How to Make a Sand Generator

Say you need some sand or gravel, but making the trek to find some is too dangerous or time consuming. Thanks to a piston duplication bug, you can have all the sand or gravel you want any time.

Place two water sources and surround the length of the water with blocks.

Make the outside edges 3 blocks high.

Place sticky pistons facing downwards along the walls.

Place sand or gravel below the pistons.

Place a lever at the front and run redstone wiring to the top of the structure.

Place the redstone on the two blocks between the pistons.

Hold right-click down on the lever and machine will sporadically spit out sand or gravel.

Within 10 seconds or so, you'll have stacks of blocks at your disposal.

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How to Make a Piston Elevator

Repeatedly climbing up stairs or ladders can be very time consuming and finger-straining. With the power of pistons, you can make an elevator that is capable of taking you from bedrock to the height limit in 12 seconds. Simply flip a lever and you'll arrive at your destination in seconds.

First, dig one block down and place a piston facing upwards in the hole. Place a lever and connect it to the piston with redstone. This piston is your starting platform.

Place another piston facing upwards diagonally behind the starting piston.

Place a sticky piston behind the piston facing it.

Place two blocks beside the two pistons. I used cobblestone, but any type of block would work here.

Repeat this alternating pattern of pistons and blocks as high as you want the elevator to go.

On the side, place two blocks with a redstone repeater facing towards the lever. The repeater should be next to the upwards facing piston. The two blocks can be any solid block, except glass.

Place two repeaters, with one facing the sticky piston and the other behind the blocks placed in the previous step. The repeater facing the sticky piston should be set to the maximum delay.

Connect the repeaters with redstone to the lever in the front.

Mirror the redstone set up on the other side of the elevator, one level above the other side. The structure essentially has a staggered design on each half, with the redstone on each mirroring that of the other side.

Place a repeater leading up a block to the next level. The repeater should be set to a 1 tick delay.

The next level should have three repeaters. The left repeater leads up to the next level and has a 1 tick delay. The center repeater leads to the same block-repeater-block layout beside the piston. The right repeater faces the sticky piston and has a 1 tick delay. Alternate the first floor and second floor layouts all the way up the elevator on both sides.

Place a repeater on the left side to give it a slight delay behind the lower side.

Place a facade in front of the elevator, or else you will fall off. Using glass gives a nice view as you ascend.

Make sure to stand in the center of the two blocks. Flip the lever to go up. Before your first trip up, you should build a pool that you can jump down into from the top. The pistons will stay in place until the lever is turned off. You can alter the design and add in a delay so that a button can be used instead.

How to Make an Automated Cactus Farm

Cactus can be a valuable resource when it comes to building mob traps or making dyes. Farming cactus naturally can be painful and annoying. Luckily, cactus has a special property that allows for easy harvesting. With an automated cactus farm, all you have to do is walk through a door and you'll have all the cactus you need without all the hassle.

Find a strip of land 7 blocks long and 3 blocks wide. Build a wall around the area.

Place a water source in the back left corner.

Place 3 blocks of sand 1 block apart. The current between the sand blocks needs to look as it does in the picture.

Make sure that the current all runs to the same block.

Now place the cactus on the sand blocks. Place blocks diagonally above the cactus. When the cactus grow, they will come into contact with the side of the wall and pop themselves off because cactus cannot touch any other blocks.

Eventually, cactus blocks will pop off and the water current will bring them straight to the entrance for you.

If you need more cactus, simply duplicate the structure you made directly over the existing one as many times as you want. The cactus blocks will fall all the way down to the collection area for you to pick up.

Within minutes, you'll have all the cactus you could need.