How to Make Powered Rails in Minecraft?

Updated · Oct 06, 2022

In Minecraft, powered rails, also known as Redstone or gold rails, can be used to create all kinds of nifty automated systems. 

You can build powerful transportation systems, trap and defense mechanisms, or anything else you can think of.

In this guide, we will show you, step by step, the powered rail recipe and how to use your new creation effectively.

What Does a Powered Rail Do in Minecraft?

When active, the Minecraft Redstone-powered rail provides a boost to minecarts traveling over it. That applies to carts with furnace, chest, or passengers. 

That comes in handy for building longer and faster railway systems and helping carts overcome difficult obstacles.

How to Make Powered Rails in Minecraft?

These rails require a bit more effort and resources than the regular ones. However, the process is pretty straightforward.

1. Collect Wood, Gold, and Redstone Dust

Wood is easy to gather — just chop down some trees. 

For gold ore, you have to mine, most commonly, between levels zero and 32. You’ll need six for the powered rails recipe

Redstone may be a little harder to come by, but you should look underground for blocks with red specks on them. When mined with an iron pickaxe, four to five Redstone dust drop from a single ore. Alternatively, a witch might drop some if you kill her.

2. Make Gold Ingots and a Stick

Turn the gold ores into ingots by smelting them in a furnace. Repeat the process until you have six for one Redstone rail.

As for the sticks, you'll need a crafting table. First, make wooden planks out of the timber you collected by placing it in the crafting grid. Then, put two planks, one above the other, and you'll get four sticks.

3. Follow the Powered Rail Recipe

Now that you have all ingredients, put them together on the crafting table in the following configuration: 

  • One stick in the very center
  • One Redstone dust in the slot beneath
  • Three gold ingots in the first and the third column

That way, you’ll craft six Redstone rails.

How to Power Powered Rails in Minecraft?

Several mechanics can be used for activation, but the easiest and most efficient options are:

  • A lever crafted from cobblestone and a stick. Put it on a block next to the powered rail, and you can turn the track on and off.
  • A Redstone torch made of a stick and Redstone dust. When placed beside the rail in Minecraft, it does the same job as a lever. However, you'll need to break the torch to deactivate the track.
  • A Redstone block that can be mined or crafted.

When you activate a powered rail, it will also turn on up to eight adjacent ones of the same type on each side. So, with one Redstone torch, for example, you can power up to 17 rails. However, that only applies to connected rails.

How to Use Powered Rails in Minecraft?

These rails have a few basic functions:

  • Increasing the speed of a minecart going over them when active. That can be helpful to make longer and faster transportation systems.
  • Helping carts overcome difficult obstacles, like climbing hills.
  • Creating traps and defenses as Redstone is an essential element of many automated devices.
  • Slowing down or stopping passing minecarts when left inactive, even if placed on a downhill track.

How to Make Infinitely Powered Rails in Minecraft?

If you want to make a track made only of powered rails, there's a hack to save on the Redstone required for activation.

Placing a Redstone torch next to the first powered rail will turn on the next eight rails, as you know. Then, put another torch seven blocks away from the first one; break the first torch, and this area of the Minecraft Redstone railway will remain active. 

Here’s the fun part — go ahead and put another torch seven blocks away from the second one, it'll light up all the rails in between, and you can break the second torch. All rails, up to the beginning, will remain active.

You can keep putting torches every seven blocks and breaking the ones you put before that to have an infinite active powered rail track.

Tips For Effectively Using a Powered Rail in Minecraft

While all minecart types are affected differently by the powered rails, here are some tricks to make the most out of your new creation:

  • Place the powered rails at least every 38 blocks on a horizontal track to maintain the cart's speed.
  • Put three Minecraft powered rails to move a minecart uphill. Then, you’ll need one every two blocks to preserve the cart's speed while moving upwards.

To Wrap Up

The powered rail recipe can prove extremely useful for your next grand Minecraft project.

These tracks provide an easy way to accelerate or maintain the speed of your trains. They can also be used in conjunction with other rail types to create various transportation systems.

So get out there and start exploring the possibilities!

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Marina Stanisheva
Marina Stanisheva

With charmingly infectious enthusiasm, Marina is always thrilled by forthcoming challenges. Thanks to her knack for gathering useful (and not so much) information, she is here to get you any answer you need.