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 bounding box. Drain or section the monument, funnel guardians into a kill tube, and one-hit them with a Looting III sword for the best combined XP and prismarine farm in the game.
How it works
- Guardians spawn only in water blocks inside the monument's 58x58 bounding box, between Y=39 and the sea floor - nowhere else.
- Java designs drain the whole monument (sand walls + sponges or flying machines), then use bubble columns or flowing water to move guardians to a drop tube.
- Bedrock designs typically section spawn spots with water columns since draining is harder; rates are lower but still strong.
- A 23-block drop leaves guardians at one hit; Looting III multiplies shards and crystals.
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
- Kill the three elder guardians first to stop Mining Fatigue.
- Wall off the monument exterior with sand/gravel and sponge-drain the interior (Java), or section spawn areas in Bedrock.
- Build the collection system: water or bubble columns pushing guardians to a central 1x1 drop chute.
- Stand at the kill spot with Looting III: one sword swing per guardian, XP orbs stream in.
- Route drops to chests and smelt the fish overflow if you want cooked food too.
Rates
Drained Java monument farms are among the fastest XP sources in the game - level 30 in minutes - plus double-chests of prismarine per hour. Bedrock sectioned farms give solid XP and shards at a slower pace.
Tips
- The sponges you need to drain the monument are inside it - dry them in the Nether for instant reuse.
- Guardian lasers hurt: build the kill spot so their line of sight breaks before you arrive.
- Pair with a furnace array: raw cod overflow becomes a solid food supply.