Mob Trap Rules & Tips - Create the Best Traps

A collection of rules and tips which are useful when creating Minecraft mob traps.

Mob spawn rules

Mobs cannot spawn on water, half blocks or blocks of glass. Avoid these materials for creating traps.

They also won't spawn when the light level is above 14 i.e. a torch has a light level of 7 so mobs won't spawn near them.

Mobs cannot spawn in a 24 square radius to the player

There is a limit of 200 mobs being spawned at any time.

Find mob spawners

The key to any good trap is locating the mob spawners and then starting mob farming near by. These spawner blocks look like blue cages and have mini versions of the mobs spinning inside. They are typically located in dungeon areas of the map with low light levels. If you build your trap around these spawn areas you'll create a renewable mob trap that keeps churning out resources.

Change difficulty level

Start the game on the Easy or Peaceful difficulty level, create your trap and then switch on Hard to make more aggressive mobs spawn.

Use water effectively

Water is the core ingredient for almost every mob trap because of its ability to funnel dropped items to a collection point. Collect water from oceans to create Springs (unlimited water resources) which have strong currents and are easy to place side by side.

Mobs come in different sizes

There are mobs which are 1 block wide by 2 blocks high and also mobs which are 2 blocks wide by 1 block high. e.g. Spiders don't die in conventional water traps because they're not tall enough. Design your trap to account for all types of mobs.