One of the best parts of Minecraft is being able to do just about anything. Want to explore caves and slay monsters? You can do that. Want to build a palatial house with hundreds of rooms? You can do that, too. There’s no one right way to play Minecraft, which is one of the reasons it’s one of the most successful games on the planet.
Among the many options for activities to do is create a farm for the many peaceful mobs that call your server home. Cows, pigs, chickens, and more can be kept in designated areas to farm resources, give your house an aesthetic vibe, or simply because you like the view.
If you want your Minecraft with a side of Stardew Valley or Harvest Moon, read on for the best Minecraft animal farm ideas.
Aesthetic barn
If you’re looking for something traditional yet fancy, look no further than this aesthetic barn and outdoor pen layout. Creator ‘LennyRandom’ shared a complete video tutorial for the barn, so if you love the way it looks, you can follow it down to the last block. The layout features an expansive barn with room for up to six kinds of animals, an enclosed grassy pen for animals to roam outside, a hay bale storage area, and a traditional ranch entrance sign. This build has both charm and functionality in spades.
Spruce side barn
If you’d rather give your animals a little cover from the rain and dangerous mobs while they roam around, you might like this expansive barn build from creator ‘Aichannel.’ While the video title and description are in Japanese, the video tutorial features both the Japanese and English names for the blocks and items used.
This barn takes up less land area on the outside, but it still has plenty of space for multiple indoor animal pens and a side yard for roaming.
Cottagecore barn
This build incorporates plenty of flowers, leaves, and mossy blocks to make your barn feel a little more connected to nature. In the video tutorial, creator ‘Sillyblocks’ shows exactly how many of each block you need to create the build. Animals have plenty of space to run around on the inside, while the light from the pretty lanterns on the outside ensures mobs won’t even think about getting close to your farm.
The dirt-packed path leading to the front is the icing on the cake.
Utilitarian barn and pen
If you’re not interested in any of the many aesthetic farm looks but still want a nice place for your animals to stay, look no further than this pared-down animal pen. It has space for three different kinds of animals, a small side yard with water and hay, and a small roof with lanterns that give just enough light.
Creator ‘LANSER’ built the pen with Minecraft’s default texture pack, so you won’t need any modified textures to make this one work. It’s small and simple, but it gets the job done.
Chicken hutch
Looking for a place to keep just your chickens? This compact yet functional egg farm will do the trick. Creator ‘Croissant Cat’s build uses the popular 16 Craft resource pack, which is beloved by many cottage-core creators and builders. The egg farm includes a small yard for chickens to roam around in, a functional flower garden on the roof, and a small outdoor chest to keep all the eggs you’ll collect. There’s even room within the fence to plant some wheat or a few veggies if you really want to nail the farm look.
Wintry pen
Is winter your favorite season? You’ll love this more austere pen that features wintry trees, dark wood, and a natural fence that insulates animals from dangerous mobs. Creator ‘IamPixel’ didn’t include a tutorial with the build, but it doesn’t look too hard to replicate: just find a quiet, snowy area and build a roughly circular pen with your choice of textured blocks.
The interior features a small covered area with room for hay and a gate that keeps everything inside. It’s a unique build that blends more seamlessly into Minecraft’s natural world than a lot of other builds.
Horse farm
Are you a present or former horse lover? This ‘Planet Minecraft’ creation by humterjumperr is specifically designed to accommodate plenty of equestrian activities. The inside of the large barn features windows, separate pens for each horse that incorporate glowstone, tall fences, and dark wood. The real treasures lie outside the barn, though: the build also includes a barrel-racing arena, a show-jumping arena, and a walking trail if you’re looking to put your horses to work.
It’s an incredibly detailed Minecraft build that incorporates some of the best activities that horse farming has to offer.
