Best XP Farms in Minecraft — Top 10 Designs Ranked

XP (experience points) are essential for enchanting, anvil repairs, and Mending gear. While you can earn XP from mining ores and killing mobs naturally, dedicated XP farms generate hundreds of levels per hour with minimal effort. This guide ranks the 10 best XP farms by efficiency, build difficulty, and overall value.

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XP Farm Rankings

Rank	Farm Type	XP/Hour	Build Difficulty	Stage
1	Enderman Farm (End)	★★★★★	Moderate	Late game
2	Guardian Farm	★★★★★	Very Hard	Late game
3	Mob Spawner Farm	★★★★☆	Easy	Early game
4	Blaze Farm	★★★★☆	Moderate	Mid game
5	Gold/Piglin Farm	★★★★☆	Hard	Mid game
6	Sculk XP Farm	★★★☆☆	Easy	Mid game
7	Classic Mob Tower	★★★☆☆	Moderate	Early game
8	Raid Farm	★★★★★	Very Hard	Late game
9	AFK Fish Farm	★★☆☆☆	Easy	Early game
10	Furnace XP Bank	★★☆☆☆	Very Easy	Any

1. Mob Spawner Farm (Best Early Game)

The easiest and most accessible XP farm. Find a Zombie or Skeleton spawner in a dungeon, convert it into a farm, and you have unlimited XP from early game onward.

How to Build

1. Find a mob spawner — Zombie and Skeleton spawners are found in dungeons (small cobblestone rooms underground)
2. Light up the room temporarily with torches so mobs stop spawning while you build
3. Dig a channel — Create water channels that funnel mobs from the spawner room toward a central drop
4. Build a 22-block drop — Mobs falling 22 blocks land with half a heart, killable with one punch
5. Collection point — Stand at the bottom, punch mobs one by one for XP (or use a trident killer for AFK)
6. Remove torches from the spawner room to activate spawning

2. Enderman Farm (Best Overall)

The single best XP farm in the game. Built on the End's outer islands, it produces insane XP rates — faster than any other design.

How to Build

1. Reach the outer End islands via End Gateway or bridging
2. Build a platform at Y=1 — a large flat surface 40+ blocks from any other block
3. Place an Endermite in a minecart at the center (Endermen aggro to Endermites)
4. Build a collection funnel — the platform funnels Endermen toward the Endermite, where they fall 43 blocks
5. At the bottom — one-hit kill them for XP. The spawn rate is enormous since Endermen are the only mob in the End

Output: 30+ levels per minute. You can go from level 0 to level 30 in under 60 seconds.

3. Guardian Farm

One of the highest XP rates possible, but requires draining an entire ocean monument area. See our Ocean Monument Guide for details.

key Points

• Requires draining ~58×58 blocks of ocean around a monument
• Guardians spawn in the cleared area and are funneled to a kill chamber
• Also produces massive amounts of Prismarine, Sea Lanterns, and fish
• Build time: 4-8 hours of real-time work

4. Blaze Farm

Built around a Blaze spawner in a Nether Fortress. Produces XP plus Blaze Rods (essential for brewing and Eyes of Ender).

How to Build

1. Find a Blaze spawner in a Nether Fortress
2. Enclose the spawner in a room with non-flammable blocks (cobblestone, stone brick)
3. Use pistons or water to push Blazes out (Blazes take damage from water in Java Edition)
4. Drop them 5+ blocks to weaken, then one-hit kill for XP

5. Gold/Piglin Farm

Built in the Nether roof or large Nether biome. Zombie Piglins spawn in Nether Wastes and drop gold nuggets + XP.

• Provoke one Zombie Piglin to aggro all nearby ones
• Funnel with water or trident killer for AFK
• Also produces gold for golden apples and powered rails
• Combine with bartering for additional loot

6. Sculk XP Farm

A creative use of Sculk Catalysts from the Deep Dark. Sculk blocks store XP when a mob dies nearby, and release it when broken.

• Place a Sculk Catalyst near a mob farm
• Mobs die → Sculk Catalyst spreads Sculk blocks → blocks absorb XP
• Mine Sculk blocks with a hoe to release stored XP
• Effectively a rechargeable XP battery

7. Classic Mob Tower

A large dark room (usually 8+ layers) that spawns hostile mobs naturally. No spawner needed — works anywhere.

• Build at Y=200+ (or high in the sky) to maximize spawn rates
• Stack multiple 3-block-high dark chambers with trapdoors to force mob falls
• All mob types spawn: Zombies, Skeletons, Spiders, Creepers
• Less efficient than spawner farms but doesn't require finding a spawner

8. Raid Farm

Extremely powerful but complex. Forces infinite Pillager raids on a specially designed village for massive XP and loot.

• Produces XP, emeralds, saddles, totems of undying, and enchanted crossbows
• Requires a Pillager Outpost and a constructed village within raid range
• Complex redstone trigger mechanism

9. AFK Fish Farm

Simple AFK design — hold right-click and earn XP from fishing. Also catches enchantment books, name tags, and saddles.

10. Furnace XP Bank

The simplest "farm" — smelt items in a furnace, and when you extract, all stored XP is released at once.

• Auto-smelt cactus, kelp, or cobblestone with a hopper system
• XP accumulates in the furnace until you manually extract items
• No mob spawning, no combat — purely passive
• Low XP rate, but zero effort and zero risk

Frequently Asked Questions