New Farms · Deep Dark · Java & Bedrock

How to Make a Sculk XP Farm

Kill mobs on a sculk catalyst to grow a field of sculk, then mine it for a burst of experience.

MOB DIES → SCULK SPREADS → MINE FOR XP

deaths spread sculk

mining sculk gives XP

A mob dying on a sculk catalyst spreads sculk across the blocks around it. Mine that sculk and it drops experience, so a mob farm over a catalyst doubles as an XP source.

What you need

A sculk catalyst

The sculk it grows

The XP you harvest

Blocks for it to spread on

Deaths grow it, mining gives XP

A sculk catalyst blooms when a mob dies beside it and spreads sculk across the floor, spending the kill's experience to do so. You get that XP back by mining the sculk with a normal tool. So drop a mob farm onto a catalyst, let a big patch grow, then harvest the whole field for experience and let it spread again.

Quick answers

What is a sculk XP farm in Minecraft?

It is a farm that turns mob deaths into a field of sculk, which you then mine for experience. Mobs die on a sculk catalyst, the catalyst spreads sculk across the blocks, and breaking that sculk gives you XP, so a mob farm over a catalyst doubles as an XP source.

How does a sculk catalyst work?

When a mob dies within a few blocks of a sculk catalyst, the catalyst blooms and spreads sculk and sculk veins onto nearby blocks, sometimes adding sensors or shriekers. It uses the death's experience to power that spread, so the kill itself does not drop XP orbs.

How do you get XP from sculk?

You mine it. Breaking a sculk block with a normal, non-silk-touch tool drops a little experience, and sculk sensors, shriekers and the catalyst drop more. Grow a big patch of sculk from many deaths, then harvest the whole field for a pile of XP.

How do you build a sculk XP farm?

Drop mobs from a spawner or mob farm onto a sculk catalyst sitting on a floor of convertible blocks. Let the deaths spread sculk across the floor, then mine the sculk for XP and let it regrow. Some builders automate the mining and collection.

Is a sculk XP farm better than a normal mob farm?

It depends. A normal mob farm gives XP straight from kills and is faster per point. A sculk farm is slower but renewable and great when you also want sculk blocks for builds or want to harvest XP in bursts by mining.

Does a sculk XP farm work on Bedrock?

Yes. Sculk catalysts spread sculk from deaths and sculk drops XP when mined on both editions, though spread and timing differ a little, so a Java design may need tuning on Bedrock.

Database →

Sculk & mobs

Look up the sculk catalyst, sculk blocks and the mobs you farm.

Guide →

Use a sculk sensor

The other deep-dark block, and how its wireless redstone works.

Turning the deep dark into levels

Sculk catalysts convert deaths into sculk

When a mob dies near a catalyst, its experience becomes sculk blocks instead of orbs, and mining that sculk with a normal pickaxe gives the experience back. The farm is therefore a kill chamber with a catalyst in it and a mining floor underneath.

Silk touch collects the blocks instead

With Silk Touch you get the sculk block itself and no experience, which is the right tool for decorating and the wrong one for levels. Keeping two pickaxes at the farm avoids the mistake that costs an entire session's worth of experience.

It does not need the deep dark

A catalyst taken from the deep dark works anywhere, so the farm can be built at your base with mobs from an ordinary spawner. That is the reason this design beats most experience farms: the dangerous part happens once, when you collect the catalyst.