Q&A for How to Build a City in Minecraft

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  • Question
    What types of buildings should I build in my city?
    Community Answer
    Start with shops, hotels, and restaurants. Then add some residential and commercial buildings.
  • Question
    How big should a city block be?
    Community Answer
    As big as you want! A city block should be unique in its own way. The only thing you should remember is to keep with your style.
  • Question
    What would be a good size for the roads?
    Reuben Ratliff
    Community Answer
    It depends on the use of the road. For footpaths, alleys, and trails use 3x-5x. For larger foot-traffic or some horse/pig traffic use 5x-9x. Avenues running traffic in 2 directions are always good, in the center you can add decorations, perhaps a small canal for gondolas for full submersion into your city. Avenues work great in larger cities, 5-7 blocks each way with a 5-9 median work the best. Remember 1 block is about 3 feet cubed, a general traffic lane IRL is approx. 9 wide or 3 blocks.
  • Question
    How do I stop animals from trespassing in my city?
    Community Answer
    Dependent on what platform you’re playing on, you should be able to turn off Mobs.
  • Question
    Does it matter where buildings are placed? For example, having a house surrounded by shops?
    Community Answer
    It doesn't really matter, except you will want to have more houses than shops, and do the house planning in neighborhoods, not just individual houses.
  • Question
    What should I do if my city is too crowded?
    Community Answer
    If you have no more space and are happy with it then you might just have to enjoy what you've built. You could tear down older buildings and build something else, or change the layout of your city entirely. Expanding further, if you can, is another idea.
  • Question
    How big should the buildings be?
    Community Answer
    It all depends on what kind of city you want. If you want a metropolitan style, the buildings should be pretty tall, around 17 stories or taller.
  • Question
    What do I build first in a city?
    Community Answer
    You can start with anything, but if you want your friends to visit daily, start with important stuff. Somewhere they can sleep and buy items. Make sure you're mega impressed with your creation before you invite someone who is known to be picky.
  • Question
    What material can skyscrapers be made from?
    Community Answer
    Iron or concrete usually look good for lighter, simple ones, or stone and/or colored concrete for the darker ones. Use lots of glass for windows.
  • Question
    Is there any way to quickly clear trees/terrain if I choose to build in default mode?
    Community Answer
    Yes there is. You can use flint and steel to start fires or use the fire starters to remove the trees. However, make sure you put out any fire that made it to the ground. You can also use TNT to remove larger areas of terrain more quickly.
  • Question
    Can I make mine special by adding my own buildings?
    Community Answer
    Concentrate. You don't have to finish a building in a day, but if you have no confidence in your buildings and think they're rubbish, look at building tutorials on YouTube to make better ones.
  • Question
    How do I quickly build rooms that look the same?
    Community Answer
    You can use mods - like WorldEdit - to copy and paste a room or building, or you can ask your friends to help you.
  • Question
    What if you want it to be realistic?
    Community Answer
    You can look online at pictures of real cities to help you, but don't be too confined to a picture. Try to make it your own too.
  • Question
    Sometimes I get sidetracked while building. What can I do?
    Community Answer
    Try to only build one thing at a time. Don't start on Building #2 if you haven't completely finished Building #1.
  • Question
    What do I do if I can't allow friends to join with my Xbox Live account and I am not allowed to get mods?
    Hailey Scullen-Miller
    Community Answer
    If that is the case, then you can have a city of your own. However, you can invite friends to your house and play it with them at home in person.
  • Question
    Could I build Manhattan in Minecraft?
    Community Answer
    Of course! You can build anything. I would start with the important structures first, then add the houses, restaurants, and other buildings next. It might be helpful to start in the middle and work your way outward. Also, look up pictures of Manhattan. You want the city to be accurate as well as impressive!
  • Question
    How do I make a cinema?
    Community Answer
    Make a big building with lots of chairs (stairs), then make a screen out of different-colored blocks.
  • Question
    How do I add cars and lampposts?
    Community Answer
    Cars can be made of wool and I find that using stone wall and sea lanterns can make efficient lampposts
  • Question
    How do I build a city on bad terrain? And how can I speed up the process of digging?
    Community Answer
    Use TNT to explode hills. If you don't like that, then just make your buildings in the sky or make them from very small to very big.
  • Question
    How do I copy and paste things?
    Community Answer
    There is probably a mod out there that can help you, but there isn't a way to do that in vanilla Minecraft.
  • Question
    Can I use mods to build easily in Minecraft?
    Community Answer
    Yes, you can. There are city mods, mansion mods, etc. Your imagination is the limit!
  • Question
    How do I get mods on a PS3 version of Minecraft?
    Community Answer
    You can't. It's only for PC and Pocket Edition.
  • Question
    I am very picky about my buildings and get frustrated and delete my world, how can I keep motivated?
    Community Answer
    Start out with the outline of your building, such as the frame of a skyscraper or base of a residential house. That way, you don't just build randomly and mess up. Look at photos of other Minecraft creations or a real life photo to keep it looking the way you want. Keep thinking that what you are building is the small detail that helps the big picture so as not to feel like you ruined the whole thing, and don't forget that if you feel something is not right, you can always fix it. A good city will take a long time, so be patient.
  • Question
    How do I build a restaurant or cafe?
    Community Answer
    You can start by making four square walls and then build tables and seats inside. Choose any blocks you like. When it's finished you can make food and customers.
  • Question
    What type of blocks should I use?
    Community Answer
    It depends on the building. For houses, wood or quartz will do. For tall buildings use iron, stone, or quartz. For other buildings, use bricks.
  • Question
    How do I build a house?
    Community Answer
    I don't think that there is a right or wrong way. You build four walls with a roof.
  • Question
    How big should the houses get?
    Community Answer
    It's up to you. You can build them as big as you want.
  • Question
    What if we're too lazy to build everything?
    Community Answer
    Ask your friends to do it for you, but do some work, too, so they don't know you're slacking.
  • Question
    How do I build an alley?
    Community Answer
    If your buildings are all together, then cut away the walls that connect both buildings until you have a space between them. If you want to you can add hoppers for trash cans in the alley. Be creative and add some cool features to it.
  • Question
    What should be the size of the subway?
    Community Answer
    It depends how busy you intend it to be. Usually about 5 blocks tall, and the tracks themselves 5 wide. Using slabs and stairs to make it look like subway tracks, make two parallel lanes and a tunnel to get to each side of the tracks. The length should basically get you across town, and you could have several stations. Customize the station part where the people wait, but don't make it too large. Maybe go to a subway station for inspiration.
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