Minecraft: 30 Insanely Useful Redstone Contraptions (2024)

When it comes down to it, Minecraft is a fairly simple game to play. Things are pretty intuitive in terms of crafting, especially since a recipe book allows you to go back and check all the recipes you know so far. However, there's one form of craft in the game that's only reserved for the smartest: Redstone contraptions.

If Redstone in Minecraft feels like a foreign language, no need to worry. Just replicating a few basic farms tends to teach the basics to a player. Redstone is worth getting into because of how much things can be automated and simplified. Less time tending to crops will be more time spent building or exploring. Without further ado, here are some Redstone contraptions that are insanely useful.

Updated on June 4th, 2024, by Ben Painter: While patiently awaiting the next Minecraft update, 1.21 is now named Tricky Trials, which is set to arrive on June 13th. Gamers can head back into their worlds and get prepared. A great way to do this is to start on some easy Redstone contraptions that will make life easier in the game. Some of the ideas in this list are insanely easy to use. Redstone may be difficult to get one's head around, but it is easier than it looks, and there is always a tutorial on YouTube that will lend a hand. This update adds more easy Redstone contraptions and provides more information on how easy each one is to make in Minecraft.

30 Villager Breeder

A Compact Way To Gather Lots Of Villagers And Transport Them To Where They Need To Be

• Difficulty Level: 2/5
• Blocks Required: Building blocks, Dirt, Crops, Composters, Minecarts, Rails, Button, Beds

Villagers are very useful in Minecraft. They can be traded with to acquire items and emeralds (the currency in Minecraft). So a handy thing to do is to create a Villager Breeder. There are several different variations on this contraption, but the most common one works as a farm. Farmer Villagers harvest crops, and when they have too many, they will breed automatically and produce a child.

The child is then whisked off to be used elsewhere in the Minecraft world, which is where Redstone comes in. This is a rail system that can be designed for easy transportation. BlazeDude on YouTube has a handy tutorial on making a simple Villager Breeder.

29 Block Swapper

A Way To Change Blocks To Save Space

• Difficulty Level: 1/5
• Blocks Required: Building blocks, Pistons, Redstone, Redstone Torch, Redstone Repeaters, Switches

A Block Swapper does what it says on the tin: it swaps blocks out for other ones. A use for this could be in a base, to save space. If players have a small starting base, then they can use a Block Swapper to change from a Crafting Table to a Furnace to an Anvil as needed.

It is not really necessary, but it is a fun little way to use the various workstations in the game, and a great starting point for gamers looking to get into Redstone. enbentz games on YouTube have a simple, but effective, tutorial for creating a Block Swapper in Minecraft.

28 Cocoa Bean Farm

Semi-Automatic Way To Gain Lots Of Cocoa Beans

• Difficulty Level: 1/5
• Blocks Required: Building Blocks, Jungle Wood, Dirt, Observer, Droppers, Piston, Redstone, Cocoa Beans, Switch

Cocoa Beans are a useful material in Minecraft. They can be used to create cookies, but are also used as a brown dye. They can be farmed easily, and grown on jungle wood, but it may become tedious to constantly farm the beans manually.

There is a way to make a semi-automatic farm that shakes the beans off when they are grown, they can then be collected manually. That, or gamers could create a rail system, using a Hopper Minecart to collect the Cocoa Beans. There are a few different designs out there, Triloms on YouTube has a simple design which is a method of instantly growing the beans with Bonemeal and pushing them out automatically using a Piston and Observer method.

27 Iron Golem Farm

Handy Way to Create An Iron Golem Army

• Difficulty Level: 1/5
• Blocks Required: Building Blocks, Iron Blocks, Pumpkins, Piston, Switch

Not to be mistaken for an Iron Farm, this is an Iron Golem Farm, which instantly creates Iron Golems. These metal creatures act as soldiers and security guards for players destroying enemy mobs.

This farm instantly creates multiple Golems, which could be handy when the player's base is raided by mobs or enemies in a PvP world. Gamers will need to create the Iron Block shell and then create a Redstone system that will push Pumpkins onto the blocks with the flick of a switch. It's a quick way to make an instant army.

26 Automatic Wool Farm

Harvests Wool Automatically, No Shearing Sheep Here

• Difficulty Level: 1/5
• Blocks Required: Chests, Observer, Hopper, Dispenser, Shears, Glass, Rail, Minecart, Redstone, Trapdoor

Wool is a useful material in the blocky world. It can be used as a decoration and building block to easily add a pop of color to a build. Getting a lot of wool can be tedious, though. It will require the player to go around and shear each sheep individually. Depending on how many sheep the player has, it could take some time.

This is where the Automatic Wool Farm comes into play. It works by firing shears at the sheep to drop its wool and then collecting it in a chest. It knows to dispense the shears when the sheep eats the grass block underneath it, the change of Grass block to Dirt block activates the Observer, which gives off a Redstone signal. Triloms has a simple tutorial on YouTube for this.

25 Bubble Elevator

A Way To Transport The Player And Items Upwards Quickly

• Difficulty Level: 2/5
• Blocks Required: Building Blocks, Water, Kelp, Soul Sand (or Magma Blocks for a downwards one)

Bubble Elevators have been around properly since the 1.13 update for Minecraft. They're fantastic constructions for players who create tall builds and prefer to get from one location to another quickly. They're a nice space-saving alternative for minecart tracks, too.

There are now redstone versions of these bubble elevators as well, which makes them a bit more automatic. One of the best an easiest Minecraft machines, available to build in the game. There's one design by TBOGGs that's great for any Bedrock Edition player. Another design is made by Shulkercraft, and is Java Edition friendly.

24 Kelp Farm

An Easy Way To Harvest Kelp

• Difficulty Level: 2/5
• Blocks Required: Building blocks, Glass, Kelp, Water, Dirt, Observers, Piston, Redstone

Some players might wonder what the point of farming kelp is, and the answer is simple: fuel. Kelp is incredibly useful in Minecraft and has since its introduction in 1.13 been a fantastic alternative fuel to coal and coal blocks. The best part is that it's renewable and easy to grow, in the form of an automatic farm.

This Kelp Farm is one of the many examples of Minecraft redstone contraptions that gamers can build in the game. The design is created by Sirius Bluu and still works well in the 1.19 Java edition. For Bedrock players, JC Playz has an even simpler zero-tick design that's nice and compact if space is an issue.

23 X-Ray Machine

A Way To Look Through The Floor

• Difficulty Level: 1/5
• Blocks Required: Building blocks, Piston, Lever, Redstone Torch, Composter, Trapdoor, Lever, Sticky Piston

X-ray is a controversial thing in Minecraft, and anyone playing on a multiplayer survival server shouldn't try to use it to cheat. However, players just having fun with friends can use this simple trick to build an X-ray Machine that only requires very minimal Redstone.

There are a few designs floating out there, but the most notable ones are from docm77 and Shulkercraft. The idea behind these Minecraft machines is usually roughly the same, where the player gets pushed by a piston inside a composter, which allows them to see through the ground.

22 Armor Wardrobe

A Quick Way To Add Some Armor

• Difficulty Level: 1/5
• Blocks Required: Dispenser, Armor, Repeaters, Redstone, Building Blocks, Pressure Plate

Equipping armor is such a bore in Minecraft, isn't it? It might only take a few moments, but saving time and being efficient is everything, especially in endgame Minecraft gameplay. And so, a lot of builders have come up with ways to create a sort of armor wardrobe that automatically equips gear to the player when they step into it. A useful Minecraft Redstone idea.

This design usually involves a bunch of dispensers, which can be a little bit expensive to make. A notable one was created by cubfan135, and although the design is almost a decade old, it still holds up as long as players add in a repeater. A more modern design was made by Shulkercraft.

21 Micro-Crop Farm

A Speedy Way To Gain Lots Of One Crop

• Difficulty Level: 2/5
• Blocks Required: Dirt, Dispensers, Observers, Sticky Piston, Redstone, Water, Glass

Bigger isn't always better, and that definitely is true to a lot of things players can make in Minecraft. Crop farms especially don't need to be massive in order to work well or to yield a lot of produce. In fact, a Micro-Crop Farm is all that most players will need on a solo survival adventure.

The downside with these microfarms that use observers is that they rely on players having a ton of Bonemeal on hand. It helps if the player's Nether spawn is a Soul Sand valley, where they can mine a bunch of bone blocks. For a fantastic design on this concept, check out T2 Studio's tutorial.

20 Vending Machine

A Way To Sell Items On A Multiplayer Server

• Difficulty Level: 4/5
• Blocks Required: Building Blocks, Redstone, Hoppers, Repeaters, Glass, Switches, Redstone Torches, Dispensers, Items To Vend

Although this Minecraft Redstone contraption is perhaps not a necessity in survival mode, building an entire Vending Machine on a server where players are often expected to open up stores and other businesses might be a great idea to rake in some extra diamonds or emeralds. It's a little standalone shop, which automatically dispenses the wanted item.

There's a variety of designs out there, from very complex ones that involve writing a number down on a piece of paper to simpler ones that simply ask the player to rotate an arrow. For the vending machine pictured above, check out this showcase by CR3WProductionz, and for an easy tutorial check out Twiistz video.

19 Trash Bin

A Simple Way To Get Rid Of Useless Items

• Difficulty Level: 2/5
• Blocks Required: Dispensers, Lava, Hoppers, Chests, Repeaters, Redstone, Comparators, Building Blocks

Not only is storage important for a smooth survival experience, but as the chests start to get fuller and fuller, it's usually a sign that something needs to be tossed. While just finding a puddle of lava is simple enough to dump everything in one's inventory, there are fancier and more convenient ways.

Many of the more sophisticated Redstone Trash Cans actually involve placing the items into a chest which acts as the bin, from which the items then move through hoppers, into a dispenser, and finally into a safe block of lava either underground or behind a block. The good thing about these designs is that safety comes first, meaning lava won't cause any issues by burning down half a house or the player. Adult Only Minecraft has a really nice and simple design for this Minecraft redstone machine in particular.

18 Elytra Launcher

A Jumping Point To Get Players Into The Air

• Difficulty Level: 2/5
• Blocks Required: Slime Blocks, Pistons, Pressure, Plates, Redstone

Once the player has their hands on that highly coveted Elytra, there's no other way to travel around than by flying at high speed. It's simply the best way to move in the game, but the firework-launching option isn't always super reliable and can be potentially dangerous.

That's why many players have come up with designs for a launcher pad of sorts, which uses either TNT or other game mechanics to launch the player forward with this redstone contraption. For a super-safe design that's guaranteed to work, check out Fox Team's launcher which uses boats as the primary launch tool.

17 Bedtime Alarm

An Alert To Let Players Know It Is Time For Bed

• Difficulty Level: 1/5
• Blocks Required: Daylight Sensor, Redstone, Comparators, Redstone Lamp, Dropper, Redstone

Everyone has done this at least once in their Minecraft career: stood in front of their bed with the sun setting in the background, hopelessly spamming until their character hops into the bed. Thankfully, this time spent spamming the bed interaction can be spent better with an alarm in use to indicate the time of the day.

It might seem like a useless Minecraft contraption, but it will save players a few minutes of extra time around sunset to do their final routines in their base. Mumbo Jumbo showcases this super easy and basic bedtime alarm in his video and even shows how to build it.

16 XP Bank

A Simple Way To Gain Lots Of XP Using Furnaces

• Difficulty Level: 3/5
• Blocks Required: Building Blocks, Glowstone, Redstone, Bamboo, Slabs, Sand, Observers, Hopper Minecart, Glass Panes, Powered Rails, Chests, Hoppers, Furnace, Redstone Torch, Levers, Water, Glass, Dirt, Rails

With the introduction of bamboo, players have finally been able to come up with a way to farm XP that's ridiculously easy. It doesn't involve fighting mobs or building complicated mob grinders. Instead, all one needs is bamboo and cacti to make this XP Bank work.

This contraption might take some time to build, but it will serve the player for a long time. In fact, it's self-sufficient thanks to the Observer blocks which will tell the pistons to harvest the cacti and bamboo when they grow, which are then smelted in the ovens and stored in chests. The XP from these ovens is stored within them, and there's no maximum cap to this, which means everything that goes through a single oven stays there until something is taken out of it. A must build Minecraft redstone machine. Check out Avomance's tutorial on this to never have issues farming XP ever again.

15 Wheat Farm

An Automatic Way To Harvest Wheat

• Difficulty Level: 3/5
• Blocks Required: Slabs, Dirt, Seeds, Restone, Redstone Repeaters, Water, Dispensers, Chests, Button, Trapdoor, Hopper, Sign

Wheat is one of the most important crops in Minecraft because it's used to breed passive mobs like cows and sheep, which provide resources like wool and leather. Leather is especially vital in order to have a fully functional enchantment table setup.

With that in mind, making an Automatic Wheat Farm is one of the best ways to start learning Redstone. The designs are pretty simple, so even years later, the basic idea behind these useful Redstone contraptions hasn't changed much despite updates. We recommend this design by Danny Ashworth to get players started.

14 Micro Animal Farms

Creates A Food Source By Cramming Mobs Together And Killing The Excess

• Difficulty Level: 3/5
• Blocks Required: Cows, Hopper, Building Blocks, Stairs, Water, Fence, Wheat

In order to secure a good source of food, it's generally best to have at least one animal farm. The best choices tend to be cows and chickens, or sheep if wool is something the player envisions building a lot with. Otherwise, cows are definitely the most valuable resource due to leather.

These compact Micro-Farms have become a trend in Minecraft in recent years. These Redstone contraptions are easy to build, with their only downside is they might make a low-end PC not run the game properly. Basically, these farms cram a maximum number of mobs into one square and automatically kill extra ones off. This design by wattles is excellent.

13 Zero Loss Sugarcane Farm

A Useful And Automatic Way To Gain Lots Of Sugarcane

• Difficulty Level: 3/5
• Blocks Required: Sugarcane, Light Block, Pistons, Observers, Dispenser, Redstone Repeater, Lever, Redstone, Hopper, Powered Rails, Rail, Water, Building Blocks

When it comes to other valuable crops, sugar cane is a must-have. Since paper is used in so many ways to make maps, enchanted books, and eventually bookshelves for an enchantment setup, sugar cane is insanely valuable and useful early on in the game.

With observer blocks, it's now possible to make a pretty simple Sugar Cane Farm. Every time the crop grows past a certain point, pistons will cut the crop, and a stream of water or a Minecart underneath will transport it to a hopper and eventually to a chest. Gamers need a large supply of sugarcane, and with this Minecraft Redstone idea, there will be chests full of the farmable item. There are a few different designs, but Vidargavia's one works wonders.

12 Melon And Pumpkin Farm

A Useful And Automatic Way To Gain Lots Of Melons Or Pumpkins

• Difficulty Level: 2/5
• Blocks Required: Pistons, Redstone, Seeds, Hopper, Chests, Hoe, Redstone Torches, Water, Dirt

Melons and pumpkins aren't exactly a necessity. That being said, in some situations, they make for fantastic sources of food when nothing else is really at hand. Moreover, melons can be transformed into glistening melons, which are used in a few valuable potions.

Again, there are many ways to go about building these Redstone machines, but most often, Melon and Pumpkin Farms will use either observers if they're fully Automatic, or Pistons, which are activated with a button once all the crops have grown. One of the best, most basic designs is provided by Fed X Gaming.

11 Blaze Farm

A Way To Harvest Blaze Rods

• Difficulty Level: 3/5
• Blocks Required: Blaze Spawner, Redstone, Building Blocks, Repeaters, Pistons, Sticky Pistons, Comparators

Blazes are a necessity for anyone who wants to complete Minecraft's survival mode and beat the Ender Dragon. In order to access the End, the player needs to have enough Blaze Rods to craft Eyes of the Ender and find a Stronghold with a portal. Blaze Rods also provide Blaze Powder, which acts as fuel for the brewing stand. Because of this, setting up a Blaze farm in the Nether, although difficult and risky, is highly recommended.

After entering a Nether Fortress and finding a Blaze Spawner, the farm has to be built around the spawning block. Mumbo Jumbo makes a very nice and compact design that fits the needs of most players. If the task of making this redstone contraption sounds too difficult, however, a completely non-Redstone version by Generikb for those in survival is a great way to start off before expanding to a Redstone version.