Desert Biome in Minecraft: Safe Pyramid Looting and Husks

The desert is a flat, dry biome of sand, sandstone and cactus where it never rains. Go there for desert pyramids (the best early loot in the game), desert villages and endless sand for glass. At night most of the zombies are husks.

Desert pyramids, done safely

A desert pyramid (or desert temple) is a sandstone pyramid with orange terracotta decoration. In the middle of the main floor there’s a single blue terracotta block surrounded by orange terracotta. Directly below it is a deep shaft leading to a hidden room with four chests and a stone pressure plate wired to nine TNT.

Step on that plate and the whole room explodes. Here’s the safe way in:

1. Don’t drop straight down the center. Instead, dig a staircase down beside the blue block, or dig down through one of the walls and come in level with the chests.
2. Break the pressure plate from the side without standing on it.
3. Mine the TNT under the plate. That’s nine free TNT.
4. Empty the four chests.

Chests can hold diamonds, emeralds, gold, iron, enchanted books, saddles, horse armor, golden apples, the Dune armor trim template and, rarely, an enchanted golden apple. Since 1.20 there’s also a small hidden room with suspicious sand for archaeology; brush it for pottery sherds.

Husks and the other mobs

At night, most zombies on the desert surface are husks. They don’t burn in sunlight, and their hits give you Hunger, so a desert at dawn is still dangerous. Otherwise you’ll see creepers, skeletons and spiders after dark.

Passive life is thin: rabbits hop around, and camels generate in desert villages. A camel carries two players and can dash, which makes it a strong early mount.

Villages, wells and fossils

• Desert villages are sandstone and terracotta, and they’re a great early trading post. Watch out for zombie sieges, since flat sand gives mobs easy access.
• Desert wells are small sandstone wells with suspicious sand for archaeology.
• Fossils of bone blocks sometimes generate a few blocks under the sand, often with coal or diamond ore around them in deeper ones.

Resources

• Sand, in huge amounts. Smelt it into glass or craft sandstone.
• Cactus for green dye, cactus farms and traps.
• Dead bushes for sticks.
• Sugar cane where water meets sand.

There are no trees. Bring wood or you’ll be stuck crafting with nothing.

Should you build here?

Not as a first base. No wood, no rain to fill cauldrons, few animals and lots of husks. But a desert next to a badlands or savanna can be a strong second base, and sand-heavy builds like Egyptian or Middle Eastern styles look right at home. See the biomes hub for better starter spots.