I had posted a few months ago and got some good suggestions, but none panned out.
The trap: 50 wide x 90 deep x 6 high with a glass ceiling for viewing. Water canals push mobs to central channel which pushes them to a lava grinder. Based on a popular SMP design with water canals, lava grinder, etc. Its built on the diamond layer. Here is my map if you want to download: http://www.nootron.com/minecraft/World1.zip
The issue: hardly anything spawns. I might see 4-8 mobs spawn, then the trap quickly becomes empty. I can travel a great deal away from the trap, or switch difficulty to peaceful then back, with mixed results. The bottom line is nothing spawns in the damn thing :sad.gif:
Before you reply:
- the surface is lit up with 1000+ torches. in all directions, probably 150ish blocks from trap
- All caves are full explored, lit up and/or blocked off. there may be one or two tiny areas i havent explored
- F3 shows absolutely nothing but maybe a few slimes, and the trap is empty
- I am 24+ blocks away from trap.
- Ive tried sitting 24 blocks above the trap, behind the trap, etc.
- uninstalling, reinstalling minecraft
Please, any experts out there who can help me diagnose. Can spawn rates change based on the Z-axis location of the trap? Can different computers cause diff spawn rates? Can the x/y location of the trap on the world map change the spawn rate?
There is a shaft in the center of the trap that leads upwards, it is lit by torchs.
I blocked this off, switched to hard and then the trap had 30+ mobs in it when you stand at the collection point.
Thanks steve. I actually put that shaft there to test standing above the trap rather than in front of it. The light level at mob spawning level is still low enough to spawn mobs.
I have never seen 30 mobs in my trap, so this is evidence that its computer-based perhaps?
At most i will see 15-20 which quickly dwindles to 0-4 mobs. I can go from peaceful to any setting, exit the game completely, whatever, next to no mobs will spawn.
Because you built it at Diamond layer all the caves and dungeons within an area of it will hinder it's spawning. Mobs sometimes will also only spawn on the boundries as already mentioned in this thread.
The best place to build a mob trap in my opinion is over the ocean, in the sky, and as flat as possible (Not a mob tower as much as mob plains.)
I've been struggling with a trap/grinder for a week or so.
It seems that all the mob spawning science that had been accumulated prior to 1.4 went out the window with that patch. I've been googling (why is the search feature disabled?) a lot and can't find any verified info.
What I want to know, now that we have 1.4_01:
1 - Is the 24 block no-spawn zone still in effect?
1a - If so, is it a cylinder or a sphere?
2 - What's the max number of mobs at a given time?
2a - How many of those can be passives?
3 - What is the maximum distance at which a mob can spawn?
4 - do mobs spawn/despawn/respawn continuously or does spawning only happen at certain "times" of day?
Thanks for the tips guys. If you read the OP, you'll see ive taken care of all the basics.
its completely dark, all caves within 200 block radius are explored and lit, the surface has over 1000 torches to light up a 200+ block radius as well. Mobs (hostile) simply cannot spawn anywhere but in the trap when im anywhere near it.
The basic issue is that they do not spawn there, or they do for a very short time and then its empty.
My irrational fear here is:
Its my computer or somehow specific to my setup and other people's traps are working fine
My map is broken
Mobs spawn more/less frequently in certain areas and my trap happens to be in a terrible spot
Mob traps dont' work well when near bedrock.
I really have no other ideas as to why my trap sucks. Its not the greatest trap, but its a solid build.
Thanks for the tips guys. If you read the OP, you'll see ive taken care of all the basics.
its completely dark, all caves within 200 block radius are explored and lit, the surface has over 1000 torches to light up a 200+ block radius as well. Mobs (hostile) simply cannot spawn anywhere but in the trap when im anywhere near it.
The basic issue is that they do not spawn there, or they do for a very short time and then its empty.
My irrational fear here is:
Its my computer or somehow specific to my setup and other people's traps are working fine
I thought I read something about mob spawning having been changed so that if you stay in one place for a while, the mobs will eventually spawn extremely far out, and not despawn from there
My map is broken
Probably not.
Mobs spawn more/less frequently in certain areas and my trap happens to be in a terrible spot
There used to be this thing where the 0,0 chunk was the best location, but that is not true anymore
Mob traps dont' work well when near bedrock.
Having them by bedrock is usually better, because there's no caves beneath to worry about
I really have no other ideas as to why my trap sucks. Its not the greatest trap, but its a solid build.
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I've been struggling with a trap/grinder for a week or so.
It seems that all the mob spawning science that had been accumulated prior to 1.4 went out the window with that patch. I've been googling (why is the search feature disabled?) a lot and can't find any verified info.
What I want to know, now that we have 1.4_01:
1 - Is the 24 block no-spawn zone still in effect?
1a - If so, is it a cylinder or a sphere?
2 - What's the max number of mobs at a given time?
2a - How many of those can be passives?
3 - What is the maximum distance at which a mob can spawn?
4 - do mobs spawn/despawn/respawn continuously or does spawning only happen at certain "times" of day?
1 - Yes;sphere
2 - 180;30
3 - 100 blocks away from you, it has to be within 50 blocks of you to not de-spawn after 20< seconds.
4 - At night, they spawn on the surface, but they spawn all the time as long as the light level is under 7.
To the OP
Here is a fix.
Make another room, at level 49, then make a 34 wide room and a 80 long room. Every three wide have a canal going to the center that is two blocks deep. The center canal goes to a drop pit, which goes to a drowning trap.
Looks like this:
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Official KillingToaster's () given: 1
If you earn one, you can not give it away.
Thanks for the tips guys. If you read the OP, you'll see ive taken care of all the basics.
its completely dark, all caves within 200 block radius are explored and lit, the surface has over 1000 torches to light up a 200+ block radius as well. Mobs (hostile) simply cannot spawn anywhere but in the trap when im anywhere near it.
The basic issue is that they do not spawn there, or they do for a very short time and then its empty.
My irrational fear here is:
Its my computer or somehow specific to my setup and other people's traps are working fine
I thought I read something about mob spawning having been changed so that if you stay in one place for a while, the mobs will eventually spawn extremely far out, and not despawn from there
Computer speed dosent really matter.
My map is broken
Probably not.
No
Mobs spawn more/less frequently in certain areas and my trap happens to be in a terrible spot
There used to be this thing where the 0,0 chunk was the best location, but that is not true anymore
Unlucky?
Mob traps dont' work well when near bedrock.
Having them by bedrock is usually better, because there's no caves beneath to worry about
I make mine in the sky
I really have no other ideas as to why my trap sucks. Its not the greatest trap, but its a solid build.
My mob traps normally work with high efficiency if I do them right.
Before that they would jump off almost anything and into water without thinking about it. Now they tend to stay away from any ledge that's 2 more blocks high and will avoid water if they are not chasing something.
An easy way to see this is to make a small tap above ground and make it all grass, then light it all up with torches. At night you'll be able to see how they react to the water and ledges. Animals should have the same AI as the other mobs.
From what Iv seen since 1.3 all mobs will not step out over a ledge unless they are pushed or by a rare random chance.
The issue is not that mobs spawn but dont get into the grinder. The issue is that they don't spawn nearly as often as they should given the circumstances. Alas, sometimes there are zero mobs spawning.
The mob trap is basically Kiershar's design. Pads surrounded by canals that all lead mobs to a central channel and then into a grinder, etc. It works great when there are mobs in it, but that is the problem. No mobs :sad.gif:
The trap: 50 wide x 90 deep x 6 high with a glass ceiling for viewing. Water canals push mobs to central channel which pushes them to a lava grinder. Based on a popular SMP design with water canals, lava grinder, etc. Its built on the diamond layer. Here is my map if you want to download: http://www.nootron.com/minecraft/World1.zip
The issue: hardly anything spawns. I might see 4-8 mobs spawn, then the trap quickly becomes empty. I can travel a great deal away from the trap, or switch difficulty to peaceful then back, with mixed results. The bottom line is nothing spawns in the damn thing :sad.gif:
Before you reply:
- the surface is lit up with 1000+ torches. in all directions, probably 150ish blocks from trap
- All caves are full explored, lit up and/or blocked off. there may be one or two tiny areas i havent explored
- F3 shows absolutely nothing but maybe a few slimes, and the trap is empty
- I am 24+ blocks away from trap.
- Ive tried sitting 24 blocks above the trap, behind the trap, etc.
- uninstalling, reinstalling minecraft
Please, any experts out there who can help me diagnose. Can spawn rates change based on the Z-axis location of the trap? Can different computers cause diff spawn rates? Can the x/y location of the trap on the world map change the spawn rate?
Oh. Interesting. do you have any more info on this? Where did you hear of it?
Do you mean any chunk or, say, below the world (i.e. bedrock)
Anyone care to take a look at my world and help me diagnose?
I blocked this off, switched to hard and then the trap had 30+ mobs in it when you stand at the collection point.
I have never seen 30 mobs in my trap, so this is evidence that its computer-based perhaps?
At most i will see 15-20 which quickly dwindles to 0-4 mobs. I can go from peaceful to any setting, exit the game completely, whatever, next to no mobs will spawn.
My other one has defective canals.
The third doesn't work at all.
The best place to build a mob trap in my opinion is over the ocean, in the sky, and as flat as possible (Not a mob tower as much as mob plains.)
It seems that all the mob spawning science that had been accumulated prior to 1.4 went out the window with that patch. I've been googling (why is the search feature disabled?) a lot and can't find any verified info.
What I want to know, now that we have 1.4_01:
1 - Is the 24 block no-spawn zone still in effect?
1a - If so, is it a cylinder or a sphere?
2 - What's the max number of mobs at a given time?
2a - How many of those can be passives?
3 - What is the maximum distance at which a mob can spawn?
4 - do mobs spawn/despawn/respawn continuously or does spawning only happen at certain "times" of day?
its completely dark, all caves within 200 block radius are explored and lit, the surface has over 1000 torches to light up a 200+ block radius as well. Mobs (hostile) simply cannot spawn anywhere but in the trap when im anywhere near it.
The basic issue is that they do not spawn there, or they do for a very short time and then its empty.
My irrational fear here is:
Its my computer or somehow specific to my setup and other people's traps are working fine
My map is broken
Mobs spawn more/less frequently in certain areas and my trap happens to be in a terrible spot
Mob traps dont' work well when near bedrock.
I really have no other ideas as to why my trap sucks. Its not the greatest trap, but its a solid build.
Made for all the Portal 2 fans out there.
1 - Yes;sphere
2 - 180;30
3 - 100 blocks away from you, it has to be within 50 blocks of you to not de-spawn after 20< seconds.
4 - At night, they spawn on the surface, but they spawn all the time as long as the light level is under 7.
To the OP
Here is a fix.
Make another room, at level 49, then make a 34 wide room and a 80 long room. Every three wide have a canal going to the center that is two blocks deep. The center canal goes to a drop pit, which goes to a drowning trap.
Looks like this:
Official KillingToaster's (
If you earn one, you can not give it away.
My mob traps normally work with high efficiency if I do them right.
Before that they would jump off almost anything and into water without thinking about it. Now they tend to stay away from any ledge that's 2 more blocks high and will avoid water if they are not chasing something.
An easy way to see this is to make a small tap above ground and make it all grass, then light it all up with torches. At night you'll be able to see how they react to the water and ledges. Animals should have the same AI as the other mobs.
From what Iv seen since 1.3 all mobs will not step out over a ledge unless they are pushed or by a rare random chance.
http://www.nootron.com/minecraft/World1.zip
The issue is not that mobs spawn but dont get into the grinder. The issue is that they don't spawn nearly as often as they should given the circumstances. Alas, sometimes there are zero mobs spawning.
The mob trap is basically Kiershar's design. Pads surrounded by canals that all lead mobs to a central channel and then into a grinder, etc. It works great when there are mobs in it, but that is the problem. No mobs :sad.gif: