Minecraft has gained another piece of Poland recreated block by block at 1:1 scale: the Build The Earth Poland team has shared its latest progress on Tarnów and nearby Okocim. According to informatorbrzeski.pl, the whole project now counts over 680 builders and covers roughly 115.8 km² of virtually reconstructed land.

Tarnów's Market Square, cathedral and train station are taking shape block by block

In recent days, the project's creators have released images showing progress on the center of Tarnów. The list of recreated locations includes Tarnów's Market Square with its historic buildings, the cathedral, the train station, the Gemini Gallery shopping center and the area around the Missionaries' Church. Each of these spots is built to real-world proportions, which in practice means hundreds of hours spent on individual facades and architectural details.

The team's method hasn't changed in years: builders use satellite imagery, maps and photos of buildings, trying to match the look of each place as closely as possible. Thanks to this, virtual Tarnów has a shot at becoming one of the most recognizable parts of the digital Poland the community is building.

Okocim is growing along Karpacka Street

Alongside Tarnów, the reconstruction of nearby Okocim is moving forward, handled by a builder going by the name Wiktor2013. Work is focused on the areas along Karpacka Street and is split into two stages, which gracz.pc.pl describes with specific figures.

  • The first area, finished on October 21, 2026, covers 2.81 hectares and 8 buildings
  • The second area, still under construction, will eventually cover 3.1 hectares and 21 buildings

The amount of work on Okocim alone shows how time-consuming it is to recreate even small towns. A single builder needs weeks to finish a few hectares, so the whole Tarnów region is likely many months of work.

One meter, one block

Build The Earth Poland has been active since 2020 and is part of the international Build The Earth initiative, which aims to create a digital copy of the entire planet in Minecraft. The rule of the project is simple: one meter in the real world equals one block in the game, which keeps the proportions of buildings and streets realistic.

With that approach, 115.8 km² of recreated land and over 680 builders involved is impressive, especially since every piece of the map, from village houses to city centers, takes separate, often multi-week work. The project is developed entirely by volunteers, with no commercial backing.

How to join the build

The Build The Earth Poland server runs at bte-poland.pl and supports Minecraft Java Edition versions from 1.8 to 1.21 and newer, with no whitelist sign-up required. To join, you need a purchased copy of Minecraft Java Edition, and the server is up 24/7. The project also has its own Discord and an interactive map where you can follow individual builders' progress and pick a plot to develop.

For players looking for other Polish community servers, our Minecraft server list may come in handy, and if you'd like to try your hand at large-scale building, check out our guides section with building and terraforming techniques.

What's next for the Tarnów region

The second stage of work on Okocim, covering 3.1 hectares and 21 buildings, is still open, so the pace of further progress depends on how much time Wiktor2013 and any collaborators can devote to the project. Build The Earth Poland regularly posts updates about new regions, so more parts of Lesser Poland could land on the digital map in the coming months.

Sources