Shelters

Shelters are a necessity throughout the game. In the early game staying outside will endanger the player to almost certain death from the lurking mobs. Building a shelter prevents the player from going deep into the negative levels and losing their items. Although zombies can break the same blocks you can without tools (albeit at a reduced rate), there are plenty of strategies to make it throughout the night.

Strategies
This is the 8 sand pillbox, a very basic beginner friendly shelter. Gather 8 sand during the day and surroung yourself with sand, similar to the image. This allows you to punch at spiders for free xp, but does not protect you from rain, and mobs will try to break inside. The 13 sand pillbox has its own merits. by having an extra layer of sand beneath you, it gives you more room for error when it comes to mobs breaking the sand. it also lets you jump and hit the mobs when they're burning in daylight for even more free xp.