Underground vs. Overground bases

If you construct proper doors and walls, and keep all light in your base at least an "8", there is no difference between aboveground and belowground.

For a while, post halloween update, mobs spawned at higher light levels at lower depths. Now that this is no longer the case, the vertical position of your little slice of Minecraft heaven doesn't matter.

Underground bases make it easier to hide your chests of goodies and the base itself from griefers.

This is a huge advantage on servers with a high incidents of griefers/theives.

Don't tell anyone, but the ladder down to my base is hidden under a patch of cactus. =)

I recommend underground houses. They're easy to build, leaving you with more time to gather supplies. Underground shelter is fast, easy, and can be built/expanded with bare hands and little/no resources.

I usually start with one base at ground level. Then, when I have more resources I build underground and add more levels to my house.

I guess I'm unusually mole-like. I generally only stay above ground long enough to knock down a few trees, and build a crafting table. Then I carve a me-sized hole in a nearby rock face, and disappear underground.

When I emerge, clad in mighty armor, wielding a glittering diamond sword, I do so to build a cloud scraping monument over my vast subterranean empire.

Once, I actually found myself hollowing out a tree farm in the midst of a handy lava-flow, and planting a few saplings that I'd snagged on my first brief sojourn on the surface, rather than walking all the way back up the stairs to knock down a few more trees. To be fair, I hadn't marked the stairs well, so I wasn't wholly sure where they were.

The only thing that's really hard to get underground is food. Mushrooms aren't nearly as effective as porkchops.

I personally prefer a 3-tiered base: underground, on ground, and a third floating tier. Most important things can be done in any tier, but combining the three gives redundancy and a variety of unique advantages. Of course, there are techniques for mitigating many of the cons of each tier, as well.

(I should note, this is only taking single-player into account.)

A rough, inexhaustive overview of each tier's pros/cons:

-Underground-

Pros:

• Easy to expand
• Rare materials are more accessible
• Not prone to catching fire

Cons:

• Expansion dangers, such as mobs and lava
• Staple materials (such as wood) have to be brought down by hand, at least at first

-On Ground-

Pros:

• Easy access to many staple materials (food, wood)
• Simple to expand

Cons:

• Exposed to the elements and mobs
• Most easily damaged by Creepers

-Floating-

Pros:

• Largely immune to mob damage
• Great views

Cons:

• Most complicated to build
• Most prone to lightning strikes

above ground i find can be usefull if you want to have a quick time setting up and fairley sustainable and easy to get wood ect.

but if you build a underground base if you want to live there for ever it can take a while to set up like building a tree farm and a food supply but it can prove to pay off and digging around you can help find ores. but a underground base takes more time to get perfect

I always used to build solely above ground, just because it's easier to show off and always felt like the only option for me. Now, however, I realise the potential building underground is. My best suggestion would be to snag a bunch of pork chops or steak, along with some wood and saplings, then go down into a big cavern/mountain and let loose. I'm a inner at heart so underground is my best choice.

I like to build bases partially underwater, and use signposts and jack 'o' lanterns to mark air pockets, or make roadways out of either doors or signs underwater. Nothing spawns pretty much at all underwater because it is technically getting direct sunlight, you have easy access to the surface and subterranean levels, nothing you build is going to burn up, and you can find clay (and hence brick) in abundance. Fishing can be done out your window for food, just use a couple signs to make an open window and you can cast a line out your living room window whenever you're hungry. You can also use boats as elevators to the surface and explore quickly, and long drops into water don't hurt you.

There's good reasons to do both though either way. I think online the problems with griefers outweigh any kind of advantage of an above ground base, but in single player above ground bases are pretty easily manageable. Below ground gives you access to any number of valuable things usually pretty easily, however organic stuff can be harder to get without a bunch of extra effort. Overall I'd say an above ground base will get you up and going the fastest, but is also the most vulnerable to problems both with other players and with mobs.

The thing is you should make you main base underground.Then you can create a small hut like structure to mark the entrance.You should also construct a watchtower so that if you get lost the small house will not be easy to spot but you can always spot the watchtower. Underground house reduces interaction with mobs.But make sure you have enough torches to live underground.