On the surface, Minecraft is a very simple game. Break down trees to get wood, use that wood to craft tools, and then mine the land for resources to build houses, bridges, and whatever construction projects come to mind in this blocky procedurally generated world. This simplicity is a part of why this survival game went on to become such a huge success and influence gamers and developers around the planet. But as easy as the game is to understand, there are many contraptions that have more technical uses.
Enter hoppers, a block introduced back in 2013 snapshot with a variety of practical uses. If any stray items floating about are nearby, they’ll be sucked right in! Not only that, but they can siphon these materials into nearby chests for easy storage! For Minecraft players looking to optimize their farms or item storage, this guide will explain how to craft hoppers and a few of their many uses.
Crafting and Using Minecraft’s Hoppers
The crafting recipe required to make hoppers is easy and does not require much investment; no expensive diamonds or hard-to-obtain blaze rods are needed. All players need to gather to create a hopper is one chest and five iron ingots. Chests are one of the most standard items dating back to the game’s release, only requiring eight blocks of wood. Iron ingots meanwhile are also easy to come by, after they’re mined from a nearby deposit and the smelted. After opening of the crafting table, place the chest in the center square and surround it with an iron ingot on each side except the top. The insert the remaining two ingots into the upper left and right quadrants and voila, a hopper!
After a hopper is placed, it will suck up any items in its vicinity. The hoppers can be broken and collected, allowing them to be replaced elsewhere should a builder find a better place or use for them. There are many users for this neat contraption, so here are some basic ones that players can take advantage of.
Chicken Coop
- Players that keep chickens on their farm need to collect their eggs every time they’re spawned, but hoppers can make the egg harvesting process much easier. Make several hoppers and use them to create the floor of the coop and then place a chest underneath them. Now players won't have to enter the pen every time they gather eggs to make cake! It's a tad more gruesome, but this method can also be used when making monster farms to pick up all of the loot they spawn when they're defeated. It's still a farm though, technically speaking.
A Miner’s Best Friend
- Mining deep in underground caves is an essential part of the Minecraft experience, but gathering so many resources will fill up the player’s inventory eventually. With the help of a hopper and a minecart system, inventory woes can be alleviated. Simply place a hopper right in the path of a rail line, by placing the rail on top of the hopper, and then put a chest right next to it. When a chest in a minecart passes over the hopper, it will deposit all of the materials into chest. This is a great way to dispose of cobblestone blocks clogging up the inventory or sending away valuable materials for safekeeping. Consider making separate minecart tracks for different types of materials, so each hopper chest will contain a different type of material depending on what track it's on.
Automated Furnace System
- For players that spend long in-game days away from their home, this nifty hopper contraption will let them smelt ingots or cook meals while they’re away. All they need are three hoppers and three chests. Place a chest for the finished products on the very bottom and a hopper on top of it. Continue the tower by placing the furnace on top of the first hopper, then place the next two hoppers on top of or adjacent to the furnace. Finish by putting the next two chests, one for cooking materials and another for coal, on top of the other two hoppers. Now, raw pork chops will be cooked automatically whenever they’re placed in the top hopper!
Minecraft is available for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, and PC.