Resource farms 1.0+ Very easy
Automatic cactus farm
Output ~100 cacti/h
Dimensions 7x7x4
Build time 5-10 minutes
Difficulty * Very easy
About this farm
A cactus farm is a simple build based on the fact that a cactus breaks when a block appears next to it. Cactus grows up to 3 blocks tall on sand, and a fence or wall placed next to it at the height of its second block automatically cuts off the top. Hoppers collect the falling cacti. You can smelt cacti into green dye, put them in a composter or feed them to an XP bank. The farm is often used as a source of passive XP: connect it to a set of furnaces and let the XP build up. Zero-tick cactus farms (patched out in 1.16) used to produce huge amounts, but today the farm runs at the normal rate.
Key features
- Green dye from cactus smelted in a furnace
- XP bank: every smelted cactus gives XP
- Cactus breaks automatically next to blocks
- Zero redstone: just gravity and physics
- Composter: each cactus has a 50% composting chance
Required materials
+ Cactus (1 per module)
+ Sand (1 per module)
+ Fences (1 per module)
+ Hoppers (4)
+ Chests (2)
Tips and tricks
- Cactus only grows on sand, not on dirt or gravel.
- A fence next to the cactus at the height of its second block cuts it automatically, no redstone needed.
- Hook the farm up to furnaces: the XP from every smelted cactus adds up over time.
- Cactus deals 1 HP of contact damage, so it can double as a mob trap.
- The optimal layout is a checkerboard of cacti with fences between them.
Technical specifications
| Name | Automatic cactus farm |
| Category | Resource farms |
| Output | ~100 cacti/h |
| Dimensions | 7x7x4 |
| Version | 1.0+ |
| Build time | 5-10 minutes |
| Difficulty | Very easy (1/5) |
| Redstone | Not required |
Related tags
cactus green dye XP bank sand automatic simple
