Automatic wool farm in Minecraft 26.3: one sheep, one observer, every color

Wool used to be a decoration block you needed now and then. Since 26.3 added stairs and slabs for all 16 wool colors (what they unlock), builders burn through it much faster, and shearing sheep by hand gets old quickly.

The good news: a wool farm is one of the simplest automatic farms in the game. One sheep, one grass block, one observer, one dispenser with shears, and a hopper minecart. Tile that module 16 times and you have every color on tap.

Why this works

The whole farm hangs on one vanilla behavior:

1. A sheared sheep regrows its wool by eating grass.
2. When a sheep eats from a grass block, that block turns into dirt.
3. An observer detects any block change in front of it, including grass becoming dirt.

So an observer pointed at the grass block under the sheep fires exactly when the sheep has wool again. Wire that pulse into a dispenser holding shears, aimed at the sheep, and it shears the sheep the moment the wool is back.

Grass then spreads back onto the dirt from nearby grass blocks, and the cycle repeats.

The one-sheep module

Build this once, test it, then copy it.

1. Floor: place a grass block where the sheep will stand. Grass needs to spread back onto it, so put another grass block right next to it (under a slab or behind glass, so the sheep cannot reach it).
2. Light: grass only spreads with enough light above it. Leave the cell open to the sky or put a light source nearby.
3. Cell: wall the sheep into that single grass block with glass. One block wide, two blocks tall.
4. Observer: place an observer looking at the sheep's grass block, from the side or from below. The observer's face must point at the grass block; its back (the red dot side) outputs the pulse.
5. Dispenser: place a dispenser facing into the sheep's cell at the sheep's body height, and run a short line of redstone dust from the observer's output to it.
6. Shears: put shears in the dispenser. One pair lasts 238 shears; Unbreaking on the shears stretches that a lot.
7. The sheep: lead a sheep into the cell with wheat, then close it in.

Shear the sheep once by hand, or wait for the first cycle. When it eats the grass, the observer fires, the dispenser shears, and wool drops in the cell.

Collecting the wool

The wool drops onto the grass block, and the sheep stands on it, so a hopper cannot go directly underneath. The standard fix:

• Run a rail line under the grass blocks, one block lower, and put a hopper minecart on it.
• A hopper minecart picks up items through a full block above it. It collects the wool through the grass block the sheep stands on.
• At the end of the rail, a hopper under the track empties the minecart into a chest.

For a single module, a hopper minecart sitting still under the grass block is enough. For a row of modules, let the minecart ride back and forth on a powered rail loop, or give each module its own stationary minecart that drains into a shared hopper line.

Every color: tiling the module

Sheep keep their color forever, and dye a sheep with any dye before you put it in its cell. Then repeat the module in a straight line, 16 cells wide, one sheep per color.

To keep colors separate in storage, give each cell its own hopper minecart and chest, or run them into an item sorter at the end of the line. A copper golem can also sort chests of mixed wool if you have one set up.

Common problems

• The dispenser never fires. The grass never turned to dirt: the sheep is standing on dirt, or it already has wool and is not eating. Shear it once by hand to start the cycle.
• The dispenser fires all the time. The observer is seeing something else change: a redstone line in front of it, or a block you placed. Rebuild so the observer's face only looks at the grass block.
• Wool stops after a while. The grass did not grow back. Add light, and make sure the extra grass block is within spreading range of the sheep's block.
• No wool collected. The hopper minecart must be directly below the grass block, under a full block. Slabs and glass under the sheep break the pick-up.

Frequently asked questions

How does an automatic wool farm work?

A sheared sheep eats grass to regrow wool, and eating turns the grass block into dirt. An observer sees that change and triggers a dispenser with shears, which shears the sheep straight away.

How do you collect wool automatically?

Put a hopper minecart on a rail under the grass block. Hopper minecarts pick up items through a full block above them, then unload into a hopper and chest.

How much wool does a sheep drop?

One to three wool each time it is sheared.

Can I get every color from one farm?

Yes. Dye each sheep before putting it in its own cell and build one module per color. Sheep keep their color, so the farm keeps producing the same color forever.

Do I need to replace the shears?

Eventually. Shears have 238 uses. Unbreaking makes them last much longer, and you can refill the dispenser from a chest above it with a hopper.

Related

Pair the farm with what wool is now good for: wool and concrete stairs and slabs in 26.3. For more beginner redstone, the complete redstone handbook covers observers, dispensers and hopper minecarts in depth.