Day 4:
Redstone
Redstone and How to use it:
In Minecraft, you can find a red ore called redstone. It is used to create machines for all kinds of purposes, whether that is for a farm, a trap, or a fancy door. But how does it actually work? You can place redstone dust like a block and power it with certain power sources to control lots of different parts. These parts all have their separate function in their own unique way.
Here is a list of the basic redstone components anyone might use in a redstone build:
Redstone Dust:
Redstone dust is used to connect redstone components, along with receiving/directing power to those components.
Redstone Lamp:
Redstone lamps are light sources that can be powered on and off. If they are powered on, then the lights come on. If not, the lights are turned off. These are used as either decoration or as indicators for if a redstone machine is working or not. In the following examples, there will be redstone lamps to represent how the different redstone components can power other components.
Block of Redstone:
A block of redstone is used as a constant power source for all components. Any redstone component that is touching this block will be powered on.
Redstone Torch:
Similar to the block of redstone, a redstone torch can power a redstone component. However, redstone torches are not permanent. When they receive a redstone signal, they flip their power either on or off. For example, if the redstone torch is placed, then with a block on top of it, then another redstone torch, the first redstone torch powers the second and turns it off.
Button:
Buttons are a kind of power source that players can interact with. A player can press a button, which only outputs power for as long as it is pressed down. Buttons can be repeatedly pressed, but they each have different delays or cooldown times before they can be pressed again.
Lever:
Levers are like buttons in that they both are interactive and power redstone components, but levers are slightly different. Levers can be switched, or toggled, on and off. This means that a player can control whether the lever outputs power or not. This is a helpful feature for any kind of farm that you might want to be able to turn on and off.
Pressure Plate:
Pressure plates are alike to buttons. They are both interactive with players and can be temporarily powered on. Unlike the button where the player clicks it, the pressure plate is activated when something stands on it. Lots of things can activate pressure plates, including players, mobs, items, and other entities.
Observer:
Observers are a unique block that can detect a change in its surroundings. It can detect these changes on its side with the eyes on it. When it detects a change, it sends a redstone output in the direction of its arrow to anything touching that side. Observers can detect changes in different blocks that go by or the current state of the block in front of it. For example, if a redstone lamp is powered on and the observer block detects this, it sends a redstone output to the next lamp and turns that on.
Repeater:
Repeaters are redstone components that can "repeat" a redstone output. This means that if they receive any redstone input from behind, then it outputs a maximum strength redstone signal forwards. These are used to continue redstone lines since they run out after 15 blocks long. They can also be adjusted by interacting with the repeater to set a delay on the next output of redstone signal it produces. This feature is used in redstone builds to create a "wait" option for the redstone signal if the builder wants the redstone to be delayed. Also, redstone repeaters have the ability to output redstone signals through solid blocks. This is useful to conserve space in a redstone build, as they can get very complicated and large!
Hopper:
Hoppers are blocks that look like a funnel because they can funnel items from one place to another. For example, if a chest has some blocks in it, if you place a hopper underneath the chest the hopper will funnel the items out of it. The hopper can also be used to funnel items into a place. Continuing our example, lets say the hopper had a chest underneath of it. The hopper would fill the next chest with whatever was in the first chest. The hopper can be modified to funnel in different directions as well, not just straight down. It can go in any direction except straight up.
Dropper:
Droppers are blocks that, when powered by redstone, drop items.
Dispenser:
Dispensers can drop items when powered by redstone, but they can also use certain items differently. Dispensers can attach armor to players, shoot arrows, place and light TNT, even shear sheep!
Comparator:
Comparators can be used for a couple tasks. First, they are most commonly used to check whether a block has met a certain condition and how. For example, a comparator can be used to detect if there are items in a hopper and how many there are. If it does meet a condition, then the comparator outputs a signal. Comparators can also be used to do basic math. When in its regular mode, comparators can add the signal coming in from its back and from its sides to output the sum of the two inputs. If you interact with the comparator, this switches it to subtraction mode. This makes it so that it subtracts the inputs from the back and sides. Then, it outputs the difference of the two.
Piston:
The piston is a block that can push other blocks. They can push up to 12 blocks in any direction, but there is one block they cannot push: obsidian.
Sticky Piston:
This block is almost identical to the piston, but this piston can push and pull. Similarly to the regular piston, the sticky piston cannot push obsidian. The sticky piston has some other limitations as well since the sticky piston cannot retract a glazed terracotta block
Redstone Clock:
Most redstone builds require a clock to keep them constantly running so that you don't have to do the manual work. This is a very simple redstone clock that has a customizable speed where you can adjust the repeater as necessary. You can place a lever anywhere on the blocks to create an on/off switch in case you wanted a way to turn off your redstone clock. You would see a redstone clock used in most automatic farms that constantly use bonemeal to instantly grow and harvest a crop. You can also see it used in weaponry, as we will in today's challenge.
Challenge - Angry Birds!
Using your redstone knowledge, create a simple TNT cannon to play Angry Birds in Minecraft. If you don't know how to make one, I will guide you through making a very easy cannon.
Angry Birds is a game where you shoot birds out of a slingshot to hit pigs and score points. When you get all of the pigs off of their towers, you win!
You can make this in Minecraft by making your TNT cannon face a stack of concrete powder. We are using concrete powder because when you shoot it with TNT, it will explode everywhere in a colorful bang! When making your towers, use green concrete powder for the pigs, orange concrete powder for wooden towers, and light grey concrete powder for steel towers.
Try and see who can score the best and knock over their pigs first! Also try to come up with new and creative ways to play, or even make your own kind of cannon!
Next Challenge: Secret Entrances
If you are playing on a multi-player survival world, you want to keep your treasures safe from other players who might want to take them. So, you need to build a secret entrance only you know how to get into. Here are a few secret entrances to keep those diamonds safe:
Shulker Box Trick:
Shulker boxes are only for storage, right? Not quite! If you stand on top of a shulker box with a ceiling 2 blocks above the shulker, you will glitch through and into a secret room below. Make sure put a hole in the floor below the shulker box, or else it won't work.
Hidden Lever:
This scene just looks like a regular stone wall, right? Well, there is actually a hidden lever in this picture. This lever is used to open a simple piston door on the stone wall. But, where is the lever? The lever is actually hidden in the grassy area behind the left trees Using lots of bonemeal, you can cover the lever pretty well with tall grass and flowers. This gives the illusion that this is just a stone wall with nothing to hide, leaving your goodies safe!
Item Frame Trick:
The item frame's rotation can be detected by the comparator. When the item is rotated to the original position, the comparator outputs a redstone signal of 1, or one block long of power. The more you rotate the item, the more the redstone output increases. That said, if you build a piston door that is connected to the comparator with 1 extra piece of redstone in between, when someone rotates the item the piston door will activate.
Item Frame in Original Position
Item Frame Rotated
Extra Challenge: Piston Doors
If you have mastered Angry Birds and the secret entrances, here's a redstone challenge for you. Your goal is to make a cool piston door using your redstone skills. For helpful tutorials, visit the Resources page on this website.