How to farm dripstone in Minecraft

Minecraft’s Dripstone blocks Pointed dripstoneThese are stalagmites and stalactites. (I have a new term!) You may find them in caves. Pointed dripstone stalactites serve two purposes: to farm infinite lava and for defense. Luckily, there’s a way to farm more.

This is how it works Minecraft dripstone farming guide, we’ll explain everything you need to know to start your own stalactite farm.

How do I find dripstone?

In order to farm dripstone, you’ll first need to find some dripstone — specifically, Dripstone blocks Pointed dripstone. Unsurprisingly, the best area to search for dripstone in is the Dripstone cave biome.

Dripstone caves generate underground (starting from about level 0 down to -64) — you’ll know you’re at the right depth when you go from mostly stone to mostly deepslate. This is because Minecraft’s biome generation rules, they also tend to generate inland away from water and ocean biomes.

You’ll rarely find small patches of dripstone in Canyons (ravines), or even rarer, any other type of cave.

Dripstone farming

To start dripstone farming, you’ll need (at least) 1 block of dripstone, 1 pointed dripstoneAnd 1 water bucket.

Image: Microsoft/Mojang via Polygon

The dripstone block should be placed a few blocks higher than the ground. We prefer three, but it is possible to place it as high as seven. The water should be placed on top of and under the pointed dripstone. You’ll see the water dripping along the pointed dripstone stalactite.

And that’s it. You just need patience. There is a roughly 1% chance that the pointed dripstone will grow every time it’s updated with a random tick (about 50 seconds, give or take). That means you’ll get a new block of pointed dripstone every five in-game days or so (about an hour and a half in the real world).

You should only harvest the first pointed dripstone block and the stalagmites below. This leaves you with the original to keep growing.

Dripstone: How do you use it?

Pointed dripstone is a good choice for making dripstone blocks (four pointed dripstone). That means you’ll be able to (slowly) expand your dripstone farm.

Dripstone stalagmites, pointing upwards, cause injury to any object that comes in contact with them. They could be used to make a trap similar to the Tiger Pit. Similar to falling dripstone, it can also cause damage to players and mobs.

Dripstone blocks can also be useful for farming infinite lava. Simply place lava on top and use a cauldron to keep it below.