How to Build an Iron Farm: Unlimited Iron Supply

Iron is one of the most valuable resources in Minecraft, as it is required for many different recipes. However, constantly mining for it can be time-consuming and a bit tedious. Long-time Minecraft players have discovered a mechanic that allows for automatic iron production! This involves the Iron Golem, one of the most interesting mobs in Minecraft. We’ll show you how it works and how to build your own little iron farm!

How Do Automatic Iron Farms Work?

We’ve talked about iron before in our article on mining (Minecraft Mining Techniques: Efficiently Extract Resources) . If you enjoy mining and searching for iron ore through caving or strip mining, you can still do that!

However, it can take a while, and you may not always have the time or desire to do so. But your iron supply will eventually run out. What now? Minecraft has an interesting mechanic involving villages and villagers. When villagers feel threatened or form a village, they spawn an Iron Golem. This is the key to an automatic iron farm!

We use this mechanic to ensure that new Iron Golems keep appearing and then get killed. Each time they die, they drop 3-5 iron ingots. And you won’t have to lift a finger!

How to Build a Simple Iron Farm

This iron farm is not the most efficient variant, but it’s one you can build very early in the game. It also works in Peaceful mode and doesn’t require any Redstone. So it’s universal and perfect for any player, regardless of experience.

List of Materials

• one stack of any type of walls
• building blocks
• 5 beds
• 5 slabs
• 5 villagers (or 2 villagers + food)
• torches
• water bucket
• lava bucket
• 3 signs
• shovel
• 4 hoppers
• chests

Space for Villagers

Choose a suitable location to build your iron farm. Not too far from your base is a good idea, preferably a flat area. Dig a hole measuring 3x5 blocks and make it 4 blocks deep. This is where your villagers will live and form their own village.

Place the five beds in a row in the dug-out hole. Fill the remaining space with slabs so that no monsters or Iron Golems can spawn there. Also, place a few torches.

Now you just need to get five villagers into the hole, which is probably the hardest part. But with a few tricks, it becomes easier. You only need two villagers who can breed. You can bring them from a nearby village using a boat to their new home. Give them food, preferably carrots or potatoes, and wait a few days until they have filled all five beds with villagers.

This little community now serves as an independent village and quickly notices that it doesn’t have an Iron Golem. Therefore, they create one.

Completing the Iron Farm

You can complete the rest of the farm in just a few minutes. First, close the hole with the villagers, but leave one corner open. Place your four hoppers and your chest there to collect the iron later.

Surround the 3x5 field with walls so that the golem spawns inside. At the corner with the chest, raise the wall to a height of 3 blocks. On the other two sides, a height of 1 block is sufficient so you can always watch the Iron Golems spawn.

Collecting Iron

Now you need the water and lava buckets, as well as the signs. The lava is needed to kill the Iron Golem. First, place the signs above the corner with the hoppers so that the lava is held in place. Our image should help you with this.

Place the water in the opposite corner so that the flow pushes the golem directly into the lava.

Finishing Touches

The farm is essentially complete, but you need to ensure that the Iron Golem spawns in the designated area. To do this, secure a 19x21 block rectangle around the farm. The best way to do this is by using a shovel to turn dirt or grass into paths, as monsters and Iron Golems cannot spawn on paths. Measure 7x7 from each of the opposite corners, as shown in our image.

After that, you need to wait one night for all the villagers to claim their beds. The next day, a golem should spawn! Approximately 3-5 golems spawn per day, which may not seem like much, but it is more than enough over a longer period.

Improving the Farm for More Iron

This farm alone will produce a considerable amount of iron without you having to do anything. And for most game states, it should be more than sufficient. Additionally, the described farm also works in Peaceful mode, so you don’t have to deal with monsters.

Villagers produce significantly more Iron Golems when they are scared and startled. Other iron farm designs, therefore, use a zombie that the villagers can see and thus create more golems out of fear. The zombie must either be able to hold an item or be named with a name tag. It must stay within the villagers’ sight but not attack them. However, this isn’t necessary unless you need a large amount of iron.

What to Do with the Poppies?

You may have noticed that Iron Golems drop not only iron ingots but also flowers. The golem is inspired by the Japanese anime film “Castle in the Sky,” where the large robot also carries a red flower.

You can either use these as red dye or funnel them into a composter with a hopper, where they are converted into valuable bone meal.

Conclusion

An iron farm has become a staple in every Minecraft world! The best part is that our design also works in Peaceful mode! Sooner or later, you’ll probably have more iron than you actually need. The farm works completely automatically and runs in the background while you do other things. Never want to search for iron again? Build an iron farm on your own server and share the wealth with your friends. Rent your Minecraft server and get started!