Get some structure (blocks) in your life
Available in the latest Bedrock beta for Xbox One, Android and Windows 10!
It’s been a while since we ran our award-deserving Block of the Week series on Minecraft.net, but maybe we should resurrect it for a special limited run, like a mid-2000s pop star doing a line of Vegas shows? Because the superb Structure Block has just made its structurally-sound debut in the latest Bedrock beta. Well, technically they were already in Bedrock, but now they actually function. Neat!
Have you tried playing a Minecraft beta before? It's where we test upcoming features of the game! To try these features, you have to play a version of Minecraft that supports betas (so that's the Windows 10, Xbox One and Android versions). Learn how to sign up for a Minecraft beta on each version here. You can also find more help regarding this specific beta (and a list of all the added features!) on our feedback site.
Remember, beta features can be unstable. The reason we want players to try them early is to give us feedback and catch bugs for us to fix – so make sure to backup your worlds!
HURRY UP AND TELL ME MORE ABOUT STRUCTURE BLOCKS THEN
Sure! Structure blocks are a really handy editing tool for Creative Mode players. Among other functions, they’re an incredibly helpful way of copying and pasting builds all over your Minecraft world. To use them in this beta, make sure you toggle the Use Experimental Gameplay option in the settings. Let’s take a look at how they work in Bedrock:
[1/4] We’ll start, as all great Minecraft tutorials do, by constructing a hot pink house.
[2/4] Now we need a structure block! Let’s use a slash command. Type ‘/’ and then ‘/give @s structure_bloc
[3/4] Place your structure block next to your delightful pink home.
[4/4] Then right-click on your structure block to open this menu.
Bedrock beta structure blocks work a bit differently to their Java counterparts. We’ve redesigned the structure block interface to make it more user-friendly. Let us know what you think on our feedback site.
Let’s take a look at the snazzy new structure block menu:
[1/4] Here we can see my pink house. Hang on, why is it only one side of it? Boo!
[2/4] Actually, the problem here is that these X, Y and Z values need adjusting. The higher those numbers, the more blocks the structure block will cover. Let’s increase the X value from 5 to 9…
[3/4] Victory! But I’m still missing a lot of the roof, so let’s increase the Y value from 5 to 8...
[4/4] Success! Well, apart from the fact that you can now see I totally didn’t finish the roof. Hope no burglars read this website. You can also click on the 3D model and drag your cursor around to view it from different angles!
Once you’ve successfully decided how many blocks you want your structure block to cover, you can set other filters too. Remove Blocks will take away all the blocks from the area, which is handy if you just want to copy plants and mobs.
But if you don’t want mobs to be part of your copy-paste funtimes, you can toggle Include Entities to remove/include them. Otherwise, you can clone Wandering Traders and pigs and more to your heart’s content! Why not stick the nametag ‘Dolly’ on a sheep and re-enact some SCIENCE?
[1/5] There are three modes to choose from on this top-left menu. Save, Load and 3D Export. Let’s choose ‘Save’.
[2/5] To save your structure, enter a name in the box below. Then click ‘Save’!
[3/5] Now select ‘Load’ in the top-left menu. You’ll see an option called ‘Offset’ above three adjustable coordinates. Type numbers in these to select where in your Overworld your copy will ‘Load’ to!
[4/5] After putting in your coordinates, you’ll see a preview of the area you’ve selected in the top-right (so you’ll know if you’re about to dump your build in the middle of the ocean). Happy with your choice? Then select ‘Load’!
[5/5] And there it is! You can copy and paste your structure as much as you like!
This is one of the most helpful uses of structure blocks. It can make constructing large buildings which have lots of similar foundations, such as castles and palaces, much easier.
Or maybe, like me, you just want to live on a street full of identical hot pink homes?
Is that so much to ask?
Give structure blocks a try in the latest Bedrock beta!
You might just spot a certain new-ish mob too…
ARGHHHH. STAY STILL SO I CAN USE MY STRUCTURE BLOCK TO CLONE YOU.
- Written By
- Tom Stone
- Published
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