Building a Minecraft Sea Lantern Farm: Step-by-Step Guide

Light is an important aspect in Minecraft. It not only keeps monsters at bay but can also be used for decoration. However, relying solely on torches is not always the best solution. Even Glowstone from the Nether doesn’t look particularly appealing. Nowadays, there are many other lighting options in the game that you can use. One of them is the blue sea lanterns! They not only look incredibly stylish but also fit any style. Additionally, their crafting materials can be gathered with a simple guardian farm and then assembled. We’ll show you how it’s done!

Minecraft Sea Lanterns: Properties, Farming Options, and More

As the name suggests, sea lanterns are connected to the ocean in Minecraft. And you will most often find them there. However, collecting them is not so easy as they are well-guarded. Thankfully, these guardians are exactly what we need for our automatic farm.

Ocean Monuments and Guardians in Minecraft: Tips for the Perfect Farm Start

Ocean monuments are massive structures in Minecraft located in deep waters. Once you’ve found them, you can use potions of water breathing and patience to collect some sea lanterns.
Tip: Use a pickaxe with the “Silk Touch” enchantment to break the sea lanterns directly without destroying them.

The monsters you’ll encounter there are known as guardians. They look like large pufferfish and can attack with their spikes. Elder guardians are especially dangerous! It’s best to defeat them first, as they can enchant you with the “Mining Fatigue” status effect. Both forms of guardians, however, drop prismarine crystals and prismarine shards – both of which you need for crafting sea lanterns.

Minecraft Sea Lanterns: Crafting Recipes and Materials Overview

To craft a sea lantern, you need:

• 4 Prismarine Shards
• 5 Prismarine Crystals

Arrange the shards in the four corners and use the crystals to form a plus in the centre of the crafting table. This shows exactly what materials we need for an automatic sea lantern farm.

You can then use the sea lanterns as you see fit. They are a wonderful decoration and emit a light level of 15. They have a modern appearance and are quite subtle. Just remember that you can only break sea lanterns with “Silk Touch”. Otherwise, they will only drop prismarine shards and crystals.

Step-by-Step Guide: How to Build a Simple Guardian Farm in Minecraft

A guardian farm can be built in many different ways. We take advantage of the fact that guardians only spawn in the vicinity of an ocean monument – and plenty of them! Therefore, you must first find such a monument and preferably kill the elder guardians so that no one disturbs you during construction.

How Does a Guardian Farm Work?

Guardian farms use the principle of buoyancy. The guardians are gathered at a specific point where they are killed by campfires.
Advantage: You don’t need to completely drain the ocean monument, as is the case with other farms. This saves time and resources.

Building Materials

• several stacks of dirt
• several stacks of soul sand
• several stacks of glass
• several stacks of building materials
• 2 stacks of scaffolding
• 16 fence gates
• 2 water buckets
• 16 hoppers + chests
• 16 campfires

Step-by-Step Instructions

First, find an ocean monument and defeat the elder guardians. Switch to “Peaceful” mode and calmly build the farm. On top of the pyramid, we first need to build a room with dimensions of 6x6. We use the existing structure as a template. We fill the box with dirt, which we will remove later. It is only there to hold back the water.

At the water surface level, we begin our collection basin. Build upwards from the room and use dirt to create a temporary platform measuring 8x8 blocks.

Now we need to build a square with dimensions of 22x22 one block above. Go 7 blocks from each side. We will also remove this later. It only serves as an aid to direct the water. Surround the dirt with glass. Make each corner one block higher.

To ensure the guardians are swept to the centre, we use fence gates in these corners. Place 3 in each corner and open them.

Fill the upper corners and edges with water. Ensure that the water flow leads to the centre. Does the water flow beyond the 6x6 dimensions? Then block the edges with dirt.

Now we focus on the room by first removing the excess dirt. It is advisable to build a small access point. A small tunnel is enough, where you use 4 more fence gates as a water barrier. This way, you have access to the chests.

Use enough chests, hoppers, and campfires to fill the room. The guardians will be killed by the campfires, and the valuable prismarine crystals and shards will be collected. You can then craft your sea lanterns from these.

Afterwards, also remove the dirt that is under the constructed water system. This may take a while, but it is quicker if no monsters are attacking you.

Lastly, we need to ensure buoyancy. Therefore, line the upper part of the ocean monument with soul sand, which creates bubbles underwater that push the guardians upwards and into the trap. Remove the excess seagrass and some blocks from the monument. Create a frame of 22x22 blocks, as done above. If your PC lags, turn off particles in the settings.

Finally, remove the ring of building blocks around the room at the top. The water should still not flow in.

Guardians spawn most efficiently when you wait at Y-level 184. Use scaffolding to build yourself up.
Tip: Disable particle effects in the settings if your PC has performance issues.
In no time, you’ll have full chests of prismarine crystals, shards, and even raw fish! This way, you not only have the materials for sea lanterns but also a source of food.

Conclusion

Guardians are your best source for crafting sea lanterns. And building a farm is no longer that difficult! Soon, you won’t be able to keep up with the materials. Illuminate your underwater worlds with endless sea lanterns on your own server. Rent your Minecraft server and create fascinating underwater landscapes! Sea lanterns are arguably the most beautiful light sources available in Minecraft.