In 2020, during Minecraft Live a lot of Redstone engineers got super excited with the announcement of sculk sensors. With it, you can do wireless Redstone, which brings a lot of brand new build possibilities to the game. But what possibilities exactly?
That’s what you’re about to find out. With this blog post, I hope I can give you a taste of what is possible with these new sensors, and get your inner Redstone mechanic excited. So without further ado, let’s get into it.
How Does A Sculk Sensor Work?
Let’s start by understanding how Sculk sensor works! A sculk sensor senses sound which makes it vibrate. As it vibrates, the Redstone connected will activate for a short period.
Different sounds give out frequency strengths which range from 1 to 15. For example, a step will only give out a frequency strength of 1, while an explosion gives a frequency strength of 15.
The frequency strength tells you how much Redstone dust will activate. For example, if the frequency strength is 8, then eight Redstone dust will be activated.
Here’s the full list of the frequencies:
| Frequency Strength | Action |
| 1 | Stepping |
| 2 | Flapping by bats and parrots |
| 3 | Swimming |
| 4 | Flying With Elytra |
| 5 | Hitting the Ground |
| 6 | Minecart Moving, Ringing a Bell, Water Splashing, Wolf Shaking |
| 7 | Drinking, Priming TNT, Shooting Arrows |
| 8 | Mob Interactions, Arrows Hitting The Ground, Eating, Damaging a Mob |
| 9 | Equipping Armour, Using Shears, Ravager Roar |
| 10 | Closing doors, switching lever off, Unpressed Button, Disarming Tripwire, Dispenser Failing to Dispense Items |
| 11 | Opening Doors, Switching Lever On, Pressing a Button, Arming Tripwire |
| 12 | Placing a Block, Placing an Armor Stand, Filling a Cauldron, Placing Lava or Water |
| 13 | Destroying a Block, Killing a Mob, Filling Bottle or Bucket |
| 14 | Reeling in a Fishing Rod, Closing Containers, Contracting Piston, Shulker Closing |
| 15 | Explosion, Casting a Fishing Rod, Opening Container, Lightning, Piston Extending, Shulker Opening |
As you can see, almost everything you do, causes the sculk sensor to activate, but there are a few ways to avoid that. First, you can sneak past the Sculk sensor. Additionally, you can block any unwanted vibrations by covering the sensor with wool.
How Do You Obtain a Sculk Sensor?
In 1.17 you cannot obtain sculk sensor without the use of commands. This is due to the deep dark not being implemented into the game yet. But the command to get it is:
“/give @p minecraft:sculk_sensor”
In 1.18, however, you’re going to be able to obtain it in survival. It will be located in the deep dark biome that is below y-level 0. But you’ve got to be careful there as the warden lurks around this biome!
For more information about Minecraft 1.18, you can check out this blog.
6 Sculk Sensor Build Ideas
Now that you know how a Sculk Sensor works, and how to obtain it, let’s get into the builds, shall we?
TNT Traps
One of the most obvious and toxic sculk sensor build ideas is to make TNT traps. For this, you don’t need a lot. A powered rail, Sculk Sensor, some blocks of wool and a few minecarts with TNT should do the trick.
Plus, this is designed to be unnoticeable, plus it explodes instantly. But you’ll have to be careful with it as not to activate it yourself!
Different Piston Doors
Are you tired of having pressure plates on your floor, or buttons to open your piston doors? If so then Sculk Sensor is just what you need. With it, you can just walk in and out without ever having to do anything.
But you can get more creative than that! You could do a piston door trap! Or even a piston door that you can fly in with an elytra. Just check out the cool design by Mumbo Jumbo.
Photocell Lamps
Would you like your main door illuminated when you get in? Then use a sculk sensor to create a simple photocell lamp. All you have to do is put a sculk sensor next to a Redstone lamp, and you’re done!
Now your main door is always illuminated when you try to get in and out of your home.
P.S Want to know how to make roofs like this? Check out our Minecraft roof design blog!
Alarm System
Nobody likes thieves that steal your diamonds! So why not take advantage of the sculk sensor’s benefits and protect your valuables with an alarm system? You can make piston doors that close when the alarm is triggered! Plus, a constant note block sound will annoy them while they’re trying to find your well-hidden diamonds.
Two-Way Signaling System
Want to send messages to your distant friend? Well, now you can with a two-way signalling system. For example, you could use it to send a request to your friend for reinforcements. Or you could be evil, and send a signal to blow up a distant bomb. The choice is yours!
P.S You could also integrate your alarm system with a two-way signalling system to tell your friend to check out your house if someone entered your house uninvited.
Motion-sensed bridges
With sculk sensors, you can make motion-sensed bridges. These could be as simple as bridges with illumination or bridges where the platform rises from lava when you get there.
Conclusion
This is just scratching the surface! I hope that this blog post helped you to get a taste of what is possible with a sculk sensor and has given you the inspiration to build something glorious. What type of sculk sensor ideas do you have? Comment down below! I’d love to read them!
