How to Find Structures in Minecraft

Ancient City

Search deep below tall, eroded mountain terrain for a Deep Dark biome. Ancient cities generate far underground and are easiest to recognize by large sculk-covered ruins.

Bastion Remnant

Explore the Nether outside basalt deltas. Look for a huge, dark blackstone complex; fire-resistance supplies and plenty of blocks make the search safer.

Buried Treasure

Find a shipwreck or ocean ruin, loot its map chest, then follow the buried-treasure map to the red X. The chest is usually hidden beneath sand, gravel, or nearby shoreline blocks.

Desert Pyramid

Scan open desert terrain from a high point. The orange terracotta pattern and sandstone towers stand out, although part of the pyramid can be buried by surrounding dunes.

End City

Defeat the Ender Dragon, enter an End gateway, and bridge or pearl across the outer End islands. Large islands give you the best chance of finding the tall purpur towers.

Fortress

Travel through open Nether terrain and scan across lava oceans for long nether-brick bridges. Clear sightlines and increasing render distance can make distant walkways easier to spot.

Igloo

Explore snowy plains, snowy taiga, and snowy slopes. The small snow-block shelter can blend into the terrain, and only some igloos contain a hidden basement.

Jungle Pyramid

Search dense jungle and bamboo-jungle terrain. Climb above the canopy or clear sightlines as you travel—the mossy cobblestone exterior is easily hidden by leaves and vines.

Mineshaft

Explore large cave systems and listen for cave spiders. Wooden supports, rails, and plank corridors reveal a mineshaft; badlands can expose them close to the surface.

Monument

Cross deep-ocean biomes by boat and watch for a broad prismarine roof below the surface. Night vision and water-breathing potions make confirmation much easier.

Ocean Ruin

Boat across ocean biomes and look down for small stone-brick or sandstone clusters. Night vision helps reveal ruins in deep or murky water.

Pillager Outpost

Explore broad plains, savannas, deserts, taigas, meadows, and snowy terrain. The tall dark-oak watchtower is visible from far away, but approach prepared for pillagers.

Ruined Portal

Watch for netherrack, magma blocks, and an incomplete obsidian frame in the Overworld or Nether. Some portals generate underground or partly submerged.

Shipwreck

Follow coastlines and cross oceans by boat while watching the seabed. Shipwrecks can be upright, sideways, broken apart, or partially buried on a beach.

Stronghold

Throw an Eye of Ender and travel in the direction it flies. Repeat from separated positions until the eye begins to descend, then dig down carefully to find the stronghold.

Swamp Hut

Search ordinary swamp biomes by boat. The compact oak-and-spruce hut stands on stilts over shallow water and is easier to notice from open waterways.

Trail Ruins

Look in taiga, snowy taiga, old-growth taiga, old-growth birch forest, and jungle biomes for a few exposed terracotta or suspicious-gravel blocks, then excavate with a brush.

Trial Chambers

Explore the deepslate layers for large tuff-and-copper rooms. A trial explorer map from a journeyman cartographer can lead directly to a chamber.

Village

Travel through plains, desert, savanna, taiga, snowy plains, or meadow terrain and scan for rooftops, paths, farms, hay bales, and village lights.

Woodland Mansion

Trade with a journeyman cartographer for a woodland explorer map, then prepare for a long trip toward a dark forest. The mansion's dark-oak roof rises above the canopy.

Use a compass in the Overworld: its needle points toward world spawn. Commands-enabled worlds can also use /setworldspawn to establish a known reference point.