Minecraft How to Farm Totem of Undying

A single Totem of Undying can be the difference between life and an untimely demise in the treacherous world of Minecraft. To consistently acquire these life-saving artifacts, the most efficient and renewable method is undoubtedly constructing a dedicated raid farm. This advanced setup leverages game mechanics to reliably spawn the elusive Evokers, the sole source of these precious items.

Understanding the Totem’s Origins

Before diving into construction, it’s vital to grasp the core mechanics behind Totems of Undying. Knowing how they spawn and function will inform every design choice for your farm.

• Exclusive Drop from Evokers: The Totem of Undying is a guaranteed drop from every Evoker upon its death. This means your primary goal is to maximize Evoker encounters.
• Evoker Spawning Locations: While Evokers can be found in Woodland Mansions, these structures are non-renewable and finite. The most reliable and repeatable source is during the later waves of Illager raids.
• Triggering a Raid: A raid commences when a player afflicted with the “Bad Omen” status effect enters the boundaries of a village.
• Acquiring Bad Omen: As of the 1.21 update, the “Bad Omen” effect is primarily obtained by consuming an Ominous Bottle. These bottles are most easily acquired from trial spawners found within trial chambers. Prior to 1.21, the effect was gained by defeating a Pillager Captain.
• Raid Difficulty and Evokers: The difficulty setting significantly impacts Evoker spawns. On Hard difficulty, Evokers are far more likely to appear and in greater numbers during raids. On Easy difficulty, their appearance is merely chance-based, making it unsuitable for farming.
• Totem Functionality: When held in either your main hand or off-hand, a Totem of Undying automatically activates upon taking fatal damage. It prevents death, restores a portion of your health, clears all active status effects, and grants temporary buffs like Regeneration, Fire Resistance, and Absorption.

Designing Your Totem Factory: Raid Farm Construction

Building an effective raid farm requires careful planning and execution. The goal is to create an environment where raids are easily triggered, mobs are efficiently collected, and Evokers are swiftly dispatched.

1. Village Foundation: Begin by establishing a functional village. This involves placing at least 10 beds and 5 workstations within a 96-block spherical radius. Crucially, villagers must be able to pathfind to these blocks to register the village properly. Many efficient farms are built high above the ground or over an ocean to isolate the village mechanics and control mob spawns.
2. Farm Structure Layout: The overarching design funnels all incoming raid mobs into a centralized killing area. Popular designs include tall towers with a central shaft for mobs to fall through, or a 9×9 field with a trench around the perimeter. Building over an ocean biome is highly recommended as it prevents unwanted mob spawns on the surrounding land, ensuring all raid mobs spawn within your farm’s capture zone.
3. Villager Placement and Activation: Secure a single villager within a protected, enclosed space (e.g., a glass dome or a small obsidian box) within your defined village radius. This villager needs a bed and a workstation. Ensure the villager sleeps at least once in their designated bed to properly register the “village” for raid mechanics. This single villager acts as the raid trigger point.
4. Efficient Mob Collection System: Implement a robust system to gather items dropped by defeated Illagers. Water streams are commonly used to push items into hoppers, which then feed into a series of chests. Ensure that hoppers cover every possible spot where an Evoker might die to prevent any Totems from despawning.
5. Killing Mechanism: Design an efficient method to eliminate the raid mobs. Fall damage is a popular choice; most mobs can be killed by a 23-block drop. For larger mobs like Ravagers, a lava blade or a simple manual killing area might be necessary. Some advanced farms use a combination, allowing smaller mobs to die from fall damage while larger ones are filtered into a separate lava trap or a player-killing zone for XP.
6. Raid Trigger System: Create an accessible point to trigger raids. This usually involves a designated spot near your villager where you can consume an Ominous Bottle. Some advanced setups even incorporate a system to automatically deliver Ominous Bottles to this trigger point.

Optimizing Your Totem Yields

Once your farm is built, several strategies can significantly boost your Totem of Undying production rate.

• Hard Difficulty is Non-Negotiable: Always set your game difficulty to Hard. This is the single most important factor for maximizing Evoker spawns during raids. Easy difficulty will yield very few, if any, Evokers, rendering your farm largely ineffective.
• Looting III Enchantment: While Evokers are guaranteed to drop one Totem, using a sword enchanted with Looting III when manually killing them can potentially increase the number of totems dropped per Evoker. This is particularly useful if your killing mechanism allows for player intervention.
• Swift Raid Completion: The faster you complete raids, the more raids you can trigger per hour. This directly translates to more Evokers and, consequently, more Totems. Design your killing mechanism and collection system for maximum efficiency.
• Ocean Biome Builds: Constructing your raid farm over a deep ocean biome is highly advantageous. This minimizes the risk of raid mobs spawning outside your designated collection area, ensuring all Illagers are funneled into your farm.
• Continuous Ominous Bottle Supply: To keep your farm running indefinitely, you need a steady supply of Ominous Bottles. Consider integrating a system to farm these bottles, either through repeated raids (killing Pillager Captains) or by regularly visiting trial chambers to break trial spawners.

Avoiding Common Pitfalls

Even the most meticulously designed farm can fail if common mistakes are made. Be aware of these potential issues:

• Incorrect Difficulty Setting: Running your farm on Easy or Normal difficulty will drastically reduce or eliminate Evoker spawns, rendering your efforts fruitless. Always confirm you are on Hard difficulty.
• Uncollected Totems: Like all dropped items, Totems of Undying despawn after five minutes if not picked up. Ensure your item collection system (hoppers, water streams) covers every possible death spot for Evokers to prevent losing valuable totems.
• Misconception of Player Kill Requirement: Totems will drop from Evokers regardless of whether they are killed by a player or an environmental factor within your farm (e.g., fall damage, lava, suffocation). You do not need to personally kill every Evoker.
• Ineffective Village Setup: An improperly configured village (e.g., too few beds/workstations, villagers unable to pathfind, village radius too small or too large) can lead to weak raids, raids failing to start, or even raids spawning mobs outside your farm’s collection area.
• Lack of Ominous Bottles: Without a consistent source of Ominous Bottles, your totem farm will eventually cease operation. Plan ahead for how you will replenish your supply to ensure continuous farming.

By understanding these mechanics, carefully constructing your farm, and adhering to optimal strategies, you can transform your Minecraft world into a reliable source of Totems of Undying, ensuring your continued survival against even the most formidable threats the game has to offer.