10 Ways to Survive the Night - Minecraft Guide - IGN (2024)

Your first night in the world of Minecraft is atreacherousone. When the sun goes away, the Mobs come out to play. The day goes by quick, especially if you're working hard to prepare for the night. One day in Minecraft is the equivalent of 10 real world minutes.

By the end of the first day you'll most likely have collected a lot of Dirt, Wood, or Cobblestone. If you haven't and you were off prancing through fields all day your options are more limited. Whether you prepared for the night or not, this guide will help you conquer your fear of the dark.

Option 1: The Cabin

Tried and true. The Cabin is a small above ground safe house to keep you cozy through the night. Shelters must be at least 3 blocks high (with the third block being the ceiling), but I prefer to make them 4 blocks high so you can at least have a little headroom. When first building, choose a flat patch of land and create a basic outline of the cabin. Don't worry about making a Door, as you can easily do this once you are safe and sound inside the box. Make sure you have some Torches made. If you don't, finish your cabin first then start crafting them inside. Remember: you can always smelt Wood to create Charcoal for Torches. Once you are protected by your cabin, you can dig down to give yourself more room. Mobs won't be able to get through a single hole, so have one hole in a wall of your cabin acting as a window. You'll be able to see how safe it is outside and the time of night. It's easy to keep digging down and not notice it's daytime again.

Option 2: The Hole

The Hole is only for the most desperate adventurers. When you're out in the wilderness and the night catches you by surprise, time is of the essence. You need shelter, and fast. The Hole is achieved by digging straight down 3 blocks and filling in the top. Once down here you can expand outward. Just be careful digging back up as you'll open your lair to Mobs. The Hole is the most affordable living space, as you won't use any blocks to make it. It's the resting place for unprepared adventurers and fools.

Option 3: The Cave

Hideouts inside caves are awesome. Batman has the Batcave, right? That's pretty cool! In Minecraft, a Cave provides a convenient place to rest. Using the walls of a Cave you can form your living quarters. The upside of Caves is that you know you're protected by layers and layers of Stone and Dirt. The downside is that Caves are often the home of dangerous Mobs. At the very least these Mobs will prevent you from sleeping in a Bed, but they might even attack you if you aren't protected. If you're going for the cool factor and the convenience of building off walls, the Cave is a great way to go, just bring lots of Torches, a Pickaxe, and a Sword.

Option 4: The Island

This one takes a little more skill than the others, but not much. The Island is achieved by creating an artificial island to wait out your night on. Mobs don't spawn on Water (other than Squid) so your only real threat comes from the land. The more remote your island is the better. Choose an isolated spot and swim straight down. When you hit ground, build a tower of blocks as you rise back to the surface. This tower will allow you to extend blocks from it and create a platform. You have a good chance of surviving on a flat piece of land, but to be safe throw up some walls and make it a shelter.

Option 5: The House on a Hill

Building on top of a Mountain has many advantages.You have a clear view of everything around you and you can always find your house again when you go exploring.Many of the above options can be used when building a House on a Hill.The main difference here is altitude. Just remember that yourheightwill give you a false sense of security. Sometimes you'll get lucky and have the Mountain all toyourself, other times you'll be bombarded by Mobs. Always think on your toes and keep your Door shut.

Option 6: The Tree House

Trees provide a great height advantage to keep you away from the nasty Mobs below. If you've played your cards right, you can even build a Ladder and make it realistic. If not, you'll have to find another way on top of the Tree. However you get on top of it, make sure there's no way for Mobs to do the same. Either destroy blocks behind you or create small walls. Mobs can only jump over one block, so stacks of two will keep the baddies away. Spiders still pose a threat to you, but they cannot climb on ceilings. The Tree has a natural mushroom shape that will protect you from these Spiders. Huge Mushrooms also work great for this. Either hollow one out or build on top of it.

Option 7: The Floating Fortress

Like The Tree House, only you build the "tree" also. The Floating Fortress is tricky and dangerous but very effective. Wherever you are, look down, jump, and place a block beneath you. Repeat this until you have some decent height. You can go as high as you want, just remember that you'll have to find a safe way down, too. Stay crouched on your stack, as crouching prevents you from falling to your death. Walk to the edge of the block but don't worry, while it may seem like you are going to fall you are unable to so long as you stay crouched. Peek over the edge and place a block beside your stack. Continue this until you create a platform of decent size then make sure you build some walls to prevent you from falling.

Sure, at first it's not exactly floating, but you can make it float if you so please. Getting back up may pose a problem then.

Building a Floating Fortress right beside a body of Water is an effective strategy as you can simply jump off into the Water safely. If your Fortress is too high in the airwithout Water, Ladders, or other methods of descent you'll need to break your way back down. Simply stand on the stack you first created and break the blocks until you are back on the ground.

Option 8: Rapture

Andrew Ryan from Bioshock created an underwater utopia dubbed "Rapture". You can create your own little underwater paradise, but it's one of the trickiest shelters in the game. You'll need to create the shell and fill it with an easily mined material like Sand or Dirt to remove all the Water.I recommend using Glass as your exterior, as watching Squid swim by is both relaxing and really cool.One way to create this structure is to build a solid block and hollow it out from the bottom or side. When you replace a Water block with another material and mine it away, the water will have disappeared. Make sure you quickly create an air pocket by mining the layer second from the top, but don't mine too far as you'll break the seal and water will come rushing in. You have to do all of this while holding your breath, so you don't want to be too deep or you'll risk drowning.

OPTION 9: The Castle

Some people play Minecraft to blow off steam and some people are architects of the game. With enough training you'll be able to make a pretty swanky pad in the course of one day. Whether it's a bachelor pad or a giant castle, it is absolutely possible to create amazing structures in a short amount of time. This strategy is not recommended for beginners as you'll likely run out of daylight before you create shelter, but it's something to aspire to as you continue your quests in the world of Minecraft.

Option 10: Run

Let's get down to the basics. If you don't want to create a shelter you can always just run. Why should Mobs stop your adventuring? You're a tough guy! Just kill anyone in your way as you blaze a trail of death and destruction. Or just sprint, screaming as you step on the toes of countless Creepers with your fingers crossed as they hiss angrily at you. Just make sure you've got enough Torches to find your way, Food in case you become injured or hungry, and Weapons to vanquish your foes.

With all of these options, remember to keep everything well-lit. Torches and other light sources help prevent Mob spawning, so you won't return to your home and find it occupied by a Zombie or a Creeper.

Lastly, if the night is still too frightening you can always switch to Peaceful mode. This will prevent any enemy mobs from spawning and you'll regenerate health.

Try all of these shelters and come up with some of your own!