Updated 25 October 2026. Facts on this page come from minecraft.wiki, minecraft.net and the live Artemis PvP server; sources are listed at the bottom.
Doors and Trapdoors in Minecraft: Types and Tricks
Doors come in every wood type plus iron and copper: 6 of a material make 3 doors; 6 planks make 2 wooden trapdoors, and 4 iron or copper ingots make 1 metal trapdoor. Wooden and copper doors open by hand or redstone; iron doors and trapdoors only open with redstone, which makes them safe from zombies and villagers. Zombies can break wooden and copper doors on Hard difficulty.
Which door should you use?
| Door | Opens with | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wooden (any wood) | Hand or redstone | Villagers open them; zombies break them on Hard |
| Copper | Hand or redstone | Oxidizes; wax it with honeycomb; zombies break it on Hard |
| Iron | Redstone only (button, lever, plate) | Mobs cannot open or break it |
Zombies and doors: zombies. Automatic doors: piston doors.
How do doors place and open?
- A door needs a full block under it and takes 2 blocks of height.
- Its hinge goes on the side with more solid blocks; two doors side by side form a double door.
- Doors are only 3/16 of a block thick, so you can stand in the open space.
- On Java, doors cannot be waterlogged, so they make air pockets underwater; on Bedrock they fill with water. Trapdoors can be waterlogged in both editions.
What are trapdoors good for?
- Hidden entrances and ladder hatches; an open trapdoor above a ladder acts as part of the ladder.
- On Java, closing a trapdoor over your head makes you crawl, which lets you move through 1-block-tall gaps.
- Mob farms: mobs think open trapdoors are solid and walk onto them; see mob farms.
- Blocking campfire smoke and as decoration on walls.
How do you power a door?
Any redstone signal next to it opens it: a button, a lever, a pressure plate in front, or redstone from below. Iron doors need this. See redstone inputs.
How do factions protect bases on ArtemisPvP?
Frequently asked questions
How do you open an iron door?
With redstone: a button, lever or pressure plate next to it.
Can zombies break doors?
Yes, wooden and copper doors on Hard difficulty.
Sources
Every fact on this page was checked against these pages; the wording is ours.