Farms & Builds

How to Build a Raid Farm in Minecraft

Detailed guide to building a raid farm in Minecraft 1.21+ Java Edition. Covers Bad Omen mechanics, villager placement, kill chambers, and emerald/totem drop rates.

14 min read17 sectionsJava & Bedrock1.21

Raid farms exploit the raid mechanic to spawn waves of pillagers, vindicators, evokers, witches, and ravagers in a controlled area. They produce emeralds, totems of undying, enchanted gear, saddles, and massive XP. A properly built raid farm is one of the best all-around farms in the game. This guide covers the full build process for Java Edition 1.21+.

Why build a raid farm?

Only reliable farm for totems of undying (from evokers).
Produces emeralds in bulk from pillager and vindicator drops.
Excellent XP (comparable to Enderman farms with the right design).
Also drops crossbows, iron axes, saddles, and enchanted gear.
Grants the Hero of the Village effect, giving trading discounts.

How raids work

A raid triggers when a player with the Bad Omen effect enters a village (defined as a location with at least one villager and one claimed bed or workstation). Raids consist of multiple waves (up to 7 on Hard difficulty), each spawning a group of hostile illager mobs. The raid ends when all mobs are killed or the village is destroyed.

In 1.21+, Bad Omen is obtained by killing a pillager captain (the one carrying a banner) at a pillager outpost or patrol. The effect lasts 100 minutes and triggers a raid when you enter a village boundary.

A raid triggers when a player with the Bad Omen effect enters a village (defined as an area with at least one villager and one claimed bed). The raid spawns waves of hostile illagers, Pillagers, Vindicators, Evokers, Witches, and Ravagers, that try to kill the villagers. Harder difficulties spawn more waves (Easy: 3, Normal: 5, Hard: 7).

Each wave spawns at a random location 0-112 blocks from the village center at the same Y level or higher. When all raiders in a wave are killed, the next wave spawns after a short delay.

Materials list

Item	Quantity	Notes
Villager	1	Creates the "village" that triggers raids
Bed	1	Villager claims it to register a village
Workstation block	1	Optional but helps villager assignment
Building blocks	500+	Platform, walls, channels
Water buckets	20+	Mob transport streams
Lava buckets	4+	Kill chamber
Signs	30+	Water and lava control
Hoppers	10+	Item collection
Chests	6+	Storage
Walls or fence gates	varies	Prevent mob pathfinding escapes
Trident with Channeling (optional)	1	Converts witches in thunderstorms
Pillager outpost nearby	N/A	For obtaining Bad Omen

Step-by-step build instructions

Step 1: Find a pillager outpost

Locate a pillager outpost. These spawn in plains, desert, savanna, taiga, snowy plains, and similar biomes. The outpost provides a constant supply of pillager captains for the Bad Omen effect. Build the raid farm within 200 blocks of the outpost for convenience.

Step 2: Build the village platform

Build a platform 30 to 50 blocks above the ground (high enough that no natural village exists below). Place one bed and one workstation on the platform. Transport a villager up using a minecart or boat elevator. The villager must claim the bed, creating a valid village center.

Step 3: Protect the villager

Enclose the villager in a small box (3x3x3) with solid walls. Raid mobs attempt to pathfind to villagers, so the villager must be unreachable but alive. If the villager dies, the village is destroyed and raids stop triggering. Consider adding a name tag to the villager.

Step 4: Build the spawning platforms

Raid mobs spawn within the village boundary (centered on the villager's claimed bed, radius of roughly 64 blocks). Build solid platforms at the edges of this boundary. The mobs spawn on these platforms and immediately pathfind toward the villager.

Step 5: Create water channels

Place water streams on the spawning platforms that push raid mobs toward a central collection point. The mobs pathfind toward the villager and walk into the water, which carries them to the kill chamber. Use signs to stop water at the right points.

Top-down view:

  [SPAWN PLATFORM]---water--->|
                               |
  [SPAWN PLATFORM]---water--->|-->[KILL CHAMBER]
                               |
  [SPAWN PLATFORM]---water--->|

                  [VILLAGER in box nearby]

Step 6: Build the kill chamber

The kill chamber needs to handle ravagers (large hitbox), witches (drink fire resistance), and standard illagers. The most reliable method is a drop shaft (23+ blocks for lethal fall damage to most mobs) combined with lava for witches. Alternatively, use entity cramming (push 24+ mobs into a 1x1 space) to bypass fire-resistant witches.

Step 7: Add collection hoppers

Place hoppers at the bottom of the kill chamber, feeding into chests. The drops include emeralds, totems of undying, crossbows, ominous bottles, iron axes, saddles, and occasionally enchanted items.

Step 8: Trigger the raid

Kill a pillager captain at the nearby outpost to get Bad Omen. Walk onto the platform near the villager. The raid begins immediately. Kill (or let the farm kill) each wave. After all waves are complete, kill another captain and start a new raid.

Automating Bad Omen

For continuous farming, build a pillager collection system near the outpost. Trap captains using boats or water channels. Kill them manually or with a trident killer when you are ready to start a new raid. Some designs channel captains from the outpost directly to the player's AFK spot.

Wave composition (Hard difficulty)

Wave	Mobs
1	Pillagers
2	Pillagers, Vindicators
3	Pillagers, Ravager
4	Pillagers, Vindicators, Witches
5	Pillagers, Vindicators, Evoker, Ravager
6	Pillagers, Vindicators, Evoker, Witches
7	Pillagers, Vindicators, Evoker, Ravager + Rider, Witches

Expected drops per raid

Emeralds: 5 to 15 per raid from vindicator and pillager drops.
Totems of Undying: 1 to 3 per raid (from evokers, Hard difficulty has more waves with evokers).
Crossbows: Multiple, often enchanted.
Iron Axes: From vindicators, sometimes enchanted.
Saddles: From ravagers (100% drop rate).

Common mistakes

Villager dies. If the villager is killed by raid mobs, the village ceases to exist and no more raids trigger. Double-wall the villager's enclosure and keep it well-lit.
Building too low. If the farm is at ground level, raid mobs can spawn on nearby terrain and wander off. Build it high in the air so the only valid spawn surfaces are your platforms.
Witches surviving lava. Witches drink fire resistance potions. Use entity cramming or fall damage combined with lava rather than lava alone.
Ravagers getting stuck. Ravagers have a 1.95x1.95 block hitbox. Make all water channels and pathways at least 2 blocks wide so they fit through.
Not on Hard difficulty. Easy mode has fewer waves and no evokers in the final wave. Play on Hard for maximum drops (especially totems).

Getting Bad Omen

Kill a Pillager Captain (the pillager carrying a banner) to receive the Bad Omen effect. Captains spawn at:

Pillager Outposts, the easiest source. Outposts generate in most biomes and continuously spawn pillagers, including captains.
Patrols, groups of pillagers that spawn randomly in the overworld at night. One always carries a banner.

Bad Omen lasts for 100 minutes (1 hour 40 minutes). You can stack it up to level V by killing multiple captains, but the level only affects the chance of raiders carrying enchanted gear, it does not change the loot table or wave count.

Core farm design

The basic concept of a raid farm is:

A single villager in a confined space (the "village"), this creates the village center.
A killing mechanism that dispatches raiders as they spawn.
A collection system that funnels dropped loot and XP to the player.
The player stands near the village with Bad Omen to trigger the raid, then stays in range while the farm handles the rest.

Step-by-step build

This is a straightforward overworld raid farm design:

Step 1: Isolate a villager. Place a villager in a small enclosed space (2x1x2 is enough) with a bed and a workstation. This creates a village. The villager must be unable to escape and safe from raiders.
Step 2: Build a spawn platform. Raids spawn mobs on valid solid blocks within range of the village center. Build a large platform (at least 9x9) around 50-80 blocks from the village center, at the same Y level. Clear all other spawnable surfaces nearby by removing blocks, placing slabs, or building in an ocean.
Step 3: Build the kill chamber. Use a combination of water streams and fall damage or lava to funnel raiders off the platform and into a kill zone. A drop of 30+ blocks (with water at the bottom to leave them at 1 HP) followed by entity-cramming or a player hit is effective.
Step 4: Add collection. Place hoppers under the kill zone feeding into chests. If you want XP, position yourself where you can hit the mobs as they fall or use a trident killer (Java only).
Step 5: Trigger the raid. Stand near the villager with Bad Omen. The raid bar appears at the top of the screen. Mobs spawn on your platform and funnel into the kill chamber.

Dealing with problem mobs

Some raid mobs need special handling:

Ravagers, large beast mobs with high health (100 HP). They need a bigger drop or a lava blade. They cannot fit through 1-block gaps, so your funneling channels need to be at least 2 blocks wide.
Witches, they drink fire resistance potions in lava and healing potions when damaged. Kill them with fall damage or instant kill methods (entity cramming, trident killer). Avoid lava-only designs because witches survive them.
Evokers, summon vexes that fly through walls. Your villager must be fully enclosed so vexes cannot reach it. Evokers themselves die easily to fall damage.

Loot from raids

A raid farm on Hard difficulty produces per cycle (7 waves):

Emeralds, Vindicators and Pillagers drop 0-1 each, plus their gear can be sold. Expect 10-20 emeralds per raid from drops alone.
Totems of Undying, each Evoker drops exactly 1. Hard difficulty spawns 2 Evokers total across waves 5 and 7. This is the primary source of totems in the game.
Crossbows and Axes, often enchanted, these can be disenchanted on a grindstone for XP or used directly.
Iron gear, from Pillagers and Vindicators. Smelt in a furnace for iron nuggets or disenchant.
Saddles, Ravagers always drop a saddle.
Redstone, Glowstone, Sugar, Gunpowder, Sticks, from Witches.

Resetting the raid

After a raid ends (either victory or defeat), you need a new Bad Omen to start the next one. Most efficient farm setups include:

A nearby Pillager Outpost where you can quickly kill a captain between raids.
Or a separate Pillager captain farm that traps outpost captains for easy killing.
Drinking milk cancels Bad Omen if you need to pass through villages without triggering raids accidentally.

Performance and server considerations

Raid farms spawn a lot of mobs quickly. On multiplayer servers, check with admins about farm rules and mob limits.
Build in a location away from other players' bases to avoid lag complaints.
AFK at the farm only when needed, active raid spawning causes more server load than passive farms.
Clear items from the kill chamber regularly to prevent item entity buildup.

Raid farms are complex to build but produce some of the most valuable items in the game. Totems of Undying alone make them worth the effort since each totem is essentially a free life. Combined with the emerald and XP output, a raid farm is a mid-to-late-game project that pays for itself quickly.

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Frequently asked questions

Does this work on Bedrock Edition?

The concept works but the raid spawning mechanics differ. Bedrock raids have different wave compositions and mob spawn logic. Build designs specific to Bedrock for reliable results.

How many totems per hour can I get?

On Hard difficulty with a fast kill chamber, you can complete 6 to 10 raids per hour. Each raid drops 1 to 3 totems (from evokers), so expect 6 to 30 totems per hour.

Can I AFK this farm?

Semi-AFK. You need to trigger new raids by obtaining Bad Omen. Some designs automate the captain kill by funneling pillager captains to the player using boats. You still need to be present and within the village boundary.

What is the Hero of the Village effect?

After winning a raid, you get Hero of the Village for 40 minutes. This gives large discounts at villager trades (up to 55% discount at level 5). Combined with a trading hall, this turns raids into a highly profitable trading cycle.

Do raids despawn if I go too far?

Raid mobs do not follow normal despawn rules. They persist as long as the raid is active. However, if you leave the village boundary for too long (roughly 2 minutes), the raid can time out and fail.