Redstone is a fantastic feature in Minecraft, giving players many exciting opportunities to be creative. It works like an electrical network and can be used to automate specific mechanisms. One of these applications is using Redstone to open and close doors. There are many different ways to do this, varying in difficulty. Today, we will look at some simple door openers that you can build in your world without much prior knowledge. This will help you protect or even hide your base or house! This is especially useful on servers with multiple people.
Simple Door with Pressure Plates, Levers, and Buttons
In one of our previous articles (Introduction to Redstone: Understand and Apply the Basics) , we have already discussed the basic mechanisms of Redstone in depth. You can read up on the basics there if you have any questions. You should still have an idea of the possibilities of Redstone, or you might already be familiar with it.
We have already introduced some of the door openers there, but we did not go into detail. Today we will! We will take a closer look at levers, pressure plates, and buttons that work as simple Redstone mechanisms with doors. Keep in mind that you can open a regular wooden door with your hand, but a Redstone door only works with Redstone. This makes your home secure!
Pressure Plate
Pressure plates activate when you (another player or a mob) step on them or when weight from items is placed on them. It is one of the simplest mechanisms for doors since you can just walk over it, and the door opens. The pressure plate can be placed directly next to the door on the ground without Redstone dust, or you can use Redstone to relay the signal. But remember, the door only stays open for a few seconds. Once there is no weight on the plate, the door closes again.
Buttons
A button works similarly, but you must press it, making it a bit less convenient. It can also be placed next to the door without Redstone and relay the signal through the block to the door. You need to be quick, though, as the signal only lasts for 1 to 1.5 seconds after pressing the button. Then the door closes again. However, it is safer than the pressure plate since you can better hide the button, and mobs like Creepers won’t trigger it.
Lever
Levers may seem practical at first, but they are counterproductive because once switched on, the door does not close automatically. Therefore, levers are less suitable for doors unless you want them to remain open. And as long as the signal is on, you can’t do much else. However, you should not give up on levers as they are great for mechanisms you want to control directly.
Hidden Door with Pistons!
These three methods are suitable for beginners, but we want to introduce you to a completely new method! For this, we will look at a Redstone block you might not be familiar with yet. This involves pistons and sticky pistons, which push and pull blocks. This piston is perfect for building a secret door without much knowledge.
First, dig a hole in the ground. This should be 2x3 blocks wide and 2 blocks deep. On the longer side, dig a channel for the Redstone. There should be a block at each end.
You should now fill the floor with Redstone dust. Place a Redstone torch on each of the raised blocks at the end of the channels. These will redirect the signal. Fill the floor with a material of your choice. We used stone. Where the torches are, place a block on top.
Next, bring in the pistons. Craft these from wood, cobblestone, iron, and Redstone dust. For the sticky variant, which we need, you also need a slime ball for each piston. Four pistons are enough, but you can make the door as tall as you want.
First, place Redstone dust on the raised blocks. They should light up. Then set up the pistons in pairs. They should always face you with the wooden part when you place them. Thanks to the torches and the Redstone signal, they will extend immediately.
You can now attach your desired block to the sticky pistons. These will then retract. To activate the mechanism, use pressure plates directly in front of the door on the ground. If you make these from a similar material, they won’t stand out.
You can now cover the entire construction so that it is hardly noticeable. Your wonderful automatic door is ready!
Experiment and Test
Redstone is easy to understand but not always easy to implement. Therefore, we recommend trying out some of your constructions and door mechanisms in a creative world. This helps you find better solutions for problems and get familiar with Redstone.
It’s also not a shame to get inspiration from YouTube. There are countless tutorials to help you build various constructions. However, you will have to deal with more Redstone components. Therefore, we focused on a simple door that anyone can build without much knowledge. But from there, you can explore how you want to design your automatic door. Also, use the previously mentioned levers and buttons to hide the mechanism.
Conclusion
If you want to protect your base, you should install a good door mechanism. Even an iron door can help keep monsters out and make your base more secure. But even better is a door that cannot be seen! This is where Redstone comes into play again, along with pistons, which are perfect for simple constructions. They allow you to move and pull blocks, making entrances disappear. Create complex machines on a server that is exclusively yours. Rent your own Minecraft server and enjoy the game without compromises! You can also test Redstone with other players there … or protect your house from them.
