Ghasts are probably some of the strangest creatures in Minecraft. The floating marshmallows of the Nether lob fireballs around, ignore lava, and can quite literally make your life a living hell! Look a little closer, though, and you’ll see the Ghast is likely just misunderstood. It hides a wealth of secrets that make Minecraft such a fascinating game! We’ll also walk you through an automatic Ghast farm, giving you an alternative source of gunpowder and Ghast Tears. You can learn more about the happy Ghast in our other guide (Discover the New Happy Ghast in Minecraft 1.21.6) .
Minecraft Ghast: Spawn, behaviour and biomes explained
You’ll find Ghasts in the Nether — and you certainly won’t miss or mistake them. They’re among the largest mobs in Minecraft. They resemble white jellyfish that float through the air and often emit weeping or mournful sounds. They can also fly through lava without burning, just like every other Nether mob. They primarily spawn in the Soul Sand Valley, Nether Wastes and Basalt Deltas. Remember that for later when you build an automatic farm.
Fighting Ghasts: Strategies, weapons and drops
Ghasts attack with projectiles and shoot fireballs at you. These explode on impact, can destroy softer blocks and set things on fire. They telegraph their attacks with a scream — treat it as your warning! During a fight, always keep moving, but watch your footing as well. You don’t want to tumble into a hole. Also protect your portal, as a single fireball can disable it.
The best tactic against Ghasts is to keep a bow or another ranged weapon at the ready. If your aim is true, a Ghast goes down quickly — just two bow shots will do.
On death a Ghast can drop:
- Gunpowder: Used for TNT, fire charges and firework rockets. It also turns potions into Splash Potions.
- Ghast Tear: Used for brewing Potions of Regeneration, and for crafting the “Dried Ghast” and an End Crystal.
Ghast secrets: Advancements, the Tears music disc and lore
You can turn a Ghast’s weapon against it. You can knock its fireballs back with a sword — even with your bare hands! If you kill it that way, you’ll not only earn the “Return to Sender” advancement, but also a unique music disc called “Tears”, a mysterious song for the Ghast.
Another intriguing angle is that the Ghast originally hails from the Overworld. The “Uneasy Alliance” advancement tasks you with freeing a Ghast from the Nether and bringing it to the Overworld. The existence of the happy Ghast also shows it prefers the cold and fresh air to the Nether. A third advancement is “Is It a Balloon?”, which you complete by looking at a Ghast through a spyglass.
A final fun titbit: the Ghast’s terrifying sounds actually come from the cat of C418, the composer of Minecraft’s original soundtracks.
Build guide: Automatic Ghast farm in the Nether for gunpowder and Ghast Tears
A Ghast farm can absolutely pay off, as its drops are needed in several important recipes. It’s also a handy alternative source of gunpowder if you don’t want to tussle with Creepers. These farms aren’t exactly common, but they’re surprisingly simple to build! Our design is based on Triloms’ tutorial on YouTube.
Materials:
- Ladder + ender pearl + 10x obsidian + flint and steel (to reach the roof)
- 5x 64 building blocks
- 3x 64 slabs
- 4x 64 magma blocks
- 14x powder snow in buckets
- 32x dirt (as temporary blocks)
- 1x hopper minecart
- 4x 64 rails
- 18 powered rails + 18 redstone torches + 2x redstone dust
- 1x redstone comparator
- 2x chests + hopper
- 1x trapdoor
- 2x 64 scaffolding
Step-by-step: Building the Ghast farm
- Reach the Nether roof
Find a Soul Sand Valley and get onto the Nether roof there. Look for a bedrock block at Y=127, place the ladder, and throw the pearl to clip through. Build a portal up top so you can return to the Overworld. If you already have a portal, you can skip this step.
- Farm foundation inside one chunk
Toggle chunk borders with F3 + G. This lets you build the farm inside a 16x16 block section. The farm can be expanded later! One block above the bedrock, cover everything with the block of your choice.
- Collection mechanism and rail system
The Ghasts’ drops need to be collected — here via a rail system. In one corner place a chest and a hopper. Next to the hopper below, place the comparator, and one level above make a small loop with a redstone torch, two redstone dust, and a full block beside the hopper. On top of the hopper place a powered rail — it should be lit.
Lay eight regular rails and then a powered rail. Continue in a zigzag pattern, placing a powered rail in the middle at alternating intervals. Power these from below with redstone torches; use the trapdoor to get underneath the farm. At the end, add a stopper with another powered rail, a full block, and a redstone torch beneath.
- Spawn platform for Ghasts
Place a layer of magma blocks one level above the rails. Border this layer with slabs. Then build four temporary blocks up and place six rows of slabs there (each 14 blocks long): two rows on the outside with a two‑block gap, and a double row in the middle.
Now add powder snow in the middle of the farm to damage Ghasts later. From one corner, go diagonally three temporary blocks towards the centre and place a bucket of powder snow. Move three blocks to the side and place two more piles. Repeat this pattern around the edge, and place two diagonal powder snow piles in the centre.
- AFK spot
The farm is ready! Send the hopper minecart on its way, starting on the powered rail above the hopper. It should run on its own. Ghasts should begin to spawn once you’re a bit further away. For AFK farming, the best option is a scaffolding tower directly above the farm’s centre, up to Y=255.
Conclusion: Efficiently farming gunpowder and Ghast Tears in the Nether
Ghasts are often misunderstood, but you definitely shouldn’t take them lightly. They can give you quite a roasting, damage builds in the Nether, and even disable your portal! They’re also very useful, though — for example in a Ghast farm for gunpowder and tears. Go and uncover the flying marshmallow’s secrets yourself, collect its music disc, or bring one into the Overworld.
A Ghast farm is absolutely worth it on your own Minecraft server, which you can rent from us right away (https://www.4netplayers.com/en-gb/gameserver-hosting/minecraft/). Gunpowder in particular is a key resource for, say, firework rockets for the Elytra.
