How to Build a Shulker Farm in Minecraft

Shulkers drop shulker shells, used to craft shulker boxes, the most valuable storage item in Minecraft. Normally shulkers are a finite resource found only in End cities. However, since 1.17, shulkers can duplicate when hit by another shulker's projectile under specific conditions. This mechanic allows renewable shulker farming. This guide explains the duplication mechanic and how to build a farm around it.

Why build a shulker farm?

• Shulker boxes are the only portable storage in the game (27 slots each).
• Without farming, shulker shells are finite and require raiding multiple End cities.
• A shulker farm provides unlimited shells for as many shulker boxes as you need.
• Shulker boxes are extremely valuable on economy servers.

How shulker duplication works

When a shulker is hit by a shulker bullet from another shulker, and there are fewer than 6 shulkers within an 8-block radius, the hit shulker has a chance to teleport and a new shulker spawns at the original position. The chance depends on difficulty: 100% on Hard, 50% on Normal, 0% on Easy. You must play on Hard or Normal difficulty for this to work.

The process: Shulker A shoots at the player. The bullet hits Shulker B instead. Shulker B teleports away, and a new Shulker C appears where B was. You now have 3 shulkers instead of 2. Repeat the process to multiply shulkers exponentially.

Materials list

Item	Quantity	Notes
Shulkers (starting pair)	2	Captured from End cities
Building blocks	200+	End stone or purpur recommended
Minecarts	2+	For transporting shulkers
Rails	varies	For minecart transport
Powered rails	varies	Keep minecarts moving
Hoppers	8+	Collection
Chests	4+	Storage
Snow blocks or iron blocks	varies	For building snow golems or iron golems as target dummies
Looting III sword	1	Increases shell drop rate
Boats	varies	For trapping shulkers

Step-by-step build instructions

Step 1: Transport shulkers from an End city

Find an End city with shulkers. To move a shulker, push it into a minecart (by placing a rail next to it and pushing a minecart into the shulker). Alternatively, use a boat. Transport the minecart along rails back to your farm location. You need at least 2 shulkers to start.

Step 2: Build the duplication chamber

Create a small room (5x5x4) with solid walls. Place the two shulkers inside, on opposite walls, at least 2 blocks apart. The goal is for Shulker A to shoot at a target and the bullet to hit Shulker B on its way.

Top-down view of duplication chamber:

  [WALL][WALL][WALL][WALL][WALL]
  [WALL]                 [WALL]
  [SA]    [TARGET]       [SB]    SA = Shulker A, SB = Shulker B
  [WALL]                 [WALL]
  [WALL][WALL][WALL][WALL][WALL]

Step 3: Add a target entity

Shulkers shoot at players or other entities. Place a snow golem in the center of the chamber as a target. Shulker A shoots a bullet at the snow golem. If the bullet's path passes near Shulker B, the bullet redirects to hit Shulker B instead (shulker bullets home in on the nearest entity). This triggers the duplication mechanic.

Step 4: Set up overflow removal

When there are 6+ shulkers in the chamber, duplication stops. You need to remove excess shulkers. Build a channel out of the chamber that leads duplicated shulkers (which teleport to new positions) into a kill zone. Use water streams or minecart rails to transport them.

Step 5: Build the kill zone

Excess shulkers are pushed into a drop shaft or kill chamber. They can be killed with a Looting III sword for maximum shell drops, or killed automatically with fall damage (shulkers have 30 HP, so a 34+ block drop is lethal). Place hoppers at the bottom to collect shulker shells.

Step 6: Maintain the population

Keep exactly 2 to 4 shulkers in the duplication chamber at all times. Remove excess shulkers as they duplicate. The farm produces new shulkers every 10 to 30 seconds when running smoothly.

Drop rates

Shulkers drop 0 to 1 shulker shell on death. With Looting III, this increases to 0 to 4 shells (average ~2.5). Two shells craft one shulker box. A well-running farm kills 60+ shulkers per hour, producing roughly 150 shells per hour with Looting III, enough for 75 shulker boxes.

Common mistakes

• Playing on Easy difficulty. Shulker duplication has a 0% chance on Easy. You must use Normal (50% chance) or Hard (100% chance) difficulty.
• Too many shulkers in the chamber. If 6 or more shulkers are within 8 blocks, duplication stops. Remove excess quickly.
• Shulkers teleporting outside the farm. Shulkers teleport to random nearby blocks when hit. If the farm has gaps, shulkers escape. Seal all walls, ceiling, and floor.
• No target entity. Without a target (snow golem, player, or other entity), shulkers do not shoot. The snow golem must be alive and visible to the shulkers.
• Killing shulkers without Looting III. The base drop rate is only 50% for one shell. Looting III dramatically increases your yield. Always use Looting III.

Frequently asked questions

Can I build this in the Overworld?

Yes. Once you transport the initial shulkers from the End, the duplication mechanic works in any dimension. Building in the Overworld near your base is more convenient.

What if my snow golem dies?

Snow golems have only 4 HP and can die to shulker bullets. Replace it when it dies, or use an iron golem instead (100 HP, lasts much longer). Some designs auto-generate snow golems using snow blocks and carved pumpkins in dispensers.

How many shulker boxes can I realistically make per hour?

With Looting III and a steady duplication cycle, expect 50 to 100 shulker boxes per hour. The bottleneck is usually how fast excess shulkers reach the kill zone.

Does this work on Bedrock Edition?

No. Shulker duplication via bullet hits is a Java Edition mechanic only. On Bedrock, shulkers are a finite resource unless the server resets End cities.

Can shulkers spawn naturally outside of End cities?

No. Shulkers only spawn naturally in End cities when the world generates them. The duplication mechanic is the only renewable source in Java Edition.

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