Minecraft wiki entry for Survival_in_an_infinite_desert, associated text: During your first day, collect dirt (if you see any - there is none in a Superflat Desert), some cacti, maybe sticks, and most importantly sand. You get sticks by breaking dead bushes with your hands. This is the only source of wood in the open desert, but unfortunately, you can only obtain sticks, not wood planks. This also suffers from the problem that this is non-renewable. Cacti are useful as defensive structures and defensive 'weapons'. Sand is your general building material. Dirt is the rarer, specialized building material, critical to building a roof or covered opening (e.g. a doorway). If you can't find dirt or are in a Superflat desert where dirt does not spawn, you need to craft a lot of sand into sandstone right away in order to build a secure shelter.