Gold is one of the many ores you can mine underground in Minecraft. However, searching for it there is time-consuming and not always efficient. Even in the Badlands or the Nether, where there is noticeably more gold ore than usual, you’ll never be able to mine enough by hand. On top of that, Piglins in the Nether aren’t exactly thrilled when you pinch their golden treasures. That’s why a large-scale gold farm is so valuable, as you’ll need it later in the game. Let’s take a closer look at what gold is used for and how to build an advanced gold farm.
Minecraft gold: what do you need gold for?
Gold ingots and nuggets are needed for many different recipes. It’s one of the most important resources in the game, especially if you want to dive into more advanced gameplay. Unlike iron or diamonds, though, gold is very soft and therefore not ideal for tools. But there are plenty of other uses and good reasons to build a large gold farm.
Gold can be used for:
- Decorative blocks (raw gold or full blocks of gold)
- Material for bartering with Piglins
- A clock to tell the time
- Crafting Netherite ingots
- Crafting powered rails
- Material for a Beacon
- Trading with a Cleric villager for emeralds
- Trim for your armour
- Nuggets for Golden Carrots and Glistering Melons
- Crafting firework stars
Alternative gold sources in Minecraft: structures and Piglins
You can mine gold ore in caves or in the Nether, but those aren’t the only options. Gold can also be found in almost every generated structure, from desert pyramids to shipwrecks and even in villager chests. In the Nether, you’ll also find bastion remnants that contain blocks of gold. Be careful around Piglins there, as they don’t like you stealing their gold.
There’s another source of gold in the Nether: zombified piglins. When they die, they can drop both ingots and nuggets. Sometimes they also drop golden tools, such as their sword or axe. We’ll make use of this loot for our farm to generate gold as a renewable resource.
Materials: resource list for a large Minecraft gold farm
Building a large gold farm is a bit more involved and requires a lot of resources, though most are not too hard to gather.
You’ll need:
- Several stacks of magma blocks (depending on the number of spawn platforms)
- Several stacks of glass
- Several stacks of slabs
- Turtle egg(s) (depending on the number of platforms)
- Around 64 trapdoors (also depending on the platforms)
- 6 hoppers + 6 carpets
- 2 chests
- 2 × 64 scaffolding
- Optional: 10 obsidian and a flint and steel
We also have a guide to a small and less efficient gold farm if this project feels too big (Building a Minecraft Gold Farm: Simple Guide & Tips for Infinite Gold) . It doesn’t perform as well but is much quicker and easier to build. And you don’t have to go onto the Nether roof; you can build it normally in one of the biomes (ideally the Nether Wastes).
Step-by-step guide: build a large Minecraft gold farm
1. Location in the Nether Wastes and getting onto the Nether roof
For this gold farm you should be in the Nether Wastes, as that’s where most zombified piglins spawn. This farm is built high above, on top of the Nether roof. You’ll need to get through the bedrock. The simplest method is to throw an Ender Pearl between the top two layers of bedrock. Build the farm at around Y-level 200 or higher to maximise spawn rates. Use scaffolding to get up there.
To get back down from the roof, you’ll need to break bedrock. We’ve covered this in our Nether guide if you want more detail (Master the Nether: Tips for Advanced Players) . Alternatively, you can simply build a portal on top of the Nether.
2. Spawn platforms with magma blocks and a turtle egg
Start with the magma block platforms for spawning. We recommend Y 215 and above. You can build multiple platforms, but one or two are plenty. Each is 23 × 23 blocks with a 5 × 5 hole in the centre. Use sneaking, Frost Walker boots or Fire Resistance to counter the damage from magma blocks.
Place a turtle egg in the middle on the same level as the platform. Surround it with trapdoors so the zombified piglins can’t reach it. The egg lures them in. Add more trapdoors around the edge of the inner hole so piglins think they can get to the egg. You can build another platform above in the same style.
Two blocks above the top platform, run several rows of slabs to prevent ghasts from spawning. Space these rows two blocks apart. Leave the space above the turtle egg holes open.
3. Collection pit, hoppers and a safe kill zone
Roughly 15 to 20 blocks below, build the collection area so the piglins take enough fall damage to be one- or two-shot with a sword. Build the 5 × 5 glass platform and surround it with glass so nothing else can spawn. Extend a walkway 15 blocks in one direction. At the end, place 6 hoppers, a chest, and cover the hoppers with carpets so XP orbs don’t get stuck.
Then block off the hoppers with slabs in a U-shape: once at half height and again above, leaving a half-block gap. This lets you attract piglins while preventing baby piglins from hitting you.
4. Aggro the piglins, loot gold and farm XP
Your gold farm is now ready. Zombified piglins should spawn, be lured by the turtle egg and fall into the hole. To make them target you, aggro them with a projectile such as a bow or a snowball. They’ll all rush towards you.
Finish them with a sword, ideally enchanted with Sweeping Edge and Looting. Because the piglins don’t die to fall damage but are killed by you, this gold farm also doubles as a powerful XP farm. If you do a lot of enchanting, it pays off twice over.
Conclusion: a Minecraft gold farm for endless gold and XP
A late-game gold farm is a key way to obtain gold efficiently and sustainably. Gold ingots are especially useful for bartering, whether with regular Piglins or with the Cleric in a village. The farm itself is fairly simple to build, but you’ll need to get onto the Nether roof. High above the bedrock you’ll achieve the best spawn rates.
Or rent your own Minecraft server now and build a gold farm like this together with your friends. Everyone on the server benefits, and you’ll always have an endless supply of gold for any situation.
