Using Redstone dust inside of Minecraft is one of the hardest things to master. Redstone engineering is extremely advanced, and this article will break down the basics to make using Minecraft Redstone dust much easier!
For live expert help every step of the way, join an award-winning virtual Minecraft engineering class for kids and find out how to customize your Minecraft worlds:
What is Redstone in Minecraft?
Redstone is the electrical element inside of Minecraft, and it is an ingredient that can be used to get certain Minecraft mechanisms to operate. Using Redstone, you can create extremely interesting automatic builds and much more. Redstone is one of the most useful and important things to add in advanced builds and projects inside of Minecraft.
What You Can Build with Redstone in Minecraft
Redstone can be complicated at first, so this section will give some ideas for what you can build and create using Redstone!
- Advanced Lighting (uses Redstone dust, Redstone torch, and more)
- Cobblestone Generator (uses water, lava, pistons, and Redstone dust)
- Automatic Farm (uses hoppers, Redstone dust, pistons, and more)
- Automatic Smelter (uses hopper, Redstone dust, and more)
- Automatic Door (uses pistons, repeaters, Redstone dust, and more)
Where Can You Find Redstone?
Redstone is a commodity and the key component to Minecraft machinery, so you need a lot of it to complete projects. After Minecraft’s 1.18 update, Redstone spawns in batches. It is commonly found between Y levels 15 to -63 and spawns much more frequently as you move underground. In 1.19 the best place to find Redstone is at Y level -59. You can check out an advanced tutorial here.
How to Use Redstone
After you gathered Redstone the only thing left is to figure out how to use each material! Here are three key components needed to make any Redstone contraption.
Redstone Wire:
The Redstone wire carries power. Redstone dust can be placed on the ground by right-clicking. Once it is placed it becomes wire. In this state, it has no power, but you can use levers, buttons, tripwires, or pressure places to give the Redstone wire energy.
Redstone Torch:
The Redstone torch is crafted using a stick and a piece of Redstone dust. It will provide power to everything around it and is super important for powering the blocks on and off. You can turn torches on and off using various things, but the picture below shows a smart way to do it. Mix up your Redstone creations with torches!
Redstone Repeater:
Redstone repeaters could be described as advanced Redstone wire. They can extend a wire's range, and add a delay to the circuit (by right-clicking). One downside of the repeater is that it can only transmit in one direction. The picture below shows a torch and a repeater powering on a Redstone lamp!
Cool Minecraft Redstone Builds
Minecraft building is endless so it may be super overwhelming to figure out where to start. The list below compiles three awesome Redstone builds to use inside your own Minecraft server.
1. Redstone Auto Wheat Farm
Let’s face it… farming inside of Minecraft is pretty time-consuming. With Redstone, you can build an automatic farm and cut out a lot of hassle. This build is simple and can be completed soon after your first mining mission.
2. Redstone Plane
Ever downloaded a mod to add planes inside of Minecraft? Well, you do not need that mod if you try out this contraption. This plane uses pistons, Redstone, and honey blocks to travel across the sky with ease. It does not take many supplies and it can travel in two different directions.
3. Redstone TNT Miner
Ugh! We have to go mining again. Well, look no further as we can dig an entire cave ourselves…automatically! This build duplicates TNT, ignites it, and drops it from above. This can get you all the way down to bedrock in a fraction of the time. With the caves and cliffs update this can even help you discover new caves and creatures.
Try Minecraft Redstone Engineering
In this blog, you learned about the basics of Redstone, how to find it, and how to use it! Up next, learn about custom Minecraft skies.
To dive into more Redstone Minecraft creating, join our live online Minecraft Redstone Engineering class that is made specifically for kids! You can also try out our other incredible Minecraft Camps - all led by an expert and designed by professionals from Google, MIT, and Stanford.
Written by Create & Learn instructor Gabrielle Cindric. Gabrielle is a Computer Science student by day and a STEM instructor by night. In her free time, she enjoys playing video games and hanging out with her poodle Bailey and cat Asphalt.
