7 Best Ideas for Building Mine Shafts in Minecraft

The core mechanism of the game Minecraft certainly lives up to its title, as you dig deep underground to gather rare materials to upgrade your equipment. While in previous Minecraft playthroughs you may have dug directly underground, you can test your building skills by creating a designated area for your mining adventures.

Fortunately, there are many construction guides available online that show how to improve your mine shaft and mining operations, providing detailed step-by-step instructions based on different designs. If you're curious about which guide best suits your Minecraft world, look no further.

7 Mineshaft Elevator

• Tutorial by: ChosenArchitect

Does your mine shaft go directly underground? Then you should consider building a mine shaft elevator, as this special construction project allows you to safely descend deep into the depths of a cave and quickly swim back to the surface when you're done mining.

To create this elevator, you need to ensure that a constant stream of water flows to the bottom of your shaft. Always remember to create a water pool at the base of the construction, as this allows you to jump down from the surface without taking damage, land in the water, and immediately start mining materials.

6 Mineshaft Entrance

• Tutorial by: Gorillo

Some mine shafts may lead directly underground, while others can be built into the side of a hill or mountain to provide a convenient entrance that is aesthetically pleasing. Gorillo's tutorial for the mine shaft entrance focuses on excavating a portion of the mountainside and constructing a wooden entrance with various embellishments.

While the mine shaft is certainly the most important part of this project, you shouldn't skimp on the other decorative details. For example, you can create a storage area for the ores you've collected, as well as a small stable for your horse while you mine. These are just a few of the many things you can add to enhance the overall ambiance of the area.

5 Crane

• Tutorial by: DiddiHD

While a mine shaft entrance brings practicality to your world, DiddiHD's crane tutorial showcases how a decorative architectural element can elevate your entire Minecraft experience. In this particular case, you can build a wooden crane that would theoretically transport stones and ores from your mine shaft if the game were capable of it.

However, please note that it may require extensive modifications to make this crane functional. Nevertheless, you can still strive to construct it solely for its visual appearance. Furthermore, combining this wooden crane with other structures on this list (such as a quarry) will make your world visually appealing.

4 Mining Outpost

• Tutorial by: disruptive builds

There's nothing more frustrating than emerging from your mine shaft and realizing that it's nighttime and a horde of creatures has spawned on the surface to greet you. To prevent this, you can construct an outpost that protects your mine shaft.

In this particular case, disruptive builders have constructed a small fortress made of stone bricks, equipped with a watchtower and numerous torches and lanterns to ward off the spawning of monsters.

3 Underground Storage

• Tutorial by: Spudetti

One thing you can never have enough of in Minecraft is sufficient storage space. So why not build an underground storage room specifically for your mining activities? This particular construction uses dark oak logs and planks to give the space a modest and compact feel, but you can choose whichever wood you prefer to decorate with in the game.

Furthermore, if you want to build an even larger area, you can add different rooms for specific tasks such as enchanting or smelting and essentially create a second base underground. Also, don't forget to set up a sleeping area as you can set your spawn point before venturing into a dangerous cave.

2 Starter House With Mineshaft

• Tutorial by: Foxel

A dedicated mining area may be appealing to certain builders, but you might find it frustrating to have to constantly run to a completely new area to gather resources. To solve this problem, Foxel has created a starter house tutorial that includes an integrated mine shaft.

Specifically, this wooden house is built on a solid foundation of stone, which means you can dedicate the ground floor to mining, smelting, and enchanting, while keeping the upper living area clean. Although the mine entrance itself may lack certain embellishments, there is nothing more convenient than having a mine shaft in your own home.

1 Quarry

• Tutorial by: LionCheater

While a small and unassuming mine shaft entrance may certainly be appealing to some, nothing will look as visually impressive as a large-scale quarry construction. Just take a look at LionCheater's quarry tutorial, which transforms a wooded area into a massive industrial zone, complete with a large pit, a main storage building, and decorative mining machinery.

You can even combine the wooden crane tutorial from earlier in this list with the quarry and create the impression of a giant industrial machine moving stones out of the quarry. However, we recommend only undertaking this mining area if you have the time and dedication to complete it, as it undoubtedly offers the best visual option.