Ghast Farm (Tears)
Advanced Java + Bedrock
Produces: Ghast tears for regeneration potions, plus gunpowder - and the Tears music disc if you kill them with their own fireball
Quick answer: Ghasts spawn in soul sand valleys, nether wastes and basalt deltas at any light level, needing a 5x5x4 space over a solid block. Build a spawn platform in a soul sand valley, funnel them to a kill chute, and Looting III the tears out.
How it works
- Spawn rules: a solid block below and 5x5 wide x 4 high of free space, at any light level. On Java they spawn in groups of 4 in Nether wastes and soul sand valleys, and singly in basalt deltas; on Bedrock always singly.
- Java quirk: no second ghast spawns within 16 blocks of another in soul sand valleys - spacing is built into the biome.
- Drops: 0-1 ghast tear and 0-2 gunpowder, +0-1 of each per Looting level.
- Style bonus: kill a ghast with its own deflected fireball and it drops the Tears music disc - the same deflect that one-shots it.
- Ghast fireballs are their only attack: protect yourself with walls and glass.
- Fireballs break weak blocks: build the farm from cobblestone or better.
Materials
- A soul sand valley or nether wastes location (flat, away from other spawnable ground)
- Blast-resistant building blocks - cobblestone minimum
- A spawn platform with 5x5 gaps and water-free funnel channels (bubble elevators work in the Nether... so use minecarts, pistons or drop chutes instead - no water in the Nether)
- Hoppers and chests
- Looting III sword for the finish
Build steps
- Scout a soul sand valley with a big flat ceiling-free area - every extra spawnable platform outside your farm is a rival.
- Build the spawn floor: wide platforms with 5-block gaps so every spawnable cell sits inside your walls.
- Funnel spawns: open walls and drop chutes let ghasts drift or fall into a central kill tube.
- Crush or soften them at the tube bottom and finish with Looting III.
- Slab or spawn-proof every surrounding surface - ghast-proofing a valley is most of the work.
- AFK above the farm inside the spawn radius and empty the chests between trips.
Rates
A spawn-proofed valley platform cycles ghast groups steadily; with Looting III expect a tear every few kills plus stacks of gunpowder - regeneration potions stop being a luxury.
Tips
- Regeneration potion = ghast tear + awkward potion - the only potion that heals over time.
- One returned fireball one-shots a ghast and prints the Tears disc: practice your tennis on the farm's overflow.
- Basalt deltas also spawn ghasts, but magma cubes eat the mob cap there - valleys are cleaner.
- Build the AFK spot high: ghasts spawn in mid-air layers too, and a 4-block-tall spawn volume needs headroom.
- Source: minecraft.wiki Ghast.