Automatic farms are the backbone of any serious Minecraft world. Once built, they generate resources passively while you explore, build, or AFK. Whether you need XP for enchanting, iron for anvils and hoppers, or food for adventuring, there is a farm design for it.
This guide covers the best automatic farms to build in 2026, current as of Minecraft Java Edition 1.21+ (Tricky Trials update) and Bedrock Edition. We include difficulty ratings, materials needed, and expected output rates so you can prioritize which farms to build first.
New to Minecraft? Start with our Minecraft beginner guide to learn the basics before tackling farm builds. If you are playing on a low-end PC, check our best Minecraft settings for low-end PCs to keep your frame rate stable around large farms.
How Automatic Farms Work
Minecraft’s farms exploit game mechanics — mob spawning rules, villager behavior, crop growth ticks, and redstone logic — to produce items without direct player interaction. Most farms require you to be within 128 blocks (the simulation distance) to function, and some need you to be AFK in a specific spot.
Java vs. Bedrock: Farm designs often differ between Java and Bedrock editions due to different mob spawning mechanics, redstone behavior, and villager AI. We note which edition each farm design works best on.
Iron Farm
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Produces | Iron Ingots, Poppies |
| Difficulty | Medium |
| Output (Java) | ~350-400 iron ingots/hour |
| Output (Bedrock) | ~40-80 iron ingots/hour |
| Key Materials | 3 Villagers, 3 Beds, 1 Zombie, Water, Lava, Hoppers |
Iron farms are the single most important farm you can build. Iron is used for hoppers (essential for other farms), anvils, shields, minecart rails, and iron blocks. The farm works by scaring villagers with a zombie, which triggers iron golem spawning. Golems are funneled into lava, and hoppers collect the iron drops.
Java Edition iron farms are extremely efficient because golems spawn based on villager panic, and spawning rates are generous. A simple 3-villager, 3-bed design produces hundreds of ingots per hour.
Bedrock Edition iron farms are much slower because golem spawning mechanics differ. You need a village with at least 10 beds and 20 villagers for golems to spawn, and rates are lower. Stack multiple spawning platforms for better output.
XP Farm (Enderman)
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Produces | Experience Points, Ender Pearls |
| Difficulty | Medium-Hard (requires End access) |
| Output | ~30 levels in 5-10 minutes |
| Key Materials | Endermite (from Ender Pearl), Minecart, Name Tag, Building Blocks, Trapdoors |
The Enderman XP farm is the fastest XP source in the game. Built in the End dimension (away from the main island), it exploits Enderman’s aggression toward Endermites to funnel them into a killing chamber. You stand at a specific height and one-hit kill Endermen as they fall, earning massive XP.
You need to defeat the Ender Dragon first, then travel 200+ blocks from the main End island to build the farm on an End platform. The farm is simple in design but requires End access, which makes it a mid-to-late-game project.
Gold Farm (Nether)
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Produces | Gold Ingots, Gold Nuggets, Rotten Flesh, XP |
| Difficulty | Hard |
| Output | ~300-500 gold ingots/hour (Java) |
| Key Materials | Magma Blocks, Turtle Eggs, Trapdoors, Hoppers, Building Blocks |
Nether gold farms exploit Zombified Piglins’ spawning mechanics and their aggression toward player-placed turtle eggs. Piglins spawn on Nether roof portals or large platforms, get attracted to turtle eggs, fall to their death, and drop gold. These farms also produce significant XP.
Building on the Nether roof (Y=128) is the most efficient method on Java Edition, as it limits mob spawning to your farm. This is a large-scale project that requires hundreds of blocks and significant Nether travel.
Mob Grinder (General Purpose)
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Produces | String, Gunpowder, Bones, Arrows, Armor, XP |
| Difficulty | Easy-Medium |
| Output | Varies (moderate) |
| Key Materials | Building Blocks, Water, Trapdoors, Hoppers, Chests |
A basic mob grinder is the first farm most players should build. It is a dark room (or tower) where hostile mobs spawn naturally, get pushed by water into a central shaft, fall to take damage, and either die from the fall or get finished off by the player for XP.
Build it at least 24 blocks above ground and 128 blocks from any other dark spaces (caves) to maximize spawn rates. Light up all nearby caves to force mobs to spawn in your farm instead. The simplest design is a tower of dark platforms with water channels pushing mobs to a central hole.
Crop Farm (Fully Automatic)
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Produces | Wheat, Carrots, Potatoes, Beetroot |
| Difficulty | Easy |
| Output | ~200-400 items/hour per villager |
| Key Materials | Farmer Villager, Composter, Farmland, Water, Hoppers, Minecart with Hopper |
Villager-based crop farms are the easiest automatic farm in the game. Assign a villager the Farmer profession (place a composter near them), give them seeds, and they will plant, tend, and harvest crops automatically. A hopper minecart running beneath the farmland collects the drops before the villager can pick them up.
These farms produce unlimited food for survival and can be scaled by adding more villagers and farmland sections. They work identically on both Java and Bedrock editions.
Creeper Farm (Gunpowder)
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Produces | Gunpowder |
| Difficulty | Medium |
| Output | ~400-800 gunpowder/hour |
| Key Materials | Cats (or Trapdoors), Building Blocks, Water, Campfires, Hoppers |
Gunpowder is essential for firework rockets (Elytra flight fuel) and TNT. A dedicated Creeper farm filters out other mobs by using trapdoors on the ceiling (only Creepers are short enough to spawn under half-height ceilings) or by placing cats to scare away other mobs.
The killing mechanism is typically campfire or magma block based — Creepers walk over them and take damage without exploding (since there is no player nearby). Hoppers collect the gunpowder automatically.
Raid Farm
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Produces | Emeralds, Totems of Undying, Enchanted Books, Iron, Redstone, Glowstone, XP |
| Difficulty | Hard |
| Output | ~2,000-4,000 emeralds/hour |
| Key Materials | Villager with bed, Pillager Outpost proximity, Lava, Water, Redstone, Hoppers |
Raid farms are the ultimate late-game farm. They exploit the raid mechanic by giving the player Bad Omen, then triggering raids automatically near a village. Raid mobs (Pillagers, Vindicators, Evokers, Witches, Ravagers) are funneled into a kill chamber, dropping incredible loot including Totems of Undying and massive amounts of emeralds.
These farms are complex to build and require proximity to a Pillager Outpost. However, the rewards are unmatched — a single raid farm can produce more emeralds and totems than you will ever use.
Villager Trading Hall
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Produces | Enchanted Books, Enchanted Tools/Armor, Potions, Food, Building Materials |
| Difficulty | Medium |
| Output | On-demand (trade-based) |
| Key Materials | Villagers, Beds, Workstations (Lecterns, Smithing Tables, etc.), Zombies for curing |
A trading hall is not a traditional farm but a semi-automatic system for getting the exact enchanted books, tools, and resources you need. Breed villagers, assign them professions by placing workstations, and reset their trades by breaking and replacing the workstation until they offer what you want.
Zombie curing is the key to making trading halls efficient. When you cure a Zombie Villager (splash Weakness potion + golden apple), the villager offers permanent discounts. Cure the same villager multiple times for maximum discounts — Mending books for 1 emerald is achievable.
Witch Farm
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Produces | Redstone, Glowstone, Gunpowder, Sugar, Spider Eyes, Glass Bottles, Sticks |
| Difficulty | Hard |
| Output | ~200-400 items/hour |
| Key Materials | Witch Hut location, Spawn platforms, Hoppers, Water channels |
Witch farms require finding a Witch Hut (Swamp Hut) in a swamp biome. Witches only spawn naturally within the hut’s bounding box, so you build spawn platforms at the hut’s exact coordinates and funnel witches into a kill chamber. The drops are varied and include valuable brewing ingredients, redstone, and glowstone.
These farms are location-dependent (you cannot build one anywhere) and complex, but they provide a renewable source of redstone and glowstone that would otherwise require mining.
Recommended Build Order
If you are starting a new world and want to build farms efficiently, here is the recommended progression:
- Crop Farm — Solves food. Easy to build in the first few days.
- Mob Grinder — Provides bones (bone meal for crops), string (wool for beds), arrows, and basic XP.
- Iron Farm — Unlocks hoppers, which are needed for every other farm. Build this as soon as you have 3 villagers.
- Creeper Farm — Gunpowder for rockets (once you have an Elytra) and TNT.
- XP Farm (Enderman) — After defeating the Ender Dragon. Fast levels for enchanting.
- Villager Trading Hall — Get Mending, Unbreaking III, and other critical enchantments.
- Gold Farm — Gold for golden apples (villager curing), powered rails, and bartering.
- Raid Farm — Endgame. Infinite emeralds and Totems of Undying.
Performance tip: Large farms with many entities (villagers, mobs, item entities) can cause lag, especially on low-end PCs. Keep farms loaded only when you need them, and optimize your Minecraft settings for better performance around farms. If you are experiencing network lag on multiplayer servers, our high ping fix guide can help.
