Learn how to build a Minecraft Redstone Potato Farm that uses redstone, pistons and water to simplify crop harvesting. This semi-automatic design is easy to operate, inexpensive to maintain and provides a reliable supply of potatoes for food and farming in your survival world.
What is a Minecraft Redstone Potato Farm
This Minecraft Redstone Potato Farm uses pistons, water and hoppers to harvest crops efficiently. Once activated, the farm washes fully grown potatoes into a collection system, making harvesting faster and easier than manual farming.
Potatoes are used in a few ways in Minecraft these include:
- Food source – you can eat raw Potatoes though they only restore a little health. Baking them in a furnace or smoker turns them into Baked Potatoes which restore more hunger points.
- farming – Potatoes can be farmed.
- Trading – Potatoes can be traded for emeralds.
- Breeding – if you have Pigs feeding them Potatoes will make them breed.
- Composting – Potatoes can be placed into a Composter to make Bonemeal.
Before being able to farm potatoes you will first need to get them to plant:
- Villages – Potatoes can be found in villages.
- Zombie drops – Zombies can sometimes drop Potatoes.
- Shipwrecks and chests – you may find Potatoes in chests in shipwrecks or inside Village houses.
- Trading – Farm Villagers sometimes trade Potatoes for Emeralds.
Materials needed for a Minecraft Redstone Potato Farm
These are the ingredients and recipes that you will need to make this Minecraft Redstone Potato Farm. Please ensure that you have all of the materials before you start your build.
| Item | Picture | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Stone |  | 34 |
| Water bucket |  | 8 |
| Repeater |  | 8 |
| Redstone dust |  | 10 |
| Chest |  | 2 |
| Hoe |  | 1 |
| Lever |  | 1 |
| Hopper |  | 8 |
| Sticky piston |  | 8 |
| Potatoes |  | 48 |
- Hopper – this build will need a chest to make a hopper.
- Sticky Piston – you will need to craft a piston before making a sticky piston.
- Repeater – You will need to craft Redstone torches to make a repeater.
How to build a Minecraft Redstone Potato Farm
Here we will explain in detail how to build this Minecraft Redstone Potato Farm. Please follow the instructions carefully.
- The first stage is to prepare for the redstone section of the build.
- This entails digging 2 blocks down in a 8 x 3 block section. Then on the left hand side dig 3 x 2 blocks.
- Finally a 1 block down and a 1 x 2 block to enable you to get out of the hole. Dig this on the end of the 3 x 2 block hole. It should look something like the screenshot.
- Lets now place down the sticky pistons. Place the sticky pistons in the back section ensuring that they are green side up.
- Next run repeaters pointing towards the sticky pistons along the whole length of the sticky pistons.
- Then place redstone dust behind the repeaters extending by one block and place down a lever in the next block. When switching the lever the sticky pistons should come level with the earth.
- Lets now switch the lever and ensure that the sticky pistons extend and retract normally.
- Ensure that the pistons are extended to move on to the next section.
- Ok, first up lets hoe a rectangle, from the sticky pistons, hoe down 6 blocks all the way along to make a rectangle.
- Dig a 1 block hole down each side of the tilled area.
- Next dig a 1 block deep hole along the opposite end to the sticky pistons for 10 blocks (2 blocks longer than the tilled area on one end).
- Place your two chests down as shown in the screenshot. Next you need to place your hoppers leading into the chest.
- Fill the hole by the side of the hoed area with water ensuring it reaches both ends.
- In this section we need to build the stone walls around the build.
- From the hoppers place stone blocks over the water and go up 9 blocks.
- Next place stone blocks on top of the pistons.
- Then place a second row of stone blocks to join the 2 rows in step 2.
- Place a row of stone blocks above the repeaters making a trough.
- Now lets place water into that gap.
- You should now have something that looks like this.
- Lets now make sure that this works.
- If you select the lever that you placed earlier, the front row of blocks will drop down and the water will flow down the edge of the hoppers.
- This is final section, we plant the crops and wait for them grow.
- Once they are fully grown select the lever and watch the crops flow down into the hoppers and then into the chest.
Hints and tips for building a Redstone Potato Farm
Common problemns and solutions
- Ensure that there are only 6 blocks of wheat planted. The water will then reach the hoppers.
- Place fences around the build. To stop mobs trampling on your Potatoes.
Additions to the build
- Increase crops – This build can be made wider by adding more pistons and hoppers, it cannot be made longer as the water will only flow for 6 blocks.