Megaliths
Stonehenge, a stone circle, a Dutch hunebed, rows of menhirs or a passage grave like Newgrange. The stones get a natural, rough shape from a seed, and you can aim the axis at the sunrise of the longest or shortest day. Below you can see how the angle and position of every stone are worked out.
Top view
lighter = higher · orange line = axis to the sunElevation
The dashed lines run through the centre block. Click a block once you have placed it.
Build breakdown
All stones
| # | Stone | Angle θ | x | z | High | State |
|---|
Layer 1, row by row
| Row | Start | Pattern | Blocks |
|---|
Build tips
- First mark the centre block and run a line from there in the direction of the axis. Measure the stones with the x and z from the table: those are blocks from the middle.
- In Minecraft north is −z. Press F3 and look at "Facing" to see which way you are looking.
- Mix several kinds of stone: stone, andesite, tuff, cobblestone and mossy cobblestone. With the block palette you can choose them per part or as a mix.
- A hunebed looks most real with big, round boulders. Granite or diorite works well for the capstones.
- Place the stones without decay and moss first. Once you like the shape, raise Decay and Moss for an old ruin.
- Build a passage grave from the inside out: first the chamber and the passage, then the mound around it.
3D and layer-by-layer build plan
To Minecraft
Download the design as a schematic file and paste it into your world with WorldEdit, or rebuild it with a hologram in Litematica. Standing stones and lintels become the chosen block. Bluestones become andesite, earth becomes dirt with grass on top, moss becomes mossy cobblestone and the facade calcite.
Shopping list
Put the numbers of this design on your list. There you see everything together, converted to stacks and shulker boxes.
How it is calculated
History and fun facts
What are megaliths?
Megalith means 'large stone'. These are structures made of huge stones from the New Stone Age and the Bronze Age, roughly 4500 to 1500 BC.
There are several kinds: single standing stones (menhirs), rows, stone circles, dolmens, and passage tombs under a mound.
Stonehenge
Stonehenge in England was built in phases, roughly from 3000 to 1500 BC. First came a round bank with a ditch, the henge. Around 2500 BC the large sarsen stones were put up.
The outer circle had stones lying on top, the lintels. They are fixed with joints like those used in woodwork. Inside stands a horseshoe of five trilithons: two standing stones with one stone on top.
The smaller bluestones come from the Preseli Hills in Wales, more than 200 kilometres away. The axis of Stonehenge points to the sunrise on the longest day and the sunset on the shortest day.
Dolmens in the Netherlands
The Dutch dolmens, called hunebedden, are burial chambers made of boulders. Glaciers carried these stones from Scandinavia during the Ice Age.
They were built by the Funnelbeaker culture, around 3400 to 2850 BC. Standing stones carry large capstones, and once a mound of sand covered them.
More than fifty are left in the Netherlands, almost all in the province of Drenthe. The largest is dolmen D27 near Borger.
Passage tombs and the sun
Newgrange in Ireland is a large round mound with a long passage to a burial chamber. It was built around 3200 BC, so it is older than Stonehenge and the pyramids of Giza.
Above the entrance is an opening, the roof box. Around the shortest day the rising sun shines through it along the whole passage into the chamber. During restoration the front was covered with white quartz stones.
How were they built?
Nobody knows exactly, but archaeologists think of sledges, wooden rollers or rails, ropes and many people. A stone was tipped into a pit and pulled upright.
Lintels were probably raised with wooden frames or earth ramps. The builders knew the sun well and aligned many monuments to the solstices.
Where can you still see them?
Stonehenge and Avebury are on the World Heritage list together. Near Carnac in Brittany you find long rows of menhirs. Callanish is on the Scottish island of Lewis, the Ring of Brodgar on Orkney.
In Ireland you find Newgrange, Knowth and the Poulnabrone dolmen. In Drenthe you can visit the dolmens, and in Borger there is a dolmen museum, the Hunebedcentrum.
Did you know?
- The largest sarsen stones of Stonehenge weigh about 25 tonnes.
- Stonehenge and Avebury have been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1986.
- Near Carnac in Brittany there are more than 3,000 menhirs.
- Newgrange is older than Stonehenge and older than the pyramids of Giza.
- Part of the village of Avebury lies inside the stone circle.
- Dutch dolmens have codes like D27: the letter stands for the province.
About this tool
With this Minecraft megalith generator you build Stonehenge, a stone circle, a dolmen, rows of menhirs or a passage tomb. You choose from seven types: Stonehenge with sarsens and trilithons, a stone circle like Avebury, a circle with a cross of rows like Callanish, menhir rows like Carnac, a Dutch hunebed dolmen, a portal dolmen or a passage tomb like Newgrange.
The stones get a rough, natural shape from a seed number. The same number always gives the same stones, so you can share your design. You set the diameter, the number of stones, and their height and thickness. With Roughness, Decay and Moss you turn it into an old ruin.
A special feature is the alignment to the sun. You point the axis at sunrise or sunset on the longest or shortest day, or at the equinox. The tool works out the direction using your latitude. You can also add a bank, an avenue, a centre stone or a covering mound.
The top view shows the axis to the sun. The table gives the angle and the position in blocks from the centre for every stone. With the layer plan, the 3D preview and the materials counter you can build everything exactly. Download it as a .schem file for WorldEdit or Litematica.
A good choice if you want to build a Minecraft Stonehenge, a mysterious place in a survival world, or a druid circle for a role-play server.
Frequently asked questions
How do I build Stonehenge in Minecraft?
Choose the example Stonehenge, complete, or the ruin of today. Mark the centre block and measure each stone with the x and z values from the table. Build the standing stones first and then lay the lintels on top.
How do I find north in Minecraft?
In Java, press F3 and look at Facing. North is the direction of negative z. In Minecraft the sun always rises in the east and sets in the west.
Does the Minecraft sun really rise in that direction?
No. In Minecraft the sun rises exactly in the east every day. The alignment in the tool follows the real sun on Earth, like at the real Stonehenge. Choose Sunrise at the equinox if you want the axis to point at the Minecraft sun.
Which blocks are good for megaliths?
Mix stone, andesite, tuff, cobblestone and mossy cobblestone. In the block palette you choose a mix or a separate block for each part. Granite or diorite looks good as the capstone of a dolmen.
What does the seed number do?
The seed number decides the rough shape of the stones and which stones fall over. The same number gives you exactly the same stones again. Click New stones for a different shape.
Can I build this in Bedrock?
Yes, the layer plan and the table of stones work in every version. The .schem file is for Java Edition with WorldEdit or Litematica.