A conduit is a beacon-like block that provides Conduit Power and attacks hostile mobs underwater. It is one of the most useful tools to have if you want to build an underwater base.

In this article, Gurugamer is going to show you how to make and activate a conduit in Minecraft 1.19.

1. What is a conduit in Minecraft 1.19?

A conduit is a structure that yields various buffs, which is similar to the beacon.

A completed conduit in action
A completed conduit in action - its power affects a huge area.

Upon activation, conduits in Minecraft give the "Conduit Power" effect to all players in contact with rain or water, within a spherical range of 32-96 blocks. This effect restores oxygen, increases mining speed by 16.7% (1/6th) and gives underwater night vision. Conduits also damage any hostile mobs, like guardians, drowned, and elder guardians within a range of 8 blocks of the conduit.

The oxygen restoration effect is the best, as you no longer need to find ways to breathe underwater in Minecraft. If you found multiple Heart of the Sea, you can also use the conduit as a watchtower against hostile mobs.

2. How to build a conduit in Minecraft 1.19

The conduit's core requires a Heart of the Sea and eight Nautilus Shells.

Conduit
Crafting a conduit in Minecraft core requires a fair bit of grinding, especially for the Heart of the Sea.

How to Obtain a Nautilus Shell

There are three different ways you can go about obtaining the Nautilus Shell. They all do require a little bit of time and, depending on your playstyle, some of these might seem more fun than others.

Kill Drowned

Nautilus Shells drop from Drowned. In Java, they have a 3% chance of dropping the shell, and in Bedrock, they have an 8% chance of dropping. As they also drop copper, it might be a good idea to create a Drowned farm using a zombie spawner in Dungeons.

Firstly, spawn-proof the spawner to stop it from creating zombies. Dig a room around it and create a slope with water flowing down, using the water bucket.

Screenshot 1
The general design of a Flooded Dungeon Drowned farm Minecraft

Next, underneath the dungeon, excavate the trap room. The most basic version of the trap consists of a single water block that the zombie falls through from above while drowning in the water. Place a sign on the wall to hold up the bottom of the water block.

Drownedfarm
The killing area allows you to dispatch the mob without much risk.

Use solid blocks to enclose the water on all sides. you might want to use glass to have an easier time differentiating between drowned zombies and non-drowned zombies. Upon kills, the hoppers would automatically store the drops into the chest.

FishingIt is possible to acquire Nautilus Shells by fishing. The chance is rather low and players might want to enchant their fishing rod with the Luck Of The Sea enchantment.

Wandering TraderThe Wandering Trader is a good source of Nautilus Shell, as he can have up to 5 shells in his trade. However, his spawn is random and sometimes he might not have any shell at all.

How to get Heart of the Sea

Heart of the Sea can't be farmed and only spawn in buried treasure chests, which are difficult to find. Players need to acquire Buried Treasure maps first.

Minecraft Buried Treasure Map Seed Java Edition
Buried Treasure map

Trading

Apprentice-level cartographer villagers sell ocean explorer maps for 13 emeralds and a compass.

  • In Java Edition, each cartographer sells its own unique explorer map, pointing to the nearest location. Purchasing another explorer map from the same cartographer results in the same explorer map.
  • In Bedrock Edition, a cartographer sells an explorer map that points to the nearest location, regardless of whether it is explored or previously mapped by another cartographer.

Because of this, players might need to move the cartographer around a bit for it to spawn a new explorer map.

Natural generation

Treasure maps generate in underwater ruins or in shipwrecks. Shipwrecks, while harder to find, are guaranteed to spawn a treasure map. Underwater ruins, on the other hand, have a 41.7 an 43.5 chance to generate, on small and big chests respectively. While the chance is high, it is still not a guaranteed thing.

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Shipwreck in Minecraft

Shipwreck spawns in pretty much all aquatic biomes so players only need to look around for a bit to find them. Alternatively, it is possible to locate shipwrecks using the command /locate shipwreck. Afterward, explore the wreck to find a map chest.

3. How to build and activate the conduit

You need only 16 prismarine blocks to construct a minimal activation frame to create an initial conduit. Sources of prismarine or its crafting materials can be acquired by beating ocean monuments and exploring ocean ruins. Additionally, you can also try your luck with digging.

The frame of a conduit is built out of prismarine blocks in three 5×5 open squares centered on the conduit, one around each axis. A minimum of 16 blocks are required and produce an effective range of 32 blocks.

A complete frame of 42 blocks increases the effective range to 96 blocks. The conduit only begins to attack hostile mobs when it is completed with 42 blocks. The center of the frame needs to be filled with water, with the conduit core in the middle.

conduit activation
A completed conduit is capable of attacking hostile mobs within 8 blocks of the conduit by 4 damage every 2 seconds.

>>> Read more: How To Make And Use Item Frames In Minecraft 1.19