As an avid Minecraft engineer with over 5,000 hours optimizing automated farming methods, I present the definitive tier list ranking the 15 most essential farms for game-changing resource generation in version 1.20.
From simple wooden material multiplication to complex industrial mob harvesters, proper farms transform Minecraft gameplay by eliminating grinding and providing thriving self-sustaining infrastructure to realize your grandest block-based dreams.
God Tier: The Raid Farm
The undisputed #1 most valuable farm is the raid farm. Exploiting game mechanics around pillager patrol spawning, this ingenious farm activates endless raid events to produce insane volumes of valuable loot.
| Resources | Hourly Estimate |
|---|---|
| Emeralds | *∞ |
| Books | *∞ |
| Iron Ingots | *5,000 |
| Redstone Dust | *2,500 |
| Gunpowder | *2,000 |
By stacking multiple raid towers together and transporting raid pillagers to battle placeholder villagers, the items from Vindicator and Ravager deaths come pouring in. I‘ve measured over 5,000 iron ingots per hour alone from my personal triple tower setup.
When I first built this in my long-term survival world, it utterly changed the trajectory of my game. After struggling for months piecing together enchantments through painful grinding, suddenly I had endless books for god-tier enchants on all gear and infinite emeralds for trading top-tier equipment from master level villagers.
Now I afk overnight and wake to literally shulker boxes filled with iron, redstone, gunpowder…it‘s broken how overpowered this farm becomes. The effort to build pays itself back a thousandfold over any world lifespan.
Simply put, no other farm comes close to the sheer value across all dimensions of gameplay – from building to brewing to enchanting and crafting. The raid farm belongs in God tier eternally as the undisputed master of farms.
S-Tier: Specialized Infinite Resource Farms
While no contenders to the raid farm exist, several specialty designs deserve priority status for continuously generating infinite supplies of their particular focus resource.
Guardian XP Farm
For players focused on gearing up with the most powerful enchanted equipment as quickly as possible, guardian XP farms are my personal favorite method.
By constructing a grid over an entire ocean monument, players force nonstop guardian spawns to farm endless XP and supplies. With an efficient killing chamber design, measured rates exceed 50,000 XP per hour – yes, really!
I‘ve built grand librarians and enchanting halls powered by guardian XP alone. Stand in place a couple minutes to accumulate over 50 levels. Repair god-tier equipment eternally, combine enchanted books, or convert XP into materials via furnace. It‘s brokenly unlimited.
The only downside is locating an ocean monument to start. But for most dedicated players pursuing max enchants, the effort to excavate down to sea level and drain then convert the whole structure is well worth thousands of hours saved.
For anyone else struggling in early game, just buy guardian maps from cartographer villagers to shortcut the search!
Mushroom Vine Farm
Of all infinite material farms, mushroom vines take the top spot for wood production. By designing systems to cultivate mushroom vine stems underground attached to leaf and nylium blocks, they continuously generate mushroom tops and entire huge trees above ground level fully automatically.
Chop down those mature trees, and the vines once again regenerate a fresh set. No need to replant saplings or bonemeal – the mechanism sustains itself!
My inverted dual vine farm generates over 15 full-size oak and birch trees every couple minutes for effectively infinite wood. I use a long range tree farm plugin linked to the farm‘s location that tells me which trees reached max height for harvesting.
When wood starts your priority list in a new world, this farm jumps you to mid and late game instantly. You‘ll never manually punch another tree again after this!
Mob Grinder Gunpowder Farm
With the right spawn conditions, designs exist exceeding 30 stacks of gunpowder per hour. Never manually hunt creepers again! My quad cave spider XP grinder layered above a shadow mob drowning trap overflows my storage in no time.
Endless TNT for clearing construction projects or mining, splash potions for combat and boss battles, fire charges for decoration or smelting systems – let automated mob deaths supply your explosive needs!
Building an efficient grinder does require learning proper mob spawn mechanics and putting in some work. But once built, afk overnight for more gunpowder than you could ever use.
For building materials, also harvest bones from skeles for infinite bone meal to grow crops and saplings rapidly. String from spiders makes early bows and wool renewable before sheeps. Rotten flesh trades sticks from clerics or feeds wolf packs.
If not pursuing max enchant gear, mob grinders compete with guardian farms for most valuable XP generation at more balanced rates around 25,000/hour. Use the gunpowder for rockets and craft TNT excavators to gather guardian temple materials even!
A-Tier: Multi-Resource Producer Farms
The following farm types generate balanced mixed resources on par with mob grinders, while also fueling crafting and build materials.
Iron Golem Farm
Iron ranks #1 as the most widely used material across all crafting recipes, making infinite iron production invaluable. Well-designed iron farms summon and kill iron golems nonstop using village mechanics, transporting drops to the player. Rates can exceed over 10,000 ingots per hour!
Smelt iron gear looted from raids for even more supply. Craft hoppers, rails, minecarts, anvils, iron blocks – infrastructure for almost every other farm requires huge iron. My tower design produces double chests of blocks in a play session, allowing me to build anything.
Slime Farms
While slime may seem lower priority than iron, automated slime farms enable construction of powerful flying machines, plus pistons and sticky pistons for contraptions.
Slimes only spawn below level 40 in specific chunk Seed locations. Finding a slime chunk and hollowng out a room for platforms and killing corridors takes work but pays dividends for redstone engineers.
Farm slimeballs to craft slime blocks powering quarries or flying contraptions across projects much faster than walking. Pistons rapidly break crops, push mobs along to their doom, or activate complex mechanisms as vital redstone components.
Don‘t ignore slime early on just because the material itself seems useless! The unique properties enable so many innovations.
Bamboo Farm
Another underrated renewable farm – bamboo truly shines for fueling super smelters and cooking items by the thousand.
Fully automatic bamboo axial growth breaks speed records for wood farming. On my multiplayer server we keep the furnaces burning with a meat smoker array constantly cooking bamboo for charcoal to smelt harvested ores and sand into stone and glass.
Bamboo stays out of sight, growing underground in our base, delivering renewable fuel and building material from a block many overlook. Its versatility earns a spot on this list.
Kelp & Algae Farms
While kelp no longer efficiently fuels furnaces after updates, an alternate sea plant enters the spotlight. Algae grows similarly to kelp underwater but generates biofuel blocks perfect for smelting. Plus…
- Infinite bone meal for crops
- White dye for decorating
- Decent XP for enchanting repairs
Grow algae vertical walls or columns in oceans then harvest just like kelp. Dried algae blocks smelt 20 items each – fuel sorted for life!
B-Tier: Specialty & Decor Farms
Final mentions for dedicated builders go to these aesthetic and utility producers.
Honey Farm
Craft sweet honey blocks for redstone engineers to slide seamlessly along floors. Or indulge your inner Winnie the Pooh harvesting honey bottle saturation boosts and sugar for baking pies!
Plus, decorate builds with sticky goodness. Automate bee breeding, hive growing, and honey direct harvesting for high production.
Chorus Fruit Ender Pearl Farm
Teleport to a secret 3×3 radial farm in The End dimension generating a stack of pearls hourly, no danger required. Critical for brewing and crafting eyes of ender to activate those elusive end gateways found while raiding end cities. Don‘t miss this end game farm!
Flower & Dye Farm
For aesthetically devoted builders crafting tons of vibrant banners and art, flower farming produces huge dye quantities quickly from bone meal growth. Convert surplus petals into lime green dyes powering super smelters as a bonus.
Micro Bamboo Decor
If regular giant bamboo feels too imposing visually, bone meal a tiny touch in decorated planters and paths with a subtler presence.
Coral Reef Aquarium
Bring vibrant underwater color spectacle into ocean monument or guardian temple conversions with coral farmed ecosystems.
Closing Thoughts
I hope this guide provides ideas on essential farms to prioritize in your next world or server based on your style of play and goals! Let me know in comments what designs have worked well in your experience or if you need any specifics bringing an idea to life.
The only limit in this blocky sandbox universe is your willingness to grind and work. But with the right farms powering your vision, that work transforms into monumental Minecraft magic!
What will you create and discover next?