Last time I posted some verbiage here, I talked (at great length, it now seems) about building that all-important shelter during that all-too-short first day in Minecraft. The focus was on gathering wood and building a cabin.

But there are other ways to survive.

Depending on location, available resources and personal preferences, you might want to try something like digging into the side of mountain (or even a big hill) or digging into the earth to make a completely underground shelter.

You might even want to build a hut out of dirt.

Nah, why would you want to do that? Dirt is ugly, and creepers can level it without even working up a sweat. (Though admittedly, a little perspiration is the least of a creeper's concerns when he's about to do his thing).

But let's go back to that mountainside thing. It definitely has its appeal. I know there are players out there who prefer a mountain enclave to a cabin in the woods.

Now, keep in mind, you're still going to need wood. So if you do happen to spawn in a spot where you don't see trees right off the bat, you're still going to have to find some.

[Side note: I've started a lot of single player worlds, and I have yet to spawn in a place where I couldn't at least see some trees in the near distance.]

So, yes, you'll need a crafting table, tools, and torches, but not planks for building a cabin. You're going to be removing blocks rather than adding them.

There are pros and cons to building a mountainside home. Here's my list:

Pros:

• Once you have a pickaxe, it's a very quick procedure to dig yourself that initial hidey-hole and stick a door on it.
  
• You'll have enough cobblestone to build a furnace in, maybe, under a minute.
  
• Likewise, the stone tools will come your way quickly.
  
• You're mining right off the bat! You might find coal and iron very early on in the game.
  
• If you dig a long-ish corridor from your front entrance before making your first room, your hideaway is practically creeper-proof (provided you light up your rooms sufficiently).
  
• You don't have to add blocks to make your home bigger. You just take some away.
  

Cons:

• No windows. You'll need to either go to your front door or work on building that clock in order to know when it's safe to go back outside.
  
• You can't take your home apart and move it if you find a spot you like better.
  
• Impossible to make your home look prettier on the outside.
  
• Lots of decorating required. Stone walls, floors, and ceilings can get pretty boring after a while.
  
• If you remove some coal, iron, or other ore, but you don't actually want the room to be any larger, you'll need to either replace the ore with cobblestone (which looks really ugly) or take the time and resources to smelt some cobblestone into stone.
  
• Speaking of cobblestone, you're going to end up with a boatload of it. I'm one of those people who's reluctant to throw anything away, just in case I might need it in the future. This makes cobblestone both useful and annoying. When you need it, it's in short supply, and when you don't need it, you've got chests upon chests filled with the stuff. Go figure.
  

I'm sure there are both pros and cons that I've missed. Chime in if you feel like it. I'd love to hear comments on this.

Here's a shot of a mountain getaway I dug out in creative mode in version 1.7.10. I just wanted to see how quickly I could put a basic throne room together. Some of the items in this scene are from the amazing Custom NPCs mod by Noppes.



Thanks for reading, and keep digging.

--Cireer