Minecraft: Build an Automatic Turtle Farm – Scutes for Helmets and Potions

Turtles are a wonderful addition to your Minecraft world. Just like in the real world, they are fascinating creatures that are primarily found on beaches. On land, they are slow, but in the water, they move very quickly! You can breed them and let them live their peaceful lives, but they also drop important items that might be useful to you. And it’s these mechanics we want to take a closer look at today.

Minecraft Turtles: Everything You Need to Know

Unlike other mobs, turtles have different mechanics that we want to explain to you first. Once you understand these, you can implement them for an automatic farm.

Finding Turtles in Minecraft: The Best Biomes and Tips

You can find turtles in beach biomes. Excluded from this are cold biomes and rocky beaches because turtles prefer sandy environments. They aren’t that hard to find if you’re on the lookout for them. They usually cluster in larger groups on the beach and rarely leave a certain radius around it. If you come across a group of turtles, some of them will also be little baby turtles.

To get your own little turtles, you can feed two adults with seagrass and breed them like all other animals. Simply use shears underwater to collect enough seagrass. Unlike regular mobs, however, turtles need to lay and hatch eggs. It’s important that they stay at their home beach because only there will they lay and hatch their eggs. You can also harvest the eggs with “Silk Touch” and transport them. Where the turtle is born (or spawns when the world loads) is its home.

Note: Turtle eggs are very fragile, so don’t jump on them, or they will break. All undead mobs, especially zombies, specifically seek out the eggs to destroy them.

What Items Do Turtles Drop in Minecraft?

Another very interesting mechanic is the growth of turtles. Just like in real life, they have to adapt to their shell and shed it when it gets too small. This also works in Minecraft! When a baby turtle grows, it drops a turtle scute. And this is the item we need!

With five scutes, you can craft the unique turtle shell item. This serves as a replacement for your helmet and is perfect for underwater work. On one hand, the shell gives you the “Water Breathing” effect, allowing you to hold your breath 10 seconds longer. Additionally, it greatly improves underwater visibility. Normal enchantments and armor trims work as usual.

With the turtle shell helmet, you can also brew a cool potion called the “Potion of the Turtle Master.” This potion makes you 15% slower but reduces damage by a full 20%. The stronger the potion, the more extreme the effects.

Other drops when a turtle dies include seagrass and bowls. But these can be neglected because you can find seagrass much faster in the ocean.

How to Build an Automatic Turtle Farm in Minecraft: Step-by-Step

There are various designs for an automatic turtle farm, but we’ll look at one that works flawlessly! It’s crucial that your turtles want to breed at your farm location; otherwise, it won’t work. As previously mentioned, turtles only lay their eggs where their home is. So harvest the eggs with “Silk Touch” and bring them to your farm’s location. You can then breed the turtles with seagrass until you have 6-8 animals.

Building Materials

• Building blocks
• Sand
• Hopper + chest
• Fence
• Turtles (+ eggs)
• Chains
• Light source

Building a Minecraft Turtle Farm: Detailed Instructions

First, find a suitable beach for your farm. This should also be the turtles’ home, so it doesn’t hurt to hatch and breed them there first. Then dig a hole with dimensions of 9x9 and a depth of 3 blocks.

In the center of the hole, create a small shaft that’s also 3 blocks deep. Then dig a small tunnel with stairs outside the farm. At the bottom of the hole in the center, place the hopper and chest. If sand falls on your head, don’t worry, just replace the blocks with your building blocks.

Next, we build the bottom layer of the farm. Place a 4x4 field with one block gap between building blocks. When the baby turtles grow, they will suffocate here. In each corner, place a water bucket, which will direct the items to the hopper in the center.

One layer above, add a temporary layer of building blocks. Then lay stone blocks in a checkerboard pattern above them. In the open spaces, place chains, all standing vertically. These suggest a path to the small turtles, but they still fall down due to their size. We need to remove the blocks under the chains so that these holes are created.

The farm itself is now essentially complete! Surround it with blocks of your choice; we decided on fences. You should also place a light source above the farm to prevent monsters from spawning and breaking the eggs or attacking the babies.

Finally, you need to fill your farm with turtles. Use the ones you’ve bred nearby. Help either with self-harvested eggs or seagrass to get the farm going. It may take a while since the eggs hatch mainly at night, but soon you should have a supply of seagrass and scutes!

Conclusion: Why a Turtle Farm in Minecraft is Indispensable

Turtles are truly fascinating creatures that bring many unique mechanics to Minecraft. They lay eggs that need to be hatched. And when turtles grow, they drop valuable items! Use these to craft a helmet that allows you to breathe and see better underwater. Secure valuable turtle scutes for maximum protection on your own server. Rent your Minecraft server and build a sustainable turtle farm! Our featured farm is easy to construct, and if you understand the mechanics behind the creatures, it should be no problem for you.