Best XP Farms in Minecraft [1.21] — Ranked by Speed

Experience points fuel enchanting, anvil repairs, and Mending gear in Minecraft. The right XP farm saves hours of grinding and lets you enchant everything in your inventory without thinking twice. This guide ranks every practical XP farm design in Minecraft 1.21 from fastest to slowest, covering build difficulty, required resources, and real XP output numbers.

Use the XP level calculator to figure out exactly how many points you need for a specific enchanting level, then pick the farm that gets you there fastest.

How XP Works in Minecraft

Before ranking farms, a few mechanics that affect which farm you should build:

• XP orbs must be collected by the player to count. Fully automated farms that kill mobs without player involvement still drop XP orbs, but someone must be nearby to pick them up.
• Mending repairs gear from XP orbs. If you wear Mending gear while collecting XP, some orbs go to repairs instead of your level bar. For pure leveling, unequip Mending items.
• Levels are not linear. Going from level 0 to 30 costs 1,395 XP. Going from level 0 to 50 costs 4,625 XP. Higher levels cost exponentially more per level.
• Enchanting caps at level 30. You never need more than level 30 for the enchanting table. Higher levels are only useful for anvil operations.

The Rankings

1. Raid Farm — ~120,000 XP/Hour

The undisputed champion. Raid farms exploit the village raid mechanic to spawn waves of illagers, which drop massive XP and emerald loot.

How it works: A villager with Bad Omen triggers raids in a confined kill chamber. Ravagers, evokers, pillagers, and vindicators spawn in waves and are funneled into a killing zone. The player deals the final blow (or uses entity cramming) to collect XP.

Build difficulty: Advanced. Requires precise village mechanics, raid trigger timing, and a robust collection system. Typically built 100+ blocks in the air to control mob spawning.

Resources needed:

• Large amounts of building blocks
• Redstone for triggering mechanisms
• A bad omen source (pillager outpost nearby or capturable pillager captain)
• Villager with a bed and workstation

Why it is number one: Raids spawn high-value mobs in rapid succession. Evokers alone drop 10 XP each. A full wave of illagers provides more XP than most farms generate in 10 minutes. The emerald and totem drops are a massive bonus.

Best for: Late-game players who want maximum XP and are comfortable with complex redstone builds.

2. Enderman Farm (End) — ~80,000 XP/Hour

The classic endgame XP farm. Built on the outer End islands, this farm uses an Endermite to lure Endermen into a kill zone.

How it works: An Endermite (spawned by throwing ender pearls) is placed in a minecart on a platform. Endermen aggro on the Endermite and walk off the platform edge, falling to a collection point where the player kills them in one hit with a Sharpness V sword.

Build difficulty: Intermediate. The hardest part is reaching the End and spawning the Endermite. The actual farm structure is straightforward.

Resources needed:

• Ender pearls (many, to spawn the Endermite)
• Minecart and rail
• Building blocks for the platform (at least 40 blocks from the main island)
• Name tag for the Endermite
• Sword with Sharpness V and Looting III

Why it ranks here: Endermen give 5 XP each and spawn incredibly fast in the End (they are the only mob that spawns on End islands). With Looting III, you also get massive amounts of ender pearls. The farm requires active participation (swinging your sword) but the XP rate is unmatched by any single-mob farm.

Best for: Players who have beaten the Ender Dragon and want a fast, reliable XP source. This is the most commonly recommended farm for good reason.

3. Guardian Farm — ~60,000 XP/Hour

High output, high effort to build. Guardian farms are built at ocean monuments and exploit guardian spawning mechanics.

How it works: Guardians spawn in and around ocean monuments. A properly built farm drains the monument area, funnels guardians into a kill chamber using water flows, and drops them to a kill height for the player to finish.

Build difficulty: Advanced. Draining an ocean monument is one of the most labor-intensive projects in Minecraft. Expect 10-20 hours of draining work using sponges or sand.

Resources needed:

• Sponges (from the monument itself or elder guardians)
• Thousands of building blocks for walls
• Water buckets and sand for draining
• Hoppers and chests for collection
• Potions of Water Breathing and Night Vision for construction

Why it ranks here: Once built, guardian farms produce XP at extraordinary rates. Guardians give 10 XP each, and the spawn rate inside a drained monument is very high. The farm also produces prismarine, sea lanterns, and fish.

Best for: Players who want a “set and forget” XP source and are willing to invest the massive upfront building effort. The monument itself becomes a satisfying base location.

4. Blaze Farm (Nether Fortress) — ~40,000 XP/Hour

The Nether staple. Built around a blaze spawner inside a Nether fortress, this farm funnels blazes into a kill point.

How it works: A blaze spawner generates blazes in a small area. Build a collection chamber around the spawner using blocks that funnel blazes (they can fly, so enclosure is important) to a drop chute. Blazes fall to a point where 1-2 sword hits kill them.

Build difficulty: Intermediate. The Nether environment makes building dangerous (lava, ghasts, other hostile mobs). The farm itself is not complex, but surviving construction is the real challenge.

Resources needed:

• Fireproof building blocks (cobblestone, stone bricks)
• Glass panes (blazes cannot fit through 1-block gaps easily)
• Hoppers and chests
• Fire resistance potions strongly recommended
• Good armor for building in the fortress

Why it ranks here: Blazes give 10 XP each and spawners produce them consistently. The farm doubles as a blaze rod source, which is essential for brewing and End portal prep. The Nether location means easy access once you have a portal nearby.

XP optimization: Use a Looting III sword. While Looting does not increase blaze rod drops (always 0-1), it does affect XP. Some players use pistons to push blazes to a kill point where a single hit finishes them.

Best for: Mid-game players who need blaze rods anyway. Building a blaze farm solves two problems at once.

5. Sculk XP Farm — ~30,000 XP/Hour

The sneaky option introduced in 1.19. Sculk catalysts convert mob deaths into sculk blocks, which drop XP when broken.

How it works: Kill mobs near a sculk catalyst. The catalyst converts nearby blocks into sculk-related blocks. Break the sculk blocks with a Silk Touch hoe (does not collect XP) to stockpile them, or break without Silk Touch to collect XP immediately. Sculk veins and sculk itself drop 1 XP each.

Build difficulty: Beginner to intermediate. You can combine a sculk catalyst with any existing mob farm. The catalyst just needs to be near where mobs die.

Resources needed:

• Sculk catalyst (found in ancient cities or dropped by the Warden)
• An existing mob farm (any type)
• Hoe for breaking sculk blocks quickly

Why it ranks here: The sculk system provides a unique advantage. You can “bank” XP by letting sculk spread, then harvest it all at once when you need levels. This decouples XP generation from XP collection. The rate depends on how fast your underlying mob farm kills things.

Best for: Players who already have a mob farm and want to add XP banking. Excellent for storing XP without risk of losing levels to death.

6. Mob Spawner Farm (Dungeon) — ~20,000 XP/Hour

The beginner classic. Found in dungeons as zombie, skeleton, or spider spawners, these farms require minimal resources to build.

How it works: Build a water flow system inside the dungeon that pushes mobs from the spawner to a drop chute or collection point. Mobs accumulate and the player kills them for XP. Keep the area lit except for the spawner zone.

Build difficulty: Beginner. One of the simplest farms in the game. Water, some blocks, and a hole are all you need.

Resources needed:

• Water buckets (2-3)
• Building blocks (~30)
• Torches (for controlling spawns)
• Basic tools

Why it ranks here: Spawner farms are accessible to everyone. You can build one on day 2 of a world if you find a dungeon. The XP rate is modest compared to endgame farms but significant for early-mid game. Zombie spawner farms are especially good because zombies drop iron, carrots, potatoes, and equipment. Skeleton spawners provide bones and arrows.

Best for: Early-game players. If you find a dungeon spawner, build a farm around it immediately. It will serve you until you build something bigger. Check our coordinates guide for tips on using F3 to locate spawners by sound.

7. Piglin Bartering Farm — ~15,000 XP/Hour

Gold in, XP out. Piglins accept gold ingots and barter random items back, giving XP in the process.

How it works: Build a chamber in the Nether with piglins trapped inside. Use a hopper or dispenser to feed gold ingots to them. Each barter gives a small amount of XP. The bartered items (ender pearls, obsidian, iron nuggets, etc.) are collected via hoppers.

Build difficulty: Beginner to intermediate. The farm is simple but requires a gold source. A gold farm in the Nether roof is the typical prerequisite.

Resources needed:

• Gold ingots (large quantity, requires a gold farm)
• Building blocks
• Hoppers and dispensers
• Name tags for piglins

Why it ranks here: The XP per barter is small, but piglins barter quickly and you can run multiple piglins simultaneously. The real value is the bartered loot (ender pearls, obsidian, gravel, nether quartz) plus XP as a bonus. Not a pure XP farm, but a solid XP supplement.

Best for: Players who already have a gold farm running and want passive XP plus useful barter items.

8. Kelp/Bamboo Smelting Farm — ~10,000 XP/Hour

Fully automatic, zero effort. Smelting farms use automatic crop harvesting to generate XP through furnaces.

How it works: An automatic kelp farm (or bamboo farm) feeds dried kelp blocks as fuel and kelp as the smelted item into a furnace array. Each smelted item stores 0.1 XP in the furnace. When you pull a smelted item out of the furnace (or a hopper chain pulls it into your inventory), all stored XP is released at once.

Build difficulty: Intermediate. Requires automatic kelp/bamboo harvesting, hopper chains, and a furnace array. No redstone wizardry needed, just careful hopper routing.

Resources needed:

• Kelp (plant near water, harvests automatically with pistons)
• Smokers or furnaces (many, for higher throughput)
• Hoppers (lots)
• Chests for output

Why it ranks here: The XP rate seems low, but this farm runs while you are completely AFK. Leave it running overnight and come back to thousands of stored XP. The output is also dried kelp, useful as fuel. Zero interaction required once built.

Best for: AFK XP collection. Leave this running while you do real-life tasks. Come back and extract banked XP.

9. Cactus Smelting Farm — ~8,000 XP/Hour

The desert variant of smelting XP. Works identically to the kelp smelter but uses cactus as the input item.

How it works: Cacti grow automatically and break when a block is placed adjacent. Use fence posts or blocks next to cacti to auto-harvest, funnel the dropped cactus into furnaces via hoppers, and smelt into green dye. Each cactus smelted stores 0.2 XP in the furnace (double the kelp rate per item).

Build difficulty: Beginner to intermediate. Cactus farms are some of the simplest automatic farms. Place cactus on sand, put a block next to it, and the cactus breaks itself as it grows.

Resources needed:

• Cactus (from desert biomes)
• Sand blocks
• Furnaces
• Hoppers and chests
• Any block to trigger cactus breaking

Why it ranks here: Cactus gives more XP per smelt than kelp (0.2 vs 0.1) but grows slower. The farm is simpler to build than a kelp farm but produces less throughput. The green dye output is useful for trading with shepherd villagers.

Best for: Players who want a simple, hands-off XP farm without dealing with water mechanics for kelp.

10. Furnace Ore Smelting — ~5,000 XP/Hour

The most basic XP source. Mine ores, smelt them, collect XP.

How it works: Mining coal, iron, gold, and copper ore and smelting them in furnaces gives XP per item. Iron ore gives 0.7 XP per smelt, gold gives 1.0 XP. Stockpile ore blocks with Silk Touch, then smelt in bulk for large XP releases.

Build difficulty: None. Just furnaces.

Resources needed:

• Ores from mining
• Fuel (coal, wood, kelp blocks)
• Furnaces

Why it ranks here: This is what you do before you have a real farm. Mining at Y -59 for diamonds generates iron, gold, and copper ore as byproducts. Smelt them all for steady XP. Not efficient, but it is something.

Best for: Early game XP when you have nothing else. Transition to a spawner farm or better as soon as possible.

Quick Comparison Table

Rank	Farm	XP/Hour	Build Difficulty	Game Phase
1	Raid Farm	~120,000	Advanced	Late game
2	Enderman Farm	~80,000	Intermediate	Post-Dragon
3	Guardian Farm	~60,000	Advanced	Late game
4	Blaze Farm	~40,000	Intermediate	Mid game
5	Sculk XP Farm	~30,000	Intermediate	Mid-late game
6	Mob Spawner Farm	~20,000	Beginner	Early game
7	Piglin Bartering	~15,000	Intermediate	Mid game
8	Kelp Smelter	~10,000	Intermediate	Early-mid game
9	Cactus Smelter	~8,000	Beginner	Early game
10	Furnace Smelting	~5,000	None	Day 1

Which Farm Should You Build First?

If You Just Started a World

Build a mob spawner farm the moment you find a dungeon. It costs almost nothing, gives reliable XP, and drops useful items. Use this to reach level 30 for enchanting.

If You Have Beaten the Ender Dragon

Build an Enderman farm in the End. It is the single best investment of building time for XP. You will never worry about enchanting levels again, and the ender pearl supply is limitless.

If You Want AFK XP

Build a kelp smelter. It runs without you. Come back after an hour and extract the stored XP. Combine with a Mending gear set for passive repairs.

If You Want Maximum Everything

Build a raid farm. It produces more XP than anything else while also generating emeralds, totems of undying, crossbows, and the Hero of the Village effect for discounted villager trades.

Tips for Maximizing XP

Looting III Matters

Looting III does not directly increase XP drops from mobs, but in farms where you kill mobs manually, it increases item drops which can be traded for additional value. For Enderman farms specifically, Looting III triples your ender pearl collection.

Mending Gear Absorbs XP

If you wear Mending armor or hold a Mending tool while farming XP, orbs repair your gear before adding to your level bar. To level up purely, switch to non-Mending gear. To repair gear, wear everything that needs fixing. Plan your enchanting and repair sessions around farm visits.

Server Simulation Distance

On multiplayer servers, lower simulation distances mean farms work only when you are very close. Build your primary XP farm near your base or a common AFK spot. Check the server simulation distance setting and position yourself accordingly.

Combine Farms

Place a sculk catalyst near any mob farm to bank bonus XP in sculk blocks. Build a cactus or kelp smelter next to your primary farm for passive bonus XP. Stack multiple XP sources in the same area to maximize returns per AFK session.