10 best redstone contraptions to build in Minecraft 1.21

Redstone is one of the most interesting systems in Minecraft. Representing a strange form of electricity, many of the game's most iconic builds, such as automated farms, piston doors, and player launchers, are only possible thanks to redstone. In fact, the crafter block's introduction with 1.21, also known as Tricky Trials, has made these farms even better to create in survival mode.

This article lists 10 amazing redstone contraptions to build in 1.21 survival, along with what makes them so great. Many of these are better to build in 1.21 than other updates due to the crafter making processing item outputs much easier.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's opinions.

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10 amazing redstone builds for Minecraft 1.21 survival

1) Automated bartering farms

Crafters are going to revolutionize piglin farms (Image via Mumbo Jumbo/YouTube)

Another mega-farm possible due to Minecraft's revolutionary crafter block is automated bartering farms. These farms combine the zombified piglin farm and piglin bartering farm. The golden nuggets from the zombie piglin farms are processed into ingots and then fed back into the piglin bartering farm for more useful items.

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2) Item sorter

A basic item sorter (Image via Mojang)

Item sorters are large-scale redstone machines that can take items and automatically put them in their proper storage place. Item sorters with more advanced redstone systems can also be used to call particular items out of storage.

1.21 item sorters can be made even better, thanks to crafters. Raw materials can be converted into commonly used items before being stored. For example, players might want to automatically craft hoppers using wood and iron put into storage.

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3) Super smelter

A super smelter processing item (Image via Mojang)

Minecraft super smelters are large, industrial furnaces that automate large quantities of ore being smelted and processed. These redstone contraptions take advantage of hoppers, minecarts, and rails to automatically feed huge furnace chains.

These are amazing 1.21 farms that can be made even better with crafters, as metal items such as minecarts and Minecraft hoppers can be automatically made.

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4) Kelp farm

A small-scale automatic kelp farm (Image via Mojang)

Kelp farms might not seem particularly useful, but they are. They produce dried kelp, which can be used as a food source. They can also be used to make dried kelp blocks, which can smelt more kelp than they take to make. This essentially gives players access to infinite fuel, useful for powering the previously mentioned super smelters.

These farms could also be made better with crafters, as the kelp can be automatically made into blocks and fed back in. And since the kelp is constantly being smelted, these farms also function as an XP bank.

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5) Potion brewing machine

A multi-laned potion brewing machine (Image via RexxStone/YouTube)

Potion brewing machines are small redstone machines that can automatically brew any of Minecraft's best potions, just by placing ingredients into the right chests. While players will still need to remember which ingredients are needed for a particular potion, they can be automatically brewed in large numbers with these redstone contraptions.

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6) Player launchers

Player launchers refer to a range of different redstone builds. Some will use slime or honey blocks, obtainable in large numbers thanks to slime and Minecraft honey farms, and pistons to push players at high speed. Modern player launchers will use wind charges to blast players high into the air. More advanced ones even use TNT duplication to send them flying at truly remarkable distances.

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7) Automatic wool farm

A simple automatic wool farm (Image via Beef and Cheese/YouTube)

Automatic wool farms are interesting redstone contraptions that automatically shear the wool off of a sheep as it regrows. This ensures that the sheep are sheared as much as possible, keeping efficiency high.

This is another redstone build that can be made better with the crafter. The wool can be automatically converted into carpets, which are commonly used to spawnproof Minecraft's best farms and other important builds.

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8) Ender pearl statis chambers

Ender pearl statis chambers are redstone contraptions that temporarily suspend a thrown ender pearl in a bubble column. When activated, a trapdoor in the build closes, breaking the ender pearl and teleporting whoever threw the pearl. This is effective for quickly teleporting between locations, a very useful thing to do in survival.

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9) Armor station

An armor station in a Nether base (Image via Mojang)

Armor stations are pressure plates connected to a series of dispensers that will automatically equip players with armor. These stations are particularly useful in Minecraft Nether bases, as they can automatically place golden armor on players who enter the Nether. This will keep piglins from getting mad at passing players.

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10) Piston doors

A basic two by two piston door opening (Image via Mojang)

Minecraft piston doors refer to any number of survival base doors that use sticky pistons to move blocks around to open and close. There are simple ones that players can make early on in a world, while larger, more complex ones are more suited to a mega base.