XP farms have been a part of Minecraft since the time when people started decorating their bases. But no one has ever seen the two of these activities happening at the same time. Fortunately, the latest Minecraft 1.19 update changes that with the introduction of the Sculk Catalyst block. It is one of the many sculk blocks that spawn in the deep dark caves biome. And if you know how to find, get, and use Sculk Catalyst, you can create a perfect XP farm that can decorate your base with dark features while functioning. Sounds game-breaking, right? Let’s test out this block’s usefulness!
Sculk Catalyst Block in Minecraft: Explained (2022)
We have covered different methods to get Sculk Catalyst before going over its usage. But you can use the table below to directly skip ahead in this guide.
What is a Sculk Catalyst in Minecraft
The Sculk Catalyst is a unique activity block in Minecraft that generates sculk features around itself if a mob dies and drops experience orbs near it. Given enough time and deaths, this block can create the whole deep dark biome without the ancient city anywhere in the game.
Sculk Catalyst belongs to the family of sculk blocks that are a gift of the Minecraft 1.19 The Wild update. The other sculk blocks added to the game are – Sculk Shrieker, Sculk Veins, Sculk Sensor, and Sculk (block).
Where Does Sculk Catalyst Spawn
The Sculk Catalyst naturally generates only within the Deep Dark biome. This is one of the new biomes of the Minecraft 1.19 update. You don’t even have to travel to the ancient city to find it as the catalyst generates way before that too.
How to Obtain Sculk Catalyst in Minecraft
The Sculk Catalyst is relatively easy to find. But you can’t directly mine and pick it up. If you break the Sculk Catalyst with any random tool, it just drops experience orbs and vanishes. So, you must use a hoe with the silk touch enchantment to mine Sculk Catalyst inside the Deep Dark biome.
The Sculk Catalyst block will drop itself with the silk touch instead of giving out experience orbs. You can use our Minecraft enchantments guide to learn how to apply silk touch to your tools easily. But do keep in mind that you can’t use the silk touch enchantment with fortune enchantment as both of them are not compatible.
How to Get Sculk Catalyst from Warden
Enchantments, at times, can be hard to come across in Minecraft. So, there is another way to get the Sculk Catalyst block, but with many risks involved. You can try to fight and defeat the Warden in Minecraft because when it dies, it drops experience orbs and a block of Sculk Catalyst. Then, you only have to pick it up and start using the Sculk Catalyst at your desired location.
How Does Sculk Catalyst Work
For the Sculk Catalyst to work, it has to meet the following conditions:
- The mob that dies near it must drop experience orbs. If the dying mob doesn’t drop any experience orbs, the catalyst just ignores its death.
- This block only detects the mobs that die within an 8-block radius of the catalyst.
- The cause of the death is irrelevant to the catalyst. So the mob can die because of a player, another mob, or natural causes. If the mob drops experience, you will get sculk features at that location.
- As for the amount of sculk features, the higher the experience dropped, the larger will be the coverage area for the sculk.
- A Sculk Catalyst can even generate a sculk sensor or a sculk shrieker if the dying mob is within 4 blocks of range.
How to Use Sculk Catalyst in Minecraft
Once you have extracted a Sculk Catalyst block from the Deep Dark biome, follow the steps below to use it in the 1.19 update:
1. First, find an open space to place the Sculk Catalyst. Remember that it replaces nearby blocks to generate Sculk features. So, placing it inside your Minecraft house might not be the best idea.
2. After placing the block, you have to bring the mob you want to kill close to it. If you are unable to find enough mobs to kill, you can try to make a goat farm in Minecraft for your supply.
3. Finally, to activate the Sculk Catalyst, you need to kill a mob within an 8-block radius of the block. You can also use the best sword enchantments to secure the kill before the mob runs away too far.
Find and Use Sculk Catalyst in Minecraft
Now, whether you want to decorate your base with a scary theme or collect a lot of experience points, the Sculk Catalyst is here to help. It is one of the most unique blocks that has been added to the game. You just have to make sure to use it right. But if that isn’t enough, the best Minecraft mods can take your experience a step further. Though, you have to install Forge in Minecraft before using any of them. However, if you are not into using mods, you can instead try to combine the Sculk Catalyst with a mob XP farm. It can help you take your game to the next level without working too hard. Having said that, do you want to fight the Warden to get Sculk Catalyst? Tell us in the comments!
