Automatic Pumpkin and Melon Farm
Beginner Java + Bedrock
Produces: Pumpkins and melons, fully automatically
Quick answer: Pumpkin and melon stems grow a fruit on a random adjacent dirt block. An observer watching that spot fires a piston the moment the fruit appears, breaking it into a hopper. Repeat the module in rows for infinite pumpkins and melons.
How it works
- A mature stem tries to grow a melon or pumpkin in one of its four adjacent blocks; it fails if the chosen block is not empty or the block below is not a dirt-type block (dirt, grass, farmland, podzol, mud, moss block, etc.). The same stem fruits again and again.
- An observer facing the fruit spot detects the fruit appearing and outputs a one-tick pulse: perfect for firing a piston.
- The piston breaks the fruit (melons drop 3-7 slices), and a hopper minecart or hopper line collects it.
- Pumpkin stems need light level 9 or higher and take about 10-30 minutes to fully grow. Bone meal fully grows them but does not produce the fruit instantly.
Materials
- Pumpkin or melon seeds (chest loot, or craft from found fruit)
- Farmland, water to hydrate it, and light (torches or glowstone)
- 1 observer + 1 piston per fruit spot
- Hoppers or a hopper minecart rail below, plus chests
- Building blocks for rows
Build steps
- Till a hydrated farmland row and plant stems with one empty dirt block beside each stem (the fruit spot).
- Place an observer facing each fruit spot.
- Put a piston beside each fruit spot and connect the observer's output to the piston, so it breaks the fruit when it grows.
- Run hoppers or a hopper minecart track under the row into chests.
- Keep light level 9 or higher over the stems, and stack floors vertically for volume.
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Output depends on the design, the version and how much of it you build, so we do not quote an hourly figure.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
- Melon slices make glistering melon slices (healing potions). An apprentice farmer buys 6 pumpkins for 1 emerald, and a journeyman buys 4 melons for 1 emerald.
- Leave only one free block next to each stem so the observer always watches the same spot: the stem only fruits into empty adjacent blocks.
- Jack o'lanterns from pumpkin + torch make great underwater lighting.
- Source: minecraft.wiki Melon, Pumpkin and Trading.