Top 5 oldest structures that are still in Minecraft

Structures within Minecraft are some of the most important things to seek out and conquer. Villages, desert temples, and other similar structures provide plentiful early-game loot, while structures such as end cities and woodland mansions are end-game dungeons meant to push players to the edge of their combat abilities.

They are also so important to the identity of the game that some of these structures stretch all the way back to before the game's official release.

The five oldest structures that are still found in-game are detailed below.

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The 5 oldest still-used Minecraft structures

1) Dungeons/Monster Rooms

Finding a surface dungeon is super convenient for building an XP farm (Image via Mojang)

Monster rooms, originally known as dungeons, are an interesting case as they are technically not considered structures by the game. They still spawn even when structures are disabled during world creation, for example. However, the fact that they function nearly identically to other structures, combined with the fact that they are by far the oldest structures in the game, means they deserve a mention.

Monster rooms are by far the oldest structures found in the game. They were added back in Infdev 20100625-2, which was released in 2010. This predates not only the game's beta but also its alpha for reference.

They have also effectively not changed since their addition, consisting of mossy cobblestone rooms with a mob spawner in the center and a few loot chests, with the best of this potential loot being saddles, horse armor, and music discs. They're also still incredibly important for survival due to making for incredible Minecraft XP farms.

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2) Abandoned mineshafts

Caves and Cliff's new world generation makes it much easier to find mineshafts (Image via Mojang)

Abandoned mineshafts were added in beta 1.8 and are among the best places to find loot while mining. The minecart chests found within them can have useful loot, such as name tags, food, coal, and even diamonds.

The cave spider spawners found within them are as incredibly dangerous as the poison-inflicted bypass armor, so while they might be old, they should still be explored with caution.

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3) Villages

Villages are always a welcome sight (Image via Mojang)

Villages are surprisingly ancient in terms of Minecraft's update history. They were added in beta 1.8, the same update as abandoned mineshafts. These structures can be found in several different biomes, with the most notable exceptions being swamps and jungles.

However, they were initially implemented without villagers, making them strange and eerie. Even with the addition of villagers, it wouldn't be until the village and pillage update that villages became the iconic and powerful structures they are today, as that's when Minecraft villager trading was overhauled to the system still in use today.

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4) Strongholds

The portal room in strongholds can sometimes be awful to find (Image via Mojang)

Strongholds are as important as they are classic. They were added with the game's full release and have remained unchanged. They are the home of the portal frame needed to reach the end dimension and the only place to find a silverfish spawner.

Strongholds are also interesting for being one of the few structures that players can be led straight towards. This is not done with a map trade, as with Minecraft's elusive woodland mansion and dangerous ocean monuments, but rather through the use of craftable eyes of ender.

These same eyes are needed to open the portal that strongholds contain.

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5) Nether fortresses

Nether fortresses are as vital as they are dangerous (Image via Mojang)

Nether fortresses are an interesting inclusion on this list. Despite being the single most important structure found within the Nether, they were not part of the fan-favorite Minecraft update that overhauled the dimension. They were instead added back in the game's 1.0 official release alongside Strongholds since both are needed to reach the final fight against the ender dragon.

Given their importance, both to the game's history and actual gameplay progression, it's unlikely that these fortresses will ever be replaced, though maybe eventually they will be revamped to match Minecraft's loot-filled bastions in terms of detail and complexity.