Tutorials/Traps

This is a list of traps for creatures or players. Add your own, if you have created and tested a different one. Traps are a subset of Mechanisms.

Mined Block Traps
This type of trap uses a player mining a block (usually cutting down a tree, but that isn't too attractive) to set off the trap (usually TNT, but could use other variants such as a lava trap, etc.). A "NOT" gate is used so that when the player destroys a block with a redstone torch on it, the second phase of redstone is turned on, causing the TNT to be set off.

An advantage to this trap is that it is undetectable, and you don't have to "lure" the players into stepping on a pressure plate, or pulling a lever. It is also easy to build, since you can wire multiple blocks all over the map, rather than having to re-build a hallway or building every time it gets set off.

It is obviously possible to use a block other than a tree, but it may look out of place. Choose location carefully, e.g. in the desert use a cactus instead of a tree (be careful when doing that as the sand may fall, if you need to cover a pit up try a dirt block with sand on it or sandstone), in a luxury city you can use diamond...

It could work for this type of trap to be reused without going to repair it that often (on a server, when a protected block is mined it disappears, then returns), but a large supply of TNT/lava would be needed.

A video example of a Mined Block trap (in this case a tree) can be seen below.

CO-OP Traps
A very good trap if you have friends is put a pressure plate and wire it to a note block or dispenser and when the note block goes off (or dispenser dispenses) your friend will pour lava on the intruders from above.(this trap is very hard because you have to find a person who is willing to stand there all day with a bucket) Or this trap can be executed by the friend digging a hole under the thief and slash him with a sword (the advantages of this trap is it is very hastily made and can be used on new bases while you build a better trap.)

Lavafall

This trap will allow you to burn the player or mob chasing you. (Note: This trap is usually undesirable due to the fact that their items will burn as well) The player or mob will follow you into a 1x2 corridor 6 blocks long, (The maximum flow length of water or lava is 8 blocks) then they will activate a STONE pressure pad so if they do see the plate, they cannot test it with a miniblock by pressing Q. This trap will utilize the 'controlling water or lava with redstone' technique. See redstone (wire) for details on how to do this.

Items you will need: 1-10 redstone dust

A space where a 1x6 corridor can be dug out

A pickaxe

A shovel

A bucket of lava

2 iron doors

2 buttons or levers

1. Hollow out a 1x6 corridor

2. Dig a spiral staircase so that you are 2 blocks a bove the coridor

3. Place redstone going up the stairs

4. Dig 3 blocks to the left

5. Place the pressure pad at the end of the redstone in the corridor

6. Place your lava at the side closest to the redstone wiring

7. Dig out the blocks where the lava starts

8. Put the iron doors at each end

9. Exit the hallway before completing the trap

10. Place buttons on the OUTSIDE of each door

''It does not matter if you step on the pad due to lava's slow movement

Undetectable Traps
There are 2 ways to do this.
 * Arrow
 * You can utilize an arrow glitch in which you run by a corner, pick up the arrow through a wall, and have redstone from the pressure pad leading to an inverter. When the arrow is picked up, the redstone will activate and activate whatever device it is connected to. People chasing behind you will have no idea. Unfortunately arrows will despawn after a few minutes so only use this when you know someone will chase you.

Another way is to use a dropped item. (Drop with Q by default) The disadvantage is that you will need to replace it every 5 minutes. A way to fix this is to have a dispenser filled with items that dispenses every 5 minutes. The advantage is that you do not have to run by it for it to activate, anyone can activate it. The item will be taken through the corner and activate the trap.
 * Dispenser

Seen here

Wired Traps
Wired traps are traps using Redstone circuits to damage/kill/trap the victim. Note that many TNT traps have the disadvantage of destroying the area around them, making the player have to rebuild it every time. Using water or obsidian will nullify the damage


 * Arrow Dispenser Trap
 * Probably one of the simplest and most obvious traps, but also one of the weakest. Simply point a Dispenser at a pressure plate, fill the dispenser with arrows, and wire the pressure plate to the dispenser. Anything that steps on the pressure plate gets hit with an arrow. Unfortunately, this trap only does minimal damage, and isn't likely to kill anything unless you place the pressure plate in such a way that the enemy would be hit into an alcove each time they step on it, thus trapping them until they are killed. In addition, the dispenser always needs to have a supply of arrows in order for the trap to function. By adding a Pulse Generator you can make a more effective arrow dispenser trap that doesn't require constant activating.


 * Advanced Arrow Dispenser
 * Created by attaching an Arrow Dispenser to a Clock Generator. The constantly toggling output of the Clock Generator will allow the Dispenser to fire continuously until it is out of arrows.  The 'fire-rate' of the trap can be increased by attaching the Dispenser to multiple redstone torches in the clock or using a more rapid clock design.  By connecting one of the redstone torches to a lever it is possible to turn the Trap on and off.


 * Another way of doing this for a much higher fire rate (pretty much maximum) is to wire two separate inputs to each dispenser (like one above and to the left and the other below). One input should be wired to a pulse generator, the other to something like a pressure plate, switch, or button. When the switch is on, the dispenser should rapid fire. When it is off, nothing should fire at all, even though the pulse generator is still on.

Video Tutorial


 * The Trap can be automated by using a pressure plate to manipulate a water current to sever the connection between the Clock and the On/Off lever.


 * Arrow shooting door
 * A normal arrow dispenser trap but with a door in front.
 * This has 2 dangerous effects:
 * The player/mob doesn't see the dispenser and is trying to open the door by standing on the pressure plate.
 * If it's one block wide and 2 blocks high the player/mob cannot pass by without being shot.


 * Hidden Arrow Dispenser
 * This is very similar to the Arrow Dispenser trap, but harder to detect. Dig a hole in the wall two blocks deep, place a Dispenser filled with arrows in the hole, cover it up, and wire it to a pressure plate, or even better, a switch also wired to an iron door. When a player or mob steps on the pressure plate, an arrow shoots out of the wall and pegs them in the side.. This works excellently against thieving players invading your base, and is even better if at the opposite side of the dispenser, there is a deep pit, or one filled with lava, and there is just a one block wide walkway. Then invite your enemies over.
 * NOTE: This will only work if the dispenser faces west or south, north being the direction the clouds travel in.


 * Lava Ceiling Trap
 * A trap in which a lava floods a corridor, usually to kill intruders, or thieves. Redstone wire is connected to a pressure plate, door, or lever, and is used to activate the lava to fall.


 * Snowball pitfall trap
 * Load the dispenser with snowballs or eggs, whichever you find easier to get, and aim the dispenser at a connected pressure plate by a hole. If something walks across the plate, the dispenser shoots an egg or snowball to knock the intruder into the pit, where they can be dealt with however you like.  Eggs and snowballs work equally well, though eggs are more amusing due to the chickens that crowd the pit. However, it is considerably more difficult to get that many eggs.


 * Simple arrow Dispenser trap
 * Not the hardest of traps to make, but is made by putting arrow dispenser at the bottom of a hole and having a lever activate a clock generator which will fire the arrows against mobs that have fallen into the hole. The trap is not practical because you would need to add arrows into the dispenser every time you run out, which means you would need to constantly "maintain" the trap.


 * Wired TNT
 * Wired TNT is a basic example of a wired trap. It is created by placing a TNT block below the floor or in the wall and wiring it to a pressure plate. Often the TNT is spaced from the plate so when the victim activates the explosive the TNT has time to cook before the victim is right above/beside it. A very common form of this trap is a TNT landmine with bait to lure thieves in. Iron Ore or Gold Ore are good things to use because the TNT will be done cooking by the time they break the ore off the wall.


 * One Way Door
 * A one way door is made by placing a pressure plate in front of a iron door to a closed room with no way to open the door from the inside. Anything can enter, but once the door shuts the mob will remain trapped. This technique is useful for capturing mobs for resource harvesting.


 * Piston Trap

This trap requires Piston mod and Vertical Redstone mod.


 * Inescapable Door Room
 * This trap consists of four doors surrounding a pressure plate, so that the doors are open naturally and closed when the pressure plate is activated. Place the doors with the doorknob towards the pressure plate to achieve this. Anything that then steps on the pressure plate will be trapped. It is however possible for mobs to escape by jumping up and down, so to make this trap effective it is important to include a roof. This trap can be expanded to cover a large area by making a ring of doors surrounding a ring of pressure plates, any mob that attempts to leave the enclosed area will have a door slam in their face. Note that this trap does not work on other players unless iron doors are used.
 * To make it easier to kill dangerous mobs such as creepers, place a water block over the pressure plate. This will be suspended, drowning the mob inside and making getting the drops much easier.


 * Roof TNT Trap
 * A roof TNT trap can be created by putting a pressure plate below a TNT (in the ceiling) then wiring (with Redstone) the pressure plate to the TNT so when someone or something triggers the pressure plate, the TNT will fall in front of them and explode. Note that this trap works best on mobs because they are not alarmed at the sight of TNT falling right in front of them. Placing TNT in such a way that the player is surrounded will not help because players can walk through activated TNT because activated TNT is a non-repelling entity.


 * Roof TNT Trap 2.0


 * Similar to the above trap, but this is non-destructive and traps intruders, theoretically always killing intruders, relatively cheaply. Best for player traps. It can be done with as little as two TNT blocks, some stone, and a bowl. Pressure plates are placed on the floor in a hallway with a height of two blocks. The plates are wired around outside the hallway to TNT embedded in the roof, one block from each end of the pressure plates. Place a sand/gravel on top of each TNT block. Lastly, create a pool of water on top of the hallway deep enough to cover the sand blocks. When an intruder steps on a pressure plate in the cluster, the TNT falls down and the sand blocks off the the exits. The player does not have time mine to the exit, and the water prevents the detonated TNT from damaging surrounding blocks. Loot can then be gathered.


 * One Way Door to Roof TNT Trap
 * The One Way Door to Roof TNT Trap can be made by using the One Way Door technique entering into a 1x2 hallway of any length, putting a pressure plate two blocks after the door and then making a Roof TNT Trap. With this mechanism completed, everyone who goes through the door will have to step onto the pressure plate, causing the TNT to fall and kill them. You can even wire a new steel door at the end of the hallway, that starts open, so the victim thinks they see a way out, but that closes after you step on the TNT pressure plate, making this trap a powerful and inescapable one.
 * This trap can also be wired off to a single pressure plate (outside the door) with some intelligent wiring.


 * Drowning room
 * This is a tactic for drowning thieves. Combine the one way door discussed earlier with another trap later.  Make a small room preferably 5x5x2. Place a chest in the middle of the room. Then put 2 blocks of sand above the chest with water behind it.  As soon as they break the sand to enter the chest the water will pour out. If you want, you could have an airlock instead of the one-way door. Have torches supporting sand in the hallway to the trap as soon as the water comes out it will flood the hallway and burn out the torches, causing the sand to fall trapping the player even more.


 * Decoy TNT House
 * Made by building the frame of a house of any size out of TNT, minus roof, and with a three space wide opening (this is extremely expensive, and you can not make any mistakes), then covering it with stone or another material, except for two blocks connecting the TNT at the entrance. Make the floor out of solid stone and wire to the two holes. Connect a stone pressure plate to the Redstone, and have an empty chest in the decoy house to attract thieves. When the player walks in they step on the pressure plate, triggering the TNT lined in the walls. This trap is more for effect than utility, since it's so expensive and cannot be salvaged.


 * Wired TNT Pitfall
 * Create a deep 3x3 pit (deep enough so mobs will die upon hitting the bottom). Two blocks down from the surface, place a layer of stone or cobblestone. On top of that, do the same, but make sure the center block is TNT. Finally, place a layer of any block type on top (except TNT, of course). An advantage to stone/cobblestone is that it takes less blocks, while an advantage to dirt is that upon the TNT's explosion, it creates a small ledge around the pit you can stand on to help rebuilding. After your top layer is done, put a pressure plate on the block above the TNT. When a mob - or player - walks on the plate, the TNT will go off, damaging them and making them fall to their death in the pit below.
 * You might want to try creating a hallway or corridor of some sort that links the bottom of the pit to your base so that you can pick up any items dropped by mobs afterward, along with the blocks left behind.


 * Wired Self-Destruct
 * Place blocks of TNT, with 1-2 blocks in-between them, behind your walls. Place the switch in a secret location outside of your base, that only you know. This is to prevent you from killing yourself, and also to prevent other people for destroying your base.


 * Wired Water/lava Pitfalls
 * Using redstone circuits to control the flow of water/lava, you can make Pitfall by causing the water/lava to run into (preferably) a corridor of torches which hold up sand. This will cause the victim to either drown if water, or burn if lava.


 * Wired Minefield
 * Using redstone and usually a large amount a TNT, you can set off a field of TNT, which can kill multiple mobs, unlike most other traps. This can also be done with a pressure plate, but will be more than necessary to kill a single mob. This can also be done in multiplayer, but it would be wise to bury the TNT so that unsuspecting player(s) will not be able to disarm it, or avoid the field.


 * Exploding Bridge
 * Make a large bridge, at least 25 blocks long, out of stone or cobblestone. Make a platform of Obsidian about 18 blocks away from the start of the bridge, and place six blocks of TNT on it. Create a fake hill, and have the inside hollowed out to place redstone going from two switches at the beginning of the bridge, to the TNT, the first TNT will break the bridge, and the rest will kill them, the Obsidian will resist the explosion, so you don't have to mine more. You may also want to make something to attract thieves, "Monster Trap" "Property of [name] DO NOT TOUCH!" It will of course be funnier if you are able to watch them die.


 * False Door Switch
 * Put an iron door in front of your base, and put a switch or button 2 squares away from the door. Above the door put a hole in the base that will hold lava and can be blocked by an iron door. Put blocks around the second door so that you cant see it but lava could still flow through. Attach the switch/button to the second door using redstone wire. Now, when a player wants to get into your base, they will try the switch/button which will instead drop lava on them.

Other explosive traps

 * Explosive Arrow
 * This trap consists of a TNT Box covered in arrows, then set off to pepper the surrounding landscape with deadly projectiles. Video example. Also can be combined with the Redstone Dust "wires" for remote detonation.


 * Land mines
 * These simple traps are useful (but expensive) for killing mobs and players.
 * Randomly dig holes that are three blocks deep and place a block of TNT in the top of the hole. Place a stone pressure plate on top of the TNT, or a wooden one if you're cheap or expect people to throw blocks around (wood plates are set off by thrown items). When an unfortunate player or mob stands on the TNT, they will be trapped in the hole and killed by the TNT under their feet.


 * Video tutorial


 * A simpler type of landmine trap is made by digging 1 block out, placing a TNT in the hole, then placing a pressure plate on top of it, so when a mob walks above of it, they might get blown up. This is less effective since the TNT has a five-second delay before it detonates.
 * This can also be accomplished by digging a hole four blocks deep, and putting one block of TNT in the hole, one space away from the top (with two empty spaces beneath it, if your hole is four blocks deep), placing a sand block on top of the TNT (to hide the TNT), and a pressure plate on top of the sand. If it's stepped on, the TNT will activate and fall. The sand will fall too, as it was being held up by the TNT, and the player will fall with the sand, and be trapped in a hole with active TNT.
 * Note: The pressure plate may be destroyed in the explosion.
 * Another way to do this, but without creating a massive hole, is to place a single block of water at the bottom of a pit. You can dig the pit however deep you want, put a single TNT block one block down from the top of the pit, and place a pressure plate on the TNT block. When a player or mob lands on the pressure plate, it will activate the TNT and drop both the player and TNT into the water at the bottom. The water prevents the TNT from blowing up a hole, but it still should damage the mob or player enough to kill it. Another way is to dig a hole 2 blocks deep, with a one block side extension into the wall. Place water in this extension, and at the very top of the hole, put TNT, covered by a pressure plate. When a mob steps on it, they fall down into the hole and cannot jump out. Because of the water, when the TNT explodes, it will do no landscape damage, yet it will still kill.
 * Another similar method which uses the same technique but has a larger area and still uses the same amount of water is to dig one block down, then fill this block with water. Then a block should be dug out in all directions from this one water block. The new 3 x 3 area should then be dug down two blocks all around. TNT is then placed on the outer blocks, leaving the middle water block untouched. Pressure plates are then placed on top of the TNT. This causes the mobs to fall down with the TNT, meaning no landscape damage is done and the mob's drops are often unharmed.

 A video tutorial and demonstration


 * Another method uses eight pressure plates arranged around the edge of a 3x3 area. All these pressure plates are connected to a piece of dynamite in the centre of the trap, which has a second piece of dynamite above it. If a mob steps on any of the pressure plates around the dynamite, they will be killed by the explosion, or perhaps by the backup. Note that this trap will leave a crater and destroy some materials.


 * Animal Trap
 * This trap lures animals into it, and then kills them. You need 1-5 torches, 13 redstone (at least), 16 stone pressure plates (at least), and 1 TNT.


 * Place your pressure plates in a 5x5 square (at least), and then outline the inside with your redstone. Then, make a direct line from one of the redstone to the TNT with redstone, make sure you're not going diagonal. Then, place 1 torch on each corner of the TNT then if you got 5 torches, place 2 blocks above the TNT and put a torch on that block. Then delete the block under it and place your last redstone on the TNT. Then make a run for it.


 * Useful for killing those pesky cows and pigs.


 * Inescapable path(For other players)
 * You will need
 * 1 block of Soul Sand
 * 2 stone Pressure Plate
 * 4 blocks of TNT
 * 20 blocks of Cobblestone
 * Something to lure the other player through


 * Method:
 * Using the Cobblestone, make a shape like this:


 * Skip a space adjacent to the wide side and copy the shape.
 * You should now be able to walk in between the structure.
 * Next, while looking between the two structures, dig out the three ground blocks that are diagonally touching the 6 bottom Cobblestone blocks.
 * Looking between the two structures


 * Take two cobblestone blocks, and place them in the top and bottom holes made in the last step, so there is only one hole left in the middle.
 * Now take your last two Cobblestone blocks and put them in between the pillars that are three blocks high above the ground(Not the part in the middle.).
 * Looking through the structure it should look like this(including the bottom layer):
 * Looking through the structure it should look like this(including the bottom layer):


 * Take your Soul Sand and place it in the middle hole that is left inside the structure:
 * Looking through(including the very bottom layer)


 * Now place your TNT blocks like this:
 * Looking through(including the bottom layer)
 * Looking through(including the bottom layer)


 * The TNT goes on each side of the cobblestone that is in the ground.
 * Place your Pressure Plates on the blocks of Cobblestone that are in the ground so regardless of which way the other player goes through they will set off the TNT blocks.
 * Finally, place Lure(s) in a way so the victim will go over the soul sand. This can be achieved by placing gems going through the structure, or one item of value over the block of Soul Sand.
 * Finally, place Lure(s) in a way so the victim will go over the soul sand. This can be achieved by placing gems going through the structure, or one item of value over the block of Soul Sand.
 * Finally, place Lure(s) in a way so the victim will go over the soul sand. This can be achieved by placing gems going through the structure, or one item of value over the block of Soul Sand.


 * Explanation:
 * From the Soul Sand page:
 * "When placed on the ground in front of a two-block high ceiling, soul sand prevents players from going through it from the front, making it useful for making one-way passages or invisible barriers. This affects mobs too as they have to jump to get out of the slowing effects of the block and thus unable to get through the door."
 * The player will get stuck in the Soul Sand when they go over it. However, this trap does not work if the roof is complete hence the reason you use 20 Cobblestone blocks instead of 21.

Pitfall
This trap has several variants:


 * You make a two blocks deep pit and fill it with water then place web on the bottom.

This will make so that the player falls and drowns without being able to get up why? Both web and water slows down and its impossible to jump in web.. Drown slowly or be there forever. This doesn't work on Pigs, Spiders and Chickens, since they are only one block high and can breathe at the bottom they will only be stuck there forever. Two block high entities will be stuck with their lower half in the web, and their upper half in the water and will therefore drown.
 * Simple pit
 * The walls are two blocks or more tall to prevent mobs from escaping. To trap spiders, the hole must be at least two spaces wide and three spaces tall (As of Beta 1.2 spiders can climb walls, so now to trap spiders the base of the pitfall must be wider than the top, so they hit a ceiling when they try to climb out).


 * Deep pit
 * Kills victims with falling damage (dangerous to the player).

Hatch Operated Pit

Kills victims with either a long fall, lava, cacti, flaming netherack or just about anything that can cause damage to a player. This trap is operated with a trap door and a pressure plate.When a player or mob walks on the pressure plate the hatch will open and they will plunge down the pit. Simply place a pressure plates all around the trap door so it will open from any side then wait until an unlikely victim falls in. It is preferable to not use lava or fire because the will destroy the loot the victim drops.


 * Lava pit
 * Lava at bottom kills victims quickly at the cost of losing the loot gained from the victim.


 * Fire pit


 * A pit three blocks deep lined at the bottom with Netherrack, which are then ignited with a Flint and Steel. It should be noted that loot will also be lost in the fire. If you only use one source of fire for every 5x5 block area, you increase the chances of the loot not being destroyed. If you make the hole 1 block deep and make a flat area about 2 or 3 blocks in each direction you will get plenty of loot. Usually only animal mobs fall into the hole but it does get you A LOT of pork chops, leather, and feathers. wool will not be obtained.


 * Shallow Pit
 * A 1-block deep at least 3x3 square pit with fences lining the inner edge. Since fences count as one and one half blocks high for mobs, they can easily walk in, but cannot jump out.
 * Doesn't trap spiders, as they can jump two blocks high, as well as climb walls.


 * Player-triggered Sand-hatch pit
 * A sand floor held up by torches falls when a player removes a block or torch.

It can be done completely mechanically. The trap can also be activated by a lever using redstone to control water flow.


 * Pitfall TNT


 * Used in conjunction with a Simple or Deep pit. Place a TNT at the beginning of the hole, then place a pressure plate on top of the TNT. Anything stepping on the plate will trigger the TNT, causing it to fall and destroy the plate, but it also causes whatever stepped on it to fall down the pit with it, trapping it with a lit box of explosives.


 * Pitfall TNT 2.0


 * Like the one above but better hided. This one needs to be at least 3 not 2 blocks deep! do like before but the TNT must be on the 2nd not 1st block in hole. place sand or gravel above and pressure plate above that. This makes so the player/mob falls down.. For best hiding use gravel and a stone pressure plate.


 * The Road of Doom


 * An expensive, but extremely effective trap. Make any length and width of a "gravel road". Below the level gravel, place a level of TNT (so for an example for a 4 block long doom road you need a 1x4x4 area). Wire the TNT with redstone to a button or switch on your side. When another player steps on your road, you can just fire up the TNT and watch as the player hopelessly falls into a pit of TNT. Be sure to wear safety goggles. If you expect an army at your front door, give them a nice long and wide gravel road to march to your base on. Then steal the ground below them.



A mix of pitfall TNT 2.0 and Road of doom.
 * Road of doom ver 2a
 * Not as well hidden as the other one but easier to set off and doesn't need you standing close to it..

You put pressure plates on top of the TNT above. When a player/mob walks on a pressure plate the TNT will fall down and explode the TNT down there. This is a little different because the bridge falls down and explodes AFTER.

''Note: this will NOT activate all TNT, just the one stepped on. See ver 2b for solution ''

Note 2: you MUST make the bridge out of sand or gravel..


 * Road of doom ver 2b
 * As above but there's only one pressure plate that activates all of them.

Select one block, put a pressure plate there and wire on the rest of the blocks. Kinda better version

''Note: It will only be activated by that only block! If player/mob do not run on the only pressure plate''


 * Cactus trap
 * Essentially a normal pitfall trap, which has a floor of cacti, causing any creature (or player) damage as they step on it.
 * Note: Cacti cannot be placed next to other blocks anymore, making this harder to pull off. However, the staggered placement of cacti can create an effective "kill wall" that can be placed around or at strategic points in your base. In roughly 1-2 days the wall will reach maximum height and creatures will no longer be able to jump over the cacti continuously injuring themselves.


 * The Surprise Death
 * This trap is an efficient way to slowly destroy enemy mobs, but only mobs, and possibly not spiders. Create a long hallway, with a height of 3 squares. Fill the walls at the bottom level(at 'foot' level of player) with reeds, and hollow out walls around to accommodate the reeds. As reeds create a 1x1x1 air pocket around themselves, this should guarantee air at the level of the players head. Ladders may be used as well, as they have the same effect without needing water. Now flood the top of the hall (3 squares from ground) with water. You can now build a hole halfway down the hall, approx 3 squares long. To escape the trap simply float with your head in the water, while walking forward. If you can hold your breath for a long enough span(in ratio to the length of your hole) then you can simply drop on the far side. The hole could be extremely deep, filled with Cactus, or containing a Pitfall TNT trap. The possibilities are endless!


 * Pit around your house
 * This trap is essentially a hole. Enemies can only jump as high as you do, so a simple 1x1x2 (1 block area, 2 blocks deep) will capture any enemies who walk over it.

However, spiders can jump over pits as wide as two or three blocks and they can climb out. So be sure to dig out the blocks on the lowest level.
 * By strategically placing these pits at the entrances to your base, you can ensure entire areas are off-limits to monsters while retaining your ability to access them (via small jumping puzzles)


 * Pit around your house 2.0
 * This trap builds on the idea of having a pit around your house by allowing you to also kill the mobs without any danger to yourself.
 * A second pit which only the player has access to is dug 1 block below the pit where the mobs fall. A 1x1 window can then be made where the player can hit the mob's feet and kill them.


 * Pitfall 2.0
 * Dig a pit 3x3x3, then cover it with doors that close into the pit. Wire all the doors to a row of pressure plates, when they trip the pressure plate, the doors open, they walk forward and fall in. You may want to fill the pit with water or lava or add a fire in it. Water is best, it drowns them and you don't lose your drops. You can also connect the pressure plates to a memory switch that keeps a torch lit to tell you if a mob fell in.


 * Pitfall 3.0
 * Dig a deep, wide pit, around 4 blocks of depth and however long you want. Make a base in the middle, with holes around the bottom and an entrance at the top which you must jump for. Using this, you can lure mobs to follow you, jump up to your safe spot, and the mobs will fall below, allowing you to go to the bottom part of your base to kill them with ease.


 * Pit with Suspended Lava
 * Similar to a pit with lava at the bottom, but the lava is suspended by a non flammable block, allowing you to retrieve possible loot. Make a 2x2 pit, at least 4 blocks deep. At least 1 block down from the surface and 2 blocks above the bottom of the pit, mine 4 blocks from the walls of the pit to create holes of 1x2 or 1x1. Put something to support the lava underneath the area you just created, such as a ladder, a door (if the area is two blocks above the bottom of the pit), or even reed. Put lava in the holes. If you want, you can do the same process again one block away from the first pit before you put in the lava. This can create an effective string of traps.


 * Pit with Current Dragging into It
 * It is a useful trick with any pit to dig out a square 5*5*1 blocks at the top (works for a 2*2 pit) and place water springs in the corners, so that anything which lands in the water will be dragged into the pit and fall to its death.


 * Fire pit with Soul Sand.
 * It is quite a simple trap you can use for looting passive and hostile mobs (mostly passive). Dig a 2x2x2 pit and fill the bottom with Netherrack leaving one block of space left. Place a square of Soul Sand around the fire pit. The size of the square depends on how long you want to slow the mobs. The trap works like this: The mobs will walk into the fire pit causing themselves to burn. They then jump out of the pit and start wandering around. The soul sand slows them down so you don't have to wander all over the place to collect the loot.

Controlled TNT Pitfall This trap is very simple. When a mob steps on a pressure plate with TNT under it, they will fall into a 1x1 pit with a block of water at the bottom. The TNT will detonate and kill the mob. However, the surrounding area will no be damaged.

You will need: -A bucket of water -A pickaxe -A shovel -1 TNT -A pressure pad/plate

1. Dig a hole at most 10 blocks deed. You do not want to kill the mob upon hitting the floor. 2. Place the water from the bucket at the bottom of the pit. 3. Find a way to get back up. 4. Place the TNT at the top of the pit. 5. Put the pressure pad/plate on top of the TNT.

Water and Lava traps

 * Drowning
 * This trap uses the removal of a block as a trigger to release sand doors, and open a water pipe, causing a room to become closed off and filled with water. The water can now be placed using buckets.
 * A problem with this trap is that the sand doors have to be either very tall, or very many, in order to prevent the player from simply digging his way out.
 * The use of sand wires instead of water channels would make the doors closing instantaneous.

(slow, escape-able)

Automatic drowning trap


 * Automatic traps are traps that allow the player to turn them on and off with a flick of a switch. Drowning is a popular method for :this type of trap. Mobs sink where there is cobblestone but rise where there is glass. Therefore they get stuck inbetween and drown leaving :the player to collect all the loot. Video example.


 * Retrieval Traps trap.jpg
 * Create a current by using a bucket that drags the mobs down into a water filled hole or some such, with blocks above their heads so they can't resurface. The mobs drown in this 'prison' and their loot sinks to the floor, where it can flow through a hole in the end wall and into your house/dwelling. You get all of the loot, with none of the effort of getting it!


 * Cacti Retrieval Trap
 * Similar to the above drowning retrieval trap, but where the waterfall/cascade terminates at one or more cacti, killing the target and letting the loot flow through a gap at the bottom.


 * Sunlight death chamber
 * A sunlight death chamber is simply a water current that deposits mobs in a room with a glass ceiling. Go to the trap after its daytime to collect your treasure. (note: this trap only works on zombies & skeletons and if not constructed right, may put out any fire on mobs.)


 * Water Suction Traps
 * Use a bucket to remove a block under the spot in a lake or ocean you want mobs to be stuck (if they swim too close)
 * Note: Not very effective (only confirmed to work with skeleton, sheep, pigs and cows)


 * Improved Water Suction Trap
 * This can be done in any body of water that is at least 4x4x4. First, build a wall around it, one block high. This will let mobs in, but not out.  Then, place at least 3 blocks in a row, in the top level of the water, then remove them.  This will create an area that mobs will be pulled in to. Finally, place blocks above the suction area, keeping them from surfacing.  For best results, consider lighting it, to encourage animals to spawn.
 * Here is a side view of it:


 * Water Under the Bridge
 * This trap was an accident but has proved to be somewhat effective. By creating a bridge directly on top of water 2 blocks high, many animals killed themselves. Creepers later on tried to chase me from the water and blew up underneath the bridge (slabs are incredibly tough blocks) and ended up creating water suction to underneath the bridge where creatures now regularly meet a watery end. (Buckets can also be used to create the suction. But like I said, this was an accidental trap.) Any enemies that try to attack and are in the water will be sucked under now. Players can escape but it takes a couple of seconds due to the current.


 * water dragging trap
 * dig a somewhat short, 2-block deep, two block wide trench. place a block of water and one way doors on one end of this trench (metal doors with a pressure plates on the entering side). surround it on all but one side with a one block high wall of anything but sand or gravel. on the end opposite the water, make it so you can place cacti, and place them. any nonhuman mob walking into this trap will be trapped and die because of the cactus. here is a rough aerial diagram:
 * d=dirt, c=cactus, s=water, <=flowing water, l=door ,o=pressure plate, a=air

adddddddd dc<<<<<lo dc<<<<<lo adddddddd


 * Water Whirlpool Trap (Water Tower) waterTower2.png
 * This trap is used as a water barrier to keep the mob from swimming into an area. This is more effective than the water suction trap, but takes many more resources (at least four TNT) and requires that the floor of the body of water be easily accessible. However, the trap is extremely effective and rather large, sucking in a 6x6 area of water.
 * Dive down to the bottom of the pool of water. Build up a hollow tower of out of a weak material, ideally sand. The basic template is a square hole, at least 2x2. The air gap will be this size.
 * x = sand O = empty
 * O X X O
 * X O O X
 * X O O X
 * O X X O


 * Make the top flush with the surface, then empty the tower of water using the bucket. Set four TNT blocks as low as possible,
 * T = TNT X = sand O = empty waterTower3.png
 * O X X O
 * X T T X
 * X T T X
 * O X X O
 * The TNT does not have to be on the bottom. The result will be a 2x2 tower of air going from the surface to the bottom with waterfalls on all sides.


 * Lava Retrieval Traps
 * Normally the use of lava in a trap, despite its indisputable effectiveness at killing, results in the loss of all items dropped. However, with some cleverness, this can be circumvented, producing an exceptionally fast-acting trap which allows you to recover all items.  Build a two or more wide instance of the following side view:

LLLLXXX WWWWWWWW HXXXXXX XXXXXXXXWWWWWWWW XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
 * X=stone, L=lava, W=water, H=ladder


 * Note that lava runs out after three tiles, resulting in the final tile of lava being suspended in midair by the ladder.
 * Mobs falling in the top (fed there by a system of streams, for example) will be forced by the water current into the chest-high lava blade, which is suspended in midair by the ladder. This will rapidly kill them, but as there is only air and water beneath the single lava tile, the items spawned from their corpse will remain undamaged, and be swept to safety at the far right of the system.  This will even work effectively on spiders, thanks to their tendency to jump repeatedly in water—although you may find chickens have a tendency to slip through.
 * For best results, combine with a final perpendicular-flow water current on the far right to deliver all items to a single tile, on which a wooden pressure plate may be placed and attached to redstone torches to indicate the availability of items.


 * Boat Lava Trap


 * A simple trap. You take a boat and ride the slide, but then you end up in a lava pit.


 * Emergency Lock Down Trap
 * An emergency lock down trap uses sand, lava, an iron door, and some kind of redstone lock system. You should have something like this when you're done:

#########  #LLLLLLL# #sLLLLLs# #tsLLLst# # tsLst # # tst  # |      |


 * '#' = solid blocks
 * t = torch
 * s = sand block
 * = door
 * L = lava
 * Place the iron door in the middle of a a 1x2x9 tunnel. Connect the iron door a redstone lock system. Dig above the door until the area above the hall is a hollow 7x5 area. Place sand on top of the door, then place torches on the side of the sand, then place sand on top of the torch. Do this until the sand touches the wall. Put lava in the empty space in the sand. The only way to get through would be to unlock the redstone lock system. If someone destroyed the door, the sand would fall on them, and the lava would fall on them. An alternative design would be to hollow out five more block above the sand and fill the entire thing with sand. This will suffocate the person instead of burning them to death, but will also decrease their health at a slower rate. As a safe guard, put lava sources behind the walls.

Lava wall Anti-griefer trap

This is simple and hilarious. You make a three-block wall. Outside walls are stone,but the inside is a wall of LAVA! You will need a ton of lava buckets, but it's well worth your time. It's the ultimate anti-griefer/thief trap! They'll attempt to mine into your house,hum-dee-dum, and all of a sudden they are roasted alive by sudden lava!

Minecart traps
Minecart traps are based on the principle that mobs both good and evil jump into minecarts passing by.  An example of a Minecart trap


 * Minecart bumping trap
 * This trap consist of a looping track powered by boosters and containing a low and slow section where any passengers will bump their head until they die.


 * Minecart drowning trap
 * Similar to the Minecart bumping trap, this method uses water to drown mobs. Note that minecarts will continue to travel through water and small holes regardless.


 * Minecart lava trap


 * This is a fast acting trap in which minecarts are ultimately destroyed by lava. Players who find themselves in this situation often have little or no time to react.

Other traps
Find a tree four or more blocks high. Remove the wood from the tree as far as you can hit or until you reach the top. Insert TNT in the top spot, then replace the wood underneath it. When a player tries to harvest the tree by standing under it, facing up, and holding the mouse button, when the last wood is destroyed the TNT will be set off by the subsequent hit, fall, and kill or damage the player.
 * Tree of Surprise trap


 * Burning log trap
 * This trap consists only of a single log block that has been set on fire. It will attract cows, sheep, chickens,and pigs to it, and they will jump onto the log and be killed via their being caught on fire. The dropped items will be available, except for sheep, which will not give a drop. It must be made clear that this trap is only of middling effectiveness, but is an easy way to get leather, pork, and feathers. Effectiveness may be increased when placed near a powerful light source (ex: lava surrounded by glass) as more mobs will spawn by it. Be sure to place the light source where mobs would be able to spawn. Keep in mind that no mobs will spawn within 24 blocks of the player. Interestingly enough, pigs can turn kamikaze when encountering this trap and have been known to set other pigs on fire. The player seems to be immune to this though.(Now only works with Netherrack)


 * Burning Netherrack/Cactus trap hellstone catai trap.png and Cacti.]]
 * A variant of the aforementioned trap. Mobs will be lit on fire, then hit the cactus and usually jump back, leaving the drops safe, and an effective barrier, especially against spiders. This requires a cactus farm, as it requires lots and lots of it to be effective.


 * Mob Tower trap
 * Although lengthy and very difficult to build, the payoff is fantastic. Construct a huge tower, which height depends on how much time you have on your hands, how many materials you have, and how many mob drops you want. The contraption drags mobs into a grinder and drops the loot into your base.


 * Cactus Wall trap
 * This trap is simple enough, the only difficulty being that you need a hefty amount of Cacti, an optimal choice would be to use Cactus Farming. It does work somewhat well as a trap and defense mechanism, killing most creatures, as the Cactus will hurt most mobs attempting to pass through, be they lured or independent. See the video as an example:

Cactus Moat: how to make- CWCWC CWCWC CWCWC SSSSS

C=Cactus S=Sand W=Water Anyone trying to walk across on the cacti will lose health, and might be thrown into the water, which will cause certain death, because they will be injured constantly and not be able to get out of the moat. I have tested it and it works great against both mobs and players.
 * Treasure Chest Lava trap
 * create a room of any size that is 3 blocks high in any spot place any non flammable block. Next destroy the ceiling block directly above it. Place a chest on top of the first block and then a block on top of the chest this is the trigger block (still non flammable). Go up on top of the roof of your room and fill the hole there with lava. Because you cannot open a chest that has a block above it players will destroy the block on top of the chest and release the lava burning them and the chest. To reset this trap simply scoop up the lava source block replace the chest and the trigger block and then replace the lava. It is very effective at keeping thieves out of your things in smp.

Example


 * "Toaster" Trap
 * A directionally-dependent trap, the east sides of blocks holding lava or consisting of burning netherrack will cause a half-heart damage to players or mobs on normal difficulty. Likewise, the north-east corner of a single contained block of lava or burning material will do the same. The so-called Toaster Trap uses water to push the desired victims towards the west or south-west to trap them against the burning side but retain any items due to the fact that the fire/lava is covered and doesn't touch them directly.


 * Lava ladder trap
 * This it a simple trap that is great for trapping and killing players on a SMP server.


 * Make a 'dummy house' (A house that is not really a house, it is only to lure people). Put some ladders that go to the second floor of this house and at the top of the ladder, put some lava. The lava will not go down the ladders. Now when people go up the ladder they may climb into the lava, because some players don't look up when climbing. And usually falling off the ladder so their items won't burn. This trap will also work downwards but it is not as effective.


 * Texture pack Hack
 * While not a hack, this involves making the textures for TNT and dispenser blocks the same as a more common block such as Dirt, sending the texture pack to the people you want to use it and convincing them to use it. This allows for creating traps that are effectively hidden in plain sight.


 * Repeater-Based One Way Hallway
 * If a Repeater is in a 2 block high space, like a tunnel, you will crouch automatically as you walk over it. However, you will not crouch if the repeater is blocking the entrance of a tunnel.
 * You make a 1x2 tunnel at least 2 blocks long. At the inside end of it you place a repeater.
 * You can add some wiring to repeater if you want to do something (explode tnt, release sand, turn on emergency lights in your base, etc.) when it is destroyed.
 * Vertical cross-sections:

xxx x x x x

xxx x x x_x


 * x = any solid block
 * _ = repeater


 * Tree trap
 * This is a great trap for trapping players who don't go in a (dummy) house.
 * This trap can simply be made by making any kind of pit (it has to be 1x1) under a tree. When Somebody is going to cut some wood, he will stay under the tree to get all the wood and he will fall in the pit.

This requires a mod, cause is makes use of web. Make a 1x1x5 pit, and then fill it with web, this will deal minimal damage, but will render the victim immobile, incapable of escape, if you want to kills, then put some lava at the bottom.
 * Web trap

This Trap Is slightly Expensive, but you can change the amount of damage done when you set it up every time. In Basics, Now that arrows are not carried by TNT explosions, (Beta 1.3ish up) The Arrows are held on a block, and if that block is destroyed, the arrows fall down, and will still damage people. So the TNT destroys the block holding the arrows and the block holding the TNT to let the arrows fall down on the trapped victim, It is best to use something that will hold people in place for a while, like the door trap, or webs/Soul Sand. The trapped may also suffer explosion damage if the TNT is close enough.
 * Falling Arrows Trap

Key: TNT=TNT [_]=Any block that can easily be destroyed by TNT
 * =Arrows

|||        [_]         TNT [_]

(Leave Space under the trap for people to stay under}

Disarming Traps
When faced with a trap, the safest course of action is often to disarm the trigger by destroying the trap's components.


 * Destroy pressure plates. Pressure plates send the same message whether they are inactive or destroyed. Destroying a pressure plate will seldom trigger a trap.

You can dispatch active redstone wires with the use of two redstone torches: X = torch Y = redstone wire B= Any block Front view: XYX BBB Top view: Layer 1: B B  BBB Layer 2: X X  YYY And then destroy the center redstone: X X  Y Y It will keep the positive input for both ends, but cutting the two ends off, keeping the current on forever.
 * Be wary of active redstone. Inactive redstone is safe, but destroying active redstone dust can trigger traps, as it is usually connected to an inverter.


 * Never alter a clock generator! It may be connected to another one by a logic gate that checks if they tick together. This way the breaking or altering one may trigger a massive TNT charge or other anti-defuse mechanisms.


 * Consider the fact that the creator may be nearby. Often times, the builder of a trap will be near the trap, waiting to collect his victim's possessions.  If you encounter a trap, be ready for a fight.


 * Remove the trap's dangerous components. If you can reach the dangerous bits of a trap, destroy them.  Take the arrows out of a dispenser, and pocket the dispenser while you're at it.  Take any cactus you see as well.  TNT is a bit tricky.  The best way to dispose of it is generally either to dig a hole, trigger it, and let it explode harmlessly at the bottom, or to trigger it underwater and get to a safe distance. Being able to safely detonate TNT with the use of a single bucket of water is just one more reason to always carry one with you.


 * Some texture packs may make traps easier to disarm than others. While you might accidentally walk across a pressure plate and activate a trap while using one texture pack, you may spot it instantly with a different one. It may also help to use an x-ray texture pack to spot parts of the trap that you may not have been able to see before, which should help you better understand how the trap works.


 * If all else fails, try to safely trigger the trap. Either step on the trigger and run, or use redstone to trigger it from a distance.  It is best to have a good understanding of the nature of the trap before attempting to trigger it, as one can easily underestimate its size.

Monster Traps
A monster trap involves 2 main parts, a spawning floor, and a "grinder" which kills the mobs. The purpose of this trap is to collect items that monsters drop, such as gunpowder, arrows, bones, etc. In most monster traps, mobs are spawned on platforms, then fall into channels to be carried to the exit of the spawning floor to be killed. Water is used to keep all the monsters moving in the correct direction. A video example on how to build one is included below.

Video Tutorial