Farming. One of the oldest aspects of Minecraft and one of the most fundamental facets of gameplay, it has been around for years. Ever since we’ve been able to grab a hoe and till the dirt, there have always been small additions to the farming systems in Minecraft every now and then, whether it be a new seed or Villager automation AI. All of that’s fine and dandy, however, there is one addition that stands out from the rest, the Composter. Today, we’re going to go over the Composter, why it exists, how it works, and more. Let’s begin.
What Do Composters Do In Minecraft?
The Composter is a block that converts some biological materials into bone meal. It also serves as a farmer villager’s job site block. Composters can be broken with any tool, though an axe breaks them much faster. The block does not retain the compost inside if broken; instead, it drops empty.
Composters can be used to recycle food and plant items, excluding bamboo, poisonous potatoes, dead bushes, meat, and fish. Once recycled, these materials turn into bone meal. Composters also emit a redstone signal of up to 8, interestingly enough. The composter has a “floor” whose height depends on the fullness. When the composter is completely empty, the floor is slightly above the block below, and when it is completely full there is a slight dip on top. When the composter’s fullness increases, the compost inside is pushed up accordingly.
As expected, the Composter can be filled with compost! This is done by adding items that are compostable to it by right clicking on the block. If done successfully, a green particle appears. Different biological materials provide different amounts of compost depending on how valuable they are. For example, seeds are much less valuable than melon slices, which are less valuable than apples, which are less valuable than cookies, and so on. It can feel seemingly random as to what determines the value of an item, but it isn’t.
To craft a Composter, simply place seven wooden slabs of any kind in the shape of a Composter.
Redstone Component
A composter can act as a power source for a redstone comparator. With the composter behind it (either directly, or separated by a solid block). The comparator outputs a signal strength between 0 and 8, proportional to how full the composter is: 0 for empty, 1 for 1/7 full, 2 for 2/7 full, 3 for 3/7 full, 4 for 4/7 full, 5 for 5/7 full, 6 for 6/7 full, 7 for completely full but the bone meal is not ready to collect, and 8 for completely full and the bone meal is ready to collect. For some reason, if there is a block in between the composter and comparator, the comparator does not immediately update.
It is also worth noting that hoppers do interact with composters. When placed directly below a composter, it will pull bone meal from it. A hopper dropping facing downward directly above a composter also pushes items into it. Hoppers cannot interact with the side of composters.
Conclusion
Well, that’s all there is to it! The Composter is a very interesting block with tons of unique functionality. And while I don’t feel that it is the most useful out of all the blocks I’ve reviewed here at Apex, it’s still pretty cool to see Minecraft’s interpretations of real world systems. Whether it be a blast furnace, a stonecutter, or in this case, a composter. In any case, I hope you learned something new, and have a great day!
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