How To Build A Conduit In Minecraft 1.20

A conduit is a beacon-like block that provides Conduit Power and attacks hostile mobs underwater. Conduits emit a light level of 15, the brightest light level in the game, whether activated or not; including on land.

In this article, Gurugamer is going to showcase how to build a conduit in Minecraft 1.20

1. How to get Heart of the sea

Heart of the sea items cannot be obtained through farming. They are exclusively found in buried treasure chests, which can be challenging to locate.

Step 1: Breathing underwater

Prior to diving underwater, players need a means to breathe underwater. This can be achieved using doors‌[Java Edition only], turtle shells, water breathing potions, helmets with the Respiration enchantment, or bubble columns.

A straightforward yet time-consuming method to prolong your underwater exploration is acquiring a helmet enchanted with Respiration. Even a single level of Respiration doubles the default 15-second underwater duration to 30 seconds, and each additional level extends it by another 15 seconds.

You can try fishing until you obtain a book enchanted with Respiration and then use an anvil to apply the enchantment to a helmet.

Alternatively, you can locate a zombie spawner to create a drowned or zombie farm, specifically on Hard difficulty, as this may yield enchanted gold armor, including helmets with Respiration that zombies drop when they drown or perish. If you're playing Bedrock Edition, this farm can also provide nautilus shells required for crafting conduits.

Step 2: Locating treasure maps

Maps leading to buried treasure can be discovered in chests found in shipwrecks and underwater ruins. These structures are scattered throughout the ocean, with underwater ruins often recognizable by bubble columns, sea lanterns, or drowned presence.

Alternatively, players have the option to feed a nearby dolphin, which will then guide them to a structure containing treasure.

If you happen to come across a shipwreck in relatively shallow water (allowing you to dive down, stay submerged for approximately 5 seconds, and resurface), head directly to the map chest. It can be found in the lower area of the stern of the ship, usually requiring you to open a door to access that section. Focus solely on obtaining the map (not the blank pieces of paper, but the paper with a mark on it) from the chest and avoid getting distracted by anything else. After acquiring the map, resurface immediately. If you wish to explore the ship further, save it for another dive.

Step 3: Following the map

Buried treasure maps are typically blank, displaying a white dot that indicates the player's position relative to the buried treasure. It's important to note that north is represented as upward on the map, and east is depicted by rightward movement. As the player approaches the treasure, the indicator dot enlarges and begins revealing map details. This journey may involve a lengthy boat ride.

Once the red "X" on the map is reached, the player can start digging a 2x2 or 2x3 area around that spot using a shovel to locate the treasure chest. Alternatively, a more convenient approach is to dig directly down the center of the chunk when at the red "X" (coordinates 9,?,9 in Java Edition or 8,?,8 in Bedrock Edition) since treasure chests always generate in this specific position within a chunk. It's important to note that a buried treasure chest always contains a heart of the sea.

2. How to get Nautilus shells

Obtaining eight nautilus shells can be a laborious task depending on your setup.

Method 1: Fishing

Fishing is a practical and straightforward approach, occasionally granting a nautilus shell as a valuable catch. Fishing may also yield enchanted fishing rods, which enhance the catch rate and the likelihood of obtaining treasure. However, the chances of receiving a nautilus shell with an unenchanted rod are only 0.7%, necessitating a considerable amount of time spent fishing.

It is essential to fish in open water to maximize your chances of catching nautilus shells or other valuable items, as fishing in restricted areas may only yield fish and undesirable items. Additionally, fishing directly under the open sky during rainfall can reduce the waiting time between bites.

Method 2: Drowned

The likelihood of obtaining nautilus shells from drowned depends on the game edition.

Bedrock Edition: Drowned in Bedrock Edition have an 8% chance of spawning while holding a nautilus shell. If a drowned is holding a nautilus shell in its offhand, it will always drop it upon defeat. Additionally, converting zombies into drowned resets the drop counters, giving newly-converted drowned the same chance of spawning with a nautilus shell. Consequently, acquiring nautilus shells for conduits is relatively straightforward in Bedrock Edition. If you come across a dungeon with a zombie spawner, creating a basic flooded dungeon drowned farm becomes the simplest and most efficient way to generate nautilus shells in Survival mode, providing an abundance of shells.

Java Edition: Drowned in Java Edition have a 3% chance of spawning while carrying a nautilus shell. If they are carrying one, it is guaranteed to be dropped upon their defeat. It's worth noting that only naturally-spawned drowned possess nautilus shells; zombies that have been converted into drowned do not carry them.

Method 3: Trading

An alternative approach to acquire nautilus shells involves trading with a wandering trader. These traders can appear anywhere in the game world after one in-game day and occasionally offer nautilus shells as part of their trades. Each nautilus shell typically costs five emeralds, meaning you would need to spend a total of 40 emeralds to obtain eight nautilus shells. While this method requires a significant number of emeralds, it is the fastest way to obtain the desired amount, especially if you have access to a village as a source of emeralds for trading.

It's important to note that the trade for nautilus shells becomes locked after five transactions. To accumulate enough shells for a conduit, the player needs to trade with at least two wandering traders who offer nautilus shells. However, this process may take a considerable amount of time as not every wandering trader will have nautilus shells available for trade.

3. How to craft and activate the Conduit

Step 1: Crafting the conduit core

To create a conduit, you will need 8 nautilus shells and a heart of the sea. However, to make the conduit fully operational, you must also gather a minimum of 16 and potentially up to 42 prismarine or sea lantern blocks. Each ingredient requires its own specific quantity.

Step 2: Get Water Breathing

To gather enough prismarine, it is crucial for the player to have a means of breathing underwater. The most effective approach is to establish a conduit within an ocean monument, granting the player conduit power. The top section of an ocean monument consists of a 4x4 ring of prismarine, which can be expanded to a 5x5 ring by mining the supporting prismarine pillars beneath it, resulting in an increased availability of prismarine. This expanded top ring, when powered by the conduit, is capable of enclosing the entire monument. The construction of the conduit and expansion of the top ring can be carried out either near the surface or from a platform constructed around the monument's top.

Placing the conduit in the middle of the 5x5 ring will activate it. Once activated, the conduit provides the Conduit Power effect, enabling the player to breathe indefinitely, enhance visibility, and mine faster underwater. This allows the player to explore and gather additional prismarine within the entire monument. The acquired prismarine can then be used to relocate the conduit if desired.

Additionally, there are alternative methods to temporarily breathe underwater. These include utilizing bubble columns, non-solid blocks that cannot be waterlogged (such as doors [Java Edition only]), having the Respiration enchantment, or using turtle shells.

Step 3: Acquiring prismarine

Prismarine can be obtained through two primary sources: the guardians themselves and the structure of the ocean monument. Dealing with the guardians can be challenging, particularly due to the mining fatigue inflicted by elder guardians, which makes mining difficult. To overcome these obstacles, it is advisable to bring building materials that can be instantly broken, such as slime blocks, scaffolding, or TNT. Having a trident enchanted with Impaling and Loyalty can significantly aid in dispatching guardians, and the presence of a Riptide trident or Depth Strider boots can prove helpful as well.

When facing elder guardians obstructing the monument's structure, the most effective way to break through is by detonating TNT. For optimal results, place a gravity block like sand on top of the TNT. Once ignited, the sand block transforms into an entity, causing it to fall inside the TNT. As the TNT explodes, it destroys some of the prismarine blocks while leaving behind valuable items. Without the assistance of a gravity block, TNT inflicts damage to mobs but fails to destroy underwater blocks.