Best Farms to Build in Minecraft survival 1.21+

Once you’ve built an iron farm in Minecraft, you unlock a new level of survival automation. The next farms you build should boost your resources, XP, and trading power. Here’s a ranked list of the most useful and efficient farms to create next in your survival world.

these farms work in singleplayer and multiplayer

1. Villager Trading Hall

Why build it: You already have villagers from your iron farm. Use them for trading enchanted books, tools, armor, and emeralds.

Best trades: Mending, Unbreaking, Efficiency, Emeralds for iron or crops.

2. Crop Farm (Carrot, Potato, Wheat)

Why build it: Easy source of food and emeralds when trading with farmer villagers. Can be automated using villagers or redstone.

Bonus: Can double as a breeder setup for more villagers.

3. Animal Farm (Cow, Sheep, Chicken)

Why build it: Source of food, leather (for books), wool, and feathers. Essential for crafting bookshelves and early gear.

4. AFK Fish Farm (Java Edition)

Why build it: Gain enchanted books, bows, name tags, and XP. Works best in Java Edition due to recent mechanic changes in Bedrock.

5. General Mob Farm (XP & Drops)

Why build it: Get bones, arrows, string, rotten flesh, and XP. Useful for crafting and farming bone meal. Works best high above ground or over oceans.

6. Creeper Farm (Gunpowder)

Why build it: Needed for rockets (Elytra travel) and TNT. Combine with a sugar cane farm for infinite rocket supply.

7. Gold Farm (Nether-based)

Why build it: Produces gold ingots and XP. Can be connected to a piglin bartering farm for obsidian, ender pearls, blackstone, and more.

Note: High-effort but high-reward. Built above Nether roof for best efficiency.

8. Sugar Cane Farm

Why build it: Needed for paper (books and rockets). Easy to automate using pistons or flying machines.

9. Slime Farm

Why build it: Needed for sticky pistons, slime blocks, and leads. Requires locating a slime chunk or swamp.

10. XP Furnace Farm (Cactus + Bamboo)

Why build it: Smelt cactus using bamboo for fuel to create an infinite XP source when collecting from the furnace.

Conclusion

After building your iron farm, your next farms should support trading, XP gain, and rare item collection. Start with a villager trading hall and crop farm, then expand to mob, XP, and gunpowder farms. Over time, these farms will automate your survival world and set you up for late-game success.