Building Blocks: Desert Well

Wells are relatively easy to spot in the flat landscape of the desert biome. They poke up out of the sands – a small structure made of sandstone with a water source block in the centre. They’re five times more common in Java Edition than they are in Bedrock edition. Maybe Java players are thirstier?

Originally they were just a source of water for players surviving in the desert. But in the Wild Update in 2022, suspicious sand began generating under the water block – allowing aspiring archaeologists to uncover ancient artefacts. These include pottery sherds, bricks, emeralds, sticks, and bowls of suspicious stew.

Technically, desert wells are coded into the game as a “feature” rather than a “structure”, just like icebergs, geodes, and lava lakes. This means that they’ll spawn in your world even if you untick the “generate structures” option in the world creation box. Sorry – you’re just gonna have to live with them.

Wells exist in the real world, of course, and the first ones in the world were almost certainly dug in desert-like conditions. The oldest we’ve found is from what is now Cyprus, and it dates back more than 10,000 years. It goes down through limestone to reach underground water at a depth of eight metres. Some ancient wells are architectural wonders, like the stepwells built between the 7th and 19th centuries in western India.

Hand-dug wells were, for centuries, one of the few ways of accessing drinking water in arid conditions. They’re cheap to build and require only a shovel (though putting bricks around the walls will make it a lot safer). Even today, they’re used in many rural areas of developing countries. But it’s more common these days for wells to be drilled by machines and equipped with pumps that can bring water up more easily.

While Minecraft’s mines seem to generate naturally in the landscape, you can of course build your own without too much difficulty. All you’ll need is some sandstone blocks and slabs, and a bucket of water. Just be careful when you’re digging down that you don’t break in through the ceiling of an underground cave. Who knows what awaits you in the darkness below...