Introduction
Tired of endlessly tilling the soil and manually harvesting your crops in Minecraft? The endless cycle of planting, waiting, and harvesting can quickly become a tedious chore. But there’s a better way! Farmers, those helpful villagers in their brown coats, are the key to automating your food production and freeing up your time to focus on more exciting endeavors, like exploring, building, or battling the Ender Dragon. Farmers in Minecraft aren’t just decorative villagers; they are a powerful resource that can transform your survival experience.
These hardworking villagers diligently till the soil, plant seeds, harvest crops, and even share their bounty. They can form the backbone of a completely automated food system, providing a steady supply of resources without you lifting a finger. Forget about spending hours in the fields – with a well-designed farm and a dedicated farmer, you can have a constantly replenishing supply of wheat, carrots, potatoes, and beetroot.
This comprehensive guide will teach you how to effectively utilize farmers in Minecraft to create efficient and automatic farms for various crops. We’ll start with the basics of understanding farmers and their behavior, then move on to building simple automated farms, and finally, explore more advanced systems and optimization tips. By the end of this article, you’ll be a farming expert, harnessing the power of these villager workers to create a sustainable and thriving Minecraft world. You’ll be able to create automatic farms, trade with your villagers and create efficient systems that will amaze your friends!
Understanding Farmers
Before you can put farmers to work, it’s essential to understand their role in Minecraft villages and how they function.
Finding Farmers
Farmers are primarily found within villages. Locating villages can sometimes be a challenge, but they typically generate in plains, savanna, desert, taiga, and snowy tundra biomes. Keep an eye out for structures with houses, workshops, and, of course, villagers milling around. Exploration is key; explore the surface and make use of maps in order to discover villages!
Identifying farmers is relatively straightforward. They wear brown robes, which distinguish them from other villagers with different professions. Pay attention to their behavior; farmers are often seen tending to crops within the village.
Sometimes, you might encounter zombie villagers instead of regular villagers. A viable, albeit potentially risky, method to obtain villagers is to cure a zombie villager. This involves weakening the zombie villager with a splash potion of weakness and then feeding it a golden apple. This method requires patience, as the curing process takes several minutes, and the zombie villager remains hostile during that time. You can then change the cured zombie villager to a farmer, by placing down a composter near them.
How Farmers Work
Farmers operate based on a simple but effective AI system. They will till farmland within their range, plant seeds or crops if the farmland is empty, and harvest crops when they are fully grown. Importantly, they will also attempt to share food with other villagers, which can be crucial for villager breeding.
Farmers have a specific preference for certain crops: wheat, carrots, potatoes, and beetroot. They can plant and harvest any of these crops, making them versatile workers for a variety of farms.
While farmers are helpful, they have limitations. Their range of operation is limited to the immediate area around their workstation. They also require adequate lighting for crops to grow, and their pathfinding abilities are not always perfect. If a farmer gets stuck or cannot reach a particular area, they will not be able to perform their duties effectively.
Farmers’ Needs
To become employed as a farmer, villagers require a workstation. The composter block serves as the farmer’s workstation. Placing a composter near an unemployed villager in a village gives them the farmer profession. Destroying this workstation after will make the villager unemployed again.
Farmers also need a bed. Bed availability is critical. They need somewhere to sleep, as this is a base requirement for all villagers.
Simple Automatic Farms with Farmers
Let’s dive into building a basic automatic farm that utilizes the power of a farmer. This tutorial will focus on a wheat farm, but the principles can be applied to other crops as well.
Basic Wheat Farm
Here’s what you’ll need:
One composter
One chest
One hopper
One bucket of water
Seeds (wheat, carrots, potatoes or beetroot)
Building blocks (enough to create a small enclosed area)
Farmland blocks
Let’s get started:
Prepare the Farmland: Create a small plot of farmland, approximately nine by nine blocks, for example. Dig a small trench along one side and fill it with water to keep the farmland hydrated.
Create a place for your Farmer: Enclose the farmland with building blocks to create a safe area for the farmer to work. Make sure the enclosure is tall enough to prevent the farmer from jumping out.
Placing the Composter: Place a composter inside the farm to allow a villager to claim the farm job.
Food Collection: Place a hopper next to your farmland, leading into a chest to automatically collect your crops!
Introduce the Farmer: Bring a farmer villager into the enclosure. You can use minecarts, boats, or simply lead them in. Once inside, make sure they have access to the composter, this will cause them to stay working as a farmer.
Plant the Seeds: Plant wheat seeds on the farmland. The farmer will then begin to tend to the crops as they grow.
Wait and Collect: As the crops grow, the farmer will harvest them and replant the seeds. The harvested wheat will automatically be collected by the hopper and stored in the chest.
Troubleshooting
Farmer Not Working: Ensure the farmer has access to the composter. Make sure there are no obstacles preventing them from reaching the farmland. Also, confirm the time of day; farmers sleep at night.
Crops Not Growing: Make sure the farmland is hydrated with a water source. Provide sufficient lighting to promote crop growth.
Items Not Being Collected: Double-check that the hopper is correctly connected to the chest and that there are no obstructions preventing items from flowing through.
Variations
You can customize this basic farm in several ways. Use different building blocks for aesthetic purposes. Expand the farmland to increase production. Add more farmers to the farm for faster harvesting, but be sure there are enough workstations for them to claim.
Advanced Farms & Systems with Farmers
Once you’ve mastered the basic farm, you can explore more complex systems to maximize your food production and trading opportunities.
Large-Scale Automated Farms
For those who require a substantial food supply or want to engage in extensive trading, large-scale automated farms are essential.
Design Considerations
When designing a large-scale farm, efficiency and space optimization are paramount. Consider using multiple layers or tiling designs to maximize the amount of farmland within a given area. Resource management is also crucial; you’ll need a large supply of seeds and building materials.
A Multi-Layer Farm
This design stacks multiple farms vertically, significantly increasing production:
Materials: Plenty of farmland, composters, hoppers, chests, water buckets, building blocks, seeds, lighting.
Build the Base: Create a large, flat area. Build a layer of farmland, water trenches, and collection hoppers as described in the basic farm tutorial.
Add Support: Build support pillars to create a second layer above the first.
Repeat: Repeat the farmland, water, and hopper setup on the second layer.
Stack: Continue stacking layers as high as you desire, ensuring sufficient lighting for each level.
Introduce Farmers: Add farmers to each layer, making sure they have access to a composter and that they are contained within their respective layer.
A Modular Farm (Tileable)
This design allows you to easily expand your farm by adding more identical modules:
Design a Module: Create a small, self-contained farm unit with farmland, water, hoppers, and a composter.
Duplicate: Replicate the module and place it adjacent to the first.
Connect: Connect the hopper systems of each module to a central collection point.
Expand: Continue adding modules to expand your farm horizontally.
Troubleshooting for Advanced Farms
Lag Issues: Large farms can cause lag, especially on less powerful computers. Reduce lag by using efficient hopper designs and optimizing lighting. Consider breaking the farm into smaller, independent sections.
Farmer AI Problems: On a large scale, farmers can sometimes get confused or stuck. Ensure clear pathways and avoid complex terrain within the farm area. Using name tags on your farmers can also help to prevent them from despawning.
Using Farmers for Trading
Trading with villagers is a fantastic way to obtain emeralds, which can be used to purchase valuable items. Farmers offer a variety of trades, including crops, bread, and other food items.
Why Trade?
Trading provides a steady source of emeralds. Emeralds can then be used to buy enchanted books, diamond tools, and other rare items from other villagers.
Maximizing Trades
The prices that villagers give depend on a number of factors. The most important of which is popularity. Rescue villagers from raids in order to gain popularity. You may also wish to infect and re-cure your villagers to lower the prices they offer.
Setting Up a Trading Hall
A trading hall is a designated area where you can safely house multiple villagers and easily access their trades. Create individual cells for each villager, ensuring they have access to their workstation. Link your farm to the trading hall, providing a constant supply of goods for the farmer to trade.
Creating a Food “Buffer” System
It’s often wise to create a food buffer system within your farm, or nearby it. A food buffer will ensure that food will be constantly created, even if you are not actively playing in the world.
Why a Buffer System is Important
If you are not actively loading in the chunks in the game, your farmer will not be able to grow food. In the interim, it’s important to still have food available to you and your village, as the population may dwindle if there is not enough food.
A Simple Buffer
A simple buffer involves having an extra few chests stocked up with the items your farmer is gathering.
A Multi-Item Sorting Buffer System
By setting up a sorter near your farm, you can automatically sort the food and seeds coming out of your farm to be collected or placed back into the system. This will reduce the total upkeep your farm will require.
Tips and Tricks for Optimizing Farmer Usage
Here are some additional tips to help you get the most out of your farmers:
Lighting: Provide adequate lighting within your farm to maximize crop growth and prevent hostile mob spawns. Torches, lanterns, or glowstone are all effective options.
Villager Breeding: Encourage farmers to breed by providing them with plenty of food and beds. A growing villager population will increase your workforce and trading potential.
Pathfinding Issues: Minimize pathfinding problems by using clear pathways and avoiding complex terrain within the farm area. Paths can help villagers navigate more efficiently.
Staying Safe: Protect your farmers from hostile mobs by building fences or walls around the farm. Lighting and Iron Golems can also help to keep the area safe.
Efficiency Tips: Maximize crop yield by using bone meal to accelerate growth. Consider using the Fortune enchant on your tools to increase the number of items you harvest.
Conclusion
By following this guide, you can effectively utilize farmers in Minecraft to create efficient and automatic farms. Automating your farms will not only save you time and effort but also provide a steady supply of food, resources, and emeralds for trading. Remember to experiment with different designs and adapt the techniques to your own needs and play style.
The benefits of using farmers are clear: increased food production, automated resource gathering, and lucrative trading opportunities. So, embrace the power of the farmer and transform your Minecraft world into a thriving agricultural empire. Now that you’re armed with the knowledge, go forth and create the ultimate farmer-powered farm! Share your own unique farm designs and experiences in the comments below!
