In our Terraria house guide, we go through the necessary house requirements, a bunch of house designs for the different biomes, the auto house mod, and even how to remove walls. By the time we’ve finished with you, you’ll have all the materials you need to become a master builder and start constructing a masterpiece of your own.
If you’ve already got your house set up and want a little extra help in this epic sandbox game, check out our guides to Terraria armor, Terraria bosses, and Terraria wings. If you want a new housemate, take a look at how to get the Terraria Dryad.
Here’s everything in our Terraria house guide:
Terraria house requirements
Like with any new-build property, building a house in Terraria comes with a number of requirements to keep in mind. Unfortunately, you can’t just decide on a plot and click a button, you’ll need to get your architectural brain juices going, and remember to include the necessary amenities. Luckily, we’ve listed them all out for you, so your new house can become a home and you can welcome in new Terraria NPCs.
Here are all of the main Terraria house requirements:
- A house must have between 60 and 750 tiles in total across its frame, floor, ceiling, and walls
- It has to feature at least one comfort item, one flat item, and one light source – for example, a chair, a work bench, and a torch
- Be sure to add a background wall! Avoid leaving gaps in these where possible, so enemies can’t spawn in
- You also have to build an entrance to your new home, such as a door or a trap door. Remember that NPCs and enemies can’t use trap doors
- Also be sure to avoid any and all corruption zones
Terraria house designs and ideas
Not every house is the same in Terraria, and there are plenty of different types of homes you can create in this pixelated playground. We’ve gathered some Terraria house ideas for beginners if you’re new to it, with builds ranging from a humble starter house all the way through to designs that are specific to different biomes. You can check them out below.
Terraria starter house
A good Terraria starter house follows all of the above rules and can easily act as your base of operations in the early hours of the game. Functional and quaint, you’ll always remember your first house fondly. Follow the above tutorial if you want something that’s good-looking and easy to put together, and efficient for your early game needs.
Terraria desert house
Here’s another simple build that fits its biome well and can easily be enhanced with fancy decorations once you’ve laid the foundations. Terraria’s desert biome is a favourite of several NPCs, such as the Dye Trader, so you’ll almost certainly feel the urge to build a desert retreat later in your playthrough.
Terraria underground house
If you’re looking to up your creative game, here’s a fun challenge for you – try setting up shop underground. It’s actually not as tricky as you might imagine, and the video tutorial above highlights how to covert an old ruin into your dream cave home. Of course, your first underground build needn’t be quite as complex, but the reward in this case is well worth the effort.
Terraria jungle house
The jungle biome is another popular one, but it’s also quite tricky to design for. The challenge lies in creating a house that doesn’t appear out of place. We’d therefore recommend going for a jungle hut design, much like the one in the video above. Sure, this is a pretty advanced build with a lot of bells and whistles, but it’s also super charming and easily adaptable to suit your skill level and taste.
Terraria snow house
If you’re after arguably the cosiest home of them all – because who doesn’t love a snuggly snow day? – then the snowy winter cabin might be the house for you. This build is one of the most aesthetically pleasing that we’ve seen, complete with a cozy fireplace and suitably festive decorations. It might not be a particularly easy build if you’re still in the early stages of your playthrough, so make sure you adjust the template to fit your current resources and ability.
If you’re looking for some more inspiration, you can always check out the Terraria forums which have plenty of unique, fan-made creations – whether you’re planning to make a Terraria greenhouse, a Terraria Japanese house, or anything else you can dream up, you can browse this catalogue showcasing some of the best Terraria houses at your leisure.
Terraria auto house
If you’re looking for a simple way to pop up a fresh house, and don’t mind dipping your toes into the world of modding, Fargo’s Mutant Mod may be the answer for you. Fargo’s Mod is one of the biggest and most popular Terraria mods out there, and it includes loads of cool features, from new NPCs and bosses, to quality of life changes.
One of the features included in the Fargo’s Mutant Mod is the Insta House, which is a craftable consumable that instantly creates a 6×10 wooden house with walls, a door, a table, a chair, and a torch. Though very basic, the Insta House ticks all the necessary boxes, and is very useful for spawning a place for NPCs to rest their heads. The Deviantt (a town NPC) gives you three Insta Houses when you ask for help for the first time, but you can always craft more using 50 wood and a torch at a Sawmill.
The Deviantt will only spawn when a rare enemy has been defeated or the world is in Eternity Mode, and there is an empty house for them to move into.
How to remove walls in Terraria
There are plenty of reasons why you might want to remove a wall in Terraria – misplaced blocks, a change in design, wanting to replace dirt walls with something sturdier, the list goes on. Well, luckily, you can!
It may be a little time consuming, but with the use of a handy hammer, you can destroy any wall that stands in the way of your ideal design. Start from the edge at the top and work down, as it won’t let you smash a hole through a wall from the center. Here are some of the hammers you can craft early in the game.
| Name | Materials required | Description |
| Wooden hammer | Eight wood | Two damage, very slow speed, 25% hammer power |
| Copper hammer | Ten copper bars, three wood | Four damage, very slow speed, 35% hammer power |
| Iron hammer | Ten iron bars, three wood | Seven damage, slow speed, 45% hammer power |
| Gold hammer | Ten gold bars, three wood | Nine damage, slow speed, 55% hammer power |
| Meteorite hammer | 35 meteorite bars | 20 damage, slow speed, 60% hammer power, 20% axe power |
And that’s all the basics on Terraria houses. Once you’re done building up your new base, be sure to check out our list of the best sandbox games to start a whole new project, or some of the best games like Terraria for something the same but different.