How to build Mini Castle Keep in Minecraft

A first fortified base that feels like a real castle. A square stone keep with a turret on every corner and crenellations along the top sits inside a small moat, reached by a plank bridge. The gatehouse has a big wooden gate with a little door set into it and a raised iron portcullis above, red-and-gold banners hang either side, and the east wall is lined with arrow slits. Inside there are two floors: a workshop with furnaces, chests and a bed downstairs, and a room upstairs, with a ladder up to the battlements.

Open the interactive 3D plan above to build it one layer at a time: every layer has a numbered top-down plan, a block list and full-screen step-by-step instructions you can tick off as you go. You can also download it for Litematica, WorldEdit or Minecraft Bedrock, or view it in your room in AR.

Materials list

BlockAmountStacks
Dirt78612 stacks + 18
Stone Bricks5548 stacks + 42
Cobblestone3335 stacks + 13
Grass Block1832 stacks + 55
Water1362 stacks + 8
Spruce Planks1011 stack + 37
Mossy Stone Bricks681 stack + 4
Cracked Stone Bricks59
Lantern10
Spruce Fence10
Blue Carpet9
Red Carpet9
Glass Pane8
Stone Brick Stairs8
Ladder7
Oak Leaves7
Red Wool7
Torch5
Chest4
Oak Log4
Stone Brick Wall4
Chiseled Stone Bricks3
Dirt Path3
Iron Bars3
Yellow Wool3
Bookshelf2
Crafting Table2
Dandelion2
Furnace2
Poppy2
Spruce Log2
Spruce Slab2
Cornflower1
Red Bed1
Spruce Door1

Building tips

  1. Gather first: about 6 stacks of cobblestone, which you will get just from mining. Smelt some into stone and craft stone bricks for the faces, and keep plain cobblestone for the inside and floors.
  2. Build the 11×11 walls and the four 3×3 turrets first, then fill in the floors. The crenellations are just every other block on the top row, so they are quick to do last.
  3. Mix in a few mossy and cracked stone bricks (about one in five) so the walls do not look flat. It is the cheapest way to make a castle look old.
  4. The moat is only one block deep and two wide. It still stops zombies and spiders walking up to the walls, and the bridge is the only way in.
  5. Arrow slits are just one-block-wide gaps two blocks tall. You can shoot out of them with a bow while most mobs cannot get in.
  6. Light every floor and the roof: mobs can spawn on top of your own battlements. Torches on the turret tops and lanterns by the gate and bridge keep the whole castle safe.

Step-by-step: all 18 layers

  1. Layer 1 Dirt ×529
  2. Layer 2 Dirt ×257, Cobblestone ×136, Water ×136
  3. Layer 3 Cobblestone ×197, Grass Block ×183, Spruce Planks ×20, Dirt Path ×3
  4. Layer 4 Stone Bricks ×49, Red Carpet ×9, Mossy Stone Bricks ×8, Cracked Stone Bricks ×6, Spruce Fence ×6, Chest ×3, Dandelion ×2, Furnace ×2, Poppy ×2, Spruce Log ×2, Stone Brick Wall ×2, Cornflower ×1, Crafting Table ×1, Ladder ×1, Oak Log ×1, Red Bed ×1, Spruce Door ×1
  5. Layer 5 Stone Bricks ×39, Mossy Stone Bricks ×11, Cracked Stone Bricks ×10, Lantern ×2, Spruce Planks ×2, Stone Brick Wall ×2, Ladder ×1, Oak Log ×1
  6. Layer 6 Stone Bricks ×47, Mossy Stone Bricks ×7, Cracked Stone Bricks ×6, Lantern ×4, Iron Bars ×3, Spruce Planks ×3, Ladder ×1, Oak Log ×1
  7. Layer 7 Spruce Planks ×76, Stone Bricks ×54, Mossy Stone Bricks ×9, Oak Leaves ×5, Chiseled Stone Bricks ×3, Cracked Stone Bricks ×3, Red Wool ×2, Ladder ×1, Oak Log ×1
  8. Layer 8 Stone Bricks ×42, Blue Carpet ×9, Cracked Stone Bricks ×6, Mossy Stone Bricks ×6, Glass Pane ×4, Bookshelf ×2, Yellow Wool ×2, Chest ×1, Crafting Table ×1, Ladder ×1, Oak Leaves ×1
  9. Layer 9 Stone Bricks ×47, Cracked Stone Bricks ×5, Glass Pane ×4, Mossy Stone Bricks ×2, Red Wool ×2, Ladder ×1, Lantern ×1, Oak Leaves ×1
  10. Layer 10 Stone Bricks ×135, Cracked Stone Bricks ×5, Mossy Stone Bricks ×5, Spruce Slab ×2, Ladder ×1
  11. Layer 11 Stone Bricks ×46, Cracked Stone Bricks ×7, Mossy Stone Bricks ×7, Torch ×4
  12. Layer 12 Stone Bricks ×25, Cracked Stone Bricks ×4, Mossy Stone Bricks ×2
  13. Layer 13 Stone Bricks ×27, Stone Brick Stairs ×8, Mossy Stone Bricks ×6, Cracked Stone Bricks ×3
  14. Layer 14 Stone Bricks ×28, Cracked Stone Bricks ×4, Mossy Stone Bricks ×4
  15. Layer 15 Stone Bricks ×15, Lantern ×3, Mossy Stone Bricks ×1, Spruce Fence ×1, Torch ×1
  16. Layer 16 Spruce Fence ×1
  17. Layer 17 Red Wool ×1, Spruce Fence ×1, Yellow Wool ×1
  18. Layer 18 Red Wool ×2, Spruce Fence ×1

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