How to Automate Irrigation in Solarpunk

Hand-watering a farm is the slowest part of any Solarpunk save. With sprinklers, drones, and a gravity-fed water source, you can run a 6×6 farm with zero clicks after setup. This guide shows you the full automation chain in 5 steps.

Step 1 — Find a Gravity-Fed Water Source

Place your farm 2 blocks below a river or lake. This unlocks free gravity-fed irrigation, which uses zero power. The wrong choice is a pumped well (uses 15W 24/7).

Step 2 — Lay the Pipe

1. Open the build menu (B), select "Plumbing".
2. Place a Water Intake on the bank of the water source.
3. Run a basic pipe down to the farm level.
4. End the pipe at a manifold block (1 block before the sprinklers).

Step 3 — Place the Sprinklers

The optimal pattern for a 6×6 farm is 4 sprinklers in a square:

1. Place sprinkler 1 at (1, 1) of the 6×6 grid.
2. Place sprinkler 2 at (1, 4).
3. Place sprinkler 3 at (4, 1).
4. Place sprinkler 4 at (4, 4).
5. Each sprinkler covers a 3×3 quadrant of the farm.

Run a short pipe from the manifold to each sprinkler. Power each sprinkler with a 2W solar panel (or tie it into your main grid).

Step 4 — Add the Drones

Two drones do the harvest work:

1. Harvester drone: scan_tilled_soil → harvest_mature → drop_to_chest.
2. Carrier drone: every 60s → move_all → drop_to_base_chest.

Both drones need a charging pad. Place the pads on the east side of the farm, where they will not block tilled soil.

Step 5 — Add a Backup Water Source

Gravity-fed irrigation fails during droughts. Add a 2nd water intake 4 blocks downstream, connected to a small reserve tank. The system auto-switches when the primary dries up.

The 4 Automation Mistakes (And Fixes)

Video: Automating Irrigation

Solarpunk — Automating Irrigation (8 min)

Next Steps

Farm is hands-off? Maximize your other drones with the Drone Efficiency guide.