How to Build a Piston Drawbridge in Minecraft

Do you have a castle in Minecraft? Do you want to make a drawbridge? Here are the instructions.

Steps

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    Dig a 4 long by 4 to 6 wide hole. Make it 4 blocks deep.
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    Craft 6 sticky pistons. Place them 2 blocks away from the width edge. Make sure that it's 1 away from the long edge, too.
    • If cheats are enabled, you can use the command /give @s 29 6
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    Place blocks on top of the pistons. Connect redstone trails to the pistons.(but not the side center ones) Then, connect the 2 separate redstone trails together. Now take a redstone repeater and place it in between where the 2 separate trails connect.
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    Take 2 redstone repeaters. Place them 1 block away from where the side center pistons are.
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    Make a staircase shape and place a lever at the top. Connect redstone trail to the lever.
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    Test your contraption. If it works, cover it all up and prepare for the next step. If not, try repeating the steps again, or toy around with it.
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    Craft some buckets. Fill them with water or lava/magma.
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    Turn on the bridge. If you covered the hole, then next to the bridge, dig 2 3x1 holes and cover the bottom of that. That will make a pasture shape if done correctly.
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    Pour your lava/water into the two indentations. Refill the bucket(s) and continue to pour the contents into both sides. Keep pouring in the buckets until the holes are full, but not overflowing.
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    Now you have a drawbridge! Make sure it works, and if you don't understand the instructions, watch Paul Soares Jr's Survive and Thrive Season 2 video on YouTube.

Community Q&A

  • Question
    Can you add guardians?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    You can add guardians if you use water and not lava.
  • Question
    How do I make a really long drawbridge when the power doesn't go far enough?
    Lutark Lampri
    Lutark Lampri
    Community Answer
    Extend the power of the redstone wire with redstone repeaters. However, they do give a one-tick delay, but that shouldn't matter for this project, as long as you don't rush going on the drawbridge.
  • Question
    Can I fill the hole with acid?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    If you have a mod for acid in Minecraft, go for it.
  • Question
    Can I make a drawbridge without redstone repeaters?
    Lutark Lampri
    Lutark Lampri
    Community Answer
    Yes, you can substitute the repeaters with comparators.
  • Question
    Why doesn't it work in MCPE?
    Bailey
    Bailey
    Community Answer
    It does work, but it will be a bug in MCPE. Try updating or waiting for an update.
  • Question
    How wide does it have to be?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    It can be as wide and long as you want it to be, but make sure your power can reach the buttons or levers.
  • Question
    Can this work for castles in the sky?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    It should, as long as there are enough blocks around your moat to support the lava or water.
  • Question
    Why won't our pistons retract when the power is turned off?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Did you make sure to use sticky pistons? If they are sticky pistons, it may be a glitch or maybe you wired it incorrectly.
  • Question
    How do I place the repeater in Minecraft Pocket Edition?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Tap on the screen, as you would left-click on a computer.
  • Question
    Does this work in Minecraft Edu?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    This should work in Minecraft Edu, but it might cause a little bit of lag because of the extra elements added in.

Warnings

Things You'll Need

  • 6 sticky pistons
  • 64 redstone dust
  • 3-4 red-stone repeaters
  • 1 building/creation
  • 1 shovel (optional)
  • 2 buckets of lava or water
  • 1 lever
  • 64 of the material that your creation is made of

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About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 20 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 247,178 times.
129 votes - 71%
Co-authors: 20
Updated: December 31, 2021
Views: 247,178
Categories: Minecraft Mechanisms