Tutorials/Endless circling pool

An endless circling pool, also known as an AFK pool, allows the player or any player-sized mob that gets in the water to circle endlessly around the center. These are commonly used for AFK players in multiplayer to avoid getting kicked off the server.

Usage
Endless circling pools, or AFK pools, are primarily used on multiplayer servers. Most servers prevent players from being idle for too long by kicking them off the server after 15 minutes or more. For that reason, some players make "AFK Pools" to prevent being kicked off by the system.

This is why many players build an endless circling pool when they have to be away from the computer. An endless circling pool automatically moves the player continuously. However, it can malfunction once in a while, causing the player to stop moving. Because of this, make sure to check your computer every 15 minutes (or however long the player is allowed to be idle before they get kicked off on that specific server). Also, note that some servers ban the usage of endless circling pools.

Usage notes
Here are some important things to think about when using an endless circling pool.


 * The sound that the water makes may disturb the player, so if you mind the noise, turn the computer's volume off.
 * Sometimes you may stop moving when in an AFK pool, and must manually move the player to start again. Using a second sign as the central block instead of a solid one can prevent this, and makes the pool more reliable.
 * Using an endless circling pool may be against the rules of your server, particularly if it has an auto rank system to give benefits for playing longer, or is often near the player cap. So, make sure to check the rules before constructing one.
 * Using this pool causes your hunger bar to go down, which can kill you in hard difficulty. Riding a boat in a pool wide enough for it does not deplete hunger. Otherwise, you keep food on hand for when you return, or make an automatic food farm and keep the key pressed.
 * The pool should be encased in some sort of building, because otherwise you could be attacked by monsters and die.
 * Keep in mind that, if you are in a multiplayer server, other players might troll you when you are AFK.

Materials
When you are ready to build an endless circling pool, first make sure you have all of the materials. Here is a list of materials you'll need to build an endless circling pool. All of these are fairly easy to acquire.


 * Building blocks (such as stone bricks)
 * A sign
 * A water bucket
 * A stair, slab , or Pressure Plate (The pressure plate costs the least to craft, and creates a smoother transition from the top of the stream from the bottom, giving a much lower malfunction chance.)

Building
Once you've gathered all the materials to make an endless circling pool, it is time to start building. The following grids show you how to construct an endless circling pool:

Note: Darker blocks are 2 blocks high.
 * Schematic


 * Layered blueprint

Step by step

 * 1) Place a block down. This is for the water to circle around.
 * 2) Place blocks 1 block high around the center block but two blocks away from it, so that there is 1 block of space in between the center block and the outer blocks, including for the corners. However, you don't have to connect the corners for the blocks.
 * 3) Place a slab or stair directly diagonally up-left from the center block.
 * 4) For the block behind the slab/stair you just placed, place another block, so that it is two blocks high. Then, place one block to the right of that part to make 2 blocks in the barrier 2 blocks high.
 * 5) Place a sign on the front side of the block you just placed. The layout of the pool is now done.
 * 6) Put the water on the side of the block to the left of the one that now holds the sign. It should flow all the way around the pool. You are done.

Construction notes

 * You can replace the stone bricks shown in the grids above with any solid block, such as cobblestone or wood planks.
 * The slab can be of any type. It can be any block one automatically steps up onto, that water cannot wash away, meaning that stairs are another option. Place the slab or stair under the water source that is 2 blocks high.
 * The water source block (marked with an S) flows down, and around to under the sign.
 * After the water is flowing correctly, the sign can usually be removed once everything is in place.
 * 1.13 has changed the water flow mechanics, such that the end of the water has less current. This can cause you to get stuck on the central block. Replace it with a sign instead to solve this issue.

Activation
To make an endless circling pool work, all you have to do is jump into the water at any place in the flow. The water should constantly carry the player using the pool all the way around.

Endless circling moat
A better variation is to build a two-block-wide channel, which can accommodate a boat that you ride in. The advantage is that hunger is not depleted while riding a boat.

With proper water management, one can construct not only circling pools, but also moats around arbitrary areas. Signs or buttons are used to block the water at the end of the flow in a channel, forming a gap between one channel and the next. The current from the end of the first channel pushes the boat into the gap, and the second channel's current must pull the boat across the gap, otherwise the boat gets stuck in the gap. The trick to pulling the boat into the next channel is to use only one water source block on each channel, right next to one of the buttons, to create a flow away from the gap.

Water management
To make channels wide enough to transport a boat, and remain on a level surface without changing elevation, the water flow must be managed so that the channel can turn a corner, or keep moving in the same direction. The schematics below illustrate a method of creating a corner turn, and methoda of extending travel in one direction by shifting the flow over a bit when the water runs out from the water source block.

The flow arrows are going to be diagonal in any implementation of a closed-loop flowing moat. This is fine. The important thing is to have one flowing region push the boat into the gap, and the next flowing region pull the boat out of the gap.

As the boat crosses the gap, it appears submerged briefly under the next flow until it clears the gap, after which it floats up. This is not a problem; the boat does not capsize.

When making the gap, you can use either buttons or signs. Buttons work as well as signs and use less wood to craft.

Water flows only so far before it dies out. To continue the channel in the same direction, it needs to be extended. You can do this with a gap and either one or two water source blocks on the other side of the gap. Two water source blocks provide a flow straight down the channel, which moves the boat faster. These transitions can be stacked indefinitely.
 * Extending a straight channel

A corner involves creating a gap just before or after the corner, and starting the new flow on the other side of the gap. The new flow must flow away from the gap.
 * Turning a corner

In the first example, the next turn or shift must be to the right, because that is the direction of the diagonal flow.

In the second example, the source block can be on either side of the channel, depending on the direction of the next turn or shift. The water should flow diagonally to the right if the next turn is to the right, and diagonally to the left if the next turn is to the left.

In the third example, you can have another straight flow only in the same direction; you cannot have a new straight flow perpendicular to a previous straight flow, or the boat cannot be pulled across the gap. The straight flow must end with a gap across it, and if the next flow is a turn, it must have a diagonal flow to pull the boat across the gap properly. Otherwise the straight flow can be continued with another straight flow.

Often you may want to continue a flow in the same direction but shift it to one side by one or more blocks, to align the flow with something ahead. You can stack these single-block shifts, making a diagonal channel, until the water runs out, and then you must create a new gap. Just make a channel that keeps shifting to the left or right as needed.
 * Shifting to one side

The directional shift (not the flow) can be perpendicular to the desired direction, or diagonal. The boat's movement is slightly faster with the gentler turn into a diagonal flow.

Either the first or second designs can be adjusted easily for a two-block shift.

Smallest endlessly circling moat
The smallest circling pool that can accommodate a boat has one solid block in the center and four quadrants of water flowing from one corner of each quadrant. This design requires a 7×7 area, 1 layer, 4 water source blocks, and 8 buttons or signs — one on each side of the central block and one on the wall opposite each central sign or button.

Video
See this video for a demonstration on how to make an endless circling AFK pool.

This tutorial was made by JL G4M1NG.