Redstone in Survival Guide

Hello fellow AEM players! Have you even wanted to build a huge moving contraption? A hidden room to keep diamonds safe? Even something as crazy as a revolving lighthouse? Well all of these use redstone, and this is a guide explaining almost everything that has to do with redstone (except rails/minecarts)!



Above is the creative menu tab named "Redstone". I'll be covering everything under this tab today (or whenever you end up reading this).

NOTE: No crafting recipes will be featured. The minecraft wiki has them memorized. I don't.


How do you get redstone?

In survival, to get redstone, you can either mine redstone ore (shown below), or craft a redstone block into 9 redstone.

Redstone Ore. Mine with at least an iron pickaxe to recieve the dust.

Redstone Dust in one's inventory


Redstone Signals: On or Off?

Redstone acts as a wire when placed. By default it is a dark reddish color, but when powered on by either a redstone torch, redstone block, or another redstone dust that is already turned on, it becomes a neon red color, and gives off light.

Redstone on (left) and off (right)
Redstone can turn corners.
Redstone can be placed on any non-transparent block, with the exception of upright slabs/stairs. But redstone can be placed on 'topside' slabs/stairs. Redstone can also go up a staircase, but cannot go directly vertical.

Redstone will be destroyed and dropped as an item if water touches it. Also, if we make a cobblestone generator using water and lava, placing redstone dust where the cobblestone would be created will make obsidian.

Redstone Signal Lenth and Redstone Repeaters

Redstone will always go 15 blocks without repeating the signal, to turn anything on. After 15 blocks, the signal will wear out.


It's also worth noting that redstone's glow decreases the farther away it is from the power source.
So how do we extend the power source? Using redstone repeaters.

A redstone repeater has 1 input, and 1 output. Any input from the side of a repeater will not yield any output.


The above configuration, with a repeater.

Repeater's In/Output.

A repeater's signal can also be delayed for between 0-4 ticks, by right-clicking the repeater.

Redstone Categorization

Outputs: Things that will be turned on/off by redstone:
Pistons: Push & Pull certain blocks
Droppers/Dispensers: Drop what they are filled with.
TNT: Lit when redstone is on. Explodes as if turned of by flint and steel.
Doors/Gates: Open when redstone is on.
Redstone Lamp: Turn on similar to glowstone when redstone is on. Off by default.
Note Block: Plays a certain note when activated.
Powered Rails: Will boost a minecart when on, and will slow a minecart down when off.

Inputs: Things that turn redstone on/off:
Redstone Torch, Redstone Block, Pressure Plates, Buttons, Levers, Tripwire, Activator Rails (when a minecart runs over them), and Daylight Sensor (during daytime).

Pulses and Clocks: On and off and on again.

A pulse is what happens when you hit a button. It turns a signal on for about 2 seconds, then turns off. To restart the process, you have to punch (right-click) the button again. But what about an automated pulse? There are fast ones, slow ones, even ones that go so fast that they don't look like they work!

NOTE: I suggest not using too many fast ones. They tend to make a lot of lag if they are too big.

The well-known 'hopper clock'. The less hoppers there are, the more pulses you get in a shorter amount of time.

The lesser known 'comparator clock'. Goes much faster than any possible hopper clock. Make sure the comparator torch is on.

The least known, but easiest to make 'torch clock'.

I accidentally posted this while still writing. D; More coming very soon!