Five-Year NYC Minecraft Build Reaches 50,000 Structures at True Scale

A dedicated crew of Minecraft players just pulled off something ridiculous. Five years of work. Over 50,000 buildings reconstructed block by block. All at 1:1 scale.

YouTuber MineFact dropped a progress video on 11th January showing the fruits of this borderline obsessive labour. The footage looks like satellite imagery at first glance. Zoom in closer and you'll spot flower pots sitting on balconies exactly where they belong in real life.

Think about that for a second. Someone in New York logs onto the server, teleports to their neighbourhood, and finds their actual flower pot recreated in blocky form. That's the level we're talking about here.

Born During Lockdown

The project kicked off during COVID-19 lockdowns when the world felt smaller than ever. MineFact and the Build The Earth team started with the World Trade Center area, then expanded into Tribeca, Little Italy, and Chinatown. Getting elevation data for Manhattan proved brutal since the city packs buildings so tightly together that Google Earth images barely help.

The team pulled geographical data from OpenStreetMap and similar sources, but that only gets you terrain. Every single structure required manual construction. Some areas got rebuilt multiple times when the builders realised their work wasn't accurate enough.

"Over the years, we realised how much details matter," MineFact explained. Nothing from the original builds remains. The whole city got reconstructed to reach current quality standards.

Numbers That Make Your Head Spin

The recreation spans roughly 700 square kilometres (270 square miles). Between 50 and 80 builders worked simultaneously at peak times. The BTE New York City team now boasts over 3,700 members, making it the largest group in the entire Build The Earth initiative.

Lower Manhattan dominates the completed sections. Liberty Island sports a proper Statue of Liberty. NoHo, SoHo, Nolita, Bowery, Little Italy, Chinatown, Two Bridges, and most districts south of Canal Street are done. The Financial District remains unfinished because those buildings require expert-level builders tackling the most complex structures.

Progress extends beyond Lower Manhattan too. Parts of Queens and Brooklyn show solid development, but The Bronx and Staten Island sit untouched. The team estimates several more years until completion, possibly making this one of the longest-running Minecraft community projects in existence.

Going Underground

Surface-level accuracy isn't enough for these builders. They're constructing the entire subway system underneath the city. Multiple stations and tunnels already function, letting players navigate Manhattan the way New Yorkers do.

This attention to infrastructure separates casual builds from projects that feel alive. Roads feature proper signage. Rubbish bins sit in correct positions. Stop signs match their real-world counterparts down to placement and angle.

Part of Something Bigger

Build The Earth launched in March 2020 when YouTuber PippenFTS dreamed of recreating the entire planet at 1:1 scale inside Minecraft. The project uses modified world generation through Terra 1-to-1 and Cubic Chunks mods, pulling geographical data to create accurate terrain whilst removing Minecraft's typical height limitations.

Forty-five regional teams contribute to this global effort, ranging from small groups to thousands of volunteers. NYC's contingent dwarfs all others. The entire project relies on donations and volunteer work.

Anyone with Minecraft (Java or Bedrock editions, versions 1.8 through 1.21.5) can visit the NYC server at nyc.buildtheearth.net. Walk the virtual streets yourself. No special permissions required.

Why Bother?

Fair question. Why spend five years placing blocks to recreate a city that already exists?

MineFact addresses this directly. The most rewarding moments come when actual New Yorkers discover their homes perfectly replicated. Their reactions make the countless hours worthwhile. Beginners start with simple houses, level up to more complex projects, then tackle entire neighbourhoods.

The Build The Earth team offers training and guidance. You don't need expert building skills to contribute. Simple structures across the planet need recreating just as much as iconic landmarks do.

This project captures a moment in time. Earth as it existed during 2020, preserved in digital blocks. Some call it escapism. Others see it as remembrance. The technical challenges alone could fill multiple videos, according to MineFact.

Mojang's continued support for Minecraft after 15 years makes projects like this possible. Regular updates keep the game relevant whilst the community pushes creative boundaries further each year. Recent additions like baby farm mobs in upcoming game drops show development isn't slowing down.

Join the Build

The NYC team needs more volunteers. Visit the Build The Earth NYC Discord or check their website to get started. Whether you fancy recreating your own neighbourhood or contributing to major landmarks, there's room for everyone.

This isn't about having the best building skills. It's about collective effort on an unprecedented scale. Thousands of people working together to digitally preserve our world, one block at a time.