To plant mushrooms in Minecraft, place a red or brown mushroom on a full-block surface with a light level below 13. Dirt, grass, coarse dirt, rooted dirt, and moss require low light, while podzol, mycelium, and nylium let mushrooms remain planted in any light. Use bone meal to grow a huge mushroom when enough space is available.
How to plant mushrooms in Minecraft
Mushrooms are not planted like wheat, carrots, or other crops. You do not need farmland, water, seeds, or a hoe. You simply hold a red mushroom or brown mushroom and use it on a valid block.
The easiest reliable setup is a small room with a solid roof. Place your mushroom on dirt, grass, coarse dirt, rooted dirt, or moss, then keep the area dim. A mushroom can also sit on podzol, mycelium, or either type of nylium without needing darkness.
- Use a full block with a solid top surface.
- Keep the light level below 13 on normal blocks.
- Use podzol, mycelium, or nylium if you want to plant mushrooms outdoors.
- Leave air above the mushroom so it has room to remain placed and spread.
Mushrooms cannot normally be placed on the top of slabs or stairs because those blocks do not provide a full solid surface. If the game refuses to place the mushroom, check the block underneath, the light level, and whether the space above is clear.
What you need before planting
You only need one mushroom and a suitable block. Red and brown mushrooms use the same planting rules, so the color affects the mushroom you grow rather than the location where you place it.
| Requirement | What works |
|---|---|
| Mushroom | Red mushroom or brown mushroom |
| Normal planting surface | Dirt, grass block, coarse dirt, rooted dirt, or moss |
| Special planting surface | Podzol, mycelium, crimson nylium, or warped nylium |
| Light on normal surfaces | Below level 13 |
| Light on special surfaces | Any light level |
| For a huge mushroom | Bone meal and a large clear area |
For a basic indoor farm, place a roof over the growing area and use torches only where they do not make the planting spot too bright. You can also use a dark underground room. If you have podzol, mycelium, or nylium, an outdoor farm is much easier because sunlight will not break the placement rule.
Planting mushrooms step by step
- Collect a red mushroom or brown mushroom. Keep at least one extra if this is your only mushroom.
- Choose a full block such as dirt, coarse dirt, moss, podzol, mycelium, or nylium.
- Check the light. On ordinary blocks, the planting spot must have a light level below 13.
- Make sure the block above is open and that the mushroom is not being placed on a slab or stair.
- Hold the mushroom and use it on the top surface of the block.
- Wait for it to spread naturally, or use bone meal to attempt a huge mushroom.
A planted mushroom does not grow taller through ordinary random growth. It spreads slowly to nearby valid spaces. If you want a large stem and cap, bone meal is the faster option, but it only works when the mushroom is on a suitable block and has enough room.
Keep your farm compact but not crowded. Mushrooms have limited spreading behavior when too many of the same type are close together, so leave open blocks around each mushroom and harvest regularly. A separate red mushroom area and brown mushroom area is easier to manage than mixing both colors into one tight room.
How to grow a huge mushroom
Huge mushrooms are the large red or brown mushroom structures that provide mushroom blocks for building and decoration. To grow one, plant a mushroom, select bone meal, and use it on the mushroom.
The attempt can fail even when the mushroom is planted correctly. The game needs enough open space for the cap and stem, and the required space depends on the generated shape. Give the mushroom a broad clear area instead of placing it beside walls, trees, ceilings, or other blocks.
Best blocks for huge mushrooms
For a simple underground farm, use dirt, coarse dirt, grass blocks, rooted dirt, or moss with low light. Podzol, mycelium, and nylium are especially convenient because they support mushroom placement and huge mushroom growth at any light level.
How much space to leave
A safe growing area is at least 7 blocks wide and 8 blocks tall around the mushroom, with additional clearance above and around the edges. Clear more space if possible, because the cap can spread outward and the exact shape is not identical every time.
If bone meal is consumed and the huge mushroom does not appear, do not assume the mushroom is broken. Usually the space is blocked, the base block is unsuitable, or the light conditions are wrong for that base. Move the mushroom to a larger open area and try again.
How to get red and brown mushrooms
Red and brown mushrooms generate naturally in dark or shaded places throughout the Overworld. Check caves, wooded areas, swamps, old-growth taiga, and other locations with low light. Both colors can also be found in the Nether, where mushrooms are useful for starting a farm away from the Overworld.
Mushroom Fields, often called a mushroom island, are another reliable source. The biome is covered in mycelium and is known for its mooshrooms and naturally occurring mushrooms. Mycelium also lets you plant mushrooms in bright daylight, so bringing some home makes outdoor mushroom farming much easier.
Brown mushrooms can be harder to notice because they blend into dark terrain. Search beneath trees, around cave entrances, and along shaded ground rather than looking only in open fields. You can also shear a brown mooshroom to obtain brown mushrooms, although finding a Mushroom Fields biome is usually the bigger challenge.
How to find a mushroom island
The current biome name is Mushroom Fields, but many players still call it a mushroom island. It usually generates as an isolated landmass surrounded by ocean, making ocean exploration the normal survival method.
- Prepare a boat, food, spare tools, and a bed before searching.
- Travel across large oceans and inspect islands with unusual mycelium-colored ground.
- Look for red mooshrooms, giant mushrooms, and purple mycelium, which identify the biome quickly.
- Collect mycelium with a shovel enchanted with Silk Touch if you want to move it safely.
If commands are enabled, use /locate biome minecraft:mushroom_fields to get the nearest Mushroom Fields coordinates. Teleporting or traveling there still requires a separate command or normal exploration. In a survival world without commands, there is no guaranteed short route because the biome is rare and commonly appears far from the starting area.
Pitcher plants are different from mushrooms
The pitcher plant mentioned in some searches is not a mushroom and does not use mushroom planting rules. To get one, obtain a pitcher pod from an adult sniffer. Plant the pitcher pod on farmland, where it grows through several stages into a full pitcher plant.
Sniffers can uncover pitcher pods while digging in suitable dirt or grass areas. A pitcher plant is mainly a decorative plant and can be turned into cyan dye. Breaking the crop before it finishes growing returns the pitcher pod, while harvesting a fully grown plant gives the pitcher plant itself.
Do not try to place a pitcher plant on podzol, mycelium, or nylium as if it were a mushroom. Use farmland for the pitcher pod, and use a regular mushroom item when you want red or brown mushrooms.
Java and Bedrock mushroom planting
The basic mushroom placement method is the same in Java Edition and Bedrock Edition. In both versions, use a red or brown mushroom on a valid surface, keep ordinary planting locations below light level 13, and use podzol, mycelium, or nylium for bright outdoor farms.
The available commands and the exact way coordinates are displayed can differ slightly between editions, but the biome identifier for Mushroom Fields is minecraft:mushroom_fields in current command syntax. If the locate command is unavailable, enable cheats or search for the biome manually by boat.
Common mushroom farming mistakes
- Planting in sunlight on dirt: Move the mushroom indoors or place it on podzol, mycelium, or nylium.
- Using a slab or stair: Replace it with a full block.
- Building a ceiling too low: Leave enough vertical room if you want a huge mushroom.
- Trying to use farmland: Ordinary mushrooms do not need or use farmland.
- Using bone meal beside a wall: Clear a large area before attempting a huge mushroom.
- Confusing pitcher pods with mushrooms: Pitcher pods belong on farmland and come from sniffers.
For the fastest renewable supply, keep one mushroom on podzol, mycelium, or nylium, then use bone meal in a spacious area to grow huge mushrooms. Harvest the mushroom blocks and small mushrooms, replant one item, and repeat the process.
