Automation · Farm · Java & Bedrock

How to Make a Bonemeal Farm

A bonemeal farm feeds a plant farm into a composterwhich turns seven loads of greenery into one bone mealforever.

COMPOST → BONE MEAL

feed it plant matter

full composter = bone meal

A hopper drops crops, kelp or cane into a composter. Seven loads fill it, the composter turns ready, and it pops a bone meal into your chest, then starts over.

What you need

A composter

Compostable plants

Hoppers to feed + collect

The bone meal output

Seven loads make one bone meal

A composter fills in seven layers. Each compostable item has a chance to add a layer, and when the last one fills, the composter turns ready and drops a single bone meal. Wire a renewable cactus, kelp or bamboo farm to feed the top through a hopper, put a hopper below to catch the output, and it runs itself.

Quick answers

What is a bonemeal farm in Minecraft?

It is a composter wired to a plant farm so it turns crops into bone meal on its own. A renewable feed like cactus, kelp or bamboo drops into the composter, fills it, and the finished bone meal drops into a chest, giving you an endless supply for your crop farms.

How does a composter make bone meal?

Each compostable item you put in has a chance to raise the compost level by one layer. When the seventh layer fills, the composter is full, and the next interaction turns that compost into a single bone meal that pops out the bottom.

What is the best thing to compost?

Pick something cheap and auto-farmable. Cactus, kelp, bamboo and sugar cane all grow on their own and feed a composter endlessly. Higher-tier foods like bread or cookies fill faster per item but are not worth farming just for bone meal.

How do you automate a bonemeal farm?

Point a renewable plant farm at the composter through a hopper that feeds the top, and put a hopper underneath to catch the bone meal into a chest. The farm keeps the composter fed and the output flows to storage with no clicking from you.

How much bone meal can a bonemeal farm make?

As much as you feed it. The composter only needs seven loads per bone meal, so a steady cactus or kelp farm keeps it producing constantly, and bigger feed farms simply make more per hour.

Does a bonemeal farm work on Bedrock?

Yes. Composters take plant matter and output bone meal the same way, and hoppers feed and collect the same way, though hopper timing differs a little so the layout may need a small tweak on Bedrock.

Database →

Composter & compostables

Look up the composter and which plants raise its level fastest.

Guide →

Automatic storage system

Send the bone meal straight into your sorted storage hall.

Composting whatever grows fastest

The composter converts plants at different rates

Every plant has its own chance of raising the composter level, so a farm is only as good as the plant it feeds on. Cactus, kelp and bamboo grow without any player input at all, which is why bone meal farms are built around them rather than around wheat.

Bamboo grows fastest and composts poorly

Bamboo shoots up quickly but each piece has a low chance of filling the composter, so the farm compensates with volume. Kelp is the opposite: slower to grow, better per item, and it needs to be dried before it composts well as blocks.

The output feeds every other farm

Bone meal is the input to flower farms, moss farms, glow berry harvesting and instant tree growth, so this is the farm that makes the others worth building. Size it for what you actually consume, because a stack of bone meal a minute has nowhere to go.