Dripstone has a surprising number of uses, especially when it comes to PVP, yet few know just how deadly this block on its own can truly be. So, today, we explore the terrifying ways of using dripstone in our Minecraft dripstone trap guide.

How to Find Dripstone

Before any dripstone traps can be made, one must first head underground to where this block can be obtained. Dripstone is exclusively found within dripstone caves, which generate far inland and almost never beneath oceans and coasts. Thankfully, they are not very rare, so locating one usually only takes a little persistence and hope. Once found, they can be mined with a pickaxe of any kind. However, we recommend mining them from the pointed end to the base as the blocks will otherwise fall, potentially killing anyone beneath.

Falling Dripstone Trap

As mentioned above, dripstone mined from its base will cause the remaining blocks to fall, damaging anyone underneath. This damage begins at three hearts (six points of damage) after one block of fall distance, increasing by that same amount for each block after until a maximum of 20 hearts (forty points of damage) is reached. This makes even a manual dripstone trap, created by simply placing some above a player and breaking the base, extremely deadly. But where it becomes truly terrifying is when redstone is introduced to automate the process. Take, for example, the image above where dripstone is next to a piston. The moment the redstone signal is activated by the trapped chest, the base of the dripstone is broken, and the rest automatically falls, likely killing the player beneath. This can be expanded upon to even hide the dripstone in the ceiling or changed to instead be activated by pressure plates used to open doors.

Pitfall Dripstone Trap

Dripstone doesn’t only do damage from above, but also below. Any player who falls on a dripstone takes damage equal to double the distance they actually fell. So, for example, a fall of ten blocks would deal damage equivalent to twenty blocks if they land on dripstone. This makes dripstone pitfall traps even more deadly than lava, especially if set up correctly. One example made popular by a recent Minecraft civilization video is the seemingly unimposing hallway above. However, with the pull of a lever, three rows of pistons extend, pushing forward open fence gates which cause any player in the hallway to fall through the floor to their death below. The redstone setup for this is very easy and requires only pistons, a couple of repeaters, a lever, and, of course, redstone, extended for how big you intend to make it. For ours, which was a four-by-three hallway, the setup was as follows: Three rows of four pistons, beginning under the right-most row of redstone wiring seen in the screenshot below, followed by three rows of four open fence gates. After that is the layer of smooth stone placed in the pattern shown below. Then, finally, redstone wiring and two repeaters are placed on top with a slight delay on the first repeater, all of which activated by a lever. As for the pitfall itself, buttons were used to cover the walls to make it so blocks can’t be easily placed as victims fall, and the three layers of open fence gates at the bottom help ensure nothing can be placed to block the dripstone that lines the ground beneath. Overall, this Minecraft dripstone trap is very versatile, and it comes down to how complex you would like the redstone to be, with the example used above being on the much easier end. Many more complex versions exist that even use sand and gravel instead.