Every build at a glance
Shapes are hollow unless they say solid: a floor is one layer, a wall is one face, four walls share their corner columns, and a room is four walls plus a floor and a roof. Tap a size to jump to its full breakdown.
| Build | Shape | Blocks | Stacks | Shulkers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 × 16 | flat floor | 256 | 4 | 0.15 |
| 20 × 20 | flat floor | 400 | 6 + 16 | 0.23 |
| 32 × 32 | flat floor | 1,024 | 16 | 0.59 |
| 50 × 50 | flat floor | 2,500 | 39 + 4 | 1.45 |
| 20 × 5 | wall | 100 | 1 + 36 | 0.06 |
| 50 × 4 | wall | 200 | 3 + 8 | 0.12 |
| 10 × 10 × 5 | four walls | 180 | 2 + 52 | 0.10 |
| 20 × 20 × 5 | four walls | 380 | 5 + 60 | 0.22 |
| 10 × 10 × 5 | room with floor and roof | 380 | 5 + 60 | 0.22 |
| 20 × 20 × 5 | room with floor and roof | 1,180 | 18 + 28 | 0.68 |
| 10 × 10 × 10 | solid cuboid | 1,000 | 15 + 40 | 0.58 |
| 16 × 16 × 16 | solid cuboid | 4,096 | 64 | 2.37 |
How it is worked out
Each shape is a different bit of arithmetic on the same three dimensions. The only one that catches people out is the perimeter: four walls around an L by W footprint are 2L + 2W − 4 blocks per layer, not 2L + 2W, because the four corner columns belong to two walls each and would otherwise be counted twice.
wall = L × H
walls = (2L + 2W − 4) × H
room = (2L + 2W − 4) × H + 2(L × W)
solid = L × W × H
Storage then follows from two constants: a stack is 64 blocks, and a shulker box is 27 slots, so a full box is 1,728. A double chest is 54 slots, or 3,456 — exactly two shulkers.
Blocks to stacks, shulkers and chests
If you already know your block count, read it straight off here.
| Blocks | Full stacks | Shulker boxes | Double chests |
|---|---|---|---|
| 64 | 1 | 0.04 | 0.02 |
| 100 | 1 + 36 | 0.06 | 0.03 |
| 320 | 5 | 0.19 | 0.09 |
| 500 | 7 + 52 | 0.29 | 0.14 |
| 640 | 10 | 0.37 | 0.19 |
| 1,000 | 15 + 40 | 0.58 | 0.29 |
| 1,728 | 27 | 1.00 | 0.50 |
| 2,500 | 39 + 4 | 1.45 | 0.72 |
| 5,000 | 78 + 8 | 2.89 | 1.45 |
| 10,000 | 156 + 16 | 5.79 | 2.89 |
Each build in full
Every card opens the Build Material Calculator with those dimensions already entered, so you can change one number and see the rest move.
16 × 16 — flat floor
20 × 20 — flat floor
32 × 32 — flat floor
50 × 50 — flat floor
20 × 5 — wall
50 × 4 — wall
10 × 10 × 5 — four walls
20 × 20 × 5 — four walls
10 × 10 × 5 — room with floor and roof
20 × 20 × 5 — room with floor and roof
10 × 10 × 10 — solid cuboid
16 × 16 × 16 — solid cuboid
What these counts do not include
- Waste. Mine about 10% over — misplacement, creeper holes and uneven terrain all cost blocks.
- Openings. Doors, windows and archways come back out of the wall count, so a real build needs slightly less than a sealed one.
- Anything non-structural: lighting, furniture, scaffolding you place and break, or the ladders and stairs between floors.
- Items that do not stack to 64. Beds, boats, buckets and signs fill a shulker far faster than the block figures suggest.
Frequently asked questions
How many blocks are in a shulker box?＋
A shulker box has 27 slots, and most blocks stack to 64, so a full shulker holds 1,728 blocks. A double chest is 54 slots, or 3,456 blocks - exactly two shulkers worth. Items that stack to 16 or do not stack at all hold far less, which is why sand, gravel and concrete powder fill a shulker at the same rate as stone but beds and boats do not.
Why is a 20 by 20 ring of walls 76 blocks per layer, not 80?＋
Because the four corner columns are shared. Four separate 20-block walls would be 80 blocks in a layer, but joined into a ring each corner belongs to two walls at once, so a layer is 2L + 2W - 4 = 76. Over five layers that is 380 blocks rather than 400, and it is exactly why the calculator uses that formula instead of 2L + 2W.
How do I work out stacks from a block count in my head?＋
Divide by 64. A quicker approximation: halve it six times, since 64 is 2 to the sixth. For shulkers, divide the block count by 1,728, or just remember that anything under about 1,700 blocks fits in one box.
Should I mine extra?＋
Yes - roughly 10% more than the figure here. These counts are exact geometry, and real builds lose blocks to misplacement, creeper holes, terrain that is not flat, and the doors, windows and lighting you will cut back out again.