In Minecraft, you can design many different mob farms to collect things like bones, string, or gunpowder. We’ve already shown a few designs, but none are as effective as the farm we’re sharing today. It works so well because it accounts for several in-game mechanics to ensure as many mobs as possible can spawn. Mob spawning isn’t always straightforward and can significantly affect 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 in Minecraft only spawn under certain conditions. First, it must be dark enough for them to appear. In current versions, hostile mobs spawn at light level 0. You can check light levels on the F3 debug screen, for example when you’re in a cave or lighting your base.
Second, spawn distances matter. No mobs can spawn within a 24-block radius around you, so they won’t pop up right next to you. Think of this radius as a sphere centered on the player. Mobs can spawn between 25 and 128 blocks away from you, independent of your entity render distance settings. Once mobs move beyond 128 blocks, they despawn immediately. This radius is also a sphere around the player.
For maximum farm efficiency, your farm should be the only valid spawning surface in range. We want all available mob slots filled by the platforms inside the farm, not by caves or land elsewhere.
The best approach is to build the farm over the ocean. You can place the spawning platforms fairly close to the surface, as long as you then account for the 128-block radius above. The key is ensuring mobs can spawn in your farm but not in the caves under it or beneath the ocean.
If you’re interested in other designs, check out some of our other posts:
- (Build a Minecraft Creeper Farm: Infinite Gunpowder Supplies for TNT and Rockets)
- (Building a Minecraft XP Farm: Quickly and Easily Reach Level 30)
- (How to Build a Minecraft Monster Trap: Automatically Gather Endless Resources)
Materials for an efficient Minecraft mob farm
The materials aren’t particularly varied, but you’ll need a lot of them. Quantities may vary with farm size.
- Several stacks of solid blocks that mobs can spawn on, such as 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 source
- 8 empty water buckets
- 11 observers
- 10 dispensers
- Note Block
- 2 comparators
- 2 redstone dust
- 2 sticky pistons
- Redstone Block
- Filler items for hoppers, for example sticks
Step-by-step guide Large Minecraft mob farm
Collection pit Hoppers and chests for the Minecraft mob farm
Because this farm is designed to collect mob drops only, we need a way to kill mobs efficiently and move the items away. Soul campfires are perfect: they deal steady damage but don’t burn items. The items can then be collected by hoppers.
Find a suitable ocean spot and start with a 3x3 field of hoppers, all pointing into the center hopper. Place the campfires on top, where the mobs will fall in. Under the hoppers, add more hoppers as needed and connect them to chests to store all the items.
Surround the campfires with a 3-block-high wall, then build the collection basin. It must extend at least 8 blocks in every direction so water flows to the center. In total, the basin is 19x19 blocks, with a wall around it and solid blocks in each corner. Place one water bucket on each corner block and fill the sides. The collection basin is now complete.
Spawning platforms for maximum mob rates
Next, build the platforms where mobs spawn. These are arranged in a 7x7 diamond shape. Each platform has one dispenser with a water bucket in the center and one observer that passes the signal to the platform below.
Start with a dispenser facing up 3 blocks above the collection basin. Then extend the platform 7 blocks in each cardinal direction and fill the edges in a zigzag pattern. Water from the dispenser will flow exactly to the rim. Place two temporary blocks above the dispenser and set the next dispenser. Under it, place an observer facing up, with its redstone output (red dot) pointing down. Repeat this process until you have enough platforms; 6 to 10 platforms work well. Load the dispensers with water buckets.
Water mechanism Hopper clock for automatic triggering
Finally, add a timer to trigger the water buckets periodically. There are multiple options, but we’ll use a hopper clock. This mechanism shuttles items back and forth, activating itself repeatedly.
Place a Note Block two blocks above the top dispenser and build a temporary platform around it. Tap the Note Block once to pull the water back into the dispensers. Place a solid block on top of the Note Block, then behind it a comparator, then two hoppers facing into each other, followed by another comparator and a solid block at the end. On the solid blocks, place one redstone dust each, and add two sticky pistons above the comparators, facing inward. Put the redstone block between the pistons, positioned over one of the hoppers.
The clock will start shuttling items when you fill one of the hoppers. You can set the duration as you like, but 10 sticks are a good starting point. To finish, build a large roof of slabs so no mobs can spawn on top. Cover the hopper clock as well. We recommend a 43x43 slab platform. This also prevents sunlight from reaching the platforms.
Your farm should now be ready day and night. For best results, position yourself above the platforms as described earlier so mobs can only spawn in the farm. As a rule of thumb, AFK roughly 127 blocks above the spawning platforms. Build up with scaffolding and enjoy the view.
Conclusion More mob drops in Minecraft
Sooner or later you’ll need lots of items for various projects. Whether it’s gunpowder for firework rockets or bones for bone meal, a large mob farm is a key part of your world. Understanding mob spawn behavior makes it much easier to optimize 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 with us and build this farm together with your friends. You’ll have more than enough drops for every other project.
