blog☆

< return to blog

minecraft realism

20 may 2026

if you've ever tried to Get Good at building in minecraft, you might have watched a video explaining some design principles which can be applied to minecraft building. however, i believe that these guides usually reflect a particular design school: the hermitcraft style, popularised by builders like scar and grian. here are some features of this style that seem to be consistent:

hermitcraft style design principles

1. creativity is king. you can build anything that your imagination can whip up, with whatever blocks look right. if your build calls for a huge plume of black smoke, sculpt it from smoked glass.
2. texture adds character. huge walls of the same block look boring. using a block palette adds more variation, and you can tell a story by making areas look aged and worn.
3. scale should be impactful. tall rooftops, huge doorways, and other large scale features are used to immerse the player in the fantasy, and to create room for intricate details.

you can design some cracking stuff like this. here are a few examples that i really like:

the chronicles of krakonia (original)

however, if i'm building things in my own world, i never build like this. i have a different set of design principles, which i haven't really seen other builders talking about. let's give it a pretentious name: minecraft realism.

minecraft realism design principles

1. honest materials. if your build is made of wooden planks, it should be built from wooden planks, not a bunch of other brown blocks. if it's a train station, it should have functional rails, not huge decorative ones. minecraft blocks have meaning to players, and these meanings should be honoured.
2. 1:1 scale. if you're building a house, it should feel like a house, inside and out. whatever size feels realistic to move through, that's how big the build should be, even if that means losing detail.
3. skeumorphic builds. in-game functionality shouldn't be hidden away, it should serve as inspiration for new builds. animal farms can be styled like barns; wheat farms can be styled like huge fields with windmills to store the produce; an enchanting hub could be a wizard tower.

this style of building makes me feel more at home moving around the world :) here are some examples of builds i made with these principles:

the chronicles of krakonia (original)

the tumblr world has a lot of builders who use these principles, and build small scale things with honest materials. i'm a huge fan!

the chronicles of krakonia (original)

the cosy, tumblr style does sometimes diverge from my definition of minecraft realism though; it's common to use mods to add decorative features like furniture. i think the cosy, tumblr building style might actually be a third design school.

until next time,

mzw☆

comments? questions? leave a note or email me!☆