# Generative Design in Minecraft (GDMC), Settlement Generation Competition

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1803.09853 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1803.09853/

## Key facts

- Cited by 22 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 27 Mar 2018.

## Built on by (most cited first, 22 of 22)

- [The MineRL 2020 Competition on Sample Efficient Reinforcement Learning using Human Priors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.11071/) (2021)
- [The MineRL BASALT Competition on Learning from Human Feedback](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.01969/) (2021)
- [Creative Agents: Empowering Agents with Imagination for Creative Tasks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.02519/) (2023)
- [DreamCraft: Text-Guided Generation of Functional 3D Environments in Minecraft](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.15538/) (2024)
- [Towards Solving Fuzzy Tasks with Human Feedback: A Retrospective of the MineRL BASALT 2022 Competition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.13512/) (2023)
- [World-GAN: a Generative Model for Minecraft Worlds](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.10155/) (2021)
- [Games for Artificial Intelligence Research: A Review and Perspectives](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.13269/) (2023)
- [The AI Settlement Generation Challenge in Minecraft: First Year Report](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.14950/) (2021)
- [Open-Ended Evolution for Minecraft Building Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.03108/) (2022)
- [BEDD: The MineRL BASALT Evaluation and Demonstrations Dataset for Training and Benchmarking Agents that Solve Fuzzy Tasks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.02405/) (2023)
- [10 Years of the PCG workshop: Past and Future Trends](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.11037/) (2021)
- [The Procedural Content Generation Benchmark: An Open-source Testbed for Generative Challenges in Games](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.21474/) (2025)
- [Comparing PCG metrics with Human Evaluation in Minecraft Settlement Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.02457/) (2021)
- [Retrospective on the 2021 BASALT Competition on Learning from Human Feedback](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.07123/) (2022)
- [Hierarchically Composing Level Generators for the Creation of Complex Structures](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.01561/) (2023)
- [3D Building Generation in Minecraft via Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.08751/) (2024)
- [Automated Isovist Computation for Minecraft](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.03752/) (2022)
- [Aesthetic Bot: Interactively Evolving Game Maps on Twitter](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.05017/) (2022)
- [Generating Redstone Style Cities in Minecraft](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.09777/) (2023)
- [Exploring Minecraft Settlement Generators with Generative Shift Analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.05371/) (2023)
- [Modular Procedural Generation for Voxel Maps](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2104.08890/) (2021)
- [Believable Minecraft Settlements by Means of Decentralised Iterative Planning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2309.10871/) (2023)

## Abstract (arXiv)

This paper introduces the settlement generation competition for Minecraft, the first part of the Generative Design in Minecraft challenge. The settlement generation competition is about creating Artificial Intelligence (AI) agents that can produce functional, aesthetically appealing and believable settlements adapted to a given Minecraft map - ideally at a level that can compete with human created designs. The aim of the competition is to advance procedural content generation for games, especially in overcoming the challenges of adaptive and holistic PCG. The paper introduces the technical details of the challenge, but mostly focuses on what challenges this competition provides and why they are scientifically relevant.