time to add some fantasy flair to their road builds to ensure that immersion never gets broken.

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9) Village upgrade

Basic villages are as important to a Minecraft playthrough as they are visually boring, mostly consisting of rectangular farms and squared-off buildings. However, players can easily add some fantasy flair to their trading villages.

This can be done by adding protective walls around the city, with a large gatehouse acting as the way in and out. Iron golems can be used in occasional watchhouses along the wall or patrol the village. This adds to the fantasy feel, as there are these imposing magical creations wandering around acting as protection from evil, a common fantasy trope.

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8) Castle

A staple of any good fantasy story, castles are intrinsically linked to the fantasy genre as much as they are our own past. They represent a different, darker point in history where bloodshed was commonplace, and large-scale defense against invasion was a near requirement, and are used similarly in fantasy fiction.

Minecraft castles are no exception to this. They, too, represent a large-scale defense against invasion, though this time against hostile mobs such as skeletons and creepers. Players can further play into the fantasy elements of castles by creating large enchanting libraries, representing the existence and use of magic within the game, or through alchemy rooms where natural ingredients can be combined into potions for magical effects.

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7) Custom Portal

Custom Nether Portal Design On World byu/ego_link inMinecraft

The idea of a portal to another dimension is outside reality; however, their canon design leaves much to be desired. Thankfully, players can accentuate the rectangular design of nether portals by building structures around them, such as giant swords or shrines.

This can also add immersion, leading to the feeling that the nether is slowly seeping into and invading the overworld. This effect can best be achieved by incorporating nether materials into the world around the portal.

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6) Dwarven mines

First Room of my Dwarven mine on our survival map! byu/Clepto345 inMinecraft

While a basic mineshaft consisting of single-block passageways is an effective way to mine for resources, it is also inarguably an ugly way to mine for resources. Players can remedy this, however, while adding a flair of fantasy to their base by upgrading their regular mineshafts to dwarven-inspired ones.

Add intricate patterning within the stone floors, create large antechambers throughout the tunnels, and use lanterns rather than torches as a few examples of how to add some dwarven flair to your mines.

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5) Giant treehouse

One of the most commonplace tropes within fantasy fiction is nature, specifically animal and plant life, growing far larger than we are otherwise familiar with, with those more interconnected with nature living within these huge trees as a sign that they are accepted by the forest.

Players can quite easily bring this trope to their fantasy-themed Minecraft world by taking inspiration from the game's jungle biome: using logs, leaves, vines, and other natural blocks to create trees at a scale that puts the jungle's giant trees to shame while serving as great natural landmarks due to their height.

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4) Dragon's hoard

Dragon hoard or Lovecraftian portal? byu/coralfire inMinecraft

A dragon resting atop its massive treasure horde is a common sight in fantasy. Thankfully, this translates quite well into Minecraft. Players can use gold, diamond, and emerald blocks from farms to create massive treasure piles, on top of which a formidable dragon might be built.

Maybe the dragon is long since passed on, its skeleton all that remains cresting the dunes of treasure. The possibilities here are nearly endless.

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3) Airship

Fantasy Airship that I built with my friend byu/msxxp inMinecraft

Airships tend to be linked more to the steampunk genre than fantasy. But these large, blimp-inspired balloons can definitely fit in the latter, making them a great build choice.

Players can use dyed wool to create intricate designs within the cloth of the balloon, keeping the ship afloat. They could even go so far as to use translucent blocks like honey, slime, or stained glass to make it appear that magic is being used to help keep the ship aloft, cradled safely within a net of arcane energy.

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2) Wizard's tower

Within the fantasy genre, there is a trope regarding the living situation of many wizards: that wizards live in towers. Tall, twisted, unnatural-looking towers, often with strange devices visible from the outside and even stranger noises within.

This strange architecture makes these structures the perfect candidate for a Minecraft build. Their fantastical nature means that players can use some of the weirder blocks they have access to, such as gold, diamond, and amethyst. The strange nature of their design also means that players can have fun and experiment rather than worry about exact symmetry.

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1) Floating islands

There is little iconography and more purpose build to imply a fantastical, magic-fueled setting than by having the very land itself begin to rise into the sky, imbued with magic enough to take flight.

While Minecraft sometimes generates floating terrain, players can push this beyond random terrain generation and create truly fantastical floating archipelagos. Players could even use iron blocks to create large chains, keeping these islands from flying off, giving the impression that magic is too powerful around them and needs to be contained.

This all combines to make a set of floating islands, which is the best thing a player could build to lean into Minecraft's fantasy stylings.

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A basic custom portal example (Image via Mojang Studios)

Fantasy is a genre undeniably linked to Minecraft, owing to the game's aesthetic choices and the existence of spellcasters, dragons, other dimensions, and portals to these new realms. Players should embrace the existence of these tropes and bring in other fantasy tropes to enhance their gameplay experiences and elevate their world builds.