How to Make a Calibrated Sculk Sensor in Minecraft (1.20)

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Craft a calibrated sculk sensor from 1 sculk sensor and 3 amethyst shards. The calibrated version hears twice as far (16 blocks), recovers three times faster and can be filtered to react to a single type of vibration.

What you need

Sculk sensor x1 (deep dark, Silk Touch)
Amethyst shard x3
Crafting table

Step by step

Get a sculk sensor: mine one in the deep dark or an ancient city with a Silk Touch hoe.
Gather three amethyst shards: harvest amethyst clusters in an amethyst geode - a Fortune pickaxe multiplies the yield.
Craft it: place the sculk sensor in the bottom-center slot of a crafting table and the 3 amethyst shards in the top-center, middle-left and middle-right slots.
Enjoy the upgrades: calibrated sensors detect vibrations 16 blocks away (double the normal 8) and stay active only 10 game ticks instead of 30, so they re-arm three times faster.
Mind the output side: the amethyst-striped side emits no signal - every other side does, and the block below is strongly powered.
Filter by frequency: power the striped side with a redstone signal and the sensor only reacts to vibrations matching that signal strength - strength 5 hears frequency 5, and so on.
Pick your event: every action has a frequency - steps are 1, eating is 8, projectiles land on others - so one lever setting turns the sensor into a doorbell, an intruder alarm or a item-drop detector.
Relay farther: a block of amethyst next to the sensor re-emits detected vibrations to other sensors, extending your wireless redstone network.
Move it safely: break it with a Silk Touch hoe or it drops only 5 experience.

Java vs Bedrock

Crafting, range and filtering work identically in Java and Bedrock. Both editions got calibrated sculk sensors in the same Trails & Tales update, including the 16-block range and 10-tick active phase.

Versions: Added in 1.20 (23w12a). The range doubled to 16 blocks in 23w14a and the active phase shortened to 10 ticks in 23w17a, both before release - calibrated sensors have behaved the same ever since.

Frequently asked questions

What is the calibrated sculk sensor recipe in Minecraft?

One sculk sensor in the middle of a crafting table with amethyst shards above it, to its left and to its right - three shards total.

What does a calibrated sculk sensor do in Minecraft?

It detects vibrations up to 16 blocks away (versus 8), re-arms in 10 ticks (versus 30) and can be filtered: powering its amethyst side with a redstone signal makes it listen only to the vibration frequency matching that signal strength.

How do you filter a calibrated sculk sensor?

Feed a redstone signal into the striped amethyst side. The signal strength selects the frequency: steps are frequency 1, placing a block 2, eating 8, and so on - the sensor ignores everything else while powered.