Minecraft farms: a design encyclopedia
Farms are the heart of the Minecraft endgame. They are automatic contraptions that collect resources, food and experience for you while you build, explore or just stand AFK. This encyclopedia collects detailed farm designs with material lists, build instructions and output data.
Why build farms?
Minecraft is a game about gathering resources. At first you dig by hand, hunt mobs and plant wheat by hand. That works, for a while. When you need hundreds of iron ingots for hoppers, thousands of prismarine blocks for builds, stacks of fireworks for flying with an elytra, or experience for enchanting, collecting by hand stops making sense.
Farms solve that problem. They range from simple food farms you can build in the first hour of play to projects that take days, like the guardian farm, which produces thousands of items an hour. Every farm in this encyclopedia includes a list of required materials, step-by-step build instructions, the expected output and variants for different stages of the game.
If you're looking for shorter beginner guides, check the farm guides section. There you'll find simple versions of farms that are ideal for the start of survival.
Mob farms
Farms that use mob spawning mechanics to collect drops and XP.
Enderman Farm
The best XP farm in the game. A platform in the End with an endermite as bait.
Witch Farm
Uses a witch hut in a swamp. Redstone, glowstone and gunpowder.
Guardian Farm
A drained ocean monument. Prismarine, sea lanterns and a huge amount of XP.
Wither Skeleton Farm
A Nether fortress. Skulls for summoning the Wither, and coal.
Crop farms
Automatic plant and food farms. The foundation of survival.
XP farms
Farms optimized for gaining experience.
Resource farms
Farms built to automatically collect valuable materials.
Nether farms
Farms that use the unique mechanics of the Nether.
End farms
Farms in the End dimension. The best XP rate in the whole game.
Farm output comparison
Below is a comparison of the farms in this encyclopedia. The figures are for optimal, fully automated versions of each farm.
| Farm | Main drops | XP/min | Difficulty | Dimension |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enderman farm | Ender pearls | 30-50 lvl | Medium | The End |
| Guardian farm | Prismarine, sea lanterns | 20-40 lvl | Very hard | Overworld |
| Witch farm | Redstone, glowstone, gunpowder | 3-5 lvl | Medium | Overworld |
| Wither Skeleton farm | Skulls, coal, bones | 5-10 lvl | Hard | Nether |
Farm build order
You don't have to build every farm at once. Here is a recommended progression:
- Food farm - your first farm, still within the first hour of play. Wheat, carrots, potatoes.
- Spawner XP farm - find a zombie or skeleton spawner and build a simple farm. XP for enchanting your first tools.
- Iron farm - an iron golem farm. No iron means no hoppers, and no hoppers means no automatic farms.
- Enderman farm - after defeating the Ender Dragon. The best XP farm in the game and unlimited ender pearls.
- Wither Skeleton farm - for the skulls to summon the Wither and get a nether star for a beacon.
- Guardian farm - a project that takes days. But once it's built, it provides prismarine, sea lanterns and XP for the rest of your world.
- Witch farm - optional, but useful for self-sufficient bases. Redstone and glowstone without mining.