12 Best Ways to Get XP Fast in Minecraft

Forge your path to success: Farm XP like a pro in Minecraft!

Ryan Day
Ryan Day
20 Min Read

In Minecraft, XP is the currency for progress. As you earn more XP, your character will level up faster, giving you access to powerful enchanted weapons and indestructible armor, and becoming a true force to be reckoned with. 

If you’re new to Minecraft and looking to level up your character, then you’ve come to the right place. Today, we’ll delve into the secrets of how to get XP fast in Minecraft and master the game like a seasoned pro. 

1

Slaying Mobs

Slaying Mobs

One of the most common ways to gain XP in Minecraft is by slaying mobs. Since they naturally attack during nighttime, you don’t have to go out of your way to specifically look for mobs that you can farm. Different mobs grant varying amounts of XP upon their defeat. 

Hostile Mob TypeExperience Points Gain Per Kill
Baby Zombie12XP + 1-3 Per Equipment
Blaze
Evoker
Guardian

10XP
Chicken Jokey12(Baby Zombie) + 1-3 Per Equipment +10(Hostile Chicken)
Creeper, Drowned, Ghast, Hoglin, Husk, Illusioner, Phantom, Pillager, Shulker, Silverfish, Skeleton, Stray, Vex, Vindicator, Warden, Witch, Wither Skeleton, Zombie/Zombie Villager, Zoglin

5XP + 1-3 Per Equipment
Ender Dragon12,000XP (500XP if respawned with End Crystals)
Edermite3XP
Skeleton Horseman5(Skeleton) + 1-3 Per Equipment
+1-3(Skeleton Horse)
Large Slime / Magma Cube4XP
Medium Slime / Magma Cube2XP
Small Slime / Magma Cube1XP
Spider Jockey5(Skeleton) + 1-3 Per Equipment
+5(Spider)
Ravager
Piglin Brute
20XP
Wither50XP
Minecraft Hostile Mob XP List

Using the table above, you can now prioritize farming the mobs that give the most experience points per kill. To efficiently farm XP from mobs, consider building mob farms or trap mechanisms that can automate the killing process. 

2

Mining Ores

Mine Ores

Mining ores in Minecraft not only produce valuable resources but also grants XP. Ores such as coal, and diamonds reward players with experience points upon mining them. 

Here’s a complete list of ores you can mine and the amount of XP they give:

Ore TypeExperience Points Gain Per Block
Coal0-2 XP
Nether Gold0-1 XP
Diamond, Emerald3-7 XP
Lapis Lazuli, Nether Quarts2-5 XP
Redstone1-5 XP
Minecraft Ores XP List

To maximize your XP gain, prioritize mining ores that immediately reward XP, such as coal, lapis lazuli, diamonds, and emeralds. Iron and gold on the other hand need to be smelted first before you can gain XP from them. 

3

Smelting

In Minecraft, smelting not only gives players valuable resources but also grants experience points as a reward. Many items such as raw food, ores, and cactus can be smelted to produce different forms of resources. 

The amount of XP given depends on the item you smelted. Generally, smelting gives a small but consistent amount of XP, making it one of the most reliable sources of XP in the game. 

Smelting/CookingExperience Points Gain
Ancient Debris2 XP
Cactus‌ (Java Edition Only), Diamond Ore, Emerald Ore, Gold Ore, Nether Gold Ore1 XP
Copper Ore, Iron Ore, Raw Iron, Raw Gold, Raw Copper, Redstone Ore0.7 XP
Clay, Potato, Raw Beef, Raw Chicken, Raw Cod,
Raw Mutton, Raw Porkchop, Raw Rabbit, Raw Salmon


0.35 XP

Lapis Lazuli Ore, Nether Quartz Ore, Cactus‌ (Bedrock Edition Only)0.2 XP
Wet Sponge, Wood0.15 XP
Chorus Fruit, Coal Ore, Cobblestone, Stone
Dyed Terracotta, Netherrack, Sand, Stone Bricks, Basalt
Iron or Golden Sword, Iron Tools, Golden Tools,
Iron Armor, Golden Armor, Chain Armor
Iron or Golden Horse Armor, Kelp, Sea Pickle




0.1 XP
Minecraft Smelting XP Rewards List

To maximize your XP gains, make sure to use efficient fuel, which provides longer burning times compared to wooden planks or sticks. You should also fill the furnace’s input slot with multiple items that can be smelted at once.

Smelting Sand

If your main objective is to gain XP from smelting, you can focus on smelting sand. Since sand is very easy to find in the Overworld, smelting it for experience point gains makes sense. The only limitation you’ll have will be coal, which is harder to find.

Nonetheless, you can use charcoal as an alternative fuel. Put some damaged wooden tools and logs in the furnace and you’ll have a fuel source that burns as well as coal.

4

Breeding Animals

Breeding Animals

Breeding animals in Minecraft involves the mating of two compatible animals to produce offspring. By breeding animals, you can harvest valuable XP points while expanding your livestock population and food supply.

Breeding animals involves the following:

  • Finding and Capturing Animals – you must locate and capture the animal you want to breed by luring them with food or using a lead to guide them back to your base.
  • Creating Breeding Conditions – each animal requires certain conditions to breed successfully. This involves providing enough space, proper lighting, and specific food to initiate the breeding process or what we call “love mode”.
  • Mating Animals – once you’ve met the requirements of the animal you want to breed, you can feed the couple to initiate mating. Hearts will appear above their heads, indicating that you’ve successfully mated them.

The offspring produced from breeding can be used to further expand your farm. Each successful breeding in Minecraft rewards you with 1-7 XP.

Breeding animals is like hitting two birds with one stone. Aside from the XP gain from breeding, you’ll also have a healthy population of livestock that you can use for food to survive.

5

Mob Farm

Mob Farm Minecraft
Credit: Voltrox

After making some progress with your gameplay, making a mob farm is one of the most efficient ways to get more XP in Minecraft. These mechanisms allow you to kill mobs and gain XP without taking a single damage.

Building a mob farm requires components such as trap doors, scaffoldings, chests, and hoppers. While the initial setup takes some time, the benefits of a mob farm are well worth it.

Basically, a mob farm is a system designed to automatically spawn mobs by simulating the conditions for their spawning. These mobs are then trapped in a chamber, where you can hit them freely.

Piglin Farm

Piglin Farm
Credit: Voltrox

Piglins spawn in the Nether and they drop 20 XP per kill. They are also very common, which makes them a good candidate for farming. With a simple 4×3 setup, you can easily farm piglins and gain hundreds of experience points.

In the Nether, find a flat area where you can set up the farm. Now, dig a 4×3 hole that is 4 blocks deep. Inside, place a chest and three hoppers and cover them with 6 stone slabs.

Complete the enclosure and use trap doors for the platform where the piglins will enter.

Once you’re ready, lure the piglins into the trap by firing an arrow at one of them. After trapping the piglins, you can easily slay them and collect experience points.

6

Slaying the Ender Dragon

Slay the Ender Dragon in Minecraft
Credit: Minecraft

The Ender Dragon is the ultimate boss mob in Minecraft, serving as the final challenge for players to overcome. Traveling into The End realm, you’ll embark on a quest to confront the Ender Dragon and liberate the realm from her rule.

As a reward, you’ll get a substantial amount of experience points (12,000 XP) upon slaying the dragon. This is the highest amount of XP that you can obtain in a single instance without using farms, cheats, or external modifications which makes it the best way to get XP in Minecraft.

You can also respawn the Ender Dragon to defeat it again. However, manually spawning the dragon will only yield 500 XP per kill. This is not as rewarding as the initial encounter and we recommend finding other sources of XP.

7

Experience Bank

Experience Bank
Credit: Stromne

An experience bank in Minecraft is a system or mechanism that is designed to accumulate XP that you can earn through various ways.

For instance, you can make a standard cactus farm and place a collection area beneath it. You can place hoppers at the bottom of the trench, pointing into a chest or storage where cacti will be collected.

Now, you’ll need to make an experience bank with furnaces. Smelting cactus in Minecraft gives you 1 XP and at a large scale, you can easily earn 5,000 to 10,000 XP with a full-scale cactus farm.

There are other types of experience banks in Minecraft, but the cactus farm is one of the most efficient ways to gain chunks of experience points. You can refer to the tutorial to know more about the cactus farm experience bank.

8

Fishing

Fishing

Fishing is an excellent method to farm XP in Minecraft due to its accessibility and versatility. First, it provides a consistent and renewable source of XP. By simply casting your line in any body of water, you have the opportunity to reel in a variety of catches. 

Catch TypePossible Catch
FishRaw Cod, Raw Salmon, Tropical Fish, Pufferfish
TreasureBow, Enchanted Book, Fishing Rod, Name Tag, Nautilus Shell, Saddle
JunkLily Pad, Bowl, Damaged Fishing Rod, Leather, Damaged Leather Boots, Rotten Flesh, Stick, String, Watter Bottle, Bone, Ink Sac, Tripwire Hook
Catch Possibilities Outside Jungle Biomes
Catch TypePossible Catch
FishRaw Cod, Raw Salmon, Tropical Fish (Java Edition Only), Pufferfish (Java Edition Only)
TreasureBow, Enchanted Book, Fishing Rod, Name Tag, Nautilus Shell, Saddle
JunkLily Pad, Bamboo, Cocoa Beans (Bedrock Edition Only), Bowl, Damaged Fishing Rod, Leather, Damaged Leather Boots, Rotten Flesh, Stick, String, Water Bottle, Bone, Ink Sac, Tripwire Hook
Catch Possibilities Inside Jungle Biomes

Each successful catch gives your character XP orbs, which can quickly add up over time. Fishing also offers a range of possibilities, including fish, treasure, and rare catches like enchanted fishing rods and enchanted books. 

AFK Fishing

Fishing can consume a lot of time. Luckily, you can create AFK fishing farms in Minecraft. Making one is easy and the rewards are definitely worth it. Besides catching fish, you will surely gain a lot of experience and valuable items.

Making an AFK fishing farm will require some materials including trapdoors, hoppers, water, and rails. Here’s a complete guide to help you out:

9

Disenchanting With Grindstone

Disenchant with Grindstone

After exploring the Overworld, your inventory will eventually be filled with junk that you simply don’t need to survive. If you’ve followed our tip and made an AFK fishing farm, you probably have some enchanted books and enchanted fishing rods that you don’t need.

Turns out, you can make use of these items and gain some XP from them by using a grindstone. A grindstone is a block that repairs items and tools. It can also remove enchantments from items.

Placing an enchanted item in the input slot forms a non-enchanted item of the same type and durability. Removing the item from the output slot consumes the input item and drops some experience.

The amount of experience dropped from disenchanting depends on the number of enchantments and levels of each item, but it is partially random.

10

XP Bottle (Bottle o’ Enchanting)

Breaking XP Bottles

A Bottle o’ Enchanting is a throwable item in Minecraft that can be used to gain extra experience points. When thrown, it shatters upon impact and releases experience orbs, which you can collect to increase your experience level.

Unfortunately, XP bottles can’t be crafted. These magical bottles can be bought from Master-level cleric villagers for 3 emeralds each.

Bottle o’ Enchanting also spawns naturally in chests. You can refer to the table below to find out where these bottles generate:

StructureContainerQuantitySpawn Chance
Ancient CityChest1-323.2%
Pillager OutpostChest160.9%
ShipwreckTreasure Chest114.1%
Java Edition
StructureContainerQuantitySpawn Chance
Ancient CityChest1-323.2%
Pillager OutpostChest160.9%
ShipwreckTreasure Chest114.1%
Buried TreasureChest111.8%
Bedrock Edition

11

Trade With Villagers

Trade With Villagers

Trading with villagers is a highly advantageous method for earning XP in Minecraft. It provides a repeatable and accessible source of experience points and valuable items and resources you get from trading. 

By engaging with trades and smartly managing your villagers, you can both level up quickly and enhance your reputation in a village. 

Villagers provide valuable items, enchantments, and resources that are hard to obtain through other means. By trading with villagers, you can expand your inventory with useful items that can help you with your adventures.

12

Strip Mining

Strip Mine in Minecraft
Credit: r/Minecraft (SpeCC_720)

This is another efficient way to gain XP and underground resources in Minecraft. You can start by digging a deep tunnel and then mine in one direction (up, down, left right), going as far as you want. When you reach the end, you can turn around or mine in another direction.

Although this method may take a while, it can slowly uncover all the structures and ore veins in an underground location. Besides gaining XP, you’ll also have the chance to collect a pretty large amount of ores and rarities.

When strip mining, make sure to bring a bunch of wood and sticks so you can make torches and build over any deep caverns you discover.

You should also keep an eye out for any dungeons since they have chests and high XP mobs that you can fight.

13

Brewing Potions

Brewing Potions

Brewing potions is a skill-intensive activity that rewards you with experience points. By combining ingredients and mastering the brewing process, you can earn XP as a reward for your dedication. 

Gathering rare resources and spending time brewing them into potions should give you more XP rewards. 

Besides the XP, you will also gain a wide range of potion effects that enhances your combat, exploration, and survival capabilities leading it to be one of the best ways to get XP fast in Minecraft.

14

Exploration and Advancements

Exploration

You can earn XP fast in various ways through exploration in Minecraft. You can gain experience points by uncovering new locations and structures, conquering dungeons, defeating hostile mobs, activating beacons, and unlocking achievements. 

Advancements

Another way to earn XP is by completing advancements in the game. Advancements are a way to gradually guide new players into Minecraft and give them challenges to accomplish, similar to the achievements system in Bedrock Edition.

While advancements guide you through the game, they are independent of each other. This means you can complete any advancement without having to accomplish prerequisites.

There are currently 102 advancements in Minecraft, but not all of them give experience points.

Here are some advancements that reward XP:

AdvancementDescriptionReward
Return to SenderDefeat a ghast by deflecting its fireball back into it via shooting or hitting a projectile at the fireball50 XP
Subspace BubbleUse the Nether to travel between 2 points in the Overworld. It must have a minimum horizontal euclidean distance of 7000 blocks between each other or 875 blocks in the Nether.100 XP
Uneasy AllianceKill a ghast in the Overworld100 XP
Cover Me in DebrisHave a complete set of Netherite Armor100 XP
Hot Tourist DestinationsExplore all Nether Biomes500 XP
A Furious CocktailHave every potion effect applied at the same time100 XP
How Did We Get Here?Have all 27 effects applied at the same time1000 XP
Great View From Up HereLevitate up 50 blocks from the attacks of a Shulker50 XP
Hero of the VillageSuccessfully defend a village from a raid100 XP
Monsters HuntedKill one of every hostile monster100 XP
Adventuring TimeDiscover every biome500 XP
Two by TwoBreed All Animals100 XP
A Balanced DietEat everything that is edible, even if it’s not good for you100 XP
Minecraft Advancements that Give XP (Java Edition)

Overall, Minecraft offers a handful of ways to accumulate experience points and enhance your gameplay. We’ve explored twelve of the best methods to farm XP, and each method offers its own unique benefits. It’s now up to you to decide which one you’re going to take advantage of. 

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Ryan is an experienced gaming writer who specializes in CS:GO, Valorant, and World of Warcraft. He combines his love for writing and gaming to provide insightful, informative content for his readers.
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