How to farm phantoms in Minecraft

Phantoms hunt Minecraft players who haven't slept in some time, which can be both a blessing and a curse depending on opinions.

For players searching for Phantom Membranes, these hostile mobs are a welcome sight, while others can find them to be a nuisance due to their aggression and relentless pursuit.

After going sleepless for three days or one real-world hour, phantoms begin spawning in dark areas and flying about. However, much like standard hostile mobs such as zombies and skeletons, phantoms can burn up in the sunlight, meaning the best way to combat them is to get some sleep.

However, for those in search of some phantom membranes, Minecraft players have created adequate farms.

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Minecraft: Cobweb method of phantom farming

Phantoms may be a pain in Minecraft, but traps incorporating water or cobwebs can slow them down to be killed. (Image via Mojang)

While Minecraft veterans such as Mr. Tiger have demonstrated the means to create AFK phantom farms with an auto-clicker program and a water-based trap, players can also actively farm phantoms using a structure that catches them mid-flight with cobwebs.

These structures merely require the aforementioned cobwebs and building blocks of nearly any type. Either method of trapping phantoms is effective despite their distinct features.

To build the aforementioned trap for phantoms, Minecraft players will need a substantial amount of cobweb, close to a stack of 64. Because cobwebs can be a tricky find, players are encouraged to seek out an abandoned mineshaft structure. Cobwebs appear more frequently in these areas and can be harvested with shears.

Players who have the Silk Touch enchantment on their tool can also use it to harvest cobweb blocks. In addition to abandoned mineshafts, cobwebs can also spawn in abandoned villages, woodland mansions, strongholds and the basements of igloos.

Once Minecraft players have close to a stack of cobwebs and pertinent building materials (5-6 stacks of building blocks, 1-2 stacks of slabs, a bucket of water or two is optional), they can build the spawner by following the steps below:

1. Create the base platform of the tower. This can be anywhere from 7x7 blocks or higher. Multiples of seven work best here, so players can also create towers of 14x14, etc.
2. At the center of the base platform, build either a bubble or ordinary water elevator. A simple column of ladders will also suffice, but this takes more time to ascend/descend
3. Build up the elevator and as high as desired, there is no real requisite for the tower's height since phantoms hone in on the player.
4. Use slabs to build the top floor of the tower atop the columns and elevator.
5. Build a roof over the top floor. It must remain either somewhat open or made of glass to ensure that phantoms still spawn.
6. Whatever columns are used to hold up the roof should have cobwebs placed between them in the middle row. Ideally, the cobwebs should be "floating" between the columns. This can be achieved by placing a standard building block in between the roof columns, a cobweb on it facing outward and then subsequently removing the building block. If done correctly, the cobweb blocks should be in a nice line floating outward of the tower's face.

Once Minecraft players have completed their farm, all they need to do is AFK (away from keyboard) for some time in the tower. Since phantoms spawn after one real-world hour of players not sleeping, they should appear near the tower.

In an attempt to attack the player, phantoms will swoop down and get caught in the cobwebs, which will slow their movement to a crawl. Once stuck in the cobwebs, players can kill the phantoms with melee attacks.

Their membranes should drop and get stuck in the cobwebs or drop down to the tower's base platform for collection.

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