Gunpowder is a handy item that you can use to craft various items in Minecraft, such as Potions, Rockets, and TNT. Sadly, gunpowder is not craftable. But there are multiple ways to gather gunpowder in the game.
From killing creepers to building extensive farms, this guide will give you the detailed process of gathering as much gunpowder in Minecraft.
How to Get Gunpowder in Minecraft
Killing Creepers
The easiest way to gather Gunpowder in Minecraft is by killing Creepers. Creepers are scary, as they can creep up behind you silently and explode. But if you kill it before it explodes, you can get at least one gunpowder from it.
It is best to remember that Creepers will not drop any gunpowder if they explode. Furthermore, if you have a weapon with the Looting enchantment, you can get more than one gunpowder when you kill it.
Killing Ghasts
Ghasts, found in the Nether, also drop gunpowder in the same ratio as the Creeper. Similarly, if you use the looting enchantment, the maximum loot Ghasts can drop increases up to five.
Killing Witches
Witches can drop up to six gunpowder when you kill them. Additionally, if you have the looting enchant, they can drop up to 15 gunpowder if they die at your hands.
Looting Chests
Several places in Minecraft have gunpowder in the chests. You can see the list below for the places you can find such chests.
- Desert Temples have a 57.8% chance of having gunpowder in them. You can find 1-8 gunpowder in the chests located here.
- Shipwrecks also provide you with 1-5 gunpowder in their supply chests. The chances of it spawning is 20.8%
- Woodland mansions have a 57.8% chance of getting gunpowder in the chests. The chests can have up to eight gunpowder in them.
- Dungeons (Spawners) also give you a 57.8% chance of finding gunpowder in the chests. You can get up to eight gunpowder in them.
Trading with Wandering Traders
Although the chances of a Wandering Trader selling you gunpowder is only ⅙, you can exchange it with emerald if you find a trader that sells you the item.
Building a Gunpowder Farm
Building a farm is the best and most efficient way of gathering gunpowder. Gunpowder farm, commonly known as Creeper farm, is a simple farm that uses a dark setting and a lot of trapdoors.
Let’s look at how to build an automatic Creeper farm so that you can gather as much gunpowder as you need.
We can divide the building process of the farm into three parts: the farm base, the structure, and the trap.
Building the Farm Base
Firstly, you need some solid blocks to build the whole structure. You can use stone/cobblestone blocks as they are easy to gather. However, if you want a more aesthetic-looking building, you can use any colored cement blocks or even tinted glass. We are using grey concrete blocks to build the farm in this tutorial.
- Dig a 3×2 hole on a fairly plain surface where you want the farm. The hole will be the center of the structure.
- Build pillars on either side of the 2-block wide gap. The pillars have to be in a 4-block square and two blocks high.
- From the corner of the pillar, place three blocks diagonally going outside. Place five more blocks straight from the third block.
- Copy the same design on the opposite side. Then, join the two ends.
- Repeat steps three and four on the other side of the pillar. Add one more layer of the concrete block on the wall you build. Your base should look like the picture below.
Building the Structure
Now that we have our base, we can start building the structure where Creepers can spawn.
- First, place a trapdoor in the middle of the longest side on the bottom part of the second layer. Do the same on the other side as well. These will be the platform for cats.
- Create a roof of trapdoors that covers the whole area. The trapdoors make the room smaller so that only creepers can spawn.
- It is best to remember that you cannot place a trapdoor above the cat platform we made in the first step. Hence, you will see two holes on either side of the roof, as in the picture.
- Before we move to the next step, it is best to light up inside the farm so that nothing can spawn while we are working.
- Place concrete blocks above the trapdoor roof. This is an important step as placing blocks above the trapdoors will block the light completely.
- You can also increase the level of the structure so that more creepers can spawn, resulting in more gunpowder.
You can repeat the same building process on top of the concrete roof to add multiple levels. The only difference you need to make will be to remove the blocks from the middle so that Creepers can fall inside. Light up the roof so that nothing can spawn on the top. - Now, use a lead and place the cat on the platform we made earlier. It is best to feed the cat some raw salmon and train them. Training them lets us make them sit and not despawn in the creeper chamber.
- Go inside the building, and place carpets on every third block. You will end up using six carpets on each side. This is to prevent the spiders from spawning inside.
Building the Trap
Now that our structure is complete, we can start making the traps for the creepers.
- Dig four more blocks deep in the middle hole we first dug.
- Place trapdoors on the top section of the hole entrance.
- Now, dig a nine or ten blocks tunnel across the 2-block wide space.
- Place a bucket of water at the beginning of the tunnel, similar to the picture.
- Count from the beginning block and dig one block down on the eighth block. Since water only travels up to eight blocks, we need to dig the eighth block to let the water flow further.
- Dig another tunnel starting from the same place you dug in the previous step.
- Find out where the water ends and dig a block down two spaces wide and place hoppers in it. It is best to make sure that water ends right before the hoppers.
- Dig and make a small room behind the hoppers. You can also create an exit from there as this will be the collection room that looks like the picture below upon completion.
- Dig next to the hoppers and place a chest. Make sure to point the hoppers towards the chest. If they are not, break them and put them next to the chest in the same space.
- Place glass blocks above the chest and on the blocks in front of the hoppers, opposite the water. The glass blocks have to be at least two blocks high.
- Now, place a sign on the wall above the hopper and the glass above the chest. Go one up and put another sign on each side. Your trap should look like the picture below by the end of this step.
- Place lava above the hoppers on the upper glass block. Try to make sure that lava is in between the two signs as they will prevent lava from flowing. Place glass block above the lava. Your trap is now complete.
Run the Farm
Now, all you need to do is remove all the light sources, get out of the structure and close up all the holes. 
You can then use scaffolding next to the collection center exit to build and access an AFK station 130 blocks high. You can get tons of gunpowder in the chest just by staying in the AFK section for about 10 minutes.
