Bastion of baddies

As a new player to Minecraft, I was aware of the endless possibilities in building and terraforming, but not so much about ready-made structures created by anonymous crafters. One rumour had reached me, though – the elusive and mysterious woodland mansion, and I was eager to find one for myself. Apparently, these mansions are typically found in roofed forest biomes and the road to discovering one is often paved with challenges. Why am I not surprised? Unfortunately, the woodland mansions are not conveniently placed along well-worn paths; rather they’re hidden in dense woodland, (hence the name) and are likely to require you to traverse challenging terrain, cross rivers, and navigate thick foliage. Then once you get there, the mansion’s halls are guarded by hostile illager mobs. Yikes.  

Finding a woodland mansion can be tricky, depending on the mode you’re playing in. If you’re in Survival mode, they may occasionally appear on treasure maps, if you don’t have one of those, you’ll have to traverse the world for the right biome instead. But fortune favours the brave and all that...

Okay, so I’m not brave, I prefer to play in Creative mode. Call it cowardice, but I like to create limitlessly without some pesky little illager trying to ruin my life. If, like me, you’d rather focus on creating than fighting, then playing in Creative mode is definitely the better option, especially if you’re going to a woodland mansion that’s crawling with the little brutes.  

Creative mode also makes finding one much easier – you can do this by typing in "/locate structure minecraftmansion" in the chat and you’ll instantly receive the coordinates to teleport to your dream home. To teleport, you need to type /teleport into the chat then the coordinates. Just don’t type in the wrong coordinates, or you might end up on a remote island in the middle of the ocean like I did. Oops! Second time lucky, I ended up at a mansion. Well sort of –  I actually landed in a pitch-black hole under the mansion that I had to dig myself out of. But hey, close enough!

The main draw for me finding a mansion was to create my own dream pad. You know, the type of luxury crib that you’ve always deserved, but sadly the kind of wealth that you weren’t born into. Sigh.

But back to the game – after excavating my way through the floorboards, I went on a quick hunt for the nearest exit, practically shutting my eyes, so I couldn’t see too much and ruin the dramatic impact of entering the mansion. When I went out through the nearest doorway, I got a good overview of what the mansion looked like from the outside. And it was impressive – the towering structure, constructed with dark oak wood with detailed architectural elements, stood proudly against the backdrop of the forest. 

But what lurks behind the mansion’s doors? Well, illagers of course, just like in Survival mode, but not angry ones as you’d expect. Not friendly exactly, but other than a bit of side eye and the occassional grumpy "HRM!", they left me well alone – something you will most definitely not find in Survival mode. Free of external threats to my existence, I began searching for the secret rooms that I had heard rumours of. I began to impatiently smash up the walls, before eventually stopping my mindless destruction – I didn’t want to completely total the place! 

A typical woodland mansion seems to contain everything from a grand entrance hall, several floors, unique chambers, and corridors, which for me became a great canvas for creative expression. "My" mansion was nice, but if I was about to live in the lap of luxury, then I wanted to customize it! I experimented with different building blocks, textures, and colour palettes to redesign the mansion's interior and exterior. The dark oak wood can be replaced with a variety of materials to create a medieval fortress, a modern futuristic haven – or a forest cabin on steroids. Whatever helps you to live your best life! 

There’s no need to limit yourself to just the inside of the mansions, to create a true utopia out of this fortress of fiends, it should look great both inside and out. Why not craft lush gardens, picturesque courtyards, or even floating islands to complement the grandeur of your creation? Revel in the joy of unleashing your creative spirit as you craft a woodland mansion that reflects the depths of your artistic vision. 

My mansion exploring adventure is over, but him happy to pass the torch over to you, dear reader. With an abundance of resources and tools at your disposal, your dream pad is only a teleportation away!