Guardian XP Farm
Advanced Different design per edition
Produces: Prismarine shards, prismarine crystals, fish and massive XP
Quick answer: Guardians spawn in water inside the ocean monument's spawn volume. Clear or divide the water, funnel guardians to a kill chamber, and collect XP, prismarine shards, crystals and fish. Design choice (draining or no-drain) matters more than any single number.
How it works
- Guardians only spawn in ocean monuments, in water blocks inside a 58x24x58 volume, from the monument floor (Y=39) up to about Y=61.
- Many modern designs do not drain the monument: they use soul sand bubble columns to lift guardians into a kill chamber.
- Guardians have 30 HP, so a fall alone needs a 34-block drop to kill; lava over a 12-block drop also works (fall + lava + fire).
- If the AFK spot is near the monument, light, slab or flood nearby caves within 128 blocks so other hostile mobs do not fill the mob cap.
Materials
- Hundreds of sand or gravel for dividing walls (draining approach)
- Sponges from the monument's sponge rooms
- Building blocks, signs, soul sand for bubble columns
- Hoppers, chests, and a Looting III sword
- Conduit or water breathing potions for construction
Build steps
- Choose a design: drain/partition the monument (sponges, walls) or a no-drain soul sand design.
- Build the spawning area with water, and a transport system (downward flowing water or bubble columns) to a kill chamber.
- Kill with a fall of 34 blocks, lava over a 12-block drop, or manually with a sword (guardians have thorns, so bring healing).
- Collect drops with hoppers into chests; the cod can be eaten or traded.
Rates
Output depends on the design, the version and how much of it you build, so we do not quote an hourly figure. Build the layout below, time it for a few minutes in your own world and scale from there.
Tips
- Guardians fit through 1-block holes, so cover gaps above or around the kill spot.
- The wiki notes that guardian thorns damage players who attack with swords; arrows or damage potions avoid it.
- Source: minecraft.wiki Tutorial:Guardian farming.