The Minecraft 1.19 update is here, and with that, we have plenty of new game mechanics to explore. Most of these mechanics are connected to the arrival of various types of sculk blocks in the game. Some of these blocks can help you in Redstone mechanics, while all others can be used for aesthetic purposes. In this guide, we will use a type of sculk block to make one of the most effective XP farms in Minecraft yet. And the best part is that it’s mostly automatic. With that, there’s a lot of ground for us to cover. So, let’s quickly get into it and learn how to make a sculk farm in Minecraft.
Make a Sculk XP Farm in Minecraft (2022)
We will first cover the sculk mechanics followed by the preparations to make the farm. But if you are in creative mode, use the table below to directly skip to the process for how to create the sculk farm.
What Is a Sculk Catalyst and How Does It Simplify XP Farms?
Sculk catalyst is one of the most unique types of operational blocks added to the game with the Minecraft 1.19 update. It is also the primary element we need to make our XP farm functional. It works in a really simple way. If any mob dies within 8 blocks of the sculk catalyst and drops experience, the catalyst spreads sculk features around that spot.
While spreading the sculk features, the catalyst ends up generating other types of sculk blocks, including regular sculk, sculk sensor, and sculk vein. But, what is the benefit of sculk features generating around the catalyst? Let’s find out:
Get XP from Sculk Blocks
The best part about sculk blocks in Minecraft is that they drop XP or experience orbs when mined. This applies to the sculk veins as well. Irrespective of the tool you use, you are sure to get XP whenever you break a block from the sculk family. So yeah, killing any kind of mob around a sculk catalyst means you will see sculk features generate all around, which on breaking will award you XP quickly and with ease.
When compared to killing mobs, breeding, and other experience-yielding activity, mining sculk blocks is the easiest and the most efficient way to collect XP in Minecraft right now. No other XP farm comes close.
How to Get a Sculk Catalyst
Minecraft only offers us two ways to obtain a sculk catalyst in the game. One of them is easy and efficient. Another one is simply not worth the effort. But in any case, here are the two methods to get a sculk catalyst in Minecraft:
- The sculk catalyst can be easily found in the Deep Dark biome. They generate at a higher rate in the Ancient city in Minecraft 1.19. You have to use a hoe with the silk touch enchantment to pick it up. Our guide to Minecraft enchantments can help you get silk touch in no time.
- If you are feeling adventurous, you can fight and kill the Warden in Minecraft. On dying, the Warden drops one sculk catalyst along with 5XP. Because the Warden has more health than the game’s boss mobs, this fight just isn’t worth your time or effort.
How Does a Sculk Farm Work
As you might have already guessed, the sculk farm’s main focus is collecting XP by generating mineable sculk blocks. But for that, a lot of mobs have to die near the sculk catalyst. So, what you are looking at is an upgraded version of the mob farm in Minecraft.
Here, we will spawn a variety of hostile mobs in a close rooftop chamber just like a regular farm. Then, flowing water will take the mobs to an open hall on the chamber’s floor, making them fall to their death immediately. As soon as the hostile mobs die, the sculk catalyst will activate and generate sculk features.
Then, all that’s left for you to do is mine the new sculk blocks and collect XP. Do keep in mind that you can’t collect XP if your tool has silk touch enchantment. So, make sure you have enough copies of the tool or materials to make it.
Requirements to Make a Minecraft Sculk Farm
To make a sculk farm in Minecraft 1.19 or later, you require the following items:
- A Sculk Catalyst
- An Open Area (at least 9*9)
- 1600 building blocks (25 stacks)
- 2 Water buckets
- 64 trapdoors (1 Stack)
- A Hoe (any)
Other than the sculk catalyst, everything else you need to make a sculk farm is easily available. As for the building blocks, we suggest you use cobblestone as it’s readily available and reliable.
Make Sculk XP Farm in Minecraft 1.19
We have divided the farm-making process into several sections to make it easier to follow. Each section here covers a specific part of the XP farm. You can prepare one and then move on to the other to avoid getting overwhelmed.
Create Base for Farm
Follow the steps below to make a base for your sculk farm:
1. First, go to an open area that’s at least 9 blocks in radius. Then, place a block in the middle of that area. This is the spot where you have to place the sculk catalyst later on.
2. Then, put a block exactly 8 blocks away from the center block in all four horizontal directions. These four blocks mark the range within which the sculk features can generate.
3. If you want to collect items from the dying mobs, you can also place hoppers with chests around the middle block. But with XP being our prime motive with sculk farms, item collection is a completely optional step.
Mob Spawning Area
Follow these steps to make a natural mob spawner for your sculk farm in Minecraft:
1. To continue, build a pillar on top of each of the four blocks that marks the sculk range of our farm. These pillars should be at least 25 blocks high, giving enough fall damage to the falling mobs.
2. Then, join the four pillars with the help of building blocks and create a 3-blocks high wall on top of the pillars.
3. Finally, create a floor for the chamber while connecting the pillars with each other. Don’t forget to leave a 2 x 2 hole in the middle for the mob death trap.
4. Then, create 2-blocks high platforms in all four corners of the chamber. But make sure to leave a bridge-like area, which is 2-blocks in width open between each platform. Check out the diagram below for reference.
5. Then, place a trapdoor on each upper block of the bridge and place water on the wall-side edge of each bridge. The water will flow towards the opening in the floor, and every mob that enters the stream will flow to its death.
Spawn Mobs for XP Farm
In Minecraft, mobs spawn in the low-light area and at night. With that logic in mind, you can spawn hostile mobs even during the day if you give them a dark open area. For our mob farm, that area is the chamber at the top of the pillars. You just need to put a roof on top of the chamber to start spawning hostile mobs at all times.
How to Use Sculk Farm to Collect XP
With everything in place, you only have to wait a few minutes before the mobs start spawning and falling to their death. Each time a mob falls and dies, the sculk catalyst will get activated and start spreading sculk features. You just have to wait for some time until a large enough area is covered by the sculk features.
Then, you need to use a hoe to mine all the new sculk blocks. Make sure to do it without the silk touch enchantment so that the blocks you mine can disappear to drop experience orbs. With just one hour of effort on this farm, you could get all the experience points you will ever need in your survival world.
Renew Sculk Farm
One thing that separates the sculk farm from other in-game farms is its ability to replace blocks. Instead of spawning new blocks, the sculk catalyst replaces existing blocks around itself to develop sculk features. Even though this range expands to well over one chunk, it can still get limited after a few runs of the XP collection.
So, you should place other common building blocks to fill the gap made when you break the sculk blocks. Doing so will make it easier for you to collect XP and keep the farm running. Though interestingly, if the sculk catalyst has limited blocks around it, some sculk features might merge and get applied on the same block leading to an accumulation of 1000 experience orbs per block.
Make Minecraft Sculk Farm More Effective
Follow these tips to make your sculk farm in Minecraft 1.19 more efficient:
- If possible, you should make multiple sculk farms over a large area. Doing so will give you enough time to reset one farm while another spreads its sculk features.
- To save time while collecting experience orbs, you can use some of the best Minecraft enchantments on your hoe to make it more effective.
- If you want to collect specific items while the hostile mobs are killed, you should use an Allay in Minecraft to target and pick those items.
- The spread of sculk features is directly proportional to the experience collected by the sculk catalyst. So, if you can use mobs from Nether portals, you can get better results from your farm. Alternatively, a mob spawner can also yield similar results.
Make and Use a Sculk Farm in Minecraft
Whether you want to collect experience orbs to use with enchanted books or a ton of risk-free sculk blocks, the sculk farm in Minecraft can help you out. Because it is still new to the game, you can use it on the best Minecraft servers to beat your friends in progression much more easily. Though, it would be nice if you share how to make sculk farm in Minecraft with them too. In case you are wondering about getting the initial sculk catalyst, our best Minecraft ancient city seeds can land you in a deep dark biome right after spawning. After that, it’s up to you to avoid the Warden and collect a sculk catalyst. With that said, what other farms should we create for Minecraft 1.19? Do tell us in the comments below!
