Where to get sand in Minecraft Skyblock

Arguably Minecraft's most popular survival map, Skyblock is an intense survival situation in which players must carve out an existence from a small floating island block in the sky, testing knowledge of Minecraft's mechanics to the limit.

Finding most resources in Skyblock can be incredibly tricky, as players must think outside the box to acquire what they need to continue building onto their island. Even simple blocks such as dirt, stone, sand and gravel can become scarce if overused or used for the wrong purpose.

This can set players back significantly as they attempt to flex their Minecraft skills and continue surviving in their isolated space.

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Minecraft: Setting up a Husk farm in Skyblock

Image via Mojang

For those who may not know, Husks are essentially the desert variant of typical Minecraft zombies. However, the benefit of Husks is that they drop sand, thanks to a datapack that comes along with many Skyblock maps. Since finding enough sand for projects can be so difficult in Skyblock, it's wise to create a machine that will spawn and kill Husks and allow players to harvest that sand from their drops.

First and foremost, players must have an established desert biome in order for this farming method to work. Without Husks spawning in the desert, little can be done to harvest sand efficiently in Minecraft's Skyblock.

Though many require sand to make glass and would prefer to simply trade with villagers, other Minecraft players prefer physical sand for decoration or to make their own glass without using shortcuts.

In order to create a Husk grinder, here is one method Minecraft players can try in Skyblock:

1. For the construction of the device, players will require scaffolding, redstone dust, Nether Quartz, Observers, dispensers, daylight detectors, chests, hoppers, soul campfires, sticky pistons and water buckets.
2. Players should select a central block that the farm will emanate from.
3. Use a water bucket to allow the player to drop down to level 0 on the Y-axis.
4. Set down three chests for collection once safely at level 0.
5. Players may opt to use weeping vines or ladders to replace the water column previously placed.
6. Place the hoppers directly below the point of emanation. They should cover a 3x3 grid.
7. On top of the hoppers, place soul campfires and put them out. They can be reignited later with a Flint & Steel.
8. Create a basin around the outside of the climbing pillar, which will prevent water from spilling over and will bring mobs together.
9. Fill the basin with water from the water buckets.
10. Place a dispenser directly beneath the end of the weeping vines or climbing ladder.
11. Place a water bucket within the dispenser.
12. Place as many scaffoldings out from the dispenser as the build limit will permit. After six blocks, the scaffolding will begin to fall which demonstrates the limit.
13. Build out a star pattern over the water spread with scaffolding.
14. Place an Observer two blocks above the dispenser, and make sure the redstone output of the Observer is facing downward.
15. Build a platform leading to the Observer.
16. Place two sticky pistons (with a block with Redstone dust behind it) on the platform on opposite sides of a Redstone block. Place two hoppers underneath and between the pistons and the Redstone block.
17. Place an Observer on the front end of the Redstone block facing the farm's center.
18. Place a daylight sensor above one of the blocks with Redstone dust on them.
19. Place Redstone dust along the platform to make it back to the original Observer. Afterwards, all that will remain is to remove residual blocks and to create a path down to the collection area to reap the sand rewards.

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