Tutorials/Mushroom farming

As of the Beta 1.6 update, mushrooms will slowly multiply to nearby opaque blocks, allowing for the creation of farms. However, the rate at which mushrooms spread is considerably slow; therefore, starting a farm is an ordeal without multiple mushrooms. Because mushrooms will "pop" out of the ground when light level is greater than 12, the farmer must consider carefully the placement of light sources. Mushrooms make this up by being placeable nearly everywhere, and not requiring water, sand or extra space like crops, cacti or saplings.

The main danger in basic mushroom farming is that they must be low-lit indoor rooms, often allowing monsters to spawn in the same area. This can be countered with making the farming area only 1 block high and coating any pathways with Slabs, since mobs cannot spawn on half-blocks. Using Redstone Torches instead of regular ones will also make keeping the light levels tolerable much easier.