Cacti Farm Version 2 update

Hello there, today I wrap up what will be the last entry on my cacti farm.
Please wait for images to load on slower net connections.

This time to speed things up I have used World Edit, and as you can see from the provided save file I found towering up the farm to be a super quick and easy process.

How I got world edit.
Installation of World edit was done via use of VoxelModPack v12.1 [Minecraft 1.7.10], which is simple to install via the mod pack installer which includes the trusty mini-map as well as world edit and other goodies.

Grab it here.

Please keep a separate Minecraft Version profile and remember to load that for use on servers like minecraftcc.

The installer does make a separate profile for this mod pack but make sure you return to your usual profile (or the profile setup for liteloader, optifine and voxelmap I shared instructions for setting up earlier) before joining servers. That aside, have a play with it but be warned that once you use World Edit it is hard to go back to life in MC without it.

Note: Save files and screenshots when using this mod pack are found inside <%appdata%>\.minecraft\modpacks\voxelmodpack

Cacti farm updated again?
Yep, this time it was a simple update of shrinking the total height of a cell down to 6 blocks, then adding 1 block to the length of it to make room for a full size item silo (chests+hoppers).

Extending the length of 1 side of the tower provides double the chest space for storing cacti than the initial silos I used previously, as I was more concerned about getting it all to work at the time I made the previous variants.

 

Storage space

Using a default world map height limit of 255, starting from block 10.

Raw numbers <may not be accurate>
6 * 41 -5 (air blocks on top floor) = 246 - 5 = 241 dbl chests
241 * 54 = 13014 stacks,
+hoppers = 5 x 241 = 1205 stacks
Total stacks = 13014 + 1205 = 14219 stacks of cacti
13865*64 = 910016 blocks of cacti

Note: the above figures do not include how many extra chests you add beneath the farming layers for your home floor.
There being 5-10 blocks available means you could add an entire floor (or 2 if you are careful with floor locations, bedrock and cap the roof at the right height depending on use of x block per floor/level designs below).

Don't forget to add the space provided by hoppers when you crunch those raw numbers; and to err is human.

8 blocks per level

Nothing new here except the extra space for the double chest+hoppers, and some player breathing room getting around each floor.

From level 10 upwards it is (245/8 = 30.625 ) 30 floors and 5 extra blocks (31 if you cap the top floor lower). 30-31 stacks per growth period.

I have included the above design because it was quick and easy to play with (once I got a bit more hands on with World Edit) and also for familiarity with previous blog entries.

6 blocks per level

Shrinking the height to 6 blocks from the previous 8 also means more floors going up to increase efficient block space usage and thus gain the maximum return of cacti from a set amount of available space.

I set the amount of space as having the farm build upwards from block 10 (this layer being supporting sandstone layer in my template and ceiling for the floor beneath) up to the default world height limit of block 255. 

The 6 block per floor design will yield you approx. 41 floors if you do manage to build such a tower (super easy with world edit); 41 stacks of cacti per growth period (time before all cacti grow to 3 blocks each) should be plenty to get by with room to spare.

A little more careful floor placement and forgoing a home floor (like a lobby in skyscraper hotels) could yield 42 and leave 4 blocks to spare (may have to work around bedrock). It is the easiest template to use and work with thanks to the even block number.

5 blocks per level

Because 6 blocks per level is not enough, or just to squeeze in more farming output. Redstone is more intricate with this design in getting that signal up the tower but I got it all to fit in the same foot print.

Can go from 49 floors (math: 10-255 = 245 / 5 = 49 floors) to 50 floors if you forgo making a home floor (like a lobby in skyscraper hotels) and are as close as possible to bedrock layers.

It is a tight squeeze getting around each floor with this variant (3 air blocks high between floors), and again getting a redstone signal upwards takes some tinkering (side of blocks as opposed to block torch block on the 6 version) but it does work and is perhaps the most efficient vertical design to use for this farm.

If yielding 49-50 stacks of cacti per growth period (again, the total time spent in minecraft to grow cacti to 3 blocks high) ain't enough; then I'd consider building a second tower, or expanding the floor plan and then cloning that upwards. Either way, just scale the tower design outwards to suit your needs and you will never run out of cacti (pending server failures, redstone circuit issues or whatever else minecraft does to keep you on your fingers and toes).

4 blocks?

61 floors (math: 245 / 4 = 61.25); however each floor would yield half a stack of cacti given the cacti can only grow 2 blocks high on each floor. 30.5 stacks (math: 61/2 = 30.5) per growth period, however this would be suitable to design for an 'always on' farm.

At this point I would forgo the addition of redstone circuitry and use solid blocks (that cobblestone, cheap and reliable as ever) at the cost of some lag whenever cacti blocks are generated and does the pop and drop.

I haven't designed this template from sheer laziness, since it would be almost built from scratch minus the hoppers and cacti supporting layers, however I thought I would mention it as an option for those more adventurous than I have been today.

Regardless of size of each floor used; if the farm is built in the spawn active chunks on a world map/server, you will have more cacti available than you will know what to do with even if you were the one and only source on a server of cacti blocks.

Maybe if everyone was using the farms output as quick as it landed in your chests it would not be enough, but otherwise just having some patience will see practically an unlimited source of cacti available.

Save file.

While it is a bit of a mess, given the fun I had tinkering with World Edit, I have included a save file that has a template for making a 5 or 6 block high floor/level which you can then use to scale upwards to suit however many floors you need for your tower. I have also included a pair of 8 block high per floor/level towers beside the 5 and 6 block high per floor/level variants on the map.

co ordinates in file

• 6 block template +1303 +960
• 5 block template +1278 +960
• 8 block template +1289 +933
• 6 block tower +1427 +973
• 5 block tower +1427 +973
• 8 block towers +1436 +957

The file can double up as either a template to make a copy of these towers into your own maps (MCEdit/World Edit tools) or provide a starting point to expand upon if you would like to give the tower a bigger footprint.

It is also a good way to test out lag by scaling it up/out and measuring performance on your own computers/servers; though I found minimal lag when running it on my own computer I haven't tested it elsewhere.

I had practically no lag at all once the cacti have grown, since it's just half the redstone torches lit when the farm is set to the off/dormant position and nothing else moving through the farm, though your experience may differ.

Save File is here.

Have a play with it and enjoy, comments are welcome if you have other ideas or feedback for the farm (or even would like to show me where/how you used the farm). Again thanks for your patience between comment time vs moderation/submission.

Happy minin',
Crypto (crypto4coin)