XP, also known as experience is a mechanic in Minecraft which allows you to level up your character. They drop in the form of orbs, which can then be picked up by the player and added to their experience bar, just above the hot-bar.
Experience and levels aren’t used to benefit your character in any way. Instead, you spend levels inside an Enchanting Table or Anvil. You can spend levels to add high level enchantments to armor and tools for example, which will help you progress through Minecraft at a much faster pace.
Below, we’re going to show you the Top 5 best ways of getting XP in Minecraft. The list below isn’t in any particular order, and will be viable on all platforms including PC, PS4, Xbox, Nintendo Switch and Pocket Edition. For more Minecraft Guides, make sure to check out our dedicated area here!
From Animals
The first, and probably most passive way of getting XP in Minecraft is from Animals. Killing most friendly animals will drop 1-3 experience in total. These mobs include Chickens, Pigs, Cows, Fish, Horses, Llamas, Pandas, Parrots, Rabbits, Sheep, Squid and a few more. I don’t recommend actively looking for animals to collect experience from, as it’s a slow process. Instead, you’ll passively collect it as you progress through the game.
Monster XP
All the enemy mobs that come out at night in Minecraft drop experience, and a considerable amount more than passive mobs. This includes Spiders, Creepers, Skeletons, Zombies, Drowned, Strays, Enderman, and Silverfish, which all give 5+ experience each. Killing baby variants such as Baby Zombies, Baby Drowned etc all give 12+ experience. If you can take out a Ravager (found during Raids), they’ll give 20 experience each!
Mining Ores
Surprisingly, mining ores in Minecraft is one of the best, and most efficient ways of getting XP in Minecraft. Coal ore will give 0-2 XP per Ore, Diamond and Emerald Ore will give 3-7 XP each, Lapis Lazuli and Nether Quartz will give 2-5 XP each, whilst Redstone will give 1-5 XP each. Simply strip mining below the surface will net huge amounts of XP, and you can later go on to smelt it for tools and armor.
Smelting
You can also throw a load of items into a furnace in Minecraft to collect large amounts of experience. Although the amounts you receive are quite low. Smelting Diamond, Emerald or Gold Ore will give 1 XP each, whilst Redstone and Iron Ore will give just 0.7 XP each. The values get smaller and smaller from here, with food items such as Steak, Porkchops, Chicken and Potatoes only giving 0.35 XP each.
Complete Challenges (Advancements)
Finally, we have advancements which can provide experience as long as you’re playing on Minecraft Java Edition. The lowest tier of advancements which include ‘A Complete Catalogue’, ‘Return to Sender’ and ‘Sniper Duel’ give 50 XP each. The ‘Adventuring Time’ advancement gives 500 XP, which you get from visiting 17 different biomes. However the best advancement is ‘How did we get here?’, which is obtained by having every effect active at the same time, and gives 1000 XP, the highest of any in the game (other than the Ender Dragon).
Other Methods of Getting XP in Minecraft
There are a few other items and methods of gaining XP in Minecraft. Using a Bottle o’ Enchanting provides between 3-11 XP. Whilst trading with Villagers gives between 3-6 XP, but this number goes up to 8-11 if Villagers are willing to breed.
Breeding animals of your own (such as pigs, cows etc) also gives XP, 1-7 to be precise. Whilst doing fishing will give anywhere between 1-6 XP for every fish caught.
There are also Bosses in Minecraft of course. Killing a Wither provides 50 XP, and killing the Ender Dragon gives a huge 12,000 (lowered to 500 if it’s been re-spawned with Crystals). When playing in Multiplayer, killing other players will give 7 XP per their level.
