Minecraft wiki entry for Survival_in_an_infinite_desert, associated text: While it is tempting to take shelter in a village as soon as you find one, this may not be advisable. Your presence in a village during darkness attracts hostile mobs. Your presence overnight in a large village (10 beds or 20 villagers) draws large scale hostile mob attacks. Even if you survive the attacks, the villagers may not. You cannot afford to endanger the villagers, as they are an invaluable survival resource to you (because of their farming and trading abilities). You need to create a shelter of your own, a safe distance from the village (64 blocks from the village edge), and make careful preparations for the defense of the village before ever spending the night at that village. See more information below under defending villages.