How to make a sand trap in Minecraft?

If you have been an avid Minecraft player, especially when enjoying the game with your friends, chances are that you've experienced the prank of falling into the cunning trap set by your companions at least once. Among these traps, Sand traps are very clever contraptions that can trap and surprise other players or mobs in the game.

In this article, we will give you a step-by-step guide on building a sand trap in Minecraft and ensuring that your adversaries are caught off guard while keeping your base and valuables secured.

---

What is a sand trap in Minecraft?

A sand trap in Minecraft (Image via Mojang Studios)

There are various sorts of traps in Minecraft, including the pitfall, end portal, landmine, lava, and many more. The sand trap in Minecraft is designed to ensnare players or mobs by causing them to fall into a concentrated pit.

The pit can be either void or have TNT, lava, or anything else that causes instant death to those falling into it. Once the trap is triggered, the sand under the victim's feet falls, thus preventing their escape until they dig their way out.

It has a similar function to that of pitfall traps. The only difference is that you use sand or gravity-affected blocks instead of dirt, making it relatively better at camouflaging in desert biomes.

---

Guide for making a sand trap in Minecraft

Materials needed to build the sand trap (Image via Mojang Studios)

The materials you need to build the sand trap are sticky pistons, redstone dust, sand block, sign boards, redstone piston, stone pressure plates (or any other trigger mechanism), and redstone target blocks.

The first task is to dig a hole (Image via Mojang Studios)

You may dig out a 5x5 area for your trap or make it bigger, about a 50x50 area, if you want chaos and a good laugh watching your friends fall into oblivion. You will have to do a lot of digging vertically downwards and make it deep enough so that the players or mobs die instantly.

Place signs (Image via Mojang Studios)

Place the signs on the layer below one level that is touching the ground. The signs should be placed closest to the triggering mechanism, such as a piston, a button, or a pressure plate, to make it less noticeable. Cover the whole area on that level with the sign boards. You have to follow these steps next to build the redstone mechanism:

Dig out the area starting from this block for the redstone mechanism (Image via Mojang Studios)

• Dig out four blocks in the direction facing the signs above the trap on the ground level.

Redstone Mechanism layout (Image via Mojang Studios)

• Make this area two blocks deep and place a line of redstone dust on the farthest side of the signs. Dig out one block to the side and place a redstone torch down there.

Place the redstone torch here (Image via Mojang Studios)

• Now place the target blocks in front of the line of redstone dust.
• Place the sticky pistons with their back facing the target blocks so that when the pistons extend, the block in front of them gets attached to it and ultimately brings back all those blocks when the piston compresses.

Triggering Mechanism (Image via Mojang Studios)

• Dig out a block by leaving a single block space after the line of redstone dust on the ground. Place the pressure plate, button, or any other triggering mechanism here.

Cover up your trap (Image via Mojang Studios)

• Finally, cover up the area of the mechanism with sand or any other blocks that suit the environment. Use sand or any other gravity block to cover up the trap.

Now your sand trap is ready, and if you press the button, the area of the trap falls to the ground below. You may reset this trap easily by collecting all the sand blocks and signs that fell down and placing them again in the same place. You can also put some TNT just like they appear in the desert temples.