Minecraft wiki entry for Shelters, associated text: When you're desperate, you can break the golden rule of minecraft (Don't dig straight down). Dig three blocks down, and put a block above you that is not sand/gravel. Congrats, you just made the fastest shelter in Minecraft possible. Since you probably don't have an in-game clock yet, you may want to use a real-world clock to time the night (7 minutes, with up to 3 more to allow for dawn/dusk). If you have dirt or stone next to you, you can dig out a couple of blocks there, and place your crafting table and furnace. Sometimes keep the hole in the ground as a base. A torch makes your little hidey hole feel a little less like a tomb.