Tutorials/Traps

Traps are a common mechanism in Survival Multiplayer (SMP) built by players to kill other players or mobs automatically. The following is a list of basic traps with a short tutorial that often assumes the reader has a working understanding of the basic concepts required to build the trap. Traps are considered a subset of mechanisms.

Overview
Traps are devices designed to trap or damage a entity or entities, also known as "the target."

Explosive traps
The traps here primarily use TNT to cause harm to the target.
 * A good idea when testing Explosive Traps is to use a block such as a Redstone Lamp, which, like TNT, triggers with Redstone Power, but has less explosive results, so you don't lose an intricate trap due to careless TNT ignition.

The landmine
The landmine by itself is very inefficient and non-lethal. It damages the landscape and deals little if any damage to players. To make it more efficient, there are several variations you can use:
 * If you want to protect the landscape, you can place water at the bottom of the hole. It will reduce the dealt damage, however.
 * By digging a pit underneath this, the player might fall into it.
 * Try to camouflage the landmine by making it less noticeable, e.g. grow tall grass around it.

Instant landmine
If you are getting annoyed of wasted TNT because people run away from your landmine filled with tons of TNT, you should build a landmine that explodes instantly. First, dig a 3x3x3 hole in the ground, jump in then stand on a corner. On the bottom center, place a block of dirt then place a rail on top of it. On the rail, place a minecart with TNT (Be careful not to accidentally push the minecart!). Destroy the block under the rail to derail the minecart. The minecart will fall one block lower, this won't really cause any damage unless you accidentally pushed the minecart. Dig the block below you then place a dispenser facing downwards which makes it face the minecart, load the dispenser with flint and steel. Surround the minecart with 8 TNT blocks, after this, surround the dispenser with 8 TNT blocks, too. You should be above ground by now, cover the TNT-filled hole with dirt, remember where the dispenser is. Finally, place a pressure plate on top of the block above the dispenser.

Redstone mine

 * 1) Dig down 2 blocks
 * 2) Place down a redstone ore (silk touch pickaxe required)
 * 3) Then place a daylight sensor or BUD under the redstone ore
 * 4) Place as much TNT as you want under the redstone ore connect it using redstone dust
 * 5) Wait for someone or something to step on the redstone and boom watch what ever set it off explode in to nothing but bone and rotten flesh.

Exploding door
A player will eventually see the lure and think the pressure plate is for the door. If they go in without special precaution, KABOOM!
 * 1) Make a house or tunnel with a Door in front of it. If you are using an iron door, make a way to open from the outside.
 * 2) Dig a hole at least two blocks down right inside the Door.
 * 3) Place TNT two blocks down and cover it up with your floor(or falling block), followed by a Pressure Plate.
 * 4) Place a lure(sign, chest, diamond block) inside the house/tunnel so that it is visible through the Door.
 * 5) Carefully go somewhere else without setting off the trap.

Tree trap
Materials: A trigger(Wooden Pressure Plate, Observer), TNT Notes:
 * 1) Find a tree, and place your trigger under the bottom Log.
 * 2) Place TNT around the block underneath the trigger
 * 3) * If you are using an Observer be sure not to trigger it after placing the TNT.
 * 4) Wait for a unsuspecting player to go KABOOM!
 * Using an Observer is more reliable, as sometimes the player may pick up the Log before it hits the Pressure Plate.
 * You can alternatively try using a Lever, by placing it on the bottom of the tree, and using a Redstone Torch to activate the TNT when it breaks.

TNT cannon trap
This trap requires careful setup and adjustment, so it is somewhat impractical. Hopefully if properly done, an unsuspecting player will trip the trip wire and get blasted by the TNT.
 * 1) Create a large tripwire, preferably in a forest.
 * 2) Connect the trip wire to two TNT cannons

C4 trap
Dubbed so by Bannablarg, the first to use this with success, this "C4" is a vertical or horizontal stack of TNT with a dispenser wired to a button with a fire charge in it. The dispenser is placed one block above or below the stack (vertical) or one block next to the stack (horizontal). This usually works better for demolition than for a trap, if you want that, you can wire a pressure plate to the dispenser. This works like a flaming arrow hitting a stack of TNT from above. This is another way to remotely detonate the TNT, via flaming arrow. This works better than a dispenser shooting TNT, because the "C4" stays in one place. Also, if only two TNT blocks are used, it works well as a disposable cannon, even better on obsidian blocks, but not in a tube. All evidence of the trap is usually destroyed. Note: C4 trap from below does not work very well.

The hidden house
This trap is the opposite of a TNT door trap: The TNT is obvious, while the house is hidden. Make a field of TNT extending about 5 blocks into the ground. Place signs all over the field saying: "Find my hidden house." It lures people in twice: the TNT danger, and the hidden house challenge. The problem is that there is no house! Beneath the field are pressure plates which ignite the TNT, leaving no time to escape, as you are in a field of TNT 6 blocks under.

TNT house
This trap is obvious... too obvious. It's a house of TNT. It obliterates everything near it: blocks, buildings, mobs, players, you name it. People will go around it and within it because they think it's only activated when someone goes in. The more layers, the more obliteration and the larger range. Now follow one of these versions:
 * Suicide: You activate manually from inside.
 * Murder: Activate it from a distance with a redstone trail.
 * Genocide: Make the house very thick and activate it from a distance.
 * The Man: Build a Player-Sized copy of the character. Surround it in TNT armor.
 * Automatic variations:
 * Try putting a metal door on the TNT house. If the player is new or just distracted they'll hit the button to open the metal door, igniting the house.
 * Make a house with a table using a pressure plate by the wall as the top. If the player starts to confidently loot it, they likely will forget about the table.

Blow and burn
Griefers love blowing and burning people's houses up. This trap turns the grief onto the griefer.
 * 1) Make a decoy house out of wood or wool (preferably wool).
 * 2) Fill the area under it with TNT and make some "rays" of TNT extend from the house.
 * 3) If a griefer happens to burn the house down, they will probably get a bit more of a bang than they expected!

Defuse me landmine
Use MCEdit or some other method to get a bunch of floating sand with a pressure plate under it. Then underneath the sand place a bunch of TNT with pressure plates on top. If a player breaks the pressure plate, they will fall onto the pressure plates just to go flying back up.

Piston trap
Build what is shown in the schematic and make sure a roof over it so that when your target hits the pressure plate it cannot escape. This trap is best for small 1x2 passage-ways, perhaps inside a friend’s mine. When the pressure plate is stepped two pistons push up, blocking the "happy" miners escape and ignites TNT. This trap can alternatively be used as an above ground mob trap, just make sure to remove the TNT.

Door trap
This is a very simple and rather obvious trap that is made by putting a pressure plate in the middle of 4 open doors so that the victim is trapped inside when they enter. You may also decide to put a roof to prevent the victim jumping out. This is a very quick and easy to set up trap, making it ideal if you are new to Minecraft or simply in a hurry. This trap more useful against mobs, such as zombie villagers, so you don’t always have to use iron doors.

Pitfall traps
Pitfall traps usually use fall damage to harm the target. Sometimes the pitfall is used as an area the target can't escape before fatal damage has been dealt. Different players prefer to use fire, lava, and/or cactus to deal damage.

General improvements
Some minor variation can make a simple pit much more deadly.
 * Make checkardboard of cacti at the bottom of a pit. Cacti do destroy items though.
 * To effectively improve the size of your pit without digging a larger area, dig a shallow ring around the top layer of your pit. Fill this area with water so that mobs will be dragged to the center. If necessary, water can be stopped by placing signs or Stone Pressure Plate. Note that this will reduce fall damage.

Fence trap
Construct a hallway with a sand, or gravel, floor for an unsuspecting player to walk through. A diagonal hallway works best. Place fence posts underneath the path and drop the material for the floor on the fences. Below the fences, you can have a pit.

This works because when a gravity-affected block falls on a fence post, the block stays as an entity. As a result, a player walking between the fence posts will fall through the sand entities, causing them to plummet. Diagonal hallways make it more likely to fall through the sand without landing safely on a fence post. Keep in mind that the sand is going to look half a block higher than a normal block, but this can easily be covered up. The best part: it does not need to be reset!

TNT pitfall
Build the basic landmine and dig a pit under it. When the TNT ignites, the sand or gravel will fall and the target will be trapped until the TNT explodes.

Shallow pitfall
Dig a pit 1-block deep hole at least 5x5 blocks. Place fences on the inside edge. Since fences count as one and one half blocks in height, mobs can walk in but can not jump out. Alternatively, line the outside with half-slabs.This can also be combined with a mob grinder, via water currents leading to it. Zombies and Skeletons will take damage from sunlight during the day if the pit is uncovered, making this an effective way to sort out creepers. This design does not capture spiders.

Fake water pitfall
Dig a hole (2x2 works best) at least 30 blocks deep, the deeper the better. At the bottom place lapis lazuli or other blue blocks. Add a false corridor at the bottom to make it look like it goes somewhere. When an unsuspecting player comes across the hole, they may think that there is water at the bottom, jump down and die. Experienced players are less likely to fall for this particular trap but it generally works quite well.

Snowball knock back
Load a dispenser with snowballs (or other knockback item), and connect it to a pressure plate. When the target walks across the plate, the dispenser, if aimed correctly, shoots a snowball and knocks the target into the pit.

Piston pit
Place the piston so it pushes the block the signs are on. You can make up to twelve rows using one piston. Make sure there is a block of empty space at the end of where the piston pushes. Connect the piston to a trigger, such a pressure plate or lever, and when the piston moves it should break the signs and cause the sand to fall along with the target!

Block pitfall
Beside the classic pressure plate activated pit fall trap, you can also trigger the mechanism with a block - when removed the block will cause the pit to collapse.

Hallway pitfall
A compact & fast design, can kill the target by any type of damage. Cheap & fast to build, yet does the job right and is almost undetectable. The victim is walking in a tunnel, there are no pressure plates, just a tripwire hanging at the target's head level. Once the victim touches the tripwire, a block is pushed up preventing the target from escaping and the pistons below quickly open up a hole and the target falls down in a pitfall. From there, you can do anything with the target.

Fake elevator
Make what is shown in the schematic, like an water elevator with water only at the top. Make sure the hole is 30-40 blocks deep, which is enough to kill the player. It could help to place a lure sign near the 'elevator' saying something like "Do not enter!" You can also make the signs' text something like a floor countdown like "35", "34", "33", etc. so players are more likely to fall for the trap. If you want, you can place hoppers and with chests so you can gather the loot from the victims, but if you really want the drops, you need a secret passage to the bottom of the pit for collection.

Floating sand pitfall
If you make the shown pitfall, when you break the grass, the sand should remain floating. If you touch the string, it will cause a block update which causes the sand to fall.

Proximity Trap
A proximity trap is a player detector paired with an output.

False-floor trap
A false-floor trap is a variation of a pitfall trap. It works by creating a concealed safe route through the pitfall (which is usually very big) to allow authorized players to pass, while catching unauthorized players or mobs and killing them. It generally works best when there is no way around, forcing the player to pass through the trap. If anyone steps on one of the pressure plates with TNT under it, the TNT will explode causing the whole bridge to collapse! Note: You will need to have something under the TNT, perhaps more TNT or something easily destructible to make sure the TNT doesn't fall and fail to ignite the rest of the TNT.
 * 1) Dig a pit. The deeper and longer the better.
 * 2) Place use TNT to build a bridge across the pit. It should be at least 2 blocks wide, preferably more as someone could cheat otherwise.
 * 3) Replace some of the TNT with torches. Read the next step to understand which ones to replace.
 * 4) On top of the torches, place sand or gravel. Try to get across the bridge now by only stepping on the sand. Make sure you can do it, because it will be even harder at the end as you must stay off the edges of the sand.
 * 5) Once you have picked a satisfactory path, cover up the TNT.
 * 6) Place pressure plates over all the sand/gravel.

Triggers
The traps here are most notable for their trigger and can be connected to many different mechanisms of harm.

Trapped ore
When someone mines the ore the TNT will explode! Be sure to place the torches before the TNT and to not place any TNT next to a lit torch.

Trapped ore 2
Use a piston to push a TNT next to a redstone torch when a block is mined. The advantage of this method is that the trapped block does not need have wires right next to it and that it can cover a wider area.

Furnace trap
Normally people would expect chests to explode, so this trigger will surprise them as soon as they loot your furnace. If a griefer loots the furnace the comparator will deactivate and the torch will turn on, blowing the victim to bits!
 * 1) Fill a furnace with coal, iron and food (you decide).
 * 2) Put a comparator leading away from the furnace. It should turn on.
 * 3) Place a block in front of the comparator.
 * 4) Place a redstone torch on the block, it should turn off.
 * 5) Create a redstone line from the torch to TNT.

Wrong lever
Place several levers on a wall and put TNT behind it. Place a sign saying something along the lines of, "Which one...," "Don't pull these!," or "Passcode entry >." Eventually a player with too much curiosity will come along and pull a lever.

SCR trap
This trigger detects when a redstone circuit is broken, such as when a griefer is destroying your house. If a griefer walks up to your house, he/she may destroy the SCR, turning on the torch and igniting the TNT.
 * 1) Create an SCR.
 * 2) Make a line of redstone dust from it to the wall of a room.
 * 3) On the other side of the wall from the redstone, put a redstone torch, which should turn off.
 * 4) Pack the other side of the wall full of TNT, and make sure at least one block of that TNT is touching the torch from the side or top.

Chest bomb
If someone puts something inside the chest, it will go into the hopper, turn on the comparator, and activate the TNT. You could attach the comparator directly to the chest, but it would be more obvious as you can see over chests.
 * 1) Place a chest.
 * 2) Place a hopper underneath the chest.
 * 3) Place a comparator pointing away from the hopper.
 * 4) Place TNT in front of the comparator.

Fishing trap
It is possible to detonate TNT that has a pressure plate on it using a fishing rod. This method is undetectable; however, it is unstable and prone to premature detonation if you don't have patience.

Note that this trap seldom works on players, as they will most likely avoid the pressure plate. For maximum effect, it is suggested that you place the trap in front of an iron door, as they are usually paired with pressure plates for easy opening.

Exploding bed
Connect a bed next to a BUD, the bud to some TNT, and cover the whole thing in cobblestone. Then just wait for the player to sleep in it and get blasted sky-high!

Fundamental traps
All traps in here only catch newer players, but are fundamental ideas that capture the essence of branches of trap creation.

Anti-Totem Trap
Most trap effects can be negated with a Totem of Undying, which will save the player if a fatal hit is taken. This design takes into account the possibility of the player thinking it's a trap and bringing strong armor and a totem of undying.

Self Operating Pitfall
This trap is simplicity itself. No redstone, no commands, no manual activation, just good old fall damage!

Materials: 1 Chest, 25 Gravel, 24 Carpet (Optional), and 25 2 block high Flowers. Tips:
 * 1) Dig a 5x5 hole to a desired depth, leaving one layer of dirt 3 blocks from the surface.
 * 2) Place the flowers on the layer of dirt, and the gravel/sand on top of the flowers.
 * 3) Place a chest in the center, and the carpet around the chest.
 * 4) Remove the dirt holding up the flowers. The gravel should not fall.
 * 5) Wait until a careless player opens the chest, and watch them fall to their doom!
 * Consider building a decoy house around the trap to fool players into thinking they're raiding a base, this makes the carpet much more inconspicuous.
 * Consider adding hoppers at the bottom of the trap to collect the loot.

Trick Trap-The concept of confidence
This trap may include loss of precious items, such as golden apples, so only use this if you are very rich.
 * 1) Set a chest (not trapped) and put diamonds or other valuable stuff in it.
 * 2) Then put TNT on the walls, making your raiders think it will blow up in certain situations.
 * 3) Then put another room with a iron door, but don't put a pressure plate behind it, and put two spawners or more (with any hostile mob) and hide them. However, spawners are only available in creative mode, so if you want to make this in survival, you must find a naturally generated dungeon and build your trap around it.
 * 4) Put another chest (again not trapped) and put more valuable stuff in it.
 * 5) The raider will think they are safe and go for the chest but the mobs spawned by spawner will very likely kill them.

Noob + Pro Chest drop trap
The player may try to sneak to the edge of the chest to look down the hole. Because the chest is smaller than a regular block, the sneak function will not prevent you falling. They will die of fall damage and their items will fall into the hoppers and chests, where you can collect them.
 * 1) Dig a 2x2 hole until you reach bedrock, or a reasonable drop.
 * 2) Place 4 hoppers, one per block on the 2x2 hole, pointing into chests.
 * 3) At the top of the hole, place 4 double chests (so 8 chests in total) around the hole.

Fake chunk error
Dig a 16 by 16 hole (preferably in line with real chunks) at least 23 blocks deep. Some inexperienced players may think it is a chunk error and walk in, but they will fall to the hole and very likely die from fall damage. If they for some reason don't die from fall damage (maybe they use feather falling boots or strong armor), you can be waiting in the bottom equipped with at least iron sword and armor so you can kill everybody who falls to the hole.

Digging your own grave - tricking with trust
Ask someone if they could dig down at a spot because you lost many diamonds there and they could take half. When they get far enough, you can cover them with gravel or sand. You can also use lava for a more dramatic death, however, this will destroy their drops as well. Please note that only very inexperienced players will be fooled by this trap.

Falling Sand Trap
Materials: Falling blocks (Sand, Gravel, Concrete powder), Signs, Sticky Piston (Optional), Lever (Optional) Make sure you aren't underneath the sand or have cover when it falls.
 * 1) Make a pit with a depth of your liking.
 * 2) Hide the pit with sand, supported by signs, like in the diagram.
 * 3) (Optional) Make a house around the Sand. If you do this, you will probably want to put in carpet.
 * 4) (Optional) Attach a Piston to the bottom block of sand. You can use this to automate the trap. If you want to retract the piston when a Pressure Plate is pressed, use a not gate.
 * 5) Wait for an unsuspecting player and break the bottom block.

Basic Hallway Trap
Materials: 1 Pressure Plate, 4 Pistons, at least 5 Obsidian and Redstone. When an unsuspecting player or mob hits the Pressure Plate, the Piston will push the floor up trapping the player. This trap will not work on players with diamond pickaxes, as they can easily just break the floor or dig out. Also, a stone pressure plate is fairly easy to spot in the obsidian floor, so you can replace the obsidian with stone or cobblestone to make a harder to spot but easier to escape variant of this trap.
 * 1) Make a 2 block high hallway that is a length of your choice and build the floor out of obsidian.
 * 2) Place the Pressure Plate somewhere in the middle.
 * 3) Place four Pistons underneath the floor surrounding the pressure plate, so that when they extend, they will trap the player.
 * 4) Run Redstone Dust underneath the floor so it will turn on the Piston when the Pressure Plate is touched.
 * 5) (Optional) Place signs or other lures to try to get a player to go into the tunnel.

Basic Pit Trap
Materials(All are optional): Hopper, Chest, Lava, Cacti, and/or Sign(s) The pit trap is a very generic and basic type of trap. It is best combined with other elements, such those as suggested.
 * 1) Dig a pit to a reasonable depth. The further the better.
 * 2) At the bottom place any of:
 * 3) * Hoppers and Chests to collect items.
 * 4) * Cacti to kill off surviving players. The Cacti may destroy some items.
 * 5) * Lava to kill off surviving players. The Lava will probably destroy most items.
 * 6) * Other things to finish off damaged players, eg. Mobs, falling Anvils, yourself, TNT.
 * 7) At the top, you will need a way to get the player/mobs into the pit:
 * 8) * Water to wash the player in.
 * 9) * A sign, tempting the player to, jump in, dig straight down, etc.

Basic Minecart Trap
Materials: Minecart, Rails, Detector Rail, TNT, Redstone
 * 1) Create a Minecart track and place a Minecart on it.
 * 2) Somewhere on the track, place the Detector Rail.
 * 3) * It might help to diguise the detector as doing something else, like switching tracks, opening a Door, etc.
 * 4) Underneath the rail, place either TNT or run Redstone to another trap, eg. Pit Trap.
 * 5) Somehow get players to ride the Minecart:
 * 6) * Place a sign saying something like, "Village this way -->", or "Private Mine Entrance; DO NOT ENTER!"
 * 7) * Make it look like a fun roller coaster.

A sticky situation - the concept of quirks as trap mechanics
You will need (for 1 trap, you might want more for better results): First, make a 1x3 hole in the ground. On the edge, build 3 blocks high (later you will destroy these). Now make an outline of it, but on the level you just created. If you are on a flying server, you might want to add a roof, which is an extra 3 to 12 blocks of Soul Sand. When your trap is complete, human-sized mobs - such as zombies and skeletons - or other people will walk into your trap and can't walk out. Also, if you place ice under the soul sand, mobs and people will move even slower due to the properties of ice.
 * Soul Sand- 15 blocks

Griefer Bait Trap - Temptation Concept
Materials: Wood Planks, a Sign, a Pressure Plate, a Wooden Door, TNT This trap works best on PVP/griefing servers. Using trapped chests are also good, especially if the griefers can't tell it is one.
 * 1) Make a box home from planks, with a door and a pressure plate outside.
 * 2) Under the pressure plate, put as much TNT as you wish, just like in the exploding door.
 * 3) Place a sign outside that says something like "please don't grief my home thx."
 * 4) * Griefers or robbers can't stand not griefing a house like this. They will likely walk through the door, trigger the TNT, and blow themselves to the moon!

Painting Trap
Materials: A Painting, 2 Signs, (Optional) Hopper, (Optional) Chest This is a very easy to make trap which plays on the old secret passage behind the painting trick. Instead of a fall, you could use lava or some other form of death.
 * 1) Make a pit off of the side of your house.
 * 2) Place the two signs at the end of the hallway leading to the hole.
 * 3) Place paintings on the signs, so when someone walks through the painting, they fall to their death.
 * 4) At the bottom you could have some means of collecting items.

Facebreaker trap - the concept of obscure damage
What you need: Five blocks of any kind, and as many gravel blocks as possible.

This is one of the most simple traps in Minecraft history, although it would be easily noticed by intelligent players. Works more effectively on new players. First, make a tower that is five blocks high. It doesn't matter which kind of block you use. Then, on the very surrounding area on the tower you made, dig holes three blocks deep and three blocks wide to make a pit surrounding your tower. Dig another hole close to your tower, just one block deep for you to hide in. When an unsuspecting target comes too close to the tower, he would fall in the pit. After that place several Gravel blocks beside the 5th block on your tower, aiming downwards on the target. If done correctly, the gravel blocks should fall on your target's head, thus trapping or killing him. Hence the name facebreaker.

Note: You will need to use atleast two blocks of gravel to kill a player, and this can actually be used as a convenient elevator. Placing more gravel blocks is advised, and it is also advised that you place them quickly. Otherwise, if you take too long, the player may jump up from the first gravel block (their feet will be in it), and not be suffocated by the second.

Burning tree trap - the concept of desperation
This is a simple trap that can be made without too much work.

1. Build a large wooden rectangle resting on its side.

2. At the top of the rectangle build a large cobblestone box.

3. Break a hole in the bottom of box.

4. Place a chest at the bottom of the rectangle.

5. Place sand from the hole in the cobblestone box.

6. Fill the cobblestone box completely with lava.

7. Add some leaves. Make sure it looks just enough like a tree to blend with the forest, but not so much that people will not notice it.

The person will be fascinated with the tree and will enter. The person will see the chest, and, thinking there is loot in it, will break the sand blocks in order to open the chest. As he breaks the sand blocks, the hole in the box of lava is unplugged, causing lava to flow onto the victim. This will definitely NOT work on experienced players.

Spring trap
Requires: 1 pressure plate, 1 slime block and 1 piston

This trap relies on fall damage to damage the enemy and the pressure plate must be replaced after every use. NOTE: This trap does not work on Chickens, Ocelots or Magma cubes.

Don't run - The concept of curiosity killing the cat
Please note that only really inexperienced players will be fooled by this.

This is a very easy trap to build. Go into a cave and dig at least 36 blocks down. Dig a 4 block deep pit and put water in its second topmost layer. Have blue wool, signs/ladders, a pickaxe and a chest ready. Also build what looks like an entrance to a base at the bottom of the trap. Now get a player and tell him that he's found someone's secret base. Jump into the water and quickly submerge yourself in the pit. Put the signs/ladders to give you air bubbles to breathe. Tell the player on top that you'll put water on top of the pit so he and you can escape. Instead of water, use the blue wool to cover up the pit. Signal the player to jump and when you see his death-message, dig your way out and collect all the loot.

Lures
These traps' primary feature is the way they lure the target into the trap.

Signs
Signs are very useful for luring new, and sometimes even experienced, players into a trap. Here are some messages which can be good to lure players into traps.
 * "Free Diamonds!" This could be good on a trapped chest, but would only work on newbies.
 * "DO NOT ENTER!" Most players would be tempted to do exactly the opposite, even into a possible trap.
 * "DO NOT PRESS!" If you see a button, you really want to press it. Especially if there is a sign saying not to.

Chests
Chests, especially when paired with signs, can make a good lure. If you place one inconspicuously in a wooden house, what self respectoing griefer would not go and investigate?

Ore blocks
Ore blocks make an irresistible lure. After all, if you saw a diamond block just sitting there on the ground, would you just leave it there? This lure is good when paired with a BUD trigger.

Fake mineshaft
Abandoned mineshafts are known for lots of loot. If you trap one, you can pretend to have 'accidentally given away directions' to the mineshaft.

Iron door
An iron door looks somewhat out of place in a dark cave. If a player sees one, they may be tempted to go inside. Unfortunately for them, there may only be a pressure plate on one side of the door...

Semi-Advanced Traps
Many traps require some redstone wiring, but these take a significant amount and require a basic understanding of redstone circuitry. Explosive traps, those that use TNT, may destroy sections of redstone wire if the explosion occurs too close.

Invisible tripwire
This trap relies on the fact that like end portal, trip wire is invisible from the bottom. Make a room or hallway at least 3 blocks high, and put trip wire in a layer on the third layer up. If the victim jumps, they will trigger the trap. How they are captured or killed is up to the player.

Arrow dispenser
By connecting this to a trigger, you can rapidly fire arrows at the target. Some variations:
 * Place lava in front of the dispenser to catch the target on fire.
 * You can adjust the repeater which will change the speed. You can also completely change the clock if you don't have quartz.
 * You could use this to knock the target into a pit.
 * Attach this to a RS-Latch to keep it on until a button is pressed.

Crushing trap
This is ideal at the end of a water flow mob grinder as it minimizes drop losses. The design can be expanded to make a long row.

Spider trap

 * 1) Find a cave spider spawner, or hack one in. Probably place a torch to keep it from running.
 * 2) Dig a pit under it. It should be at least 5 block deep.
 * 3) Place cobweb or something for the spiders to spawn on.
 * 4) Break the torch and allow the pit to fill with spiders. You need to be withing 15 block for this to work.
 * 5) Get a player to go into the pit somehow.

Water traps
Water traps generally use water to slow, drag, or drown the target. They sometimes also use water to prevent TNT from damaging the landscape. The traps here use water as the main component to trap or harm the target.

Fake water elevator
You need: 1.13+, water, a hard block, and soul sand (pistons optional)

Step 1: Create a 4x3 outline of your block of choice on the ground, preferably tough blocks (hay bales work well on op factions due to being unaffected by efficiency). Put fill in the middle with soul sand (you need 2 water spaces to work the bubble column). Now build the rest as if it were a normal 1x2 water elevator, BUT you cap off the top (no exit). A locked iron door can be added at the top if you want the loot.

Step 2: Add in water at the top. When it reaches the bottom, it will trigger the upwards bubble column of the soul sand blocks. The way this trap kills is the player steps in, believing it is a path to the top of your base, and is drowned since they can't escape the current. Obviously, a lone water tower is suspicious. You will need to add a fake skybase up in the air, high enough that the player will not attempt to pillar up.

Step 3 (optional): To make it possible to kill high-end players, or do something on an op factions server, you need to hook up pistons to the top 5 blocks of the system (1 air block between a piston and a block), excepting the cap blocks right above the water sources, and provide a fast pulsing current. This resets the block's damage, so players cannot bust out without very high levels of efficiency. Add a lever to stop the current so you can loot your trap.

Pros: Cons:
 * Hard to spot until it is too late
 * Silent until the top
 * Requires a player who wised up to break it, doesn't need resetting
 * Medium investment to kill early-mid game players
 * Fast set-up
 * Takes a long time to kill
 * Hard to loot
 * Can be like a high-tier version of landmines (being treated like a pressure plate in the middle of a desert).
 * Players may tower up to skybase anyway

Whirlpool trap
You need: 1.13+, deep water, magma blocks, and a lot of kelp

Step 1: Choose a watery area which has reasonable player/mob traffic

Step 2: Dig out a 2 deep hole where you want your trap, put hopper collection system on bottom layer. The space where the magma blocks will be should be at least 7 blocks below sea level.

Step 3: Put magma blocks at least 7 blocks below sea level (depends on your capability to swim up and down). There is no known maximum distance (tested with deep ocean ravines), however there is a sweet spot around 10-15 since you can get enough kelp to hide it well while also preventing them from swimming out.

Step 4: Place a border made of blocks that blend in with the seafloor (you can go for something like stone or something you can put kelp on). Make it at least 2 blocks high, as there is a bug allowing the player to jump while on bubble columns (tested in creative), 3 if you have enough space. These are to trap the player/squid/fish in the trap while the magma blocks kill them. If you have the capability to do so, store an Elder Guardian nearby to prevent players with good gear from breaking out.

Step 5: Now blend in the trap. Make your walls look slightly more natural (like a small incline underwater) first. Then, completely fill the area with kelp. There shouldn't be a space within 7 blocks that doesn't have a kelp seedling. Then disguise the area temporarily while you wait for the kelp to grow.

Pros: Cons:
 * More or less silent
 * Minimal resources
 * Automatic killing and collection, gathers food
 * Larger sized traps can kill boats
 * Players without water equipment can't see it easily until they are over it
 * Requires a lot of time
 * Needs to be deep and well-cloaked to hide well, night vision can still spot it easily
 * Doesn't work well on most op faction servers, unless you are in a deep ocean, due to high quality pickaxes
 * Takes long enough to kill for people to obtain coordinates
 * Relies on target being somewhat unaware
 * Accidental self-harm

Slime trap
This simple trap targets slimes. All you need is some water buckets. Dig a 4x4 hole three blocks deep. Fill the bottom layer with water, so that it is all still water on the bottom. When any sized slime wanders around, it may fall into the hole. Since slimes cannot jump in water, it will not be able to escape. You can come by later and kill all the slimes, however, you must jump in then get the drops. If you are not interested in the drops, just leave them in to lower slime population. This trap is recommended on Superflat survival worlds where you can get water from village farms and easily make the hole and slimes spawn a lot.

Drowning room
Make a small room, preferably 5x5x2. Place a chest in the center of the back wall. 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 and trap the player even more.

Trapdoor drowning
This trap is made by digging a 2x2x3 hole in the ground, filling the middle of the hole in with water, and putting trapdoors at the top. Place pressure plates a block away from the trap in a square pattern so that, at the moment, they can't open the trap doors. Between the pressure plates and the trap, place redstone wire to open all the doors at once. When a mob walks over the pressure plates he can fall down the water, and the trapdoors will shut, forcing him to drown. At the lowest level of the trap you can make a 1x1 tunnel of water to retrieve the loot. Generally these are the most efficient types of traps because there is no lava involved to burn any loot.

Retrieval trap
Create a water current that drags the mobs down under a solid block. The current will hold the mobs under until they drown. The loot from the mobs will sink, which can be collected below.

Water pit


This trap is used as a water barrier to keep the mobs from swimming into another area. This requires that the floor of the body of water be easily accessible. The trap is extremely effective, but it's rather large, sucking in a 6x6 area of water.

Dive down to the bottom of the pool of water. Build up a hollow tower 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 a bucket. Set four TNT blocks as low as possible, then light the TNT and run.
 * 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.

Trapping pool
This trap is designed to trap skeletons and zombies, not to kill them!
 * 1) Dig out a 5x5 square.
 * 2) Dig a 3x3 square 2 layer deep in the center.
 * 3) Place water in each of the corners and in the middle of each side on the top, where the water isn't flowing along the top.

Lava traps
Lava traps use lava to slow, trap, or burn the target. Usually they use lava for the later, as not many mobs are fire proof. The traps here use lava as the primary component to harm the target.

Trapped Chest Lava Pitfall Trap

 * 1) Build the 2 rows sticky pistons such that are facing each other and the rows are 4 blocks apart.
 * 2) Attach solid blocks to the rows of sticky pistons.
 * 3) Link the rows of pistons to redstone torches.
 * 4) Attach the trapped chest to the redstone torches.
 * 5) Dig a hole below the sticky pistons and fill it with lava.
 * 6) Decorate the area around the trapped chest to attract players!

Lava pit

 * 1) Make a 3x3 pit at least 4 block deep.
 * 2) Place lava at the top, ladders in the middle, and water at the bottom.
 * 3) If you get mobs to go into the trap, they will burn in the lava and there drops should go into the water.

Lava ladder
This trap is most effective against unaware players. If an unaware player doesn't look before climbing, they will go into the lava and burn.
 * 1) Build a fake house, not out of wood.
 * 2) Make a ladder up to the second story.
 * 3) Put lava at the top of the ladder.

Door lockdown
An emergency lock down trap ensures players can't bypass the trap redstone lock system by breaking the door. It uses an iron door as support for the initial sand block. A diagram for the completed section of the corridor can be found below.



Side View

Place the iron door in the middle of a tunnel with adequate space. Connect the iron door to a redstone lock system. Dig above the door until the area above the hall is a hollow 5x3 area. Place sand on top of the door, then place torches on the side of the sand. Repeat until the sand touches the wall. Place lava in the empty space above the sand. The only way to get through would be to unlock the redstone lock system. If someone destroyed the door, the sand would be unsupported allowing the lava to fall on them. To stop players from simply mining around the device, place lava behind the walls.

Since lava spreads slowly, it may be possible for the thief to destroy the door then quickly run to safety on the far side. To counteract this, include an airlock style sand pillar to block the path. If the thief tries to break it down, the lava will have enough time to spread and ignite him. Also, lava spreads more quickly in the Nether.

Lava door
Make a house, and right inside the front door make a pit with lava. A careless player may wander in and, whoops, lava trap.

Dangerous ledge
If the target happens to wander onto the pressure plate, the piston will come out of nowhere and push them into the lava. It is recommended to place iron bars or glass panes so the drops will be saved.
 * 1) Underground somewhere, make a 1 block wide ledge.
 * 2) At the bottom of the ledge place lava.
 * 3) Somewhere on the ledge, place a stone pressure plate
 * 4) Place a piston so it will push the target off the ledge.
 * 5) Connect the piston to the pressure plate.

Lava bed
Possibly the most evil trap ever made is a bed based one. After sleeping in a bed you appear in one of the blocks immediately next to the bed (including diagonal). Sometimes though it's through a wall. If you can't imagine how that would happen, imagine a bed in the corner of a simple 3x3 house in which the corners of the exterior of the house are missing. The blocks beside the left of the bed and top of the bed are blocked because of the walls but the corner one (to the left and up at the same time) isn't blocked it's just outside. Someone sleeping here could find themselves standing in that missing outside corner in the morning. Now imagine an underground house with a lava chamber hidden behind the corner of the room like that and half slabs everywhere beside the bed on the safe side. Lava doesn't count as an obstruction but slabs do, so as far as the game is concerned that lava block is the only spot available. It looks harmless enough since you can't see the lava hidden behind the corner of the room. But after their sleep finishes they wake up in flames. The worst part is that upon dying they will respawn back at this bed...in the only block beside the bed that is open. Yes, the lava again. They're stuck. They need either water, creative mode, op's help, or to go find another server to play on.

Trapdoor lava pit
IF the target should wander onto the pressure plate, good luck getting off!

Lava filler

 * 1) Make a stone room.
 * 2) Place a pressure plate in the room.
 * 3) Connect the plate to a dispenser with lava in it on the ceiling.

Other traps
The traps here do not yet fit into any of the other categories.

The cake is a lie
If the target moves too near to the cake, the pistons will trap them and destroy the cake.
 * 1) Dig down two blocks in a flat area and put a piston at the bottom.
 * 2) Dig down two blocks around the piston and put redstone dust at the bottom.
 * 3) Dig down two blocks around the redstone and put pistons at the bottom.
 * 4) Cover everything up with the block(s) of your choice.
 * 5) Place pressure plates in a ring around the center block, above the redstone.
 * 6) Put cake on top of the center piston.
 * 7) Above the outer ring of pistons, place blocks in the air so there is room to walk under if the pistons are retracted.

Proximity Detector
There is a way to detect if someone is within a certain proximity (17-20 blocks) in Minecraft. This is extremely useful for traps. Here is a video tutorial on how to do that:

Mob-spawning-based: This player sensor is the smallest stable silent player detector that isn't glitch based.

This video shows another way to create a stable player detector, this time based on redstone.

Diamond trigger
Place a Diamond block with a observer underneath it or a piston with the diamond being the twelfth block. If a player breaks it, the BUD will trigger!

Netherrack and cacti wall


In the ground, alternate netherrack and sand. Ignite the netherrack and plant cactus on the sand. This acts as a wall against mobs.

Soul sand capture


Soul sand slightly sinks the player or mobs. Using this unique property, it is possible to capture a tall mob or player. The corridor to the right will trap a player that moves onto the soul sand. The top half shows the floor setup and the bottom half shows the ceiling. Note the open block above the soul sand. Players are caught until they place a block above them or destroy a block around them. Generally the rest of the trap will have triggered by the time they react. Pressure plates can be placed on soul sand to help hide them and to provide a redstone signal. For a kill during this process, place lava by the soul sand. May not always work if placed incorrectly.

Repeater one way
If a redstone 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.

Falling minecart
There is a way to 'store' fall damage in a minecart and later have someone take that damage even though they don't actually fall a distance that would make them take damage. Here is a video explaining how to set the trap up and showing it in use:

Anvil trap
When the target stands on the pressure plates, the doors won't open and while they are confused the anvils will fall on them. They will either be killed or if the anvils don't fall from high enough they get injured. This trap is useful to stop thieves from staling valuable goods, and exploits the fact that people don't look up.
 * 1) Place two iron doors sideways with redstone torches under them so they stay shut.
 * 2) Set up two pressure plates in front of the doors. The plates shouldn't do anything yet.
 * 3) Run redstone lines from underneath the plates onto the roof of your porch to trigger two pistons.
 * 4) Put an anvil on each extended piston arm, and make sure there is a hole through the porch roof down to the entrance where the target stands.

Command mine
Sick of rebuilding land mines that don't even kill the target? Replace the TNT with a command block with the command ' ' and the command block will instantly kill any entity that touches the trigger! If you use a repeating command block instead of an impulse command block, you don't need a pressure plate.

Arrow traps
The traps here primarily use arrows, usually from dispensers to harm the target.

Hay trap
Get two sticky pistons to rapidly move hay back and forth. If done correctly a player fallen into this trap will be unable to get out. Hay was chosen because tools do not effect the breaking speed, even with enchantments.

Gravel trap
Probably the simplest trap in Minecraft. Dig 1x1 holes 2 blocks deep; wait for a player or mob to fall in, and then suffocate him with gravel. Get their items out of the hole. Or, make an entire redstone contraption with pistons that release to drop the gravel!

Murder holes
Wandering mobs will not be afraid to try and walk on the signs. If they do, they will get trapped.
 * 1) Dig a 2-wide trench down 1 block deep on one side, 3 or more on the other.
 * 2) Place signs on the deeper side at the same height as the shallow side.

Disarming Traps
When faced with a trap, the safest course of action is often to leave the way you came, or disarm the trigger by destroying the trap's components. Note that disarming a trap could be griefing, but if they are trying to kill you, you should defend yourself. 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. '''Note: Some traps make use of the 15-block redstone signal limit. Trying to dispatch active redstone wire this way may trigger traps that use this concept.'''
 * You can dispatch active redstone wires with the use of two redstone torches:
 * Consider the fact that the creator may be nearby. Oftentimes, 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.
 * 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.
 * To fool the person who laid the trap in SMP, try subtle sabotage, but make sure you know the wiring absolutely. Therefore, if you want revenge unto the person who tricked you into the trap, you can leave a trace and then the person will want to fix it. Kill him once that happens.
 * Signs, Pressure Plates, Diamond Blocks, and Chests usually mean traps. Avoid these things in the open, in houses(Except your own) and in caves.

Aside from those tips, here are the most important rules of trap disarming survival, assuming you know where the trigger is. If you follow these rules, you may not break the trap, but in your reaction to it, you will not die.


 * 1) Do not ever trigger the trap the expected way and attempt to outrun it. If that was possible, then the trap would be useless to begin with. Do not trigger it, log out and come back! You may fall in a pit or other measures designed to prevent logging out and surviving.
 * 2) In the event of suspecting a trap or finding one, the first priority is to retreat the way you came. Although efficient traps just wrap around the kill zone, some traps take huge amounts of space and so are very hard to escape.
 * 3) Never attempt to dig around a trap. There are many ways to wire redstone and any path you choose may or may not trigger fail-safes.
 * 4) Destroying pressure plates cannot trigger a trap unless there is an update block in an inactive state next to it. This is the correct way to disarm Mojang's desert temple trap (more than a few youtubers don't seem to know about this and will creep about the chamber looting the boxes without disarming the bomb first).
 * 5) Only destroy redstone that is inactive and that you safely find if you are sure there is not some kind of occasional pulse that flashes through to check that the line is functioning.
 * 6) Destroy the components of the trap designed to kill you, if they are reachable and safe to destroy.
 * 7) Most traps will not be simple pure redstone, instead having a complicated array of redstone or an obscure minecraft feature as a component. These have the downside of causing delay generally, but are hard to disarm.
 * 8) Do not mess around with anything you are not completely sure about. This basically means that unless you have found the entire trap, do not attempt to jinx it or sabotage it.
 * 9) Never attempt disarming while you are within "Danger Zone(s)" of the trap.

Lastly, keep in mind that in the real world if you were walking thru the park and you found a tripwire attached to a pipe bomb set up by some maniac you wouldn't try to disarm it yourself. You'd tell someone in authority, who would then send in a specialist wearing explosive resistant armor to disarm it. The minecraft equivalent would be informing the ops so they can send someone in full Blast Protection IV armor to deal with it. But then...where's the fun in that?...

Villager trap
A villager trap is a way to move villagers. Once they get far enough they can't go back. The villagers should walk from the right to the left:

This trap takes advantage of the feature where you can't walk through a two-high archway with soulsand in front of it.

Death Temple
Setup a BUD underneath the pressure plate in a desert temple. If a player should try to disarm it, KABOOM!

Ore tower

 * 1) Make a tall watchtower.
 * 2) At the top out of sight, put a bunch of TNT
 * 3) Make a vertical redstone path to the TNT with a lever to activate it.
 * 4) Put a lure at the top, and ask someone to go get it. When they get to the top, pull the lever.