Tech & Gaming
⚡ Intermediate
⏱️ 45-60 minutes
How to Build a Modern Secret Base in Minecraft
Construct a hidden modern underground base in Minecraft featuring a flush piston door entrance, sleek quartz interior walls, and recessed lighting.
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- Read the tools, materials, safety notes, and steps below for free.
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- Allow camera and microphone. Point your phone at the work; the coach watches your progress and tells you the next step.
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🧰 Required Tools & Equipment
- ✓ Diamond Pickaxe (Efficiency IV+ recommended)
- ✓ Diamond Shovel
- ✓ Water Bucket
- ✓ Sticky Pistons
- ✓ Redstone Dust
- ✓ Redstone Repeaters
📦 Materials & Supplies
- ✓ Smooth Quartz Blocks
- ✓ White Concrete
- ✓ Sea Lanterns
- ✓ Gray Stained Glass Panes
- ✓ Redstone Torches
- ✓ Stone Pressure Plates
⚠️ Safety Checkpoints & Warnings
- • Check F3 screen light levels across all floor blocks to keep light level at 1 or higher, preventing hostile mob spawns.
- • Place a water bucket in the hotbar shortcut slot immediately to neutralize unexpected lava pockets while excavating.
- • Ensure the redstone circuit does not accidentally link to open surface terrain or expose uncamouflaged pistons.
📋 Step-by-Step Guide (5 Steps)
1
Excavate the Main Underground Chamber
Find a natural cliffside or hill face. Dig an interior room measuring 15 blocks wide, 15 blocks long, and 5 blocks tall, leaving at least a 2-block-thick ceiling beneath the surface.
👁️ Camera AI Checkpoint
- • A clear 15x15x5 cuboid space cleared of all natural stone, dirt, and ores.
- • Temporary torches evenly spaced on the ground illuminating every corner.
🛑 Watch Out For
- • Breaking into the surface layer, leaving visible open sky holes above the base.
⚠️ Safety Note: Do not dig straight down; stand between two blocks while digging downward to avoid dropping into lava.
2
Build the Flush 2x2 Piston Entrance
Set up a flush 2x2 redstone piston door against the cliff face. Place four sticky pistons facing sideways with two sticky pistons attached to push the camouflage blocks flush with the exterior wall.
👁️ Camera AI Checkpoint
- • Exterior cliff wall looks completely natural and continuous when closed.
- • Activating the trigger pulls two wall blocks inward and retracts them sideways to reveal a 2x2 tunnel.
🛑 Watch Out For
- • Setting repeater delay ticks incorrectly, causing pistons to jam or push out of order.
⚠️ Safety Note: Keep the exterior opening well-lit on the outside so creepers do not wait at the doorstep.
3
Install Modern Quartz Walls and Ceiling
Replace all exposed dirt, granite, and stone in the chamber with smooth quartz blocks or white concrete. Leave recessed channels along the ceiling perimeter for lighting.
👁️ Camera AI Checkpoint
- • All wall and ceiling surfaces are entirely solid white with sharp right angles.
- • No natural stone or ore textures visible anywhere on the perimeter.
🛑 Watch Out For
- • Mixing regular rough quartz with smooth quartz, creating an inconsistent tiled texture.
⚠️ Safety Note: Place replacement blocks immediately to prevent dark patches from spawning creepers behind open walls.
4
Lay Recessed Flooring and Lighting
Dig out the dirt floor and lay down alternating bands of smooth quartz and sea lanterns. Cover the sea lanterns with light gray carpet or gray stained glass to produce soft ambient glow.
👁️ Camera AI Checkpoint
- • Seamless floor with continuous illumination and zero exposed bare torches.
- • Floor level aligns perfectly with the base of the piston entrance tunnel.
🛑 Watch Out For
- • Placing light sources too far apart, creating dark spawnable center floor tiles.
⚠️ Safety Note: Verify light levels across all floor blocks before moving to decoration.
5
Partition and Furnish Interior Zones
Divide the open area into functional living zones using gray stained glass panels. Add modern furniture such as quartz slab couches, an automated sorting storage chest wall, and an armor display bay.
👁️ Camera AI Checkpoint
- • Distinct modern workstations separated by sleek glass partitions.
- • Functional auto-smelters, storage chests, and exit pressure plates fully connected.
🛑 Watch Out For
- • Placing pressure plates near the entrance too close to the outside, allowing mobs to trigger the door.
⚠️ Safety Note: Ensure no beds are placed in the Nether or End if replicating this design in alternate dimensions.
Credit: inspired by an original tutorial by Maizen — watch the original on YouTube.
Don’t have everything?
- No Smooth Quartz Blocks? White Concrete or Smooth Sandstone
- No Sea Lanterns? Glowstone, Froglights, or Ochre Froglights covered by carpet
- No Gray Stained Glass Panes? Black Stained Glass or Tinted Glass
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