If you’ve ever spawned in a dark forest or underground cave and spotted glowing red or brown mushrooms scattered across the ground, you’ve probably wondered what you can do with them beyond tossing them into a stew. For new and seasoned players alike, learning how to grow a mushroom in Minecraft is one of the most useful low-effort farming skills you can pick up. Unlike wheat or carrot farms that need constant sunlight and water, mushroom farms work almost anywhere, even in the deepest, darkest corners of your base. You can use harvested mushrooms for cheap, filling food, spooky base decor, and even crafting fermented spider eyes for potions later on. I’ve been running small mushroom farms on my survival worlds for years, and they’ve saved me from starvation more times than I can count when I forgot to restock on bread before a long mining trip.
What You’ll Need Before You Learn How to Grow a Mushroom in Minecraft
The best part about mushroom farming is that you don’t need any rare or expensive materials to get started. All you need is one single mushroom to build an endless supply for your entire playthrough. If you’re having trouble finding mushrooms to start your farm, head to a dark forest biome during the day—they spawn all over the ground under the thick tree canopies, since the shade keeps the light level low enough. You can also find them in the Nether, growing on crimson and warped nylium, if you’ve already built a nether portal. For players in snowy biomes, look for mushrooms inside igloo basements or abandoned mineshafts, since those are dark enough for them to spawn naturally.
The full list of items you’ll need is short and accessible for even brand new players:
- 1 red or brown mushroom (you only need one to start a full farm)
- A light level of 12 or lower (mushrooms will pop off blocks if light is too bright, except for mycelium or podzol blocks)
- Solid blocks to place mushrooms on (dirt, stone, mycelium, podzol, or nylium all work)
- Optional: Bone meal to grow huge mushrooms instantly, silk touch pickaxe to move mycelium or podzol
Light level is the most common mistake new players make when first trying to grow mushrooms. If you place a mushroom next to a regular torch, it will break and drop as an item within a few seconds, so plan your lighting carefully. Mycelium and podzol are exceptions here, since you can place mushrooms on those blocks even in full sunlight, which is perfect if you want an above-ground farm without dark, mob-spawning spaces.
How to Grow Small Mushrooms for Steady, Regular Harvests
Small mushroom farms are perfect for casual players who only need enough mushrooms for occasional stews or potion crafting. They take up almost no space, require zero maintenance once set up, and you can tuck them into a tiny corner of your base or a small cave right outside your door. To set one up, first find a dark space with a light level of 12 or lower. Place your starter mushroom on any solid block, then leave it alone for 1 to 2 in-game days.
The mushroom will slowly spread to adjacent blocks that meet the light requirement, so you don’t have to do any replanting. You can only have one mushroom per 5x5 area of blocks, so don’t crowd them if you want maximum spread. Once the mushrooms start spreading, you can break the extra ones to harvest, just make sure you always leave at least one mushroom in the farm to keep the spread going. Mushroom stew restores 6 hunger points, which is more than a loaf of bread, so even a small 3x3 farm can keep you fed for weeks if you don’t have access to other food sources.
The only downside to small mushroom farms is that they produce pretty slowly. If you need stacks of mushrooms quickly for building, trading with villagers, or mass crafting potions, you’ll want to switch to growing huge mushrooms instead. I keep a small farm near my base for everyday use, and a separate huge mushroom farm for bulk harvests when I’m working on big projects.
Growing Huge Mushrooms for Bulk Harvests
Huge mushrooms are the fastest way to get massive amounts of mushrooms in a short amount of time, and they even double as fun, quirky building blocks if you want a unique base design. If you’ve never tried how to grow a mushroom in Minecraft at scale, huge mushrooms are the easiest way to get started. First, you’ll need to place your starter mushroom on mycelium, podzol, or nylium if you want to grow it above ground, or you can place it on any solid block if you’re growing it underground in a dark space.
Next, make sure you have a 7x7x7 clear space above the mushroom with no blocks in the way. Even one small block floating above the mushroom will stop it from growing, so double check the area before you use bone meal. Right click the mushroom with bone meal, and it will instantly grow into a giant red or brown mushroom, depending on what type you used. One huge mushroom drops between 15 and 25 small mushrooms when broken, which is way more than you’ll get from a small farm in the same amount of time.
You can even build a semi-automatic huge mushroom farm by setting up a dispenser with bone meal that triggers when you press a button, so you don’t have to craft bone meal manually every time. Just make sure the area you use for huge mushrooms is far enough from your base if you don’t want the giant caps blocking your view, or build them underground in a large cave to keep your base’s skyline clear. I once built a huge brown mushroom as a temporary base on a hardcore world, and it worked surprisingly well for a starter shelter, plus I had food for weeks just by breaking parts of the roof.
Common Mushroom Farming Mistakes to Avoid
Even though mushroom farming is pretty straightforward, there are a few easy mistakes that can make your farm stop producing entirely, or waste the materials you already gathered. The first and most common mistake is using the wrong type of lighting near your farm. Regular torches give off a light level of 14, which is too high for mushrooms to stay placed, so they’ll pop off instantly. Instead, use redstone torches or soul lanterns if you need to light the area to stop mobs from spawning, since they give off a lower light level that won’t break the mushrooms.
Another common mistake is using water near your small mushroom farm. Mushrooms will break if they come into contact with flowing water, so don’t place water sources to “irrigate” them like you would with other crops—they don’t need it, and you’ll just end up losing all your growing mushrooms. If you want to make a semi-automatic harvest system for small mushrooms, use a piston to push the blocks they grow on instead of water, so you don’t accidentally destroy your starter mushroom.
Don’t harvest all of your mushrooms at once, either. If you break every mushroom in your small farm, you’ll have to go out and find another one to restart the whole process, which can be a huge waste of time if you’re in the middle of a project. Always leave at least one mushroom in the farm so it can keep spreading. For huge mushroom farms, make sure you keep one small mushroom on hand to replant after you break the giant cap, so you don’t have to go searching for another starter.
Mushroom farming is one of the most underrated skills in Minecraft, especially for new players who are still struggling to keep a steady food supply. It doesn’t require any rare materials, takes almost no time to set up, and works in almost every biome you can spawn in. Whether you’re building a small casual farm for stew or a bulk huge mushroom farm for potion ingredients and building blocks, knowing how to grow a mushroom in Minecraft will make your survival runs way less stressful. Next time you spot a random mushroom while exploring, pick it up and give farming a try—you’ll be surprised how useful it ends up being.