Minecraft Secret Entrances: Minecart Detection

That is the biggest mouthful I've ever typed for a title. For all of those people who have become overly obsessed with Minecraft, this is a nifty way to hide all your goods. This is a rather complex mechanism, but it is effective -- no one will ever guess where your stash resides if you use this method. . . Unless, of course, they know this trick too.

This technique involves a minecart being pushed into a detector rail in order to open a trap beneath you, taking you into your uber secret lair of awesome. You just walk up to the wall to unleash the cart and open the trap -- nothing to it! Except the wiring. You won't see the minecart and piston as in the picture -- those will be concealed. The picture is merely a blueprint, or example -- whichever term you prefer.

- 1 sticky piston
- 1 redstone repeater
- 1 minecart
- 4 rails
- 1 detector rail
- 1 powered rail
- 2 redstone torches
- Plenty of redstone

Step 1: The Wall

First note: sorry for the inventory and block in your face -- I did not remember to get rid of those until much later. Anyway, Behold my wall! I strongly advise that you make the wall have columns. This is important to remember because it makes your entrance inconspicuous and neat. No one will ever think there is an entrance in that area. It also makes things twenty-billion times easier to conceal/create your hideaway. (Side note: Making even columns look a lot more legit than this presentation.)

Step 2: Room for the Machnism

Gone is the inventory! Bad pictures aside, dig out a spacey area for your minecart detection. The area that connects to the nearest column will have a 1x3 slab of blocks with a sort of staircase for the next 2 blocks next to it. Refer to the second picture if you are having trouble with this. Now, in the column that this number of blocks connect to, dig out a hole beneath it. Don't worry about removing some of the column in the process -- it can all be replaced later, because this is Minecraft.

Step 3: On the Rails

The area in the previous step shall be explored here. Place a normal rail on the first block of the 1x3. Follow it up with a powered rail and stick a redstone torch above it. Put down the detector rail after it. Now set the other rails up on the stair steps.

Since we want the minecart to fall back down (Preferably without getting stuck), we need the rails to be diagonal. The 3x1 step must have another rail placed on it only to iterate the final rail to a diagonal state. After that, break the rail and place a block over it. Pictures 3 and 4 show how this is done.

Step 4: Piston Connection

Place the piston in the ground a block aside the column (Refer to picture two -- it's rather difficult to explain) and line up the redstone starting from the detector rail. Make your way from the rails to the piston and make sure there is ample room for you to maneuver the redstone.

Stick a solid object a block away from the piston and sit a redstone torch to its side. Now, it pays to take special attention to the redstone repeater. It must point at the block the redstone torch is attached to so it may be turned off, otherwise it will only turn itself on and do nothing else. Wire it up with redstone wire (i.e. redstone on the ground) and be sure to have the input part of the redstone repeater facing the wire. As with the input (Which faces you when you place it), be sure the output faces the torch.

Step 5: Finito

Throw a minecart on the rails and give it a push -- BAM, your piston moves! Seal up the mechanism nicely and dig out your uber secret lair of awesome. Or, if you want to be a cheat with your friends, set up a trap! (Which I will also cover >:) ) After you are done with finalizing your lair, throw a block (Similar to its surroundings, mind) on the sticky piston's -- um -- piston and watch the magic! Need a way out? No problem! Well, actually, YOUR problem! I'll be around to show you my way of getting out of the uber secret lair of awesome next time around. . .

So, thank you for reading -- and 12345 is a bad password.

Adieu.