Does Smelting Kelp Give XP? A Deep Dive into Minecraft’s Green Fuel
The short answer is yes! Smelting kelp in Minecraft does give you experience (XP). Specifically, each piece of dried kelp removed from a furnace output slot grants 0.1 experience. This might not sound like much, but it can add up, especially if you’re running an automated kelp farm. Kelp farming is one of the most basic XP farms. Let’s explore the kelp’s role as a fuel source and its XP-generating capabilities in greater detail.
The Underrated Power of Kelp in Minecraft
Minecraft players are always on the lookout for efficient ways to gain experience and power their crafting endeavors. While slaying mobs and mining rare ores are classic XP-gathering methods, the humble kelp block offers a surprisingly viable alternative.
Kelp as a Renewable Fuel Source
Before diving into the XP benefits, it’s crucial to understand kelp’s role as a renewable fuel source. Regular kelp, harvested from ocean biomes, can be smelted into dried kelp. Then dried kelp can be crafted into dried kelp blocks.
One dried kelp block can smelt a whopping 20 items. Considering that a single undried kelp yields, after some math, the capability to effectively smelt 1.22 items, this makes kelp a practical, renewable fuel source.
Kelp Smelting and Experience Points
So, how exactly does smelting kelp translate to experience points? As mentioned earlier, each dried kelp removed from a furnace gives you 0.1 XP.
Maximizing Kelp XP Gain
To make the most of kelp smelting for XP, you’ll want to automate the process. This involves setting up a kelp farm. This is often a simple design where kelp grows. A system can then be set up so a piston breaks the kelp and it is harvested by hoppers. The kelp goes into a furnace which is powered by dried kelp blocks. Hoppers then remove the dried kelp, earning the player experience in the process. The efficiency of this depends on how quickly you can collect and re-fuel the furnace, but a well-designed system can provide a steady trickle of XP.
Kelp vs. Other XP Sources: Is It Worth It?
While kelp smelting can be a convenient source of XP, it’s essential to compare it to other methods.
Advantages of Kelp XP Farms
- Renewable and Sustainable: Kelp farms are fully sustainable, allowing for continuous XP generation.
- Relatively Easy to Set Up: Kelp farms are straightforward to build.
- Fuel Source and XP Combined: Kelp provides both fuel and XP, making it a very efficient choice.
Disadvantages of Kelp XP Farms
- Lower XP Yield Compared to Some Sources: Compared to mob farms or mining rare ores, kelp smelting provides a lower XP yield per time invested.
- Can Be Slow: Depending on the size of your farm, the XP accumulation can be slow.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Smelting Kelp for XP
Here are some frequently asked questions to help you further understand kelp smelting and its associated XP rewards:
1. How much XP does cooking kelp give?
Each piece of dried kelp you pull out of the furnace after cooking it will give you 0.1 experience (6.4 experience per stack).
2. Is kelp or cactus better for XP?
For a simple single-furnace setup, nearly two stacks of cactus (120 items) can be burned in a Minecraft day, collecting 360 XP per real-time hour. Potatoes and kelp burn twice as fast but give less experience, yielding, respectively, 252 and 72 XP/hour.
3. How many items can one kelp smelt?
A single dried kelp block can smelt 20 items in a furnace, blast furnace, or smoker.
4. Can a blast furnace smelt kelp?
Yes, blast furnaces can use dried kelp blocks as fuel, just like regular furnaces and smokers.
5. What is the best smelting fuel in Minecraft?
Technically, lava buckets are the most efficient. They last for 1000 seconds. For practicality, however, coal and charcoal are the most commonly used. Blocks of coal are also an excellent alternative.
6. Does kelp smelt faster in a smoker?
Kelp using a smoker can smelt faster than cactus, while cactus gives more XP per smelt but it’s a lot slower.
7. Is kelp better than coal in Minecraft?
Dried kelp blocks last for 200 seconds, so it can smelt 20 items in a furnace, blast furnace, and/or smoker, while coal and charcoal only last for 80 seconds.
8. How rare is kelp in Minecraft?
Kelp naturally generates in any ocean biomes (except in frozen, deep frozen and warm), near and around seagrass.
9. Does smelting cactus give XP?
Cactus farms are useful for acquiring green dye by smelting the cactus blocks or for storing experience in a furnace due to its high XP output when smelted.
10. What gives you the most XP for smelting?
Generally, nether gold ore and ancient debris are the most worthwhile ores to smelt for XP. For all other ores, mining them is more efficient.
11. What is the fastest XP farm?
One of the easiest ways to farm XP is to set up a kill room for mobs in Minecraft out of a discovered spawner. Building a room filled with water that drags skeletons, zombies, or spiders directly into a pool of lava will eliminate them immediately, granting you experience.
12. What is the most efficient smelting fuel in Minecraft?
Technically, Lava Buckets are the most efficient. They last for 1000 seconds. For practicality, go for charcoal.
13. What does smelting kelp do?
Smelting kelp turns it into dried kelp, which can be used as a fuel source, smelting 20 items per dried kelp block.
14. What item gives the most smelting XP Minecraft?
The diamond ore gives the most xp but it is very scarce. So you could use nether quartz ore as it is everywhere in the nether and will get you xp faster.
15. Do mobs drop XP when killed by campfire?
No, mobs will not drop any XP when killed by a campfire.
Conclusion: Kelp’s Niche in the XP Economy
While smelting kelp might not be the absolute fastest way to level up in Minecraft, it offers a convenient, sustainable, and easily automated source of XP. It’s particularly valuable in the early to mid-game, when resources are limited, and setting up more complex farms might not be feasible. Moreover, the dual benefit of providing both fuel and XP makes kelp a resource that shouldn’t be overlooked by any savvy Minecraft player.
To learn more about the educational aspects of gaming and how games can be used for learning, visit the Games Learning Society website. There are so many ways to learn while playing Minecraft! Here is the link: https://www.gameslearningsociety.org/.