Introduction
Welcome to the Minecraft Bedrock Farming Guide! This guide will provide you with everything you need to know to start and optimize your farms in Minecraft: Bedrock Edition, drawing from a variety of helpful sources. Farming is a fundamental skill in Minecraft, allowing you to produce food, resources, and items necessary for survival and progression. Whether you are just starting your adventure or looking to improve your existing farms, this guide has something for you.
Getting Started in Minecraft Bedrock Farming Guide
To begin your farming journey in Minecraft: Bedrock Edition, you’ll need a few essential tools and resources.
Hoe
The most important tool is the hoe, which is used to turn grass or dirt blocks into farmland—the prepared soil where most crops are planted. Hoes come in different tiers, including wood, stone, iron, gold, diamond, and netherite, with higher-tier hoes offering increased durability. A stone hoe is a good early-game choice since it is more durable than a wooden one and can be crafted using two sticks and two cobblestones.
Crops
Crops require seeds or starting items to be planted. Wheat seeds can be obtained by breaking tall grass found in most biomes. Each grass plant has a chance (around 1 in 8) of dropping seeds. Mature wheat also yields 0-3 seeds when harvested.
Potato
Potatoes yield 1–5 when harvested, but there is also a chance to obtain a poisonous potato (with a 2% drop rate). While poisonous potatoes have no significant use, regular potatoes can be cooked in a furnace, smoker, or campfire to make baked potatoes, which restore more hunger than raw ones.
Carrot
Carrots grow in clusters, and when fully matured, breaking the plant yields 1–5 carrots. They are used for breeding pigs and rabbits, crafting golden carrots (a powerful food source), and as a steady food supply.
Beetroot
Beetroot seeds can be found in chest loot and are planted to produce beetroots along with 1-4 seeds. Pumpkins and melons require their respective seeds, which can be obtained by crafting a pumpkin or a melon slice.
Pumpkin
Pumpkins are naturally found in grassy meadows, often generating in small patches across plains, meadows, and sometimes taiga biomes. They can also be found in woodland mansions or village farms, particularly in savannah and taiga villages. Unlike melons, pumpkins do not drop seeds when broken but instead drop whole pumpkins, which can be crafted into seeds for farming. Once planted, pumpkin stems will grow and produce pumpkins on adjacent farmland blocks, meaning they require an open space next to them to bear fruit.
Sugar Cane
Sugar cane is a versatile and essential crop that grows near water sources such as rivers, lakes, and ocean shores. It must be planted directly on dirt, sand, or grass blocks adjacent to water, making it unique among crops. Sugar cane grows up to three blocks tall naturally but can be manually stacked higher by players. It does not require tilled farmland or hydration, making it easy to cultivate. When fully grown, the top two blocks can be harvested without breaking the base, allowing continuous regrowth. Sugar cane is primarily used to craft paper for books and maps or sugar for potions and cakes.
Others
Basic Crop Farming Techniques
Once you have your hoe and some seeds, you can start your first farm. Begin by tilling the soil with your hoe: tap and hold on grass or dirt blocks to turn them into farmland. Keep in mind that tilled farmland will revert to dirt if no crop is actively growing on it or if a player or mob jumps on it. Next, equip your seeds or planting item, then tap on the farmland to plant them.
Hydration is crucial for most crops, except Nether wart, which grows on soul sand. Crops grow best when placed near a water source. A single water block can hydrate farmland up to four blocks away in all horizontal directions, covering a 9×9 area when centrally placed. If necessary, dig trenches or extend shorelines to bring water closer to your farm before acquiring a bucket. Hydrated farmland appears as a darker shade of brown, preventing it from reverting to dirt.
Lighting is another essential factor. While crops grow under natural sunlight during the day, they can continue growing at night or underground if there are sufficient artificial light sources, such as torches, glowstone, or lanterns. Growth occurs in stages, influenced by hydration, light, and other environmental factors, so patience is necessary before harvesting.
Certain crops, like wheat, carrots, and potatoes, are easy to grow and provide reliable food sources. Wheat seeds can be obtained by breaking tall grass, while carrots and potatoes are commonly found in villages or dropped by zombies. Melons and pumpkins require a slightly different setup, as they need an empty adjacent block for the fruit to grow.
Certain crops, like wheat, carrots, and potatoes, are easy to grow and provide reliable food sources. Wheat seeds can be obtained by breaking tall grass, while carrots and potatoes are commonly found in villages or dropped by zombies. Melons and pumpkins require a slightly different setup, as they need an empty adjacent block for the fruit to grow.
Certain crops, like wheat, carrots, and potatoes, are easy to grow and provide reliable food sources. Wheat seeds can be obtained by breaking tall grass, while carrots and potatoes are commonly found in villages or dropped by zombies. Melons and pumpkins require a slightly different setup, as they need an empty adjacent block for the fruit to grow.
Advanced Crop Farming Techniques
To maximize efficiency, consider planting different crops in alternating rows. This technique speeds up growth compared to planting a single type of crop over a large area. Using bone meal—a fertilizer crafted from bones obtained by defeating skeletons or bone blocks found in Soul Sand Valleys—can instantly advance a crop’s growth stage. Bone meal can also be produced in a composter by adding organic materials like excess crops and seeds.
Optimizing farmland placement can also boost efficiency. Surrounding crops with unused farmland can increase growth rates. When harvesting, using a hoe or pickaxe with the Fortune enchantment increases the yield of crops like potatoes, carrots, melons, and Nether wart. However, the enchantment only increases seed yield for wheat and beetroot and has no effect on pumpkins.
Water coverage should also be planned strategically, as one water block hydrates a 9×9 farmland area. To prevent accidental trampling, place slabs, carpets, or other walkable blocks over water sources. For pumpkin and melon farming, note that these crops grow on adjacent blocks.
To direct their growth, place non-farmable blocks like cobblestone where you don’t want them to grow. Using Silk Touch when harvesting melons provides the full melon block, which is useful for trading.
Glow berries, planted on block undersides, have a low chance (11%) of naturally growing berries, but applying bone meal increases this chance.
Mushrooms require dark environments to spread but can grow in any light level when planted on mycelium or podzol. Large mushrooms can be grown by applying bone meal to a small mushroom.
For flower farming, most flowers can be duplicated by placing them on the ground and using bone meal.
Cacti farming requires careful spacing, as cacti cannot grow adjacent to any other block and must be planted on sand.
Animal Farming
Beyond crops, animal farming provides essential food sources and valuable resources like wool, leather, and eggs. To start an animal farm, you’ll generally need to lure animals into enclosed pens using their preferred food and then breed them to create a sustainable population.
Cow
Cows are one of the most valuable farm animals, providing raw beef (or cooked beef if killed while on fire), leather, and milk (obtained with a bucket). Mooshroom variants can also be sheared for mushrooms. To farm cows, enclose them in a pen with fences and a gate or use a carpet-topped fence for easy access. They can be lured and bred using wheat. For more advanced farming, the “water pit method” involves suspending cows in water with a collection system below, allowing for automatic drops when they die from entity cramming.
Sheep
Sheep provide wool, which can be obtained by shearing or killing them, as well as raw or cooked mutton if they are killed while on fire. Sheep can also be dyed, and breeding dyed sheep can result in offspring with mixed wool colors. Similar to cows, sheep should be enclosed in a pen. Shearing them with shears allows for continuous wool collection without killing them. For automation, a wool farm can be built using dispensers with shears triggered by observers to automatically shear sheep.
Chicken
Chickens are useful for their raw or cooked chicken (if killed while on fire), feathers, and eggs. They can be lured and bred using wheat seeds, pumpkin seeds, melon seeds, beetroot seeds, torch flower seeds, and pitcher pods. Keeping chickens enclosed in a pen ensures a steady supply of eggs, which can be collected and thrown to hatch more chickens, with a small chance of four chicks hatching from one egg. Simple egg farms can be created by allowing chickens to lay eggs onto hoppers connected to chests. More advanced farms automate both egg collection and cooked chicken production using lava.
Pig
Pigs drop raw or cooked pork chops when killed. They can be lured and bred with carrots, potatoes, or beetroot. The simplest way to farm pigs is to enclose them in a pen and regularly breed them. Like cows, pigs can also be farmed using the “water pit method,” which allows for automatic pork chop collection through entity cramming.
Rabbit
Rabbits drop raw or cooked rabbit, rabbit hide (which can be crafted into leather), and, rarely, a rabbit’s foot. They can be lured and bred using carrots and dandelions. To farm rabbits, enclose them in a pen using fences or trapdoors. Be mindful that rabbits may eat carrot crops if they are not contained separately. Advanced rabbit farms can use waterlogged slabs and entity cramming to automate drop collection.
Tips for Efficient Animal Farming
In the early game, it’s wise to keep at least two of each animal you encounter to ensure a breeding stock, as passive mob spawning can be limited. Unlike hostile mobs, most passive animals do not respawn naturally after being killed, making it essential to establish a farm early on.
Cows, sheep, pigs, and chickens are particularly valuable because they provide food, crafting materials, and trade opportunities with villagers. Establishing wheat and carrot farms early is crucial since they provide food for most farm animals. A good technique is alternating rows of wheat and carrots to maximize growth speed and efficiency.
Different animals require specific foods for breeding. Cows and sheep need wheat, pigs require carrots, potatoes, or beetroot, and chickens breed when fed seeds.
Breeding two adult animals of the same type produces a baby animal, which matures over time but can grow faster if fed more of its respective food. For example, feeding a baby cow wheat speeds up its growth into an adult, making it ready for breeding or harvesting sooner.
Using weapons enchanted with Fire Aspect causes animals to drop cooked meat upon death instead of raw meat, saving time and furnace fuel. For example, a cow normally drops raw beef, but with Fire Aspect, it drops steak instead.The Looting enchantment further increases the number of items dropped, making it a useful enchantment for gathering large amounts of food and materials like leather from cows or feathers from chickens.
To prevent animals from escaping, secure animal pens with fences, fence gates, or carpets placed on top of fences. Mobs cannot jump over fences, but players can easily enter by placing a carpet on the fence, as it allows player movement while keeping animals contained.
Another effective method is using leads, which can be crafted with string and slimeballs or found in wandering trader loot, to move animals into enclosures. Building pens near water can be useful for farming ducks (chickens), as their eggs can be collected and used to hatch more.
To maintain breeding efficiency, keep a supply of the appropriate food near your animal pens. This ensures that you can quickly breed animals whenever needed, sustaining a reliable food source. Automating animal farming with dispensers and redstone can further improve efficiency, especially for collecting eggs, milk, or even wool from sheep.
By implementing these animal farming techniques in your Bedrock Edition world, you can ensure a consistent supply of food and resources. Whether you’re preparing for long mining expeditions, trading with villagers, or crafting leather armor and books, a well-maintained animal farm is essential for survival and progression.
Automation in Farming
Automating farms in Bedrock Edition reduces manual labor and increases efficiency in resource collection. Farms can be semi-automatic, requiring some player intervention, or fully automatic, operating independently.
Semi Automatic Farms
Water Harvesting
A common method where water flows over mature crops, breaking them and washing the drops into a collection area such as hoppers. However, replanting must be done manually.
Piston Harvesting
Sticky pistons can move farmland to break crops, while water currents below collect the items. Like water harvesting, this method also requires manual replanting.
Fully Automatic Farm
Villager Farming
Farmer villagers can harvest and replant crops in a designated area. To collect the produce, hoppers or hopper minecarts should be placed beneath the farmland. Ensure the farm is outside village boundaries or structured correctly to prevent interference from nearby villages.
Wool Farm
Automatic Wool Farms: These use observers to detect when sheep regrow their wool, triggering dispensers with shears to shear them. Hoppers then collect the wool.
Egg Farm
Automatic Egg Farms: Chickens are confined above hoppers that funnel eggs into chests, allowing for continuous egg collection.
By integrating automation, you can generate resources continuously while focusing on exploration, building, or other aspects of your Minecraft world.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this Minecraft Bedrock Farming Guide has equipped you with essential skills for building efficient, sustainable farms. From mastering crop growth and animal husbandry to exploring automation with villagers and redstone, you now have the tools to create thriving farms that support all your adventures. Apply these techniques, and your Bedrock world will flourish with endless food and resources.
If you’re looking for more guides, be sure to explore the website for more tips and tricks. Enjoy your adventure, and happy mining!
Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs)
How do you make a tree farm in Minecraft Bedrock?
Plant saplings on flat ground with 2–3 blocks between them, make sure there’s enough light, and replant after harvesting. For faster growth, use bone meal
How to make an Iron farm in Minecraft Bedrock?
Set up villagers, beds, and a zombie to scare them; spawn iron golems, kill them with water and lava, and collect iron with hoppers.
How do you make a fish farm in Minecraft Bedrock?
Build an AFK pool or automatic fishing setup using a water block, a note block, and a trapdoor; cast your fishing rod and hold down the use button for easy loot
