If you have a head for blowing things up in Minecraft, then this is the article for you! Today, we'll talk in-depth about explosives, more specifically, gunpowder. It's the base ingredient to make anything that goes boom in the game. Keep on reading until the end to learn how to farm gunpowder and get more than you'll ever need!
How to get Gunpowder in Minecraft?
Gunpowder is an item that is used for explosion-related recipes. It's the grey pinecone-shaped drop that you get from killing Creepers. However, our green and hot-tempered friends aren't the only way to obtain gunpowder in Minecraft.
Other mobs in the game like Witches or Ghasts also drop gunpowder upon death. You can also use weapons with Looting enchantment to increase the number of gunpowder you get from sending these monsters to the grave.
Different locations in the Overworld in Minecraft also have a chance to spawn gunpowder. The easiest way to farm gunpowder in Survival Mode is looting around in Villages, Treasure Chests, or in Dungeons.
What can you use Gunpowder for?
As we have mentioned previously, gunpowder is present in all explosion-related recipes. You can use it to craft Fire Charge, Firework Rocket (essential to use the Elytra), Firework Star, and TNT. If you're thinking about blowing your friend's base to the sky or just wreaking some havoc over the villagers, try TNT!
Gunpowder is also important to Brewing. You can combine gunpowder with any other potion in the game to make a Splash Potion. It's the same potion, but can be thrown.
Easiest way to farm Gunpowder in Minecraft
Now, let's talk about the most efficient way to obtain gunpowder without doing anything in Minecraft. Obviously, the most viable option is to kill mobs and acquire this item as its drops. And considering the lists of mobs above, Creepers are your number one choice.
You will need to build a contraption to spawn and slaughter Creepers for their loot. That means building a mob grinder! However, there isn't a way to guarantee that Minecraft will spawn only Creepers. A mob grinder will also spawn other Overworld monsters like spiders, zombies, and Ender Man (if you build it 3-block high).
There are a lot of mob grinder designs, but all function in the same basic mechanics. Mobs spawn in dark chambers, water forces them down a tube, where they will fall down and take fall damage.
You can either build the tube 22-block high to leave the mobs with just a fraction of the health. Come in and finish them off with a Looting III sword for the most loot possible. Or, you can build the tube taller than 22 blocks and send the mobs directly to their death, for lesser loot, of course. Collect your rewards in the chest and enjoy the best way to farm gunpowder without lifting a finger!
However, there are cases where the mob grinders malfunction. When that happens, you can check for the cause and solution in our full article: Four Reasons Why Your Mob Grinder Isn't Working In Minecraft