5 best tips for making circles and spheres in Minecraft

Minecraft's a blocky game, there's no doubt about it. Considering the overall limits of the game's engine, this may lead players to think that creating elliptical structures like circles and spheres isn't exactly possible. Fortunately, this isn't the case in the slightest, and you can create both with the right mindset and technique. Specifically, you simply need to build them within the game's blocky framework.

With a little bit of spatial thinking, you can begin to learn the art of creating elliptical objects in a space that's typically reserved for cubic blocks, items, and entities.

It takes some practice, but this article will provide some tips on how to construct circles, spheres, and other elliptical structures in Minecraft.

---

Tips to remember when building circles and spheres in Minecraft

1) Think in pixels

Minecraft projects can always be reduced to individual pixel-based comparisons (Image via Minecraft Builders Wiki)

Since Minecraft's blocks are cubic in nature, you can better visualize an eventual elliptical build by reducing the project down into pixels. For example, if you were to make a circle, you can imagine each individual block that makes up the whole as an individual pixel on a grid.

By using graphs or diagrams where pixels can be filled in, you can conceptualize how a circle may look in a Minecraft build and where blocks need to be placed to accomplish this. While this doesn't really work for spheres since the objects are three-dimensional, the tactic is a great way to get started when building circles in particular.

---

2) Build from the inside out

Beginning with an interior frame can help players evenly build a circle, dome, or sphere (Image via MegRae/YouTube)

Simply trying to build the exterior of an elliptical structure in Minecraft is a pretty quick way to make mistakes. Without precise block placement, a circle, sphere, or dome can easily end up being asymmetrical. While this may be the desired look for some, others would prefer that their build maintains equal symmetry.

Since this is the case, you may want to begin with a single block at the build site. From there, you can build a cross symbol (similar to a plus sign) and then begin constructing the outer ring of the circle itself. The same concept can be applied to domes and spheres, but you will need to work horizontally and vertically to account for the three-dimensional space.

---

3) Utilize a circle generator

Various third-party sites can generate circle diagrams for Minecraft players (Image via Omni Calculator)

If you are having a hard time visualizing individual pixels or creating graphs of your own, there are online resources available to help you out. Sites such as Omni Calculator, Donat Studios' pixel circle generator, and Gamer Geeks' pixel art generator can create pixellated diagrams of circles of various sizes.

All you need to do is input the desired circle size in blocks (or pixels) and allow the generator to take care of the rest. You will have a direct diagram of your circle in a heartbeat, and you can utilize it as a reference when creating 2D ellipticals.

Even better, third-party sites for sphere generators exist as well. One example is the Plotz Sphere Generator, which will create a spherical diagram for you based on the structure size you enter. There are even Minecraft resource packs available to help you create elliptical structures.

---

5) Use a schematic mod

When all else fails, you can look to the modding space for assistance. Several different mods, such as Litematica, are capable of creating, importing, and exporting schematics. You can also find schematics specifically for building elliptical structures that can easily be imported into the mods.

Using Litematica as an example, upon importing the schematic of a circle or sphere, you will see an outline that demonstrates the appropriate block placement to complete the structure. This cuts out the need for you to worry about symmetry almost completely, heavily reducing build time and the build's perceived complexity.