Enderman farm: the best XP farm designs

1. Why farm Endermen

Endermen have several traits that make them an ideal farming target:

• 5 XP per kill: Every Enderman you kill yourself drops 5 XP, and a farm can send them to you in bulk.
• Mass spawning in the End: The End is where Endermen spawn practically without competition. Almost no other mobs spawn there, so nearly the whole mob cap goes to Endermen.
• Easy to kill: In a farm with a long drop, the fall does most of the damage, so a single hit finishes an Enderman, even a punch with your bare hand.
• Ender Pearls: A bonus drop. Each Enderman can drop 0-1 Ender Pearl (up to 4 with Looting III). With heavy farming you will collect hundreds of pearls, useful for teleporting and for crafting Eyes of Ender.

2. The best location

You can build an Enderman farm in two places, but one is clearly better:

The End (recommended)

Build the farm out in the void of the End, at least 128 blocks from the nearest End Stone island. Why so far? Endermen spawn on End Stone too, so if there is an island within 128 blocks, some of the mobs will spawn on it instead of on your platform. Empty void all around means every spawn happens on the farm.

The best spot: fly out with an Elytra 200+ blocks from the central island (and from the Outer Islands), build a starter platform there, and build the farm from it. Write down the coordinates so you can get back, for example through an End Gateway.

The Overworld (alternative)

Possible, but much less efficient. Endermen are only a small percentage of Overworld spawns (they spawn in the dark, so mostly at night on the surface). The farm has to keep other mobs out of the mob cap, which complicates the build. More on that in the "An Overworld farm" section.

3. Basic design: a platform with an Endermite

The most popular and most efficient design uses an Endermite, a small mob that Endermen attack on sight. Endermen from the whole area run toward the Endermite, fall off the platform and land in a kill chamber.

How it works

1. Spawning pad: A large platform (for example 43x43 blocks) where Endermen spawn.
2. The Endermite as bait: The Endermite sits in a Minecart in the middle of the platform, where Endermen can see it but can't reach it.
3. Endermen run to the Endermite: Endermen from all over the platform automatically head toward it.
4. The drop: Around the Endermite there is a gap in the floor (a 2x2 hole or a ring with holes). Endermen fall into it, dropping 43 blocks.
5. The kill chamber: At the bottom, Endermen land with 1 HP, so one hit (even a bare hand) kills them and you collect the XP.

4. Step-by-step build

Materials

• ~2,000 blocks (Cobblestone, Stone or any other full block)
• 1 Minecart + 1 Rail
• 1 Name Tag + an Anvil
• Ender Pearls (to spawn the Endermite)
• Slabs for the platform edges (they stop mobs from spawning on the edges)
• Carpet or slabs for spots where you do NOT want spawns

Build stages

1. AFK platform (Y=0 or low): Build a small platform at the bottom. This is where you stand and kill Endermen. Make part of it 2 blocks high with an open underside, so you can see the Endermen's feet and hit them, but they can't attack you (they are too tall to fit through a 2-block gap).
2. Drop shaft: Build a 2x2 (or wider) chimney 43 blocks up from the AFK platform. Endermen falling from this height lose almost all of their HP.
3. Spawning platform: At the top of the chimney, build a 43x43 platform (or larger). The middle of the platform is a 2x2 hole leading into the drop shaft.
4. Endermite setup: In the middle of the platform (above the hole), place a block with a rail and a Minecart. Spawn an Endermite (by throwing Ender Pearls nearby) and put it into the Minecart. Give it a Name Tag.
5. Trapdoors: Place open trapdoors (Iron Trapdoor) around the 2x2 hole. Endermen treat open trapdoors as full blocks and try to step onto them, falling into the hole.
6. Edges: Frame the platform with slabs or a full block 3 blocks high (Endermen are about 3 blocks tall), so they don't fall off the edges instead of into the hole.

5. Advanced design: a double platform

If the basic farm doesn't give you enough output (for example on a server where many players use up the mob cap), you can expand it:

A multi-level platform

Build a second spawning platform 24 blocks above the first one. Both send Endermen into the same drop shaft. This doubles the effective spawning area, but it needs precise placement so that both platforms fit within spawning range (a 128-block sphere around the player).

6. An Overworld farm

If you don't have access to the End yet, you can build an Enderman farm in the Overworld, but it will be much less efficient:

The Warped Forest in the Nether

A better alternative than the Overworld is the Warped Forest biome in the Nether. Endermen spawn there more often than in the Overworld (they are the only mob in this biome besides Striders). Build a spawning platform in the Warped Forest with a drop shaft and a kill chamber. Efficiency: about 30-50% of an End farm.

The Overworld: a desert design

In a desert (or another flat biome), build a large platform at Y=200+. Remove all blocks within a 128-block radius of the AFK platform (or build over an ocean). Endermen will make up only part of the spawns, and the rest will be other mobs.

Honestly, an Overworld farm isn't worth the effort. If you need XP before you can reach the End, you are better off building a mob spawner farm (zombies/skeletons) or a Blaze farm in the Nether. An Enderman farm in the End is so much better that it is worth simply waiting until you have defeated the Ender Dragon.

7. Efficiency comparison

Here are rough efficiency figures for the different Enderman farm designs (on a vanilla server, one player):

• Basic platform with an Endermite (End): ~3,000-4,000 Endermen/h = ~15,000-20,000 XP/h.
• Double platform (End): ~5,000-7,000 Endermen/h = ~25,000-35,000 XP/h.
• Warped Forest (Nether): ~1,500-2,500 Endermen/h = ~7,500-12,500 XP/h.
• Overworld: ~300-800 Endermen/h = ~1,500-4,000 XP/h. Not worth building.

An Enderman farm in the End beats one in the Overworld by a wide margin. The Endermite farm in the End is the gold standard: simple to build, cheap in materials and extremely efficient.

8. Optimization and FAQ

Endermen aren't spawning. What should I do?

• Check whether there is any End Stone within 128 blocks (islands). Endermen may spawn there instead of on the farm.
• Make sure the platform is 24-128 blocks from the player (mobs don't spawn closer than 24 blocks).
• Check the light level. Endermen spawn at light level 0 (darkness), so remove any light sources from the platform.
• The mob cap (70 per player in Java) may be full. Check for mobs in caves below you (unlikely in the End, but common in the Overworld).

The Endermite despawns

You need to name it with a Name Tag that you renamed on an anvil. Without a Name Tag it despawns after 2 minutes. Also check that it is in a Minecart: without one, Endermen can kill it (ironic, since Endermen trying to get at it is the whole mechanic of the farm).

How do I collect Ender Pearls automatically?

Put hoppers under the floor of the kill chamber. The pearls fall into the hoppers and end up in a chest (or in Shulker Boxes). If you don't need the pearls, route the items into cacti or lava (both destroy them) instead of a chest, so your chests don't fill up.

AFK farming: how do I optimize it?

Position yourself in the kill chamber so that you can see the Endermen's feet through a 2-block gap. Hold a sword with Sweeping Edge III and click the left button in rhythm: one swing hits several Endermen at once. You can also use a sword with Looting III to increase the Ender Pearl drop. To keep swinging while you are AFK (away from the computer), use an auto-clicker or a weight on your mouse button, but only where the rules allow it.