Heya!:^) Firstly, I thought I'd let you know that I play on the xbox360 and that I have built etho's practical mob system up in my treehouse/base. The landing point for the mobs is at y105.5, they fall 23.5 blocks(efficiency has increased for me since I placed the half slab, but it could be a coincidence) and I have 3 floors of the same etho design which makes the highest floor with expected spawnage at y135...
Now, I read up somewhere that mobs stop spawning for xbox360 edition at y128, which I can conclude isn't true since I'm getting some spawnage in my system which has its lowest spawning floor at y129. However, I don't know for sure if my highest floor gets spawnage, but I do know for sure my bottom and middle floors do.
I'm wondering if I were to add more floors to the top of what I currently have, do u think that those floors would get some spawnage? Also do u know any modifications that I can do to the design to increase efficiency besides adding floors? Or any lil bit of info for that matter that would help the efficiency. Besides obviously lighting up caves and dark spots:^/ TY
Originally when the build height was raised mobs wouldn't spawn above the old build height. I believe they patched that a while ago and mobs should spawn up to the build height (provided the proper conditions have been met). I'm sure someone will correct me if this is wrong, I don't build that high, I'm generally underground.
As InlandSet7 indicated, the issue with mobs not spawning above Y128 was fixed some time ago. You should be able to add a floor, within limits, but keep in mind that any mob that does not have a player within 32 blocks of it for 30 seconds or longer will be more likely to despawn. Also they stop moving about when the player is outside that 32 block distance, so if you don't have something like pistons pushing them off the spawn pads, they will just stand on the spawn pad and not fall. You can counter this by circulating yourself around so that you're within the 32-block distance of all your spawn pads at least once every 30 seconds. Also, be aware that the Xbox 360 does have a mob spawn cap, so once that cap is reached, no more mobs will spawn until after you kill off some to make new room in the cap.
As InlandSet7 indicated, the issue with mobs not spawning above Y128 was fixed some time ago. You should be able to add a floor, within limits, but keep in mind that any mob that does not have a player within 32 blocks of it for 30 seconds or longer will be more likely to despawn. Also they stop moving about when the player is outside that 32 block distance, so if you don't have something like pistons pushing them off the spawn pads, they will just stand on the spawn pad and not fall. You can counter this by circulating yourself around so that you're within the 32-block distance of all your spawn pads at least once every 30 seconds. Also, be aware that the Xbox 360 does have a mob spawn cap, so once that cap is reached, no more mobs will spawn until after you kill off some to make new room in the cap.
Ok. So would having an idle controller stand around within that 32 block radius help?
Ok. So would having an idle controller stand around within that 32 block radius help?
Not sure - I've never tried that one. Can't think of a reason why not though - as long as the mobs that spawn are getting killed off to keep the numbers below the mob cap limit and the drops are being collected (since there is also a cap on the number of drops that can be floating around at any one time). If the cap limits are hit, the new spawns or new drops will just instantly despawn.
Ok. So would having an idle controller stand around within that 32 block radius help?
It should help, effectively that idle controller would act as a second player with similar MOB/spawn rules applying.... in fact if you had a big enough spawn area... you could have the idle player on a circular track in a minecart just to keep all areas active for MOB movement.
Ethos design is good however it has its flaws, and if you are looking for efficiency and maximum mob drop it is not the way to go. This is because the trap relies on the mob to move of the platform and into the water streams, this takes time. You want mobs to die as quickly as possible. LJ257 has a great design that I recommend it is much more resource intensive however you definitely get want you pay for plus more. Here is the link if you want to check it out
It should help, effectively that idle controller would act as a second player with similar MOB/spawn rules applying.... in fact if you had a big enough spawn area... you could have the idle player on a circular track in a minecart just to keep all areas active for MOB movement.
I didnt do the minecart idea, but i did try the idle controller thing. It didnt work THAT great, almost no difference that i could recoginze. Would the minecart movement help? Did i do something wrong? Is this slow efficieny the highest i could expect on the xbox360 version?
Ethos design is good however it has its flaws, and if you are looking for efficiency and maximum mob drop it is not the way to go. This is because the trap relies on the mob to move of the platform and into the water streams, this takes time. You want mobs to die as quickly as possible. LJ257 has a great design that I recommend it is much more resource intensive however you definitely get want you pay for plus more. Here is the link if you want to check it out
Thats on pc.... idk if ill get those rate on xbox360. Besides, i modified ethos design to make more spawnining spaces. I like ethos deisgn bcuz it looks like a snowflake/leave of a tree and blends nicely with my treehouse/base
I didnt do the minecart idea, but i did try the idle controller thing. It didnt work THAT great, almost no difference that i could recoginze. Would the minecart movement help? Did i do something wrong? Is this slow efficieny the highest i could expect on the xbox360 version?
It's hard to say without looking at the designs specifically and knowing what the current rate of MOB spawns/drops are.
Another inefficiency may be related to there being other areas outside your MOB spawn area that allow the world cap to be met early by allowing MOB's to spawn and accumulate elsewhere other than at your spawning location.
The trap itself is inefficient, any trap that relies on mobs walking into a water stream, and then being funneled to a kill zone is in efficient in that it takes (X) time for the mob to be killed. Some mobs will be more then happy to make that quick, while many others will linger in the trap for along time, be it just standing around, or fighting water currents ect....
They are great at first but once one starts looking at efficiency they really ought to move to the next level of mob farming, and that means a lot more resources and time to construct such traps. I personally am a fan of an encased enderman design. The two main advantages here is that 'distance' from the player doesn't play such a key roll, ie 32 block spawns will still work as the mob doesn't need to move, in fact one can safely build upto 128 blocks away and still function normally as a mob that is falling will not despawn. Mobs simply spawn, and are pushed to their death, which brings up the second advantage,and that is that mobs will die very quickly after spawning thus allowing more mobs to spawn in the next cycle. But as I said it takes a lot more resources to construct, as well as time. They are generally NOT spider friendly as the areas for mobs to spawn won't allow them to spawn, however they can safely handle endermen at 44 blocks fall height.
I didnt do the minecart idea, but i did try the idle controller thing. It didnt work THAT great, almost no difference that i could recoginze. Would the minecart movement help? Did i do something wrong? Is this slow efficieny the highest i could expect on the xbox360 version?
As Cire360 points out, the Etho design is not the most efficient one, particularly since the mob AI was improved... making them more reluctant to just dive off the spawn pads into the water. This improved AI was an advance first made on the PC, so it's a little unfair to grouse about the Xbox 360 in this regard. The only difference between the performance of the trap on the Xbox vs. the PC would really would be whether or not you're killing the mobs fast enough to avoid hitting the 360's overall world mob cap. If you're killing them fast enough, you'll never hit it and it won't be a factor. The mobs not moving at more than a 32-block distance is the same on the PC.
If what you really want is greater efficiency, you'll should at least consider changing to a more efficient design... one that accounts for the improved AI of mobs overall. Personally, I find the Ethos design more than adequate to meet my needs for both mob drops and XP.
Beyond the mob cap difference between the PC vs. Console, it is unlikely to improve the efficiency of the mob trap much more than it already does without changing design. Etho has even stated that in one of his video's. Especially when the new updates have come out for the PC.
So the most efficient designs happen to be with pistons. I myself use something similar in concept to an enderman trap. Although not so compact in the redstone. Granted JL's video makes use of something we have recently gotten, it is possible to make it in the very least. Mine involves a ring design I made myself. Which is a bit more complex to setup than what was shown in the video.
My point remains with what the others have said, that with out changing the design, there is not much that can be done with it to increase overall drops. As it has quite a low start up to begin with. Once it starts though it will at least work through out the day, as long as things are light up around the trap well enough or made high enough in order to not count lower levels spawning space.
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My First World, always getting back to is a pleasure I enjoy with each new update that brings in more things to add in.
Which mob system? JL's is in the above video link, and Etho's well is on his channel. note that I don't know where to find it since it was in his LP series. A mob tower made of snow...
Etho's is just a basic spawning pad type that is based on mobs walking off the platform.
Mine does not have a link. Like I mentioned it was made myself, and I don't do videos. Not my interest. It is based off an enderman design before trip wires were put in, I added a water channel below that flows to middle and drops them, as well reduced height so enderman don't spawn. Mine doesn't spawn spiders due to another ring relatively close to the piston pads.
Easier to know which you are referring to when you specify, since there are a few being talked about here.
Now, I read up somewhere that mobs stop spawning for xbox360 edition at y128, which I can conclude isn't true since I'm getting some spawnage in my system which has its lowest spawning floor at y129. However, I don't know for sure if my highest floor gets spawnage, but I do know for sure my bottom and middle floors do.
I'm wondering if I were to add more floors to the top of what I currently have, do u think that those floors would get some spawnage? Also do u know any modifications that I can do to the design to increase efficiency besides adding floors? Or any lil bit of info for that matter that would help the efficiency. Besides obviously lighting up caves and dark spots:^/ TY
Ok. So would having an idle controller stand around within that 32 block radius help?
Not sure - I've never tried that one. Can't think of a reason why not though - as long as the mobs that spawn are getting killed off to keep the numbers below the mob cap limit and the drops are being collected (since there is also a cap on the number of drops that can be floating around at any one time). If the cap limits are hit, the new spawns or new drops will just instantly despawn.
It should help, effectively that idle controller would act as a second player with similar MOB/spawn rules applying.... in fact if you had a big enough spawn area... you could have the idle player on a circular track in a minecart just to keep all areas active for MOB movement.
I didnt do the minecart idea, but i did try the idle controller thing. It didnt work THAT great, almost no difference that i could recoginze. Would the minecart movement help? Did i do something wrong? Is this slow efficieny the highest i could expect on the xbox360 version?
Thats on pc.... idk if ill get those rate on xbox360. Besides, i modified ethos design to make more spawnining spaces. I like ethos deisgn bcuz it looks like a snowflake/leave of a tree and blends nicely with my treehouse/base
It's hard to say without looking at the designs specifically and knowing what the current rate of MOB spawns/drops are.
Another inefficiency may be related to there being other areas outside your MOB spawn area that allow the world cap to be met early by allowing MOB's to spawn and accumulate elsewhere other than at your spawning location.
They are great at first but once one starts looking at efficiency they really ought to move to the next level of mob farming, and that means a lot more resources and time to construct such traps. I personally am a fan of an encased enderman design. The two main advantages here is that 'distance' from the player doesn't play such a key roll, ie 32 block spawns will still work as the mob doesn't need to move, in fact one can safely build upto 128 blocks away and still function normally as a mob that is falling will not despawn. Mobs simply spawn, and are pushed to their death, which brings up the second advantage,and that is that mobs will die very quickly after spawning thus allowing more mobs to spawn in the next cycle. But as I said it takes a lot more resources to construct, as well as time. They are generally NOT spider friendly as the areas for mobs to spawn won't allow them to spawn, however they can safely handle endermen at 44 blocks fall height.
As Cire360 points out, the Etho design is not the most efficient one, particularly since the mob AI was improved... making them more reluctant to just dive off the spawn pads into the water. This improved AI was an advance first made on the PC, so it's a little unfair to grouse about the Xbox 360 in this regard. The only difference between the performance of the trap on the Xbox vs. the PC would really would be whether or not you're killing the mobs fast enough to avoid hitting the 360's overall world mob cap. If you're killing them fast enough, you'll never hit it and it won't be a factor. The mobs not moving at more than a 32-block distance is the same on the PC.
If what you really want is greater efficiency, you'll should at least consider changing to a more efficient design... one that accounts for the improved AI of mobs overall. Personally, I find the Ethos design more than adequate to meet my needs for both mob drops and XP.
So the most efficient designs happen to be with pistons. I myself use something similar in concept to an enderman trap. Although not so compact in the redstone. Granted JL's video makes use of something we have recently gotten, it is possible to make it in the very least. Mine involves a ring design I made myself. Which is a bit more complex to setup than what was shown in the video.
My point remains with what the others have said, that with out changing the design, there is not much that can be done with it to increase overall drops. As it has quite a low start up to begin with. Once it starts though it will at least work through out the day, as long as things are light up around the trap well enough or made high enough in order to not count lower levels spawning space.
Which mob system? JL's is in the above video link, and Etho's well is on his channel. note that I don't know where to find it since it was in his LP series. A mob tower made of snow...
Etho's is just a basic spawning pad type that is based on mobs walking off the platform.
Mine does not have a link. Like I mentioned it was made myself, and I don't do videos. Not my interest. It is based off an enderman design before trip wires were put in, I added a water channel below that flows to middle and drops them, as well reduced height so enderman don't spawn. Mine doesn't spawn spiders due to another ring relatively close to the piston pads.
Easier to know which you are referring to when you specify, since there are a few being talked about here.