How To Make An Airlock In Minecraft

How to Make an Airlock in Minecraft

Ever had a Minecraft base swamped by water because you forgot to seal the entrance, or maybe a cheeky mob decided it was the perfect time for a visit? Building an airlock can keep your buildings safe from surprise floods and unwanted intruders. Let's get into the nitty-gritty of how you can construct a watertight Minecraft airlock, without breaking the immersion of your underground lair or island getaway!

What is an Airlock in Minecraft?

A Minecraft airlock can work as a floodgate to prevent water from filling up your base. With a clever design, these "airlocks" respond to flooding by blocking water flow, giving you a quick and effective barrier even though these are not true airlocks like doors and fence gates.

Basic Mechanics You’ll Need to Know

The magic of airlocks comes down to three essential elements in Minecraft:

Torches - These little lights do more than just glow. In airlocks, torches have a quirky behavior: they’ll hold boxes until they’re exposed to water, at which point they break, letting the sand drop. This property is key for making your airlock react to incoming water.

Sand - Sand’s natural tendency to fall when unsupported is useful here. When torches give out underwater, sand immediately drops down.

Water - Minecraft water flows outward but disappears if not connected to a block of still water.

Design 1

Components Needed:

• Torches (regular, Redstone, or soul)
• Sand

Your Minecraft airlock is best suited for narrow spaces and choose points. Sand-based airlocks are 1 block thick and just a few blocks high. This makes it easier to fill the area with sand, ensuring complete water resistance. If you have multiple entry points, you may want to place airlocks at each one to fully protect your base.

Determining the materials required is pretty simple. The number of torches is equal to the width of the corridor, and the amount of sand is proportional to the width of the corridor multiplied by its height. You can take a shovel and a pickaxe along but these are optional. These items can help speed up digging and save time on mistakes.

The first step is making sure your hallway has enough height – the ceiling should be just one block higher than the water level you’re worried about, plus one extra block for the torch. This lets you fit in a series of sand layers above the torch, sealing off the hall. Place a torch at water level on either wall of the hallway. If water touches this torch, it’ll break, causing the sand above to drop and stop the water flow in that direction.

Pile sand above the torch, layer by layer, until you reach the ceiling. For a hallway wider than one block, repeat the process in each column, with each torch and sand layer creating a wall that will fall at the first sign of water If water comes in contact with the torches, the sand will fall, instantly creating a sand wall to block the water. There you have it – your first Minecraft airlock!

Design 2

Sugar cane can actually function as a type of airlock. However, it requires water next to the cane to grow, so it's trickier to integrate into a base.

Design 3

Introducing piston airlocks which are a game-changer. Pistons allow for more compact designs and give you control over when and how the airlock engages. They work with any solid block – not just sand and can create impressive, tech-like entries. But they can be costlier and more complex because of Redstone circuitry as compared to torch/sand and torch/gravel.

Other Uses: Turn Your Airlock into a Trap!

Minecraft airlocks aren’t just for water – they can be adapted to set up traps.

Controlled Flooding allows you to redirect water flow to flood-specific areas, or make an entire chamber fill with water.

Use torches to trigger sand falling into a room, revealing a lava pool and canceling out water. As long as there is movement of sand and water, this is an effective trigger system.

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Wrapping Up

With these airlock designs, you’ll be ready for almost anything Minecraft throws at you. Sand-and-torch airlocks offer simple, effective water protection, while piston airlocks give you complete control for more compact designs. Now it’s time to gather up some sand, craft a few torches, and get building.

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