How can I keep ghosts out of my machine?

Question

I've been building a number of redstone circuits lately, and to keep them protected I've been enclosing each entire circuit in obsidian. However, recently I noticed that a zombie managed to spawn in a dark 1x1x2 void within the redstone circuit. I fixed this by placing ceiling slabs to make these voids 1x1x1.5, too small for spawning.

Unfortunately, I came across a part of my design where I have a redstone torch in the top half of a 1x1x2 void, and a redstone wire on the bottom half. I can't fill the void in any way, and I'm afraid monsters can still spawn there. The only solution I can think of is to find a way to add another block of space to the 1x1x2 void where I can place a coal torch, keeping the light level in the void high enough to avoid spawning.

Are there any other tricks or design components that help keep redstone circuitry from becoming a breeding ground for baddies?

@fredley: It can get noisy if you've got a bunch of zombies trapped behind your walls. — gnovice, Mar 26 '12 at 18:38
@fredley - and they could be dangerous to troubleshoot if something goes wrong with the circuit! — , Mar 26 '12 at 18:49
Shouldn't this question be on stackOverflow? I usually see debugging questions there... — Lee Quarella, Mar 27 '12 at 00:28
@Lee: Since when did Minecraft redstone questions become on topic for us? — BoltClock, Mar 27 '12 at 01:13
@Lee I would imagine it'd be for Stack Overflow if it was a problem with silverfish and spiders. — Grace Note, Mar 27 '12 at 15:24
Wouldn't the redstone torch give off light to keep mobs from spawning? — Timtech, Nov 02 '13 at 23:17
@Timtech Redstone Torches are too dim to prevent spawning. That's why you often see custom dungeons illuminated with them. — Egor Hans, Jul 26 '19 at 15:23

score 14 · Accepted Answer · edited Nov 28 '23 at 14:52

14

You don't have to obstruct every area in your enclosed redstone circuits. You can easily place normal torches and/or Glowstone blocks throughout the enclosure. This will also aid in visibility within your ICs. Redstone can be placed on glowstone blocks, but they exhibit interesting properties, so be careful

Redstone can be put on glowstone, but being a transparent block signals can pass from one block to diagonally another with glowstone "blocking but not blocking" it, making possible nearly instant vertical redstone and new vertical logic gate designs.

edited Nov 28 '23 at 14:52

Community

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answered Mar 26 '12 at 18:47

Aha, glowstone! Very interesting. All the more reason for me to work up the nerve to go to the Nether. ;) – gnovice Mar 26 '12 at 18:56
@OrigamiRobot You are correct, Just tried it out in a 1.2.3 creative and it is back in again.. Comment removed :) – James Mar 26 '12 at 20:55
The ability to use glowstone as a block/component of the circuit and a light source could help keep my circuits both compact and spawn-proof. You get the check, sir. Now, on to the Nether! – gnovice Mar 27 '12 at 14:25

score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 26 '12 at 18:37

5

I suggest torches. Keep your circuitry well lit.

answered Mar 26 '12 at 18:37

Buhb

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But part of the problem is that they don't have space to place anything... – Garrett R Mar 26 '12 at 23:33
@garrett That makes no sense, if there wasn't any space, there wouldn't be any mobs! – fredley Mar 27 '12 at 15:47
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He also says why that's not true in his question. He has a place where there is redstone and a restone torch vertical to each other so he cannot place anything there because they take up the space of the block, but 1x2 mobs like zombies and skeletons can spawn there because the spawn coding in the game doesn't count items such as torches or rails or wire as a spawning obstruction. There has to be a block or light there. True he could just make a 1x2 hole in the wall for a torch but I'm just sayin'! – Garrett R Apr 17 '12 at 01:09

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 26 '12 at 23:32

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Well, Why use obsidian? It's just a pain to remove and no more protective from mob spawning than say, cobble or dirt... Also you could have an actual room lit with torches for your circuit instead of fully enclosing it in a shell.

answered Mar 26 '12 at 23:32

Garrett R

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The reson for using obsidian could be that you want to protect your circuits from creeper explosions. – Buhb Mar 27 '12 at 05:47
@Buhb: That's exactly it. Once bitten, twice shy. – gnovice Mar 27 '12 at 14:18
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With w previous release and cheats enabled on your world, yo can keep creepers from griefing with /gamerule mobGriefing false – Timtech Nov 02 '13 at 23:18

How can I keep ghosts out of my machine?

3 Answers3