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How to Build a Windmill in Minecraft

Windmills are quite easy to make and can look great on any farm. Their height can add some great richness to your landscape and will make any farm village look more authentic.

The tricky parts of the windmill are the blades and perhaps part of the structure. However, compared to other builds, windmills are one of the easier things to build in minecraft.

Windmill Structure

Windmills come in many different shapes in sizes, but most of them are quite round and start of bigger at the bottom. This round shape can be a bit difficult to create in minecraft, but it’s possible.

I usually start off by creating a base out of stone, I find this usually looks best and more authentic than using logs or wood. The base in this example isn’t perfectly round, though at the time I designed this, I found this looked better.

After the base is done, I start building a platform on top of it. This will act as a second base on which we’ll build the top of the windmill, which will be more rounded that our bottom. I like to make this platform wider than the bottom, this will create an overhang on which people can stand and enjoy the view, as well as mimicking the real world versions of windmills.

The top of the windmill can be a bit tricky, as they’re usually round and gradually get narrow towards the top. I decided to simply create a few tall layers, but each time decrease the width and length. This worked quite well, as you can see in the pictures. I finish the top with a small, dome like top to make it look more rounded.

minecraft windmill image


Blades

There are generally 3 types of blades you can make in minecraft. Straight blades, diagonal blades and “turning” blades. The turning version often looks the best, but can be very tricky to build, especially on smaller windmills.

I usually only use white wool and fences to create smaller blades, but I add wooden planks on bigger blades. This is also what I see other people use the most. However, the way you place the fences and wool will determine how the windmill will look, and more importantly, in which way the blades will appear to be spinning (if they could actually spin), though this is only a problem on straight blades and perhaps on a few diagonal blades. I often see people make blades which look wrong, as they appear to be spinning in the direction of the white wool, instead of the fences.

To make them look good, make one side of the blades (the one with the fences or wood) longer than the wool

Straight Blades

Straight blades are the easiest blades you can create, they look quite good but can be a bit plain, especially when you create several windmills next to each other.

In our example I’ve gone for this easy option, in which I’ve used 2 layers of wool which are supported by fences to make it look more authentic and stronger. I added a black wool block in the middle to mimic the place where the blades are held together.

minecraft windmill image

Diagonal Blades

Diagonal blades are quite easy as well, but they can often look a lot better than straight blades. They make the windmill look a lot more dynamic and will look great on both single windmills and rows of windmills.

I’ve created 2 versions, though I prefer the second version a lot more.

minecraft windmill image
minecraft windmill image

“Turning” Blades

These blades do not really turn, of course. But their shape makes it look a little like they are. These blades are by far my favorite and look great on any windmill or other propeller based build.

Turning blades are a bit tricky to build though, especially on smaller windmills, but I find that starting with building 4 quarter-circles from the middle is often a good start. From there I start to alter the round shape a little, by making the ends a bit longer and less round. After that I simply add one or more layers of wool and make it look a bit more dynamic by either adding or removing wool to make it longer or shorter than the fences and wooden planks.

minecraft windmill image
minecraft windmill image