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You’re an architect in training, studying in the castle of a distant kingdom. You know the basics of architecture, but require a guidebook to help you build.

The king summons you, explaining that you are to go on a voyage overseas with a team of sailors, peasants and lords. The voyage is to a new continent found in the middle of waters believed to be treacherous for any wooden vessel to traverse.

Your job is to build for the group, upon reaching the shores of the new continent.

The voyage is long and hard, but it only gets worse. The waters draw the ship in, crushing it and curling the wood into a whirlpool of splinters. You and four survivors are washed ashore the new continent, miraculously, and without any serious injuries.

The ship is a wreck, but you manage to collect as many resources as you can from what washed up with you. The survivors make it clear that they will rely on you to build for them, just as planned. You agree, and do what you can to provide for them and keep them safe. They’re your responsibility now. Keep them safe from the disasters of Minecraftia, the continent that any sane captain would have stayed away from.

You may play this challenge with any number of players.

You may play this challenge in any biome, seed or world type (except superflat). You can change the building styles depending on the biome you play in, if you so wish. Note that the listed building styles use quite a bit of wood, so building in a desert or mesa would be a bad idea.

• Play on any difficulty, except Peaceful.
• You cannot build, craft or harvest specific blocks without first building the corresponding Productive Building.
• You may not harm villagers or Iron Golems. It’s okay if you do it by accident, as long as you’re more careful later on.
• Do not build a system that will trick villagers into continuously breeding, regardless of how many doors are in your village.
• You may not harm any animals such as pigs, cows, etc, unless you have a Hunter’s Den built. If you accidentally kill an animal, do not take its drops.
• You may not shear or dye sheep unless they are in a pen.
• You may not put a saddle on pigs or horses unless they are in a pen or stable.
• Each player must have their own house, built by the owner. A friend cannot build a house for you. When a manor is built, each player must own a fraction of the building, rather than make more manors per player.
• Player houses count as Residential Buildings.
• Houses cannot be floating in mid-air. There must be some form of support holding them up, and the door must always be accessible by villagers and zombies.
• You cannot travel further than the normal render distance from your village, until certain conditions are met.
• You may not cross bodies of water that are two or more blocks deep. If they are, you must find your way around them, build a convincing bridge or boat across. If you find yourself in a body of water deeper than two blocks, immediately swim to the nearest shore.
• You may however, after you build the Creationist’s Cottage, craft a pair of Leather Boots, dye them blue, and name them “Flippers” or something similar. Wearing these will allow you to swim in water of any depth.
• You may only build one structure per day. If you start a structure, but end up finishing it the next day, you cannot build again during that day. Furnishing the interiors of structures can be done as much as you want, whenever you want.
• You may only use up to three tools per day. The first three tools you use in a day are the only ones you can use during that day.
• You may only have up to three doors per house (unless it’s an Apartment Block, which can have up to twelve). Don’t abuse the villager’s AI.
• Food spoils after three days. If you cook raw food, it can last for another three days after cooking it. You may build a fridge, using dispensers and other blocks to hold food. Any food inside will not spoil, as long as there is a form of coolant in or near your fridge (i.e. an inventory filled with ice or snow blocks/balls). Whenever you take food from the fridge, remove a piece of coolant for every piece of food taken. Cookies will never spoil and cannot be placed inside a fridge. You cannot put cooked food in a fridge.
• Any crops you plant must be harvested after five days (even if it’s not fully grown, however, you may use bonemeal on any immature crops before harvesting them). This does not account for pumpkin or melon stalks.
• Place wooden doors normally. Don’t trick zombies.
• Whenever you go underground, wear a helmet of any material. This only applies for caves or mines.
• You must build three Residential Buildings before you can build a Productive Building (upgrading a house’s building style also counts).
• You cannot brew potions (not including filling glass bottles with water), craft gold ingots with nuggets, or craft enchanted gold apples outside of the Nether.
• Nether Blocks (Netherrack, Nether Bricks, Magma Blocks, etc.) may not be crafted or used outside of the Nether until you have built the required Productive Building. Building inside the Nether is not affected by this rule.
• You can only build a Nether Portal by placing the obsidian blocks yourself (don’t place lava and water to build a portal without needing to collect obsidian).
• You cannot build near a testificate village. If you find one, travel at least five-hundred blocks away before beginning this challenge.
• If there are less than two villagers in your village, it’s game over. If you die, you only lose if you’re playing in a hardcore world, or choose to only have one life.
• You cannot attack hostile mobs until you make a sword.
• You can build a cobblestone generator, but only inside or near a blacksmith.
• If you meet the given requirements, you may only explore once a week (Minecraft time).
• You may create redstone contraptions of any nature, however, some redstone-related blocks and items can only be crafted if there is a Mechanic Productive Building in the village.
• You may make your own Golems (both iron and snow) at any time.
• You may make minecart tracks. It may be fun to create a subway system, if your village is rather large. Be creative.
• You may wear any armour and use any tools you find in dungeons or villages, as long as they don’t conflict with a restriction rule (for example, using a pickaxe before building a miner’s hut).
• You can create mob traps/grinders if you find a spawner, but none that work on naturally spawning mobs (such as spawning pads).

Here is a list of items to spawn in:

• Oak Wooden Planks x128 (2 stacks)
• Torches x32
• String x12 (per player)
• Leather x16
• Wooden Axe x2 (per player)
• Wooden Shovel x3 (per player)
• Villager Spawn Egg x4
• Fishing Rod x1 (per player)
• Crafting Table x1
• Empty Map x1 (zoom the map in twice by surrounding it in a crafting grid with eight paper. If there’s more than one player, duplicate the map by crafting it with an empty map)
• OPTIONAL Book and Quill x1 (per player) (to keep a journal of your new adventures)

When your challenge begins, you can build your first dwelling and spawn your villagers inside so as to protect them from the first night of mobs.

Settlers will farm and feed themselves (figuratively) if you give them the resources to do so, however, they will only do so for a short time.

In order for a village to sustain itself, it must have any three of the following:

• A wheat farm.
• A bakery.
• A slaughter house.
• A butcher.
• A fisherman’s lodge.

The village is not able to sustain itself for very long. If you have three of the above Productive Buildings, you may travel for twenty minutes (a single day and night). If it has four, you may travel for forty minutes (two days and two nights). If it has all five, you may travel for an hour (three days and three nights).

You can only explore away from the village once a week.

In order to craft and launch boats, you will need to build a dock. This will be one of the only times you can enter a body of water that’s two blocks or deeper without Flippers. You will need to use logs, which will act as stabilizing beams, which will start from the sea bed and work their way up to the dock. Be careful not to drown. The dock will need to extend at least fifteen blocks out to see and be at least three blocks wide.

You may only have one active boat per dock, and you may only launch boats from a dock (if your boat breaks, you may replace it where it broke, but that is the only exception).

If you are building a bridge, it can be made of wood, cobblestone, smooth stone or stone brick. Depending on how long it is, depends on how many support pillars it will need. A five block long bridge won’t require any support pillars. A bridge six to ten blocks long requires a single pillar on each side, somewhere along the bridge. Eleven to fifteen blocks requires two rows of pillars, and so on. You must space pillars at least three blocks apart from each other. Bridges must be at least three blocks wide.

If the bridge is made from wood, then any logs can be used for the support pillars. If it is made of any kind of stone, you must use smooth stone, stone slabs or stone brick for the support pillars.

This is a list of things you’re allowed to do upon starting the challenge.

• Harvest dirt, sand and gravel.
• Build with dirt and up to eight logs per structure. Logs are not required.
• Harvest any wood, except jungle.
• Craft wool.
• Craft a bed.
• Craft paper.
• Craft a door.
• Craft a bowl.
• Craft mushroom/beetroot soup.
• Craft primary dyes (such as rose red, dandelion yellow or orange).
• Plant and harvest sugarcane.

As you can see, there’s not a whole lot you can do, however, as you progress, you will be able to do a whole lot more.

• Houses--

Residential buildings are for both player and villager housing. Your first few dwellings will be made with not much more than mud and logs due to the early restrictions, but once you build a Sawmill and Stone Mason, you will be able to have a larger variety of material options.

Requirements -- Bed x1 for each players house(crafted from first resources given). Residential buildings that are not occupied by a player should include either a Bed or Wood Slabs to simulate a bed(This is the first exception to crafting with wood without a Sawmill). Residential Buildings can be any size over 12 Blocks of floor space (3x4, 2x6, Irregular shapes, but must be over 12 Blocks²)

• Apartment Block–

A small building that is simple to build and resource friendly. The only use it has is expanding your village population. The more you have, the more villagers will breed. Only up to six rooms per Apartment Block are allowed, not including two story blocks, which can have up to twelve.

Requirements – Large Chest per Room, Each room is required to have atleast 9 Blocks of floor space(3x3) although larger rooms would be more comfortable for your villagers

Here is a list of buildings which will relieve you of certain restrictions. Keep in mind they are all optional and almost all can be built using any style. They must, however, have a design that makes them unique compared to other buildings which are simply residential. They must also have a certain type of block(s)/item(s) inside or around the building in order to be complete. Items can be placed inside a chest or an item frame somewhere inside the building. If a requirement is missing, then the building is invalid, unless the building gives an exception under any circumstances.

Here is the list:

• Sawmill–

Allows you to build, craft and craft with wooden planks and unlimited amounts of logs. This also allows you to start crafting Wooden Tools(Axes, Shovels, Pickaxes, Hoes, Swords).This building can be made of unlimited logs, wooden planks and other wooden building supplies, even if there isn't an existing Sawmill in your village.

Requirements – Crafting Table, Axe/Sword (depending on the material depends on how many wood types you can craft and build with. Wood = 2, Stone = 3, Iron = 4, Gold = 6, Diamond = All. Building your first Sawmill is the last exception to crafting with wood blocks without an existing Sawmill already in place. When you upgrade your saw to the next tier, the wood you worked with in the previous tiers cannot be changed. For example, if you started working with oak with a wooden axe, you must work with oak and one of the other wood types with the stone axe)

• Stone Mason –

Allows you to build, craft and craft with cobblestone and other stone-related materials, except for tools. It also allows you to smelt cobblestone in a furnace and build and craft with sandstone.

Requirements – Crafting Table, Furnace (build the main structure before crafting and adding the furnace. This is the only exception to crafting with stone before having a Stone Mason built in your village)

• Forester–

Allows you to harvest jungle wood and replant any sapling you obtain, as long as it’s near the building (if you can’t find any trees nearby, and can’t travel from the village, you may replant saplings nearby your village until you have enough wood to continue building, even if you don’t have a Forester yet). You may also place down a single jungle log and place up to four cocoa beans on it to grow for each Forester you build in your village. These can be harvested at any time.

Requirements – Crafting Table, Axe

• Farm–

Must be added onto a Residential Building. Allows you to tend any kinds of crops that grow in soil. You may only farm in a 5x5 area. This area can be extended to a 9x9 if you add a scarecrow to the centre of the plot (scarecrows require a pumpkin or jack-o-lantern for a head, a solid block for a body and be suspended on a fence post). You can only tend one kind of crop per Farm.

Instead of farming crops within this land, you may also use it as a pen to hold and breed animals. You can only have up to four animals within this pen. Any extra must be released or killed.

Requirements – Crafting Table, Hoe (depending on the material depends on the types of crops you can tend in that Farm. Wood = wheat/beetroot, stone = carrots/potatoes, iron = pumpkins, gold = melons, diamond = any. You can replace the hoe for another at any time, but must harvest any crops that are growing in the Farm before planting new crops, unless the new hoe allows you to tend the same crops as the old hoe)

The farmland must be surrounded by wooden fences or cobblestone walls.

• Miner’s Hut–

Allows you to craft and use pickaxes of any kind, as long as other restriction rules aren’t broken. Any mining you do must be started near the Miner’s Hut (mining doesn’t count as exploring, so if you dig out a long strip mine, don’t worry about how far away you are from your village).

Requirements – Crafting Table, Bed

Use an iron door for the entrance to your mine, so that your villagers don’t find their way inside. It is a pain getting them out.

• Blacksmith–

Allows you to craft with and smelt iron and gold, crafting with diamond and emerald, smelting sand into glass, crafting glass panes, crafting bows and arrows and crafting stone tools.

Requirements – Crafting Table, Furnace, Anvil (you are able to smelt as much iron as you need to create the anvil before this building is complete. Before an anvil is made, you cannot use iron for anything else.

• Obsidian Crafts–

Must be built as a second floor or basement of a Blacksmith. Allows you to harvest, build and craft with obsidian.

Requirements – Crafting Table, Block of Emerald, Block of Diamond, Diamond Pickaxe

• Nether Prison –

Allows you to craft with Nether Blocks (Netherrack, Nether Brick, Magma Blocks, Nether Quartz etc.) outside of the Nether. Must be built with Nether Brick or Quartz materials. This is the only time you can use Nether Blocks outside of the Nether without an existing Nether Prison.

Requirements – A furnace with a Lava bucket in the fuel slot. In addition, this building must be surrounded by atleast a two block tall Nether Brick Fence and Iron Door to protect your settlement from invading Nether Creatures.

• Vault –

A storage room for all of your items. The vault can be made out of anything. No style required, however, it must be built underground. It doesn’t matter how deep underground it is.

• Church–

Allows you to craft enchantment tables and add enchantment to items. The enchantment table must be placed in a library section, which must be built on the first floor of the church somewhere.

Requirements – Fifteen Bookcases

• Bakery–

Allows you to craft sugar, bread, cookies, pumpkin pie and cake, as well as baking potatoes in a furnace.

Requirements – Crafting Table, Furnace

• Butcher–

Allows you to cook pig, rabbit, chicken, sheep, and cow meat.

Requirements – Two Furnaces

• Slaughter House–

A barn-like structure. You may hold and breed animals inside. Only eight can be held at any one time. Any more must be released or killed.

Requirements – Two Furnaces, Axe

• Fisherman’s Lodge–

Your villagers are now able to catch fish on their own (figuratively). This building simply allows you to explore longer, as long as you have a Butcher.

Requirements: Bed, Dock/Fishing Platform

• Architect’s Office –

Allows you to fortify your village. Depending on the style of this building, depends on how much you can fortify your village. If it is a simple wooden house, you may add a one block high wooden fence or cobblestone wall around your village with gates for exits. If it is a timber frame house, you may add a second layer of wooden fences or cobblestone walls to your barrier. If it is a reinforced house, you may build a three block high wall out of wood, stone or (stone/clay) brick. If it is a brick house, the wall may have an overhang over the front to prevent spiders from climbing over it. You may also add a walkway on top to allow for sniping mobs from above. It also allows you to build tree houses in nearby jungles, but if you do, there must be a clear path up to the tree houses for your villagers to travel. You may only build Residential Buildings as tree houses (styles remain the same, but houses must wrap around the tree trunk). Platforms from house to house can be made if desired, as well as areas between trees that your villagers can hang out during the day.

• Hunter’s Den–

Allows you to venture into caves and kill wild animals. A Hunter’s Den can only be made of dirt, so it may blend into the area around it. The interior can be furnished with other blocks if you so desire. You can only explore caves if you have a sword on your hotbar. When the sword breaks, turn back or find the easiest way out of the cave.

• Creationist’s Cottage–

Allows you to cook clay into brick, craft them into blocks and craft paintings and flower pots. It also allows you to craft secondary and tertiary dyes (lime, magenta, etc) and dye leather armour.

Requirements – Crafting Table, Furnace

• Restoration Room–

Must be built as a first floor or basement of a Blacksmith. Allows you to repair any tools, weapons and armour you have, as well as rename them, using the anvil.

Requirements – Desk made of Stone (any stone-type blocks are acceptable, including stairs and slabs), Pickaxe (you may only repair materials of the same kind that the stored pickaxe is. You can store one of each kind at all times in order to have access to repair all kinds of materials.

• Mechanic –

Mechanics help you discover the mechanical functions of certain objects and help them to function correctly. Gives you access to crafting hoppers, light sensors, comparators, pistons, droppers and dispensers.

Requirements – Crafting Table, Redstone Block placed somewhere inside

Regarding building conduct – if a building has a 5x5 roof or smaller, it can be supported by the walls and corner beams alone. A 6x6-10x10 roofs will require a beam somewhere along each wall. 11x11-15x15 will require two beams along each wall, etc. Beams can be spaced at least three blocks apart. Windows are optional.

Buildings can be made with any style, with the exception of a few specific Productive Buildings which require a specific or unique style. Storage Attics are allowed, but do not count as a second or third floor, as long as it is within the roof area of the house.

Here is the list:

• Wooden–

Square or Rectangular. Maximum one story. Vertical log beams in all four corners. Wooden stairs/slabs roof. Wooden fence windows. Walls can be made of planks or logs of any kind.

• Timber Frame–

Rectangular. Maximum one story. Vertical log beams in all four corners. Wooden or cobblestone stairs/slabs roof. Glass pane windows. Walls can be made of any planks or white wool.

• Reinforced Timber Frame–

Rectangular. Maximum two stories. Vertical spruce log beams in all corners. Cobblestone stairs/slabs roof. The bottom block of a single-story structure’s wall must be cobblestone. The entire first floor walls of a double-story structure must be cobblestone. Glass pane windows. Walls can be made of any planks or white wool.

• Clay Brick–

Shapeless. Maximum two stories. Vertical brick pillars inside where necessary, depending on the size of the building, to give a sense of support (interior walls count as pillars). Cobblestone or stone stairs/slabs roof. Glass block windows. This building is rather expensive and should only be made for players or the Architect’s Office, if at all. Must wait two days before being able to build again, as opposed to the standard one day.

• Church–

Rectangular. Maximum three stories (the third floor only applies to the option bell/lookout tower). Cobblestone and stone brick building with cobblestone pillars inside where necessary. Wooden stairs/slabs roof. Glass block windows. A library must be incorporated on the first floor.

• Manor–

Shapeless. Maximum four stories, depending on the building style (Wooden = 1, Timber Frame = 2, Reinforced Timber Frame = 3, Clay Brick = 4). You may vary the building styles a bit compared to the usual buildings of the same style. Only one manor can be built. Must wait four days before being able to build another building.

• Base of Operations –

Shapeless without a style. A base must be made underground and the vault may be incorporated as one of the rooms. The entrance to your base must be sealed so that villagers cannot enter. A base is just like any normal Minecraft Survival base, in which you will put everything you ever need inside (with a few exceptions to this challenge). If you build a Base of Operations, a Manor is optional. The base can remain forever unfinished and can always be extended. Add whatever you want to the base, not including anything that are listed in Productive Buildings, and as long as none of the materials used conflict with restrictions you have not yet relieved.

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If you fail the challenge in any way you deem adequate (including losing all of your villagers), you can still post your score and final screenshots here. In order to complete this challenge, you must build at least one of every Productive Building (plus one Manor or Base of Operations). You can continue the challenge, even after they are built, but you can decide when you want to note down your final score.

Here is a list of achievements that will total your score:

• Cartographer– Completely fill out the map you started with (5)
• Apprentice Carpenter– Build at least one of every Productive Building listed (excluding a Manor or Base of Operations) (15)
• Master Carpenter– Build a Manor or Base of Operations (building both will not add any more points to your score) (25)
• Expert Carpenter– Upgrade all of your Wooden and Timber Frame buildings into the Reinforced Timber Frame style (only if you have completed Apprentice Carpenter) (15)
• Minor Population – Have at least thirty villagers (which require roughly 85 valid wooden doors) in your village at any one time (20)
• Reinforcements – Spawn (either manually or naturally) at least ten Iron Golems in your village (25)
• Master Prospector– Have sixty-four diamonds on hand at any one time (30)
• Master Merchant– Have sixty-four emeralds on hand at any one time (15)
• Dragon Slayer– Defeat the Ender Dragon (50)
• Hell Slayer– Defeat one Wither (killing more will not add any more points to your score) (50)
• Flaunt Your Prize– Make a monument near the estimated centre of your village and place the dragon egg in the middle of it (e.g. Fountain or pond) (25)
• A Ray of Hope– Craft a beacon and place it near dragon egg monument (or the estimated centre of your village if you haven’t created the dragon egg monument, yet) (25)
• Vault 687– Build a Vault with at least eight large chests inside and conceal the entrance with a piston door (15)
• Constructs– For each Residential Building in your village, add one point to your total score.
• Overworld Conqueror– Create a Zombie or Skeleton grinder in any part of the Overworld, utilizing a natural spawner (5)
• Nether Conqueror – Create a Blaze grinder in any part of the Nether, utilizing a natural spawner (10)
• Worship thy Deity– Build a shrine to Notch or Herobrine somewhere near your village. It can be something noticeable, such as a woollen statue, or it can be subtle, such as a small stone structure. Building more than one does not continue to add points to your score. If you are building a shrine to Notch, you must make a water fountain somewhere near or inside the shrine. If it is to Herobrine, it must have an everlasting flame or lava fountain near or inside the shrine (5) (add 10 more points if you built it on top of a natural mountain above y:80)