Let’s be honest. If you’re still out there hunting individual zombies in the middle of a desert just to mend your pickaxe, you’re playing the game wrong. I’ve been there. We’ve all been there—staring at that green bar at the bottom of the screen, praying it hits level 30 before a creeper sneaks up and resets your progress to zero. Making an xp farm in minecraft bedrock isn't just about efficiency; it's about survival. Bedrock Edition is a different beast than Java. The spawning mechanics are finicky, the ticking area matters more than you think, and if you build a Java-style farm on a console or mobile, it’s probably going to fail.
You need levels. You need them for Sharpness V, for Mending, and for that sweet, sweet Silk Touch.
Why Bedrock XP Farming is Actually Different
Most tutorials you see on YouTube are meant for Java Edition. That’s the first trap. In Bedrock, mob spawning is tied to a "global cap" and very specific "density caps" that can completely break a farm if you aren't careful. For example, if you have too many cows in a pen nearby, your mob spawner might just stop working entirely. It’s annoying.
The mechanics rely heavily on the simulation distance. If your sim distance is set to 4, mobs only spawn within a 44-block sphere of the player. If it’s higher, that range expands. This is why "AFK spots" are the most misunderstood part of building an xp farm in minecraft bedrock. You can’t just stand anywhere. You have to be in the "Goldilocks zone"—close enough to keep the chunks loaded and active, but far enough (at least 24 blocks) so that mobs actually spawn.
The Monster Spawner Trick: The Easiest Way to Start
If you've stumbled upon a Dungeon with a mossy cobblestone floor and a spinning cage, you’ve hit gold. Don't break it. Seriously. This is the most reliable way for a beginner to get levels.
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First, light that place up. Torches everywhere. You want it bright enough that nothing spawns while you’re working. You need to hollow out a space around the spawner. Go four blocks out from every side of the cage and two blocks up and down. This creates a 9x9x6 room. It feels like a lot of mining for a small cage, but the game needs that air space to attempt a spawn.
Now, for the floor. Use water buckets in the corners to push everything toward a central trench. That trench should lead to a single hole. In Bedrock, mobs won't always walk into holes willingly, so the water flow is your best friend.
The Bubble Column Elevator
You want the mobs to fall so they take damage, but you don't want to stand in a dark hole at the bottom of the world. Soul Sand is the answer. By placing Soul Sand under a vertical column of source water blocks, you create a bubble elevator. The zombies or skeletons get pushed into the water, zipped up 22 blocks, and then pushed across a horizontal path to drop back down.
Why 22 blocks? Because 23 blocks of falling damage kills a mob instantly. At 22, they survive with half a heart. You can then punch them with your bare fist (or a looting sword) to collect the XP.
It’s simple. It’s effective. It works while you're eating dinner.
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Zero-Tick Kelp Farms: The Bedrock Special
If you want a "glitchy" but technically legal way to get levels, look at kelp. Bedrock has this weird quirk with pistons and sand that allows for "zero-tick" growth. It basically forces the game to update the kelp plant way faster than it should.
You build a small machine that shuffles sand back and forth under a kelp plant. The plant thinks it has grown, you break it with a piston, and a hopper collects it. You then funnel that kelp into a series of smokers.
The "Stored" XP Secret
Here is the part people miss: Smelting items stores XP in the furnace. If you let a smoker run for three hours, burning through stacks and stacks of dried kelp, it "remembers" all that experience. When you finally pull a single piece of dried kelp out of the output slot manually, the game dumps all the accumulated XP into your character at once.
It’s like a bank account. You don't withdraw the money until you need it. I’ve seen players jump from level 0 to level 50 in a single click using this method. However, be warned: Mojang tries to patch these "zero-tick" bugs frequently. If your pistons start breaking or the kelp stops growing, it means the developers caught on, and you'll need to move to a more traditional mob-based xp farm in minecraft bedrock.
The Gold Farm: High Risk, Massive Reward
If you’re in the mid-game and have enough obsidian to make a 21x21 portal, build a Gold Farm. In Bedrock, Piglins have a chance to spawn whenever a portal is lit.
You don't go to the Nether for this. You stay in the Overworld. You build a massive portal and use a "flint and steel" clock or a lava-fire tick mechanism to constantly ignite and extinguish the portal. Every time it flickers, there’s a chance a Zombified Piglin pops out.
These guys fall into a "trident killer."
Why the Trident Killer is King
The Trident Killer is a Bedrock-only mechanic. You throw a trident into a 2x2 area where pistons are pushing blocks in a circle. The trident gets moved by the pistons, hitting any mob in the way.
The game thinks you are the one dealing the damage because it's your trident.
This means you get the XP and the Looting III bonus from the sword you’re holding in your hand, even if you’re just standing there scrolling on your phone. It’s arguably the most powerful mechanic in the entire version of the game. For a gold farm, this results in stacks of gold nuggets, ingots, and more XP than you’ll ever know what to do with.
Guarding Against Common Mistakes
I've seen so many players build a beautiful tower only for zero mobs to show up. Usually, it’s because they didn't spawn-proof the surrounding area. If there’s a dark cave 20 blocks below your farm, the mobs will spawn there instead of inside your trap.
Go on a lighting spree. Use slabs. Use buttons. Use leaves. Anything to make sure the only place a mob can exist is exactly where you want them.
Also, watch your light levels. Since the 1.18 "Caves & Cliffs" update, hostile mobs only spawn in total darkness (light level 0). A single stray soul torch or a crack in the wall will ruin your rates.
The Simulation Distance Trap
Check your settings. If your world is set to a simulation distance of 4, you need to be within 44 blocks of the spawning platform. If you're 45 blocks away, nothing happens. If you're 20 blocks away, nothing spawns because you’re too close. It’s a tight window. Most pros recommend standing about 30 blocks away from the spawning spot for maximum efficiency.
Taking Action: Your Next Steps
Stop thinking about it and just start digging. If you’re a beginner, go find a spawner. It’s the safest bet. If you’re feeling brave and have a surplus of obsidian from a ruined portal, try the Gold Farm.
- Verify your Simulation Distance in the world settings so you know your active radius.
- Gather at least two stacks of scaffolding; it makes building these vertical farms way easier than using dirt pillars.
- Craft a Trident. Go hunt some Drowned in the ocean. You need that trident for the auto-killer if you want to be truly "hands-off."
- Clear out the "Density Cap." Kill any stray chickens or cows wandering around your build site to free up the mob count.
Getting your first xp farm in minecraft bedrock running is a rite of passage. Once you have infinite levels, the game changes. You stop fearing death because your gear is always perfectly enchanted. You stop worrying about tools breaking because Mending takes care of it. You transition from a survivor to a literal god of your blocky world. Go get those levels.