How to launch Minecraft mob into the air using minecart

Minecraft snapshot 24w33a added a huge swath of large-scale changes. One of the biggest areas to be touched up was the game's minecarts. They've been buffed in several fun ways. Now, it's easier to trap mobs in them; they maintain vertical momentum when sent off of ramps; and there's a new game rule to increase their maximum speed.

These factors all combine to make it quite easy to create minecart mob cannons that can launch hostile entities like creepers or skeletons to considerable distances. Everything you need to know about launching mobs with these new minecarts can be found detailed below.

---

How to launch Minecraft mobs into the air using a minecart

Minecart Improvements (Image via Mojang)

To launch Minecraft mobs into the air, you will first need to create a new world with the Minecart Improvement experimental feature enabled. You can enable this feature by navigating to the Experiments section in the More tab while creating a new world. Once you are in a world with the Minecart Improvement experiment enabled, follow these steps:

1) Gather materials

The materials for a simple minecart mob launcher (Image via Mojang)

The first thing you'll need to do to send some mobs flying with the new and improved minecarts is to gather the needed materials. You'll need at least 16 Minecraft powered rails, though you can technically add as many of these as you want. Additionally, you need a few regular rails, a lever, enough redstone blocks to power all the rails, a minecart, and a mob.

---

2) Build a powered rail circle

A circle of powered rails (Image via Mojang)

Once you've gathered all the materials, start by constructing a powered rail circle. Place a block down, and add a redstone block to each cardinal direction. Place powered rails on top of these redstone blocks, regular blocks, and rails to connect them in a circle.

---

3) Build a ramp

A powered rail ramp (Image via Mojang)

Now that you've built the circle that will give the minecart speed, you need to construct a giant ramp near it. Build a giant ramp of powered rails starting from one of the regular rail corners of the circle. Add in occasional Minecraft redstone blocks to power this giant-powered rail ramp.

---

4) Connect them and add a lever

The switch should connect the ramp to the inner powered rail circle (Image via Mojang)

You'll next want to add a lever on the same block as the corner you started building out from. Give this lever a test flip. If placed in the right spot, flipping the switch should also change the direction of the rail, connecting the inner speed circle to the outer launch ramp.

---

5) Increase the maximum speed of minecarts

The command being used to speed up minecarts (Image via Mojang)

Unfortunately, Mojang hasn't increased the base speed of minecarts yet. You'll need to use a Minecraft command to do so now. Open the chat window and then type:

• /gamerule minecartMaxSpeed number

You can replace "number" with essentially any positive integer, with larger numbers allowing minecarts to move faster.

---

6) Trap a mob

A creeper trapped in a minecart (Image via Mojang)

The final thing you'll need to do before the cannon is ready to fire is trap a mob in a minecart. Thankfully, this is one thing that Mojang has made much easier in Minecraft snapshot 24w33a.

The easiest way to do this is to place down the minecart and stand behind it. Most hostile mobs will run directly towards you, trapping themselves in the minecart. It might also be easier to set up a temporary extra length of rail to help trap a mob in a newly improved Minecraft minecart, though this is by no means necessary.

---

7) Send it flying

A mob being sent up the powered rail ramp (Image via Mojang)

Once you've successfully trapped a mob in a rail system connected to the powered rail speed circle you created earlier, it's time to launch. Push the mob into the inner circle and wait for a few moments as the minecart builds up a huge amount of speed.

When you're satisfied with the momentum that's built up, flip the lever. This will connect the ramp to the inner circle and send the Minecraft mob flying on the next cycle.