Placing a spawner adds units to your island. The first unit of a mob costs only its shop price; every further unit of the same mob on the same island adds an expansion fee that grows by 5% per unit. Fees stay with your island, so moving a spawner never costs anything.
Placing#
Hold a spawner item and place it on a free block of your island. You need the island permission Place Blocks. Three things can happen:
- New spawner. If you place it on open ground, a new spawner with the item's units appears.
- Merge. If you place it against, or right next to, a managed spawner of the same mob, the units are added to that spawner.
- Refusal. Placing in the wrong dimension, with the mob locked, or on an occupied spot is refused and your item is returned. Messages include "A Sheep spawner can only be placed in the Overworld!" and "That spot already holds a spawner. Your spawner was returned."
Placing normally adds the whole stack you hold. Sneak while placing to add only one item. Upgraded or multi-unit spawner items (picked-up managed spawners) are always placed one at a time.
Expansion fee#
Let n be the number of units of that mob your island has paid for before (units start at 0). The fee for unit number n is:
fee(n) = shop price x (1.05^n - 1)
So the total cost of unit n, including the shop price you already paid at the shop, is shop price x 1.05^n. The fee for several units placed together is the sum of their individual fees.
| Unit number (n) | Fee for that unit | Total cost of that unit |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $10,000 | $210,000 |
| 2 | $20,500 | $220,500 |
| 5 | $55,256 | $255,256 |
| 10 | $125,779 | $325,779 |
| 20 | $330,660 | $530,660 |
| 50 | $2,093,480 | $2,293,480 |
| 100 | $26,100,252 | $26,300,252 |
Sheep, base price $200,000.
| Unit number (n) | Fee for that unit | Total cost of that unit |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1,000,000 | $21,000,000 |
| 2 | $2,050,000 | $22,050,000 |
| 5 | $5,525,631 | $25,525,631 |
| 10 | $12,577,893 | $32,577,893 |
| 20 | $33,065,954 | $53,065,954 |
| 50 | $209,347,996 | $229,347,996 |
Shulker, base price $20,000,000.
Every mob has its own counter. Fees are charged per island and per mob, never per player.
Free re-placement#
The island remembers how many units of each mob it has already paid for. If you pick a spawner up and place it again, the units you already paid for are free: nothing is charged until the island owns more units than it has ever paid for. The spawner menu shows Free re-placements and the fee of the next new unit.
Confirmation menus#
When a fee applies, when you place more than one item, or when only part of your stack is affordable, a confirmation menu opens before anything is charged.
| Menu | Button | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Place spawner? | Place for {total} | Pays the expansion fee and places the units. |
| Place spawner? | Keep separate for {total} | Places a separate spawner (shown when you placed against an upgraded spawner). Only the expansion fee is charged. |
| Place spawner? | Cancel | Keeps the item. Nothing is charged. |
| Add to an upgraded spawner? | Merge and match upgrades for {total} | Pays the expansion fee plus the catch-up cost so the new units get the spawner's upgrades. |
| Add to an upgraded spawner? | Keep separate for {fee} | New spawner without those upgrades, for the expansion fee only. |
| Add to an upgraded spawner? | Cancel | Nothing is charged. |
The summary lists the units your island owns, free re-placements used, new units charged, the expansion fee, the total, and the fee of the next unit. An offer expires after 1 minute ("That offer expired. Place the spawner again to see the price."). Closing the menu, logging out or disconnecting cancels it and charges nothing.
Bulk placement#
If you cannot afford the whole stack, the menu offers the largest part you can afford: "You can afford 3 of 5 spawners. The confirmation shows the price for those." Nothing is taken until you confirm.
Matching upgrades (catch-up)#
Units merged into a levelled spawner must share its upgrades. The catch-up price is, for every ladder (Level, Tank, Yield), the sum of the per-unit upgrade prices from the item's level up to the spawner's level, times the units you add (Spawner Upgrades). It needs the same Mob Mastery level the spawner's upgrades require. If you cannot afford the catch-up or the mastery is too low, you are offered a separate spawner for the expansion fee only ("Matching that spawner's upgrades needs your island's {mob} mastery at level {n}...").
Picking spawners up#
Break a managed spawner with the island permission Spawner Break to pick it up. You receive one spawner item holding all units and all upgrades, plus everything in the spawner's storage and its stored experience. The mobs waiting in the tank are lost, so harvest the tank first (Reaping Spawners). Expansion fees already paid stay with the island, so placing the item again is free: "Picked up a Sheep spawner with 12 units. Expansion fees already paid stay with your island, so placing it again is free."
Picked-up spawners cannot be duplicated: a spawner item can be placed only once, and explosions never destroy managed spawners.
See also#
- Obtaining Spawners
- Spawner Upgrades
- Island Members and Roles for island roles and permissions