How to Build a Gold Farm in the Nether in Minecraft

Gold is used for powered rails, golden apples, netherite ingots, bartering with piglins, and gilded blackstone crafting. A Nether-based gold farm produces gold at extreme rates by killing zombified piglins. These mobs spawn everywhere in the Nether's nether wastes biome and can be funneled into kill chambers for massive output. This guide covers the full build process.

Why build a gold farm in the Nether?

• Produces 1,000+ gold ingots per hour with a large design.
• Zombified piglins also drop golden swords and XP when killed by a player.
• Gold is needed for golden apples (healing/PvP), powered rails, and piglin bartering.
• Nether-based designs outperform overworld portal farms by 5 to 10 times.

How zombified piglin spawning works

Zombified piglins spawn on nether wastes biome blocks (netherrack, nether bricks, soul sand in nether wastes) at any light level. They make up a large percentage of the Nether's mob cap. By building a large spawning platform in a nether wastes biome and removing all other spawnable surfaces within 128 blocks, you funnel the entire mob cap into your farm.

Materials list

Item	Quantity	Notes
Building blocks	5,000+	For spawning platforms and perimeter
Slabs	2,000+	Spawn-proofing surrounding area
Magma blocks	varies	Zombified piglins pathfind to magma blocks, alternative kill method
Turtle eggs	4+	Zombified piglins are attracted to turtle eggs and try to stomp them
Trapdoors	varies	Path control
Hoppers	20+	Collection
Chests	10+	Storage
Looting III sword	1	For player-kill XP and increased gold drops

Step-by-step build instructions

Step 1: Find a nether wastes biome

The nether wastes is the classic red netherrack biome. Zombified piglins spawn here abundantly. Avoid crimson forests (hoglin spawns), warped forests (enderman spawns), soul sand valleys (skeletons), and basalt deltas (magma cubes).

Step 2: Choose a Y level

Build the farm at Y=240 or higher in the Nether. This puts you above the nether ceiling, eliminating almost all other spawnable surfaces within 128 blocks. If you cannot build above the ceiling (some servers block it), build at any Y level but spawn-proof a 128-block radius around the farm.

Step 3: Build spawning platforms

Create large flat platforms (at least 21x21 blocks each). Stack 4 to 8 platforms vertically, 4 blocks apart. These are the surfaces where zombified piglins spawn. The more platform area you have, the higher your spawn rate.

Side view (stacked platforms):

  [PLATFORM 4]
       (4 blocks gap)
  [PLATFORM 3]
       (4 blocks gap)
  [PLATFORM 2]
       (4 blocks gap)
  [PLATFORM 1]
       |
  [DROP SHAFT to kill zone]

Step 4: Add turtle eggs as lure

Place turtle eggs on the edges of each platform near the drop shafts. All hostile mobs, including zombified piglins, pathfind toward turtle eggs and attempt to stomp them. This makes the piglins walk toward the edge and fall off. Protect the eggs with trapdoors or place them on blocks that the mobs cannot reach (they still pathfind toward them).

Step 5: Create drop shafts

Cut holes in each platform around the turtle egg positions. Piglins walk toward the eggs, fall through the hole, and drop to the kill zone below. The fall should be 23 blocks (leaves mobs at half a heart for a one-hit kill) or 24+ blocks (kills on impact, but you lose XP).

Step 6: Build the kill zone

At the bottom of the drop shafts, create a collection area. For XP farming, make the drop 23 blocks so piglins survive with minimal health, then kill them with a Looting III sword. For AFK gold farming, increase the drop to 24+ blocks for instant death, and collect items with hoppers.

Step 7: Install collection system

Place hoppers covering the floor of the kill zone, feeding into chests. Gold nuggets (the primary drop) stack to 64, so you need substantial chest storage for long AFK sessions. Gold nuggets combine: 9 nuggets = 1 gold ingot.

Aggro mechanics

Zombified piglins are passive until one is attacked. When you hit one, all zombified piglins within 40 blocks become aggressive for 20 to 40 seconds. In the kill zone, hitting one piglin aggros the others, making them crowd toward you. This does not affect spawning but does make manual killing more efficient since they bunch up for sweeping attacks.

Drop rates

Drop	Rate	With Looting III
Gold nuggets	0 to 1 per kill	0 to 4 per kill
Rotten flesh	0 to 1 per kill	0 to 4 per kill
Gold ingot (rare)	2.5% chance	5.5% chance
Golden sword	8.5% chance	11.5% chance
XP (player kill only)	5 per kill	5 per kill

Common mistakes

• Not spawn-proofing the surrounding area. If other surfaces exist within 128 blocks, mobs spawn there instead of your farm. Slab or light every block in range for maximum rates.
• Wrong biome. Zombified piglins only spawn in nether wastes. If your platform extends into a crimson or warped forest biome, those portions spawn different mobs. Check biome boundaries with F3.
• Turtle eggs breaking. If piglins can actually reach and stomp the eggs, the eggs break. Place eggs on blocks the piglins cannot stand on (behind a 1-block gap) or use observer-powered egg replacements.
• Drop height wrong. 22 blocks leaves too much health. 24+ blocks kills on impact (no XP). For manual farming, use exactly 23 blocks.
• Building below the Nether ceiling. The natural Nether terrain is full of spawnable netherrack. If you build at Y=50, you must spawn-proof thousands of blocks of cave surface. Building above Y=128 (the ceiling) avoids this.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get above the Nether ceiling?

Use an ender pearl through bedrock, a ladder-and-trapdoor trick, or a piston-based ceiling breaker. These methods work in vanilla 1.21. Some servers patch ceiling access, so verify before building.

Can I combine this with XP farming?

Yes. Use a 23-block drop (half-heart survival) and kill piglins with a Looting III sword. You get both gold drops and 5 XP per kill. With Sweeping Edge, you can hit multiple piglins per swing.

How does this compare to an overworld portal gold farm?

Nether-based farms are faster. Portal farms rely on zombified piglins spawning inside nether portals in the Overworld, which is limited by portal count and tick rate. Nether-native farms use the full Nether mob cap and produce 5 to 10 times more gold.

What do I do with all the rotten flesh?

Trade it with cleric villagers. A master cleric buys 32 rotten flesh for 1 emerald. With a large gold farm, you accumulate thousands of rotten flesh, which converts to hundreds of emeralds.

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