Guide to Making Money (In Progress)

So a while back over in the Economy/Market Discussion section I made a very very long list of almost all possible ways I could think of for making green stuff. http://www.ecocitycraft.com/forum/threads/every-possible-way-of-making-money.56507/

I decided there wasn't enough room over there to include a guide to each and every thing on that list. And a guide would fit better over here, in the Turtorial area.

So over the next few years days I'm going to attempt to guide out all that stuff.

But I need some help from the community. I do not participate in every way of making money. I need some solid figures for things like farming.

To start: Farming!

1. Farming
-Farming, that thing that most of us do at one point or another. No matter if it's crops, mobs, or dirt.

1. Crop farming.

Spoiler

1.Melons:

Spoiler

Melons and pumpkins are most times considered the two most profitable crops on the server. Depending on the equipment you have, melon farming can turn a profit.

Step 1. The first thing you want to do is get your hands on a place to farm. Since building large melon farms yourself is costly and time-consuming your best bet is to buy permission to a melon farm. Permission can cost you from 5,000-15,000 or higher depending on the farm size. For serious farmers, much more expensive and larger places can be bought permissions from.

Step 2. You have a place to farm, but what do you farm with? The number 1 best tool to farm melons with is a "Melon Sword". It's a sword that can be bought from the netherstar shop for 1,000 netherstars. It has the following enchantments: Efficiency V and Silk Touch I. You can get Unbreaking III anviled on for longer lasting.
Since melon swords are very expensive, it may be better to go with with an Axe with Silk Touch I and Efficiency V. They can be bought a lot cheaper. An even cheaper alternative would be getting a plain diamond sword and using that. As absolutely cheapest.

Step 3. Getting down to the dirt and time to start farming. So you've got a place to farm and a tool, your set to go. Mainly just walk down the rows of melon and dig them up. If you want to squeeze more cash out of farming melons, there are several more things you can do.
First off would be fly ability. You can fly at exactly the right speed to farm melons with depending on your tool, this will help you farm faster.
Your best bet though, would be using a macro. You can use a macro to set walking/flying speed and even allow you to automatically farm (Check the rules here, auto farming can be illegal in some conditions, to the point of a permanent ban with no appealing).

Step 4. Now what?

You may be wondering, what do I do with all these melons I'm farming? If your farming them with silk touch, you have no option (remotely profitable that is) then to sell them to the server.
If your farming melons without silk touch (your getting slices) then the only thing they are used for are seeds and glistering melons (used in potions).
If you run a shop you can sell the seeds and slices for higher then server price for a tiny bump in profit. And if you make potions it always helps to shovel a few slices toward health potions saving you from buying them.

2. Pumpkins:

Spoiler

Pumpkins are very similar to melons. They both generate a good amount of profit.

Step 1. The first thing you want to do is get your hands on a place to farm. Since building large pumpkin farms yourself is costly and time-consuming your best bet is to buy permission to a pumpkin farm. Permission can cost you from 5,000-15,000 or higher depending on the farm size. For serious farmers, much more expensive and larger places can be bought permissions from.

Step 2. So you have the farm all picked out, then you gotta farm these pumpkins with something. The best tool to farm pumpkins with would be a "Pumpkin Axe" It's a Diamond axe with the following enchantments: Efficiency V, Silk Touch I, and Unbreaking III. You can get it from the netherstar shop for 1,000 netherstars, but it's much cheaper to anvil it.
If your going for cheaper tools, a normal diamond axe will harvest fairly good. Any level of Efficiency would help.

Step 3. Getting down to the dirt and time to start farming. So you've got a place to farm and a tool, your set to go. Mainly just walk down the rows of pumpkin and dig them up. If you want to squeeze more cash out of farming pumpkins, there are several more things you can do.
First off would be fly ability. You can fly at exactly the right speed to farm pumpkins with depending on your tool, this will help you farm faster.
With pumpkins you can also use speed potions to help yourself farm faster.
Your best bet though, would be using a macro. You can use a macro to set walking/flying speed and even allow you to automatically farm (Check the rules here, auto farming can be illegal in some conditions, to the point of a permanent ban with no appealing).

Step 4. Now what?

Pumpkins are only used for 3 things, seeds, jack o' lanterns, and pumpkin pie. You can rule out jack o' lanterns right away, there is no use for them, no one will buy them. If you run a shop the seeds can be sold above server price, adding a tiny bump to profit. Pumpkin pie is not widely used, since eggs are above average priced, but sometimes someone will want them.
Besides seeds, you can mostly just sell them to the server.

3.Wheat, carrots, and potatoes

Spoiler

Wheat, carrots, and potatoes are all farmed the same way. But usually wheat makes the most money.

Step 1. So of course, you need a place to farm these vasts fields of wheat/carrots/potatoes. Believe it or not building your own wheat farm might be a better option then buying permission to one. First reason being, there are very few you can buy permission to, and if you do buy permission, you HAVE to re-plant.
Carrots are also almost never found in farms you can buy permission to, but potatoes are sometimes.
Doing it yourself on the other hand means you can harvest and plant any time you want.

Step 2. Okay, you got your field, then what? You may be wondering, do I need any tools to farm wheat? Yes and No.
Wheat can be farmed perfectly well with your hands. But getting a Fortune III item will increase your count by a ton.
The best option is water harvest. There are tutorials on how to make water farms elsewhere. But you just set it up with dispensers and the water will flow all over the crops. Then just replant or hire someone to replant.
(Do not use redstone lamps to light farm. This is illegal on ECC and it will be punished harshly)

Step 3. Now what?
So your wondering what to do with a few double chests of wheat, carrots, and potatoes? Then you've come to the right place.
Wheat is used for 4 things, bread, cake, cookies, and hay bales. Bread is pretty much out of the question, not usually needed/sold/bought. Cake is hard to make, but sells for above 50 bucks a piece in most cases, if you can craft some, be sure to, and sell it. Cookies are so widely produced that most people use them, you can sell them by the stack if you have a shop. Most sell to the server, but wheat does have other uses. Hay bales have yet to have any use.

Carrots are used for making golden carrots for brewing (don't ask, no one will buy a carrot on a stick). Usually not worth selling, unless you make potions yourself, where you can use your own and save yourself from buying them.

Potatoes only use is for food. Baked potato is one of (if not the most) used food item on ECC. You can sell them by the stack in a shop, someone will probably buy if it's a good deal.

4. Reeds/Sugar Cane.

Spoiler

Reeds are the best things to farm if you can't get your hands on expensive tools.

Step 1. Buying permission to a big farm is your best course of action. There are some huge reed farms out there. Permission can cost you from 5,000-15,000 or higher depending on the farm size. For serious farmers, much more expensive and larger places can be bought permissions from.

Step 2. You also don't need any tools to farm reeds. Fortune doesn't have any effect on the amount dropped, so you only need your hand. The only things that can boost your reed farming would be speed potions and fly ability.
Reeds are broken instantly, so you can farm them pretty fast with fly ability.

Step 3. Now what?

You got a warehouse of reeds, they're piling up, your drowning in them, what do you do?
Reeds are used to make sugar and paper. Since leather is slightly harder to get on ECC then normal minecraft, having a few stacks of paper around is a good idea when you get some leather on your hands.
Sugar on the other hand is used in the making of cake, fermented spider eyes, pumpkin pie, and speed potion brewing.
Cake is always a good thing to sell, if you can get the materials, be sure to craft some and have a little sugar handy. Pumpkin pie is rarely used, once in a while someone might want some, but mostly not needed. No one will want a fermented spider eye, take my word for it. All it does it give negative potion effects that only can be drank. And people that brew potions will almost always brew speed, they'll definitely buy some. All good for a bump to your profit.

5. Cocoa Beans

Spoiler

Cocoa Beans are probably one of the worst ways of farming. Not suggested at all.

Step 1. Since no one farms cocoa beans, you'll have to make your own farm.

Step 2. You can farm with your hands, but a Fortune tool will increase cocoa bean drop, and an Efficiency tool will increase speed.

Step 3. So you went against my advice, and now cocoa beans are burring you alive, you come running for help. You've come once again to the right place.

Cocoa beans are used for cookies, and as a dye.
Some people buy cookies by the stack, which you can sell. As for dyes, not many people would buy it. Easier to buy brown wool.

6. Cactus, Vines, and Mushrooms

Spoiler

Cactus cannot grow or be placed, so I'm not going to mention them. Mushrooms also do not spread, so I won't mention them either. Vines do not make any money. But if you really want to grow some, find yourself a nice wall with ladders and use some shears. Or go find a jungle and get some.

7. Netherwart

Spoiler

A very good thing to grow, but slightly exotic. Good if you can't afford tools.

Step 1. You can get netherwart farm perms and you can make farms yourself. Mostly balanced between which one you decide, but since netherwart farm perms are slightly rarer then most crops, a farm yourself will do just as well.

Step 2. The best tool to farm netherwart with is a Fortune enchanted item. But you can farm with your hands. Since soul sand slows you down greatly to walk on, fly donation is the best thing you can get to help yourself farm.

Step 3. Now what?

Netherwarts are only used for one thing, the base material for every potion created on ECC (Besides one or two). Since it's needed for all potion making, it becomes rather valuable on the market. Selling it to people or in your shop is a very good idea.

8.Trees.

Spoiler

Tree's are used for probably the largest variety of things in minecraft, and are a basic element needed for almost anything. But not usually farmed because the server price is low.

Step 1. Some towns and large farms will have tree farms, albeit small, it's probably better to get some saplings and a wide open area and do it yourself.

Step 2. The best tool to breaking trees is, matter of fact, a pumpkin axe. If it has silk touch you can pick up the leaves, but shears are much much faster. But if your trying to get apples and saplings out of the leaves, better not to have silk touch.

3. Now what?

So you've got a lot of wood. Sell it! Put it in a shop somewhere, people will buy a stack now and then when they need it.

2. Mob Farming

I will not be explaining how to farm mobs, only the benefits of farming.

Spoiler

1. Zombies.

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A zombie spawner is the most common spawner to be found in a dungeon (50% chance).

Step 1. Of course spawners are found underground, there are many tips and tricks to be able to find one, and zombie spawners are the most common to find.

Step 2. Depending on what kind of spawner you set up, you may or may not need a weapon.

Step 3. Farming zombies is all good and well, but what do you do with the spoils? Exp of course is just sold at market. Zombies also drop rotten flesh, which isn't used for anything in ECC, because there are is no way to keep wolves as pets. They also have a rare chance of dropping potatoes, carrots, and iron ingots. These won't effect your income much though.

If anyone has any $$$ figures on how much money per hour something makes, please comment.

Spoilers acting funny. If there's a way to post one inside another one without em doing that, please alert me.

And if there are any problems at all, post here and I'll fix them.

 

Reserved.

 

Reserved.

 

Reserved (Last one to reserve, I promise )

 

Fail, forgot to edit that. Thank's jrg.

 

Thanks, was planning to add that next. Still a work in progress...

And I've never farmed an hour in my life either (30 mins at most probably) and have never kept $ records, and I haven't farmed in months, it drives me insane with boredom.

 

Bump.

Added tree's.
Sorry it's been so long, been busy lately

I'll do some more when I get back from vacation on Friday.

 

Crops need light to grow right? If you try planting seeds without any light, the seed will pop back up. So when you get a big room and wire a bunch of lights to a switch and turn them off, it harvests the entire farm at once, because all the seeds and wheat pop up at the same time.

It's illegal because it causes horrible amounts of lag, even up to crashing the server.

And

I just realized, that should probably say "redstone lamps" instead of glowstone. I'll go fix it