How to Make an Observer in Minecraft

Whether it’s the real world or the world of Minecraft, one thing that’s consistent is change. And unlike the real world, you can use some of the changes in Minecraft for your benefit. Quite literally! And if you know how to make an observer in Minecraft, then you can easily use it to automate a variety of Minecraft farms in-game. And that’s just the surface of the observer’s extraordinary abilities. With that, let’s learn everything you need about an Observer in Minecraft!

What is an Observer in Minecraft

An observer is a Redstone component that sends out Redstone signals when it detects state changes in front of it. It has a face-like shape on one side that detects changes in the fluid or block placed right in front of it. And on the opposite end, the Observer has a Redstone beeper that emits Redstone signals.

Once placed, the observer can be mined only with a pickaxe. But unfortunately, it doesn’t spawn naturally in the world of Minecraft, so mining will rarely be an issue. Instead, you have to manually craft it or spawn it with Minecraft commands to obtain the observer.

Items Required to Make an Observer

You need the following items to make an observer in Minecraft:

• 6 Cobblestone blocks
• 2 Redstone dust pieces
• 1 Nether quartz

You can easily collect cobblestone blocks by breaking them with a pickaxe. They are quite common in Minecraft’s overworld, and you can find them on the surface as well as in underground caves (lush caves or dripstone cave seeds can be a good start).

Similarly, Redstone dust can be collected by breaking the Redstone ore with an iron pickaxe. We already have a detailed guide that you can use to find Redstone in Minecraft. Lastly, the Nether quartz only spawns as an ore in the Nether dimension. So, you need to find and mine it with the help of a pickaxe. Alternatively, you can also trade with an expert-level stone mason villager (one of the many Minecraft villager jobs) to obtain Nether quartz in exchange for an emerald. Finally, you’ll need a crafting table in Minecraft to put the materials together and make the item.

How to Craft an Observer in Minecraft

Once you have all the ingredients, it’s easy to craft an observer in Minecraft. Follow the given steps and the item will be ready:

• First, fill the topmost and bottommost row of the crafting area with cobblestone blocks.
• Then, place Nether quartz in the rightmost cell of the middle row.
• Finally, put Redstone dust in the empty cells of the middle row in the crafting area.
• And that’s it. You have successfully crafted an observer.

Now, you can drag and drop this Observer in your inventory for later use.

How Does an Observer Work in Minecraft

An observer follows these mechanics in Minecraft:

• The observer only focuses on the block in front of it and sends out a Redstone signal if its state changes.
• Every Redstone signal sent by the observer is a strong one and goes on for 2 ticks.
• As a unique mechanic, the observers behave as an opaque as well as a transparent block. So, Minecraft mobs can spawn on top of them, but at the same time, they don’t block chests from opening.
• If you want to make a flying machine in Minecraft, observers are a must-have as they can detect blocks being moved by a piston.

How to Use an Observer in Minecraft

You can use an observer in Minecraft for the following purposes:

• If a Minecraft farm has moving elements, an Observer can easily be used to automate it.
• When two observers face each other, they send pulse-like signals. Using this mechanic, you can create one of the fastest Redstone clocks using observers.

How to Make a Crop Harvester Using Observer

One of the simplest uses of the observer is to automate crop harvesting. When an observer detects the growth in a crop, it can automatically break it with the help of a piston. Follow these steps to make a simple automatic sugarcane harvester in Minecraft:

• First, place sugar cane on the dirt block, next to a block of water.

• Then, place a piston next to the sugar cane with a block right behind the piston.
• This piston should be facing the sugar cane and has to be at least two blocks higher than it. You will need to use temporary blocks to place the piston at a two-block height.

• Then, place an observer right on top of the piston, and it should be facing the sugar cane. After that, put Redstone dust on top of the block right behind the piston.

• Now, whenever the sugar cane grows up to the height of the observer, it will send a signal to the piston.
• The piston will move and break the sugar cane and restart its growth cycle. If you have a hopper in place, it can even collect your broken sugar canes.

Differences in Observers on Java and Bedrock

The triggers by which a block updates are different in Minecraft Java and Bedrock editions. So, each edition’s observer can detect stuff that the other might not. Let’s go over some of the most significant differences.

Trigger	Bedrock Observer	Java Observer
Changes in a cauldron	No	Detected
Breaking of a portal	No	Detected
Creation of golems or the Wither	No	Detected
Sticky piston pushing/pulling blocks	No	Detected
Shulker box opening or closing	No	Detected
Beacon activating or deactivating	Detected	No
Farmland changing its hydration state	No	Detected
Melting or freezing of ice	No	Detected
Lava turning into another block	No	Detected
Edit on the text of a sign	Detected	No
Working on a Noteblock	No	Detected
Activation of a dragon head	Detected	No
Changes in a frame	Detected	No
Ringing of a bell	Detected	No

With the crafting recipe of an observer, you have now unlocked one of the most powerful blocks in-game. Using the observer, you can bring some of the best Minecraft house ideas to life. So, how are you planning to use an observer in Minecraft? Tell us in the comments below!