Ancient cities were added to Minecraft a few years ago with the introduction of a new hostile mob called the warden. These massive underground palatial structures sit within the deep dark and are surrounded by sculk blocks, and the sheer darkness can hide just how large they really are. An ancient city can be huge, and the best way to grasp its true footprint is to remove the surrounding blocks and reveal the full layout.A Minecraft player, u/meksanet, posted a video on the game’s subreddit showing what dedication and nearly two years of work could achieve. The clip showcases an entire ancient city excavated with remarkable cleanliness, clearly revealing the area these structures cover. Impressively, the player did not use any mods or third‑party tools to simplify the process.I have finished excavating the Ancient City. byu/meksanet inMinecraftThe Redditor explained that everything was done in the vanilla version with standard tools, starting the excavation in January 2024 and finishing on October 2, 2025. The player shared striking stats: the quarry measured 200 by 200 blocks, around 550 tools broke during the process, and the total size of the recorded video files documenting the excavation exceeds three terabytes.Commenters praised the effort. One user, u/Snek5981, expressed admiration for the dedication required to pull off a project of this scale, noting that the results looked incredible. Another Reddit user, u/Firethorned_drake93, asked the original poster to make a trial chamber excavation their next challenge.Redditors talk about the excavated ancient city in Minecraft (Image via Reddit)There was also discussion about what the excavation revealed. Redditor u/viuhgkhgghpo8vuih argued that, when fully exposed, an ancient city doesn’t quite look like a “city” due to its relatively compact layout. In their view, it resembles a temple district; rich in structures and ceremonial spaces, but not something designed to house a large population.Minecraft projects that require immense dedicationWinterfell from Game of Thrones made by a Minecraft player (Image via Reddit/afroforge/Mojang Studios)There are many ways to play the blocky game, from exploring interesting structures to fighting challenging mobs. Some dedicated builders take a different path, investing months or years to create monumental works.Players have built sprawling medieval cities, painstaking recreations of famous castles from film and TV, and even ambitious real‑world landmarks such as Mount Everest, demonstrating how far creativity can go.These projects show how the blocky world has become more than just a game for many creators. With new features in The Copper Age update, builders have even more tools to expand their creative horizons. For instance, some have used the newly added shelf block in ingenious ways, such as assembling a non‑functional car purely for aesthetic effect.