What is Redstone?

Redstone is Minecraft's electrical system. Redstone dust acts like wires carrying a signal (strength 0-15). Redstone signals can activate: redstone lamps, pistons, dispensers, droppers, note blocks, TNT, iron doors, trapdoors, fence gates, and more.

Redstone signal strength and repeaters Signal Strength: Why Your Wire Dies After 15 Blocks Every block of redstone dust costs 1 level. Repeaters reset it back to 15. A · Signal decay from a full-strength source Power 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 ↓ signal 0 — anything past here stays off B · Put a repeater every 15 blocks 15 → 1 Repeater resets to 15 15 → 1 ... Two ways people break repeaters 1. Facing backwards — the arrow on top must point away from the power source. 2. Locked by a side repeater — a pulse into the side freezes the output. Right-click the repeater to add delay (1–4 ticks) when you need timing. Note: a repeater also makes the signal one-way, which is what stops back-feeding in compact circuits.
Redstone dust loses one signal level per block, so a full-strength line dies exactly 15 blocks from the source. Anything that needs power beyond that distance needs a repeater, which re-emits a fresh level-15 signal (and blocks anything flowing backwards into it).

Three Core Redstone Components

1. Redstone Dust — basic wire, right-click to toggle dot/cross mode. 2. Redstone Repeater — signal amplifier, resets to strength 15. Adjustable delay (1-4 ticks, 0.1s each). One-way only. 3. Redstone Comparator — more complex. Compare mode (front torch off: output=rear if rear>=side) and Subtract mode (front torch on: output=rear-side).

First Redstone Project: Auto Light Switch

Simplest starter project. Materials: daylight sensor (3 glass+3 nether quartz+3 wood slabs), redstone dust, redstone lamp. Place the sensor outdoors, lamp indoors, connect with dust. Daytime = signal = lamp on. Night = no signal = lamp off. Right-click sensor to switch to night mode.

Related guides： Redstone Clocks & Pulse Generators · Redstone Hidden Door Guide · Cobblestone Generator Guide
✓ Last verified on Minecraft 1.22 (2026-09-22) Minecraft mechanics change with every update — this guide is only guaranteed to work in the stated version.