Castles are the perfect builds for any Minecraft survival world. They’re an amazing fit for any landscape or Village you may find, not to mention it is extremely cool to have your very own castle to lounge inside of.
However, it is easy to get overwhelmed and lost when trying to build one. Where are you supposed to start with such a large structure?
Well, luckily, we will be starting off small. Building a small castle is a good way to just get the feel for it. This is the perfect build to make near a small village and it can serve well as a small base.
Best Materials For Castle Building
Any build can be made out of any material you wish and you can certainly play around with combinations and patterns. Feel free to get creative. All you need to do is mine up all the necessary materials.
If you look at online designs and blueprints, you will see most people turn to more neutral toned blocks for their castle builds, or blocks with high Blast Resistance in case of attacks or Creepers. Most commonly the blocks that builders use are:
- Stone (Smooth or Brick)
- Cobblestone
- Obsidian
- End Blocks
- Purpur Blocks
If you are looking for something easy to mine and that looks most “castle-like” Cobblestone and other Stone blocks are your best option.
Pair them up with a kind of Wood, like Spruce, for accents or a different kind of block, and you’re good to go.
Starting The Build
Find a good spot where you wish to build your castle. I usually pick the tops of Mountains or Hills for my castles. Since this is a smaller, you will not need much space.
I’ll start off by marking my building area and deciding what parts I want my castle to have. Do I want a stable or a blacksmith to be part of my build? How many towers will I add in total and do I want any other things?
For this castle I decide to have one large main building, with two towers on each side. There is also a sizeable courtyard and a smaller tower to left.
I focus on the little courtyard of my castle first. It is an area of 11 by 16 blocks. I wall it up and work on the front where my castle gate is. The gate is 2 by 4 blocks in size so that Horses can pass through.
The front of the castle walls I alternate between Stone Bricks and Spruce Fences for variety. I add Stairs and Trap Doors for details.
Inside the courtyard I will have enough space for two smaller buildings later on, primarily a stable.
Now that I have that done I pick where I want my towers to be and the main building of the castle. I start building the walls up a bit so I can decide where Doors and Windows would be.
Building the Castle Towers
I made space for 3 towers in my castle, but you can have as many as you want.
The best shape for a tower is either square or “circular”. One of my towers at the front is going to be shorter with a more square shape, while the other two will be taller and more circular in shape.
I start by making sure that each tower has a center inside. That way I can have a pillar going through each floor of the tower with a Ladder so I can climb up. I make each floor using Spruce Slabs.
While building up the walls I leave 2×1 block openings for windows that I put Spruce Fences into. If you want to be able to shoot through them, replace the Fences with Trap Doors so you can open them.
With the walls going straight up, the towers end up looking pretty blocky. On the outside I use Stairs to make an outline at each floor to break up the shape.
The top I surround with a half wall every other block so it seems secluded, but is open enough to attack from. I add some Banners that represent my castle and decorate the inside anywhere I find the space to do so.
The insides of the towers don’t have much space for any decoration, so I leave them mostly barren. The most I do is add a Barrel or Chest for storage.
The Main Building
The main building of my castle is located between the two large towers and it is a pretty straight forward shape to build.
I make a difference in height between the front of the castle and the back so that I can make the roof sloped. The front is 7 blocks tall and the back is 5 blocks tall. There is enough room here for two floors if we use Slabs.
The second floor I place at 3 and a half blocks of heights.
On the bottom floor there is only room for windows on the back wall. I make 3 windows, 2×1 blocks in size, on each side from the center. In the center of them I make a little throne and add a Painting above it.
The rest of the room I decorate using Bookshelves, Lanterns, Armor Stands, and Carpets.
On the left side from the throne and entrance I made a small staircase leading up to the second floor. The second floor I use for sleeping quarters.
There are many details to be added to a castle, big or small. Some of the best details can be achieved by using Custom Heads to add all kinds of decoration throughout your castle; from miniature food items to other more theme appropriate décor.
You can also change up the insides to be multiple smaller rooms with hallways leading to them, rather than giving the whole place a single open floor plan.
By doing this you could have more opportunities to make secret passages and doorways in your castle that lead to secret rooms, or perhaps even a basement dungeon.
Decorating the Outside
Using Stairs and Slabs we can easily break apart all the straight and blocky shapes of our castle. Like we mentioned before, I line the outer walls of the towers with Stairs to break the shape up.
I do something similar with the outer wall of the castle by putting down Stairs by each Stone pillar.
One of the best ways to decorate a castle is to actually give it some wear and tear. No castle is perfectly clean and polished looking.
If you were using Cobblestone or Stone Bricks you luckily have the options of Mossy Cobblestone, Mossy Stone Bricks, and Cracked Stone Bricks. Placing them around in the walls can help make your castle appear older and more rugged.
Vines are also a good way to fill up an empty outside wall that doesn’t have much variation or any windows on it.
The Courtyard
The courtyard in front of your castle is the perfect place to put some additional things you might need for your castle.
In my castle I built a Horse stable to the right, enough for two Horses.
Across from it I built a small blacksmith’s shop area. There’s enough space for 6 Furnaces, a Chest, and a Grindstone. Over both buildings I built a small roof with Oak Wood Slabs.
If you don’t need these buildings, you can instead build a well in the middle of the courtyard. Decorating the sides with Flowers or other plants, like Azalea, can make your castle look royal and inviting.
Conclusion
Online you can find all sorts of designs, tutorials, and blueprints on how to build small castles and forts in Minecraft. This is just one of them.
All that you really need in the end is to pick out the materials you wish to use and play around with design and shape. Do not be afraid to combine several different designs to make something entirely unique and your own.
