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With a variety of automatic farms in Minecraft, you should never run out of materials. An important addition to your suite of automated farming facilities is an automatic sugarcane farm.

Sugarcane is a plant that grows near the edge of the water and can be crafted into sugar or paper. As you progress in Minecraft, paper will become incredibly important. You will use it to create maps, books, and bookcases. Instead of searching for sugarcane, add this automatic farm to your base!

Related: Minecraft: The Ultimate Redstone Guide

This guide will teach you how to make a simple automatic sugarcane farm that can be expanded and customized.

Updated September 8th, 2021 by Russ Boswell: Minecraft is still going strong in 2021, with many new players flocking to the Indie darling thanks to its release on a wide array of platforms. Those just joining the procedurally generated adventure may feel overwhelmed by all of the things they can do and create but there are often things that new players overlook. Finding Sugar Cane and constructing an Automatic Sugar Cane Farm is one of the smartest things that any Minecraft player can do. Farming Sugar Cane in abundance is necessary for making a lot of useful items, like movement potions, maps, food, books, and even banners. To help players better understand what they can use Sugar Cane for, and why it's important, the following guide has been updated.

Materials Needed

Material in player inventory for making an automatic sugarcane farm in Minecraft

This farm involves some redstone work, but it's nothing too difficult. Below, you can see the full list of materials needed for this automatic sugarcane farm.

  • 2 water buckets
  • 5 sugarcane
  • 2 hoppers
  • 37 glass blocks
  • 5 redstone dust
  • 30 building blocks (your choice, depending on the appearance you prefer)
  • 5 observers
  • 5 pistons
  • 1 chest
  • 5 dirt

To build a sugarcane farm, you will need to already have some sugarcane on hand. Fortunately, it's not that hard to find. Sugarcane can be found in almost every biome, near a water source. Chances are, you will probably spawn near a sugarcane source.

If for some reason you cannot find any, the Wandering Trader will sell you 1 sugarcane for an emerald.

Steps to Make an Automatic Sugarcane Farm

foundation blocks for Minecraft Auto-Sugarcane farm

First, you will want to lay down 5 dirt blocks in a row. Leaving a row next to the dirt empty, surround the 5x2 space with your building block.

Above, you can see what it should look like. The sugarcane will not place on the ground without a water source. However, you can see it in the image above for reference as to where it will go.

Example of Hopper Collection System for Minecraft sugarcane farm

Dig a hole in the middle of the foundation, directly next to the dirt for sugarcane. Extend this outwards underneath the building block, removing 3 dirt blocks. You should have a 4x5 build, with a 3x1 'trench' leading to the side. Check the image above for reference.

Once the hole is dug, place a chest on the outside. The chest should be in the center of the 5 blocks facing you. Feel free to clear an area for easy access. From the backside of the chest, attach 2 hoppers. Hold shift when attaching to chests and hoppers so you won't interact with them. The example above has a removed building block so you can see the layout of both hoppers.

Minecraft Sugarcane farm step, with Pistons and water sources placed

Place two water sources on opposite ends of the empty 5x1 space above the hopper. The water should flow and meet at the hopper in the center.

Next, plant 5 sugarcanes on the dirt, and then use your building blocks behind the sugarcane to place 7 blocks in a row.

On top of the building blocks, place 5 pistons. Pistons are a bit tricky to place, so you may have to use a few temporary blocks to adjust the pistons until they face outwards, towards the sugarcane.

Minecraft Sugarcane Farm with redstone and observers

On top of each piston, place an observer. Behind each piston, place a building block with redstone on top. This is the only redstone needed, but it is important in making this farm automatic.

When the sugarcane grows in front of the observers, the redstone will trigger, causing the pistons to push outwards. Each time a piston is activated, 2 sugarcane will be harvested.

Side View of Minecraft Automatic Sugarcane Farm

You're almost done! Use glass to enclose the farm. When the pistons push outwards, the sugarcane will break and may fly in every direction. To ensure that the broken sugarcane ends up in the water going to the chest, place glass along the edges. For extra precaution, you can also place a glass roof.

Be sure to have a 'maintenance entrance' just in case you need to fix anything. Glass breaks when it is destroyed, so consider adding a door or a ladder to enter through the top. You can change the building block with any block of your choice.

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Additionally, you can use colored glass, or just use your building block instead. The glass adds a nice effect, allowing you to see the inner workings of the farm, but this is not necessary.

Now, you're officially done with the automatic sugarcane farm! This farm will give you material from 5 different sugarcane plants. However, you can expand this farm as much as you want. Check out some tips for expansion and efficiency below.

Tips for Efficiency

Expanded Minecraft Auto-Sugarcane farm, double the length of guide version

As mentioned earlier, this farm can easily be expanded. Above, you can see the original farm expanded. To do this, just follow the same pattern as before. Extend the rows of pistons and observers over each additional sugarcane you plant.

Adjusting the water sources is easy as well. You will still place water in each corner. However, you will have to move the hopper so it stays in the center of the flowing water. Try to have the water sources always meeting in the center. If your farm becomes too long for water to meet, consider making a new row instead of having an extra-long farm.

As with many Minecraft farms, this will only produce sugarcane if you are nearby. Material in Minecraft will not grow if you are far away, so keep this farm near your base.

How Rare Is Sugar Cane And Where Can Players Find It?

A massive bundle of Sugar Cane in Minecraft

Although Sugar Cane is a pretty basic item in terms of Minecraft "rarity," that doesn't mean it's as readily available as other resources. During each new world generation, Sugar Cane has the following chances to spawn at corresponding block height naturally near water:

  • Two blocks tall: 11/18
  • Three blocks tall: 5/18
  • Four blocks tall: 2/18

As far as generalized spawn rates go, Sugar Cane will "try" to spawn at least 10 times in any given biome so long as it's near water. These chances double (and additional 10 times) in both Desert and Swamp biomes. However, it's important to note that lack of water sources in most Desert biomes can make Sugar Cane a bit of a rarity there.

Why Should Players Make An Automatic Sugar Cane Farm?

Minecraft Birthday Cake Sitting on planks

Sugar Cane is an important resource in Minecraft, often overlooked by players that are just starting out. Those that really want to increase their survival and upgrade their abilities will need to locate a good source of Sugar Cane early on in a new world. Unfortunately, although it's "easy to locate" for the most part, farming an abundance of Sugar Cane can be tricky without creating a reliable farming method.

Many new players will see the value in snagging some Sugar Cane to produce sugar for the elusive Cake (and its corresponding achievement, The Lie) but Sugar Cane is actually much more versatile and necessary than it may first appear.

What Can Players Make With Sugar Cane?

Sugar Cane can be formed into Sugar by adding one to the center square of a crafting table.

The following items can be made using Sugar as an ingredient:

  • Cake - 3 x Milk Bucket, 3 x Wheat, 2 x Sugar, 1 x Egg
  • Fermented Spider Eye - 1 x Brown Mushroom, 1 x Sugar, 1 x Spider Eye
  • Pumpkin Pie - 1 x Sugar, 1 x Pumpkin, 1 x Egg

Players can use Sugar at a brewing stand to make:

  • Mundane Potion - 1 x Water Bottle, 1 x Sugar
  • Potion of Swiftness - 1 x Awkward Potion, 1 x Sugar

Sugar Cane can be formed into Paper by adding one to each of the middle row squares of a crafting table.

The following items can be made using Paper as an ingredient:

  • Book - 1 x Leather, 3 x Paper
  • Cartography Table - 2 x Paper, 4 x Planks (Any kind)
  • Empty Map - 9 x Paper (Players can substitute one Paper for a Compass to make an upgraded map)
  • Banner Pattern Thing - 1 x Enchanted Golden Apple, 1 x Paper
  • Banner Pattern Skull - 1 x Wither Skeleton Skull, 1 x Paper
  • Banner Pattern Flower - 1 Oxeye Daisy, 1 x Paper
  • Banner Pattern Field Masoned - 1 x Bricks, 1 x Paper
  • Banner Pattern Creeper - 1 x Creeper Head, 1 x Paper
  • Banner Pattern Bordure Indented - 1 x Vines, 1 x Paper

Players can also produce a Firework Rocket with one paper and one gunpowder. The gunpowder can be increased up to three, which will cause the firework to fly higher into the air before exploding. They can also add up to five firework stars to cause different explosion effects.

Next: Minecraft: How To Make An Easy Bonemeal Farm