In Minecraft, you can design many different mob farms to gather items such as bones, string, or gunpowder. We’ve already presented a few different designs, but none are as effective as the farm we’re showing you today. It works so well because it takes several aspects of the game into account to ensure as many mobs as possible can spawn. Mob spawning isn’t always straightforward and can significantly influence your farm’s efficiency. We’ll cover that too and show you how to get the most out of an advanced mob farm like this.
Understanding Minecraft mob spawning The best location for your mob farm
Mobs only spawn in Minecraft under certain conditions. On the one hand, it needs to be dark enough for them to appear. This applies not only at night but anywhere the light level is below 7. You can check this in the F3 menu, for example when you are in a cave or lighting up your base.
On the other hand, it’s important to know the spawn distances. For starters, no mobs can spawn within a radius of 24 blocks around you, so they won’t suddenly surprise you. You can visualise this radius as a sphere around you. Mobs spawn between 25 and 128 blocks away from you, regardless of your entity render distance settings. As soon as they leave the 128‑block radius, they despawn immediately. This radius also works as a sphere around the player.
For maximum farm efficiency, your mob farm should be the only available spawning surface. We want all available mob slots to be filled on the farm’s platforms. Mobs must not spawn elsewhere, such as in caves or on land.
The best approach is to build the farm over the ocean. You can place the spawning platforms fairly close to the surface, provided you account for the 128‑block distance above them. What matters is that mobs can spawn in your farm, but not in the caves beneath it or under the ocean.
If you’re interested in other designs, check out some of our other guides:
- (Minecraft Creeper Farm: Unlimited Gunpowder Supplies for TNT and Rockets)
- (Building a Minecraft XP Farm: Quickly and Easily Reach Level 30)
- (Build a Minecraft Monster Trap: Automatically Gain Endless Resources)
Materials for an efficient Minecraft mob farm
The materials aren’t particularly varied, but you’ll need a lot of them. Depending on the size of the farm, amounts may vary.
- Several stacks of full blocks that mobs can spawn on, e.g., wood or cobblestone
- 2 to 3 stacks of slabs for the roof
- 9 soul campfires
- 15+ hoppers, expandable
- 2+ chests, expandable
- 2 water buckets infinite water source
- 8 empty buckets
- 11 observers
- 10 dispensers
- Note block
- 2 comparators
- 2 redstone dust
- 2 sticky pistons
- Block of redstone
- Filler items for the hoppers, e.g., sticks
Step-by-step guide Large Minecraft mob farm
Collection basin Hoppers and chests for the Minecraft mob farm
As this farm is designed only to collect mob drops, we need a way to kill mobs efficiently and move the items away. The best solution is soul campfires, as they deal steady damage without burning items. These can then be moved by hoppers.
Pick a suitable location for your farm over an ocean and start with a 3x3 field of hoppers, all pointing into the centre hopper. Place the campfires on top, where the mobs will fall. Below the hoppers, add more hoppers as needed and connect them to chests to collect all items.
Surround the campfires with a 3‑block‑high wall and build the collection basin from there. It must extend at least 8 blocks in every direction so the water flows to the centre. In total, the basin is 19x19 blocks, with a wall all around and solid blocks in each corner. Place four water buckets on those corners and fill the sides. The collection basin is now complete.
Spawning platforms for maximum mob rates
Next, build the platforms on which mobs will spawn. These are arranged in a 7x7 diamond shape and have one dispenser with a water bucket in the middle and one observer to send the signal to the platform below.
Start with a dispenser facing upwards 3 blocks above the collection basin. Then extend the platform 7 blocks in each cardinal direction and fill the edges in a zigzag pattern. The water from the dispenser will flow exactly to the edge. Place two temporary blocks above the dispenser and then place the next dispenser. Below it, place an observer that looks upwards and has its redstone dot facing downwards. Repeat this process until you have enough platforms, 6 to 10 platforms is fine. Fill the dispensers with water buckets.
Water mechanism Hopper clock for automatic triggering
Finally, create a timer to activate the water buckets at regular intervals. There are different methods, but we’ll use a hopper clock. This mechanism moves items back and forth on its own and repeatedly triggers.
Place a note block two blocks above the last dispenser and build a temporary platform around it. Tap the note block once to retract the water in the dispensers. Place a full block on top of the note block, then a comparator behind it, then two hoppers facing into each other, followed by another comparator and a full block at the end. Put one redstone dust on each full block and place two sticky pistons above the comparators, facing the middle. Place the block of redstone over one of the hoppers and on one of the pistons.
The clock will move items back and forth once you fill one of the hoppers. You can choose the duration yourself, but 10 sticks should be enough. Lastly, build a large roof of slabs so no mobs spawn above the farm. Also cover the hopper clock. We recommend a platform of 43x43 slabs. This prevents sunlight from reaching the platforms.
Your farm should now be ready to use day and night. To get the most out of it, position yourself above the platforms as described in the first section. Take the height of the mob farm and subtract 127 blocks. Pillar up with scaffolding accordingly and enjoy the view.
Conclusion More mob drops in Minecraft
Sooner or later you’ll need a lot of items for different projects. Whether it’s gunpowder for fireworks or bones for bone meal, a large mob farm is a key hub in your world. Once you understand mob spawn behaviour, it’s much easier to use these mechanics for maximum efficiency. The build is straightforward and absolutely worth it.
An advanced mob farm is perfect for a server. Rent your own Minecraft server from us and build this farm together with your friends. You’ll have more than enough items for other projects.
