Iron is a very important resource in Minecraft. You need it for many different items; from weapons and armor, all the way to hoppers and walls. You can do a lot with iron in this game. Trouble is, you need a ton of it. And unless you want to spend hours mining, you need a better way. Lucky for you, the Minecraft community is pretty smart, and often builds contraptions to handle automating many processes.
The quickest way to obtain iron is to kill Iron Golems. Iron Golems drop between 3-5 Iron Ingots each time they are destroyed. As long as the drops aren’t destroyed, you can farm them. And that’s exactly what this handy invention does. Iron Golems only spawn when a Villager is in distress, and when there are no other Golems within 16 blocks. So we’re going to build a machine that abuses this to constantly spawn and kill Iron Golems.
How to make an Iron Farm in Minecraft
Materials are the first thing you need to consider. You will have to build a rather large structure. And since you’re going to be abusing villager mechanics, you need to likely go off and capture some villagers. You also need one zombie, so you will have to lure one of those back. You can use a fishing rod to pull mobs, so grab a bunch of those and go Zombie/Villager fishing.
Some people get creative by luring mobs to boats, and then pulling them along when the mob gets in. That’s certainly an option you can use over the fishing rod method. Now you just need to secure them somewhere. Try locking them inside a fenced-in area while you build the rest of the golem-killing machine. Also, make sure to use the name tag on the Zombie so that it doesn’t despawn.
Once you have your zombie lured in and villagers, it’s time to gather the rest of your materials. You need the following items to make this work:
- 33 Fences and 1 Gate
- 1 Bucket of Water + Source
- 1 Bucket of Lava + Source
- 3 Beds
- 6 Signs
- 7 Hoppers
- 2+ Chests
- 3 Villagers
- 1 Adult Zombie
- 1 Name Tag
- Minecarts and Rails are optional
You will also need about four stacks of some kind of fire-proof building block, and a few stacks of glass. You can use concrete, cobblestone or anything you like. The glass blocks are so you can contain your zombie and let the villagers have sight of it.
Building the basic structure
The first thing you need to do is site your new build. The grinder only works when it’s present in a loaded chunk. So building this near your main base where you spend a lot of time is a good idea. There are also a few general tips to keep in mind when doing this.
- Build it at least 20 blocks above the ground, if you don’t, Golems can spawn outside of the intended spot on top.
- Build it on a chunk that isn’t close to another village. Having villagers nearby can mess with Golem spawning.
Once you have chosen your site location, it’s time to get building. The first thing you should build will be cells to hold your zombie. Make the cell three blocks high and enclose it in glass. In the first cell, place a block of water on the bottom block so that the zombie isn’t destroyed in the sun. now, using your building material, build a three-block-long offshoot on three sides of that cell. Now, place a bed on each of the three offshoots.
You should be left with something like this:
Basic Structure
Getting the villagers and zombies in place can be very annoying. Baiting a zombie to chase you up to the cell means you likely need to use a massive staircase or vertical rail system to move them. The easiest way is to simply use dirt or another cheap material to go back down to the ground, and then build said stairs up to the top of the cell you build previously. Simply lure the zombie in and have them fall into the hole. Villagers can be done in a similar fashion, using fishing poles to pull them into their new homes.
Once you have the beds placed and the cell ready, it’s time to build the structure itself. Now you just need to enclose all of that in your fire-proof material. The three rooms for your villager should also be three blocks high. Now you need to build the actual spawning platform above all of this.
Build a two-level platform over the top of the whole thing you just built. one section should be 3 blocks wide, and 7 blocks long. The second platform should be one block higher than the first, and it will end up being 7 blocks long, and 7 blocks wide. Now build fences around the whole thing to contain the water you’re about to place. The fences need to be placed outside of the blocks you just placed, so they should be floating in the block next to the platform.
Placing water will need to be done on one end of the iron farm in Minecraft. The goal is to get it to flow down from one end of the platform to the lower section. Before you do that though, go down to your lower platform. In the middle of one side of the lower section, place a fence gate and make sure it’s open. having a fence gate will keep the water from flowing down into the lava below it. You should have every other side of the upper platforms encase with fences. To save yourself some time later, have the lower section of fences replaced with wall blocks after you’ve placed the water. There’s a small gap that can form and Golems can get stuck in it. To be clear, this only applies to the lower of the two platforms. There’s also one small spot you can get stuck in on the lower golem chamber
Building the Golem Chamber
Now you need to build the lower section where the golems and lava will go. Coming off of the side with the gate you just placed, use wall blocks to box in the side, running down along the entire side of the structure. You should be left with a box that’s three blocks wide and four blocks high. This is where you’re going to place the lava and other components of the chamber,
Place your chests first, and then place Hoppers on top of them, making sure each Hopper is linked to a chest. You can place a single chest and link all seven Hoppers around it, or you can place the Hoppers directly on top with the Chests under them. Now you need to use those signs to make a layer above the Hoppers. Placing signs in rows below where you’re going to place the lava will form a layer that the lava can’t pass through, but the Golems and drops can. You should have placed six signs if you’re following this exactly. If you’re using a larger plan, you will need more. Now use a single bucket of lave to place a lava block onto the signs.
Placing the Water is a bit more involved. Place one water source block in the middle of the lower platform, opposite the gate, it should flow right to the edge and fill the lower spawning platform. Now head up to the upper spawning platform and place water source blocks along the entire back row, furthest away from the lower platform. It should flow just over the edge of the upper platform. This water is how you direct your golems into the lava.
Finishing the iron farm
If you didn’t replace the lower section of fences on the lower platform with wall blocks, do that now. You should be left with fences along the back, opposite the golem chamber, and the gate above said chamber. The other edge opposite the upper platform should be wall blocks.
Remember that other spot you could get stuck on that I mentioned? It’s right where the golem chamber wall blocks meet the upper platform fence. Remove the wall block directly beneath the last fence on the upper platform. This will prevent Golems from getting stuck in the gap.
Remove the wall block beneath this fence block
There, now your iron farm in Minecraft is complete. Start spawning Golems and farm that iron.
