Make an Automatic Piston Door in Minecraft

Pistons allow you to make a "door" out of almost any solid block. You can also make a much larger entrance than the normal "door" item, such as the 2 x 3 structure described in this guide. Once all the redstone wiring is in place, your door will slide open faster than you can say "Open Sesame!"

Pistons are available in Minecraft Pocket Edition as of update 0.15.0.

Steps

Building the Framework

  1. Gather materials. See the Things You'll Need section below for a complete list of building materials. If you're not sure how to craft these, refer to these recipes:
    • Sticky piston = piston + slimeball
    • Redstone torch = redstone + stick
    • Pressure plate = stone + stone (smelt cobblestone to get stone)
    • Lever = cobblestone + stick
  2. Make a 2 x 3 stone structure. Place six stone blocks in a pattern two blocks wide and three blocks tall. This will be the "door" that gets pushed aside to let you enter.
    • You may use almost any solid block instead of stone. There are a few blocks that do not work with sticky pistons, such as pumpkins or (in Creative mode) bedrock.[1]
  3. Point sticky pistons at this structure from either side. Place a column of three sticky pistons with their green piston heads facing the left side of the stone structure. Leave a one block gap between the stone and pistons. Repeat with another column of three sticky pistons on the right side.
    • These pistons are on the left and right sides of the door, not the front and back. All the blocks you've placed should be in one row.
  4. Place a redstone torch behind each sticky piston column. Place a redstone torch on the ground directly behind the stone side of the lowest piston. Repeat for the column on the other side.
    • The lower two pistons of each column should extend to hit the stone structure.
  5. Place stone and redstone above the torch. To make the top piston fire, place a block of stone directly above the redstone torch (behind the middle piston). Place redstone dust directly on top of this stone. Repeat for the other column.
    • Again, you can use any solid material instead of stone.
    • Redstone "dust" is slang for ordinary redstone, placed on a block.

Making the Door Automatic

  1. Dig a trench four blocks deep in front of the door. Make the trench extend two blocks out from the door, and all the way from one redstone torch to the other. You should end with a trench 4 deep x 2 wide x 8 long.
  2. Place more redstone torches beneath the first pair. Stand at the bottom of the trench and face the wall underneath your wall structure. Dig out the block two below your first redstone torch and place a second redstone torch on the ground in this hollow. (The pistons should retract, pulling the stone with them.) Repeat for the other side. A profile view of the leftmost and rightmost column should now look like this, from top to bottom:
    • Redstone dust
    • Stone
    • Redstone torch (placed on ground)
    • Dirt block (ground level)
    • Redstone torch (placed on block beneath)
    • Dirt block
    • (Trench floor)
  3. Place one layer of stone in the trench directly in front of the door. Place four stone in the center of the trench, raising it one layer. Leave the rest of the trench at its current depth.
  4. Place redstone torches on either side of this layer. Place one redstone torch on the left side, and one on the right. These torches must be on the side of the block, not on the ground.
  5. Cover the trench with redstone. Draw a line of redstone dust between the two torches on the left side. (The pistons should extend again when this happens.) Repeat for the two torches on the right side. Finish by covering all four blocks of the raised area with redstone dust.
  6. Create a platform in front of the door. Place a 2 x 2 stone at ground level in front of the door, directly above the raised area in your trench.
    • Take care not to destroy the redstone dust when you place these.
  7. Put pressure plates on this platform. Place two stone pressure plates at the end of this platform. When you step on them, they should activate the redstone below, causing the pistons to retract. The door will open, and will not close again until you walk off the pressure plates.
    • Be careful when walking through. If you take too long, the door will close again and suffocate you.
    • If the door doesn't open, double check all your redstone dust and torches are in the right location.

Making the Door Two-Way and Lockable

  1. Dig a tunnel beneath the door. Stand on the central raised platform at the base of your trench. Dig a tunnel underneath the door, extending two blocks past it. The tunnel should be on the two blocks wide, directly beneath the stone structure of the (closed) door. The tunnel floor must be on the same level as the raised platform.
  2. Cover the tunnel floor completely with redstone dust. Make sure it connects to the other redstone.
  3. Place pressure plates above the tunnel on ground level. Return to the surface. Place pressure plates two squares in front of the door, directly above the buried redstone. These pressure plates should open the door when you stand on them, just like the pair on the opposite side.
  4. Connect a lever to the redstone on either side. Your door is now functional. However, any wandering enemy can walk over the pressure plates and through the door. Adding a lever will allow you to lock the mechanism:
    • Place the lever in a convenient location at ground level. If you want to lock the door from both sides, break a hole in the wall and place the lever there.
    • Place more redstone dust to connect the trail in the left of the trench to the lever.
    • Place another line of redstone to connect the trail in the right of the trench to the lever.
  5. Troubleshoot the lever. Right-click the lever and try to walk over the pressure plates. Right-click the lever again and repeat. The doors should only open while the lever is in one of its two positions. If this isn't working, examine the redstone trail leading to the lever:
    • Redstone trails can only rise one square at a time. Place blocks in a "stair" pattern to bring it up to ground level from the base of the trench.
    • If the redstone nearest the lever is dark (unpowered), remove one square of powered redstone earlier in the trail. Replace this with a redstone repeater to boost the signal. Make sure to place the repeater so its front is pointed in the direction the signal should travel.[2]
  6. Cover the mechanism. Now your door should be fully functional. Cover all wiring with the blocks of your choice. Make sure all redstone dust has a block of air directly above it, or it will not work.



Things You'll Need

  • 6 sticky pistons
  • At least 30 redstone
  • 6 redstone torches
  • 4 pressure plates
  • 1 lever
  • Many solid blocks of your choice

Tips

  • To make a 2 x 2 door instead, just skip the highest pistons and the single redstone that powers them.
  • Also try it the other way so it opens from the bottom to the top!

Warnings

  • Don't get caught in the door; it will suffocate your Minecraft player!

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Piston
  2. ↑ http://minecraft.gamepedia.com/Redstone_repeater
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