Digital Engineering with Minecraft™

B. Adding Interactive Elements With Redstone

Redstone is a standard block found in Minecraft that allows you to create automated objects. Buttons to open doors, vending machines for potions, and triggers for traps are popular items, but because redstone allows you to “wire up” creations, there’s not a lot you can’t do with a redstone block. Imagine adding controlled lighting to your castle or maybe an automatic arrow firing system to anyone who triggers a pressure plate when enemies approach your home.

This appendix provides a basic description of how to use redstone along with how to create a simple mechanism. (You might also hunt down a copy of Stephen O’Brien’s Minecraft books as he goes into a bit more detail about Redstone than I can in ...