Tutorials/Music disc farming

Music discs can help break the silence of the world but they can often be difficult to obtain. Music discs are dropped by creepers which are killed by a skeleton. Not only is it hard to get a skeleton and a creeper together, but it is even harder to get the skeleton to shoot the creeper.

When farming music discs, you want a way to make the skeleton and creeper stand still in a controlled environment. In that environment, the skeleton should have a way to hit the creeper, while trying to hit you, and the skeleton must not be within the creeper's trigger radius.

Example designs
One way to ease the task of obtaining music disks is to trap the skeleton and creeper in a fixed position. Doing this properly makes it easy to get the skeleton to kill the creeper.

Trapdoor pitfall
Using trapdoors, it is possible to trick creepers into thinking that they can walk over a hole. This is because mobs see trapdoors as safe to walk on, even when open. In the example video below, a skeleton is trapped behind two trapdoors, while a creeper is lured in front of it using trapdoors. The player can then stand behind the creeper causing the skeleton to finish the job.

Piston trap
This design uses pistons to trap the skeleton and creeper in one spot. As shown in the video, to use this trap, you must first lure a skeleton into place onto the pressure plate of one of the traps shown in the schematic. Once that is done, you should weaken a creeper and lure into a second chamber. Finally, you should be able to stand behind the creeper and cause the skeleton to deliver the finishing blows.

Boat trap
You can also use boats to trap skeletons and creepers into place. Trapping a skeleton may prove difficult however since they cannot swim. With both a creeper and a skeleton in boats near to each other, you can swim between the boats and cause the skeleton to shoot the creeper. If you have enough armor and health, you can also enter the skeleton’s boat and move it closer to the creeper.

Designing a factory
By combining use of one or more of these designs, it is possible to make a music disk "factory." With a factory, the process should be streamlined as much as possible to ensure a rapid collection of disks. On average, you will need to get 49 music discs to get all 12 songs.

Obtaining mobs
Before you can get a steady flow of music disks, it is necessary to find a reliable source of creepers and skeletons. It is fairly easy to get skeletons as you really only need one of them. To ensure it does not despawn, you should rename it or find one that can pick up a carved pumpkin.

To get creepers, it is possible to simply find them in the night and lure them into a trap. However, this can get cumbersome, especially when you want to get a lot of music disks. Instead, you may want to make a creeper farm and connect it with water streams to your factory.

General setup
The above is an example setup for a full music disk factory. This setup uses a trapdoor trapping mechanism but it is possible to use another. When designing your own farm, the most important key is keeping the creeper 3 or more blocks away from you and the skeleton. Otherwise, there is a chance it could explode and destroy your factory.

If you are luring the creepers into your trap, it is probably best to build it underground. Otherwise, you will need to find a way to get them up and into the structure. If you want to be able to see the process happening, it you can use glass.

One issue you may run into is the skeleton's aim. Often the shots may be too high and hit the ceiling. To fix this, you can replace the blocks preventing the creeper from moving with fences and raise the ceiling. Another way to adjust the skeleton's aim is to lower the player by half a block.

To collect the music disks, you have several options. You could collect the disks manually, collect the disks with water streams, or collect the disks with a hopper. If using water streams, run the water so that it pushes the creeper against one of the walls. Then, remove the bottom half of the wall so the items can flow through but the creeper remains stuck.

Tips:
 * Putting soul sand underneath the skeleton will also prevent it from burning.
 * Make a small hole on the skeleton's wall so you can punch it. This is useful if the skeleton begins targeting something else.
 * Dropping the creeper 22 blocks will allow the skeleton to kill it more quickly.
 * It may be helpful to color code the mob entrances so they don't get mixed up.

Fighting at night
Rather than using a specialized setup, it is also possible to fight the creepers manually at night. If you do this whenever you see a skeleton and creeper together, it is possible to slowly accumulate music disks. Note that you will want to have good armor when doing this as you will most likely take damage from the skeleton.

Before getting the skeleton to kill the creeper, you will first want to lower the creeper's health as much as possible. Once the creeper has low health, you will need to get between the skeleton and the creeper. When the creeper and skeleton are lined up, start dodging arrows so that they hit the creeper. When the creeper gets too close, you will need to move away and try again. It will probably take multiple attempts so be patient!