How to Make a Fishing Farm in Minecraft

Fishing in Minecraft gives you food, experience, enchanted books, name tags, saddles and other treasure items. An AFK fishing farm automates the process so you can go make dinner while your character hauls in loot. This guide explains how fishing mechanics work, walks you through building a farm, and covers the changes across versions.

How fishing works

When you cast a fishing rod into water and wait, particle bubbles appear moving toward your bobber. When the bobber dips below the surface, right-click to reel in. The catch is determined by a loot table with three categories:

• Fish (85% base chance), Cod, Salmon, Pufferfish, Tropical Fish.
• Junk (10% base chance), Leather boots, bowls, sticks, string, water bottles, bones, ink sacs, tripwire hooks, rotten flesh, lily pads.
• Treasure (5% base chance), Enchanted books, name tags, saddles, nautilus shells, enchanted bows and fishing rods.

The best rod enchantments

Enchantments change the loot percentages dramatically:

• Luck of the Sea III, increases treasure chance from 5% to roughly 11.3% and reduces junk chance. This is the single most important fishing enchantment.
• Lure III, reduces the wait time between catches from an average of 25 seconds to about 10 seconds. More catches per hour.
• Unbreaking III, triples the effective durability of the rod.
• Mending, uses the XP from each catch to repair the rod. With Mending and Unbreaking III, a rod lasts effectively forever.

The ideal fishing rod is Luck of the Sea III, Lure III, Unbreaking III, Mending. Combine enchanted books on an anvil or trade with a librarian villager to build it.

Version differences: open water requirement

Starting in Java Edition 1.16, fishing must occur in open water to receive treasure loot. The game checks a 5x4x5 area around the bobber, if any solid blocks (other than lily pads and waterlogged blocks) are within that zone, you only get fish and junk. This change was specifically designed to break most old AFK fishing farm designs.

Bedrock Edition does not have this open water requirement, so compact enclosed AFK farms still work perfectly on Bedrock.

Building an AFK fishing farm (Java 1.16+)

Post-1.16 Java farms require an open water area. Here is a design that works:

• Find or dig a body of water at least 5x5 blocks wide and 4 blocks deep.
• Place a note block with a fence gate on top at the edge of the water. The fence gate must be over the water.
• Place a heavy pressure plate (iron) on the fence gate. Open the fence gate.
• Stand on the pressure plate facing the open water. Cast your line into the water.
• Hold down right-click. When a fish bites, the pressure plate + note block interaction automatically recasts the line.
• The key is that the right-click input simultaneously reels in the catch and interacts with the note block/fence gate to reset the cycle.

Make sure no solid blocks are within the 5x4x5 zone around where your bobber lands. Place torches or fences outside that radius for safety from mobs.

Building an AFK fishing farm (Bedrock Edition)

Bedrock farms are simpler because the open water check does not exist:

• Dig a 1x1 hole, 2 blocks deep, and fill it with water.
• Place a fence post next to the hole and a heavy pressure plate on top of the fence.
• Stand on the pressure plate and aim at the water. Cast and hold the interact button.
• The confined space makes the bobber land in the same spot every time, and the pressure plate loop handles recasting.
• Place a hopper under the block you stand on (or where items drop) feeding into a chest to auto-collect loot.

What can you get from fishing?

With Luck of the Sea III, expect roughly these results per hour of AFK fishing:

• Several stacks of fish (good food supply or villager trading with fishermen).
• 1-3 enchanted books per hour. The books can have almost any enchantment including Mending, Silk Touch, Fortune and Protection.
• Occasional name tags, saddles and nautilus shells.
• Enchanted bows and rods that can be disenchanted on a grindstone for XP or combined on an anvil.

The XP from fishing is also significant. Over a long AFK session, you can accumulate dozens of levels without actively playing.

Optimizing your setup

• Use a macro or tape on your mouse button for true AFK. On some systems, you can hold right-click by changing your key binding or using a physical weight on the mouse button.
• Light up the area so mobs do not kill you while you are away. Build a shelter around the farm with torches or use a well-lit open area.
• Bring multiple rods in case one breaks before you get Mending. Store spare rods in a nearby chest.
• Stay within simulation distance of the farm. If you wander too far on a server, the chunk unloads and fishing stops.

Want to see all this in action? Astroworld MC runs a custom-built economy survival server with custom bosses, eternal enchants, crates and an auction house. Join at astroworldmc.com, IP play.astroworldmc.com, Java + Bedrock crossplay.

An AFK fishing farm is one of the easiest passive resource generators in the game. Even after the 1.16 nerfs on Java, a well-built open-water farm still produces enchanted books and treasure at a solid rate. On Bedrock, the original compact designs remain fully functional. Build one early in your world and let it run while you do other things.