TNT CANNON

Materials List

TNTx10

Dispenserx4

Redstone Dustx16

Redstone Repeaterx6

Water Bucketx1

Stone Buttonx1

Building Blocksx20

What TNT Cannon costs in materials

TNT Cannon parts and what one of each TNT Cannon part costs to craft

Part of TNT Cannon	Needed per TNT Cannon	What one costs to craft
TNT	10	5 Gunpowder, 4 Sand
Dispenser	4	7 Cobblestone, 1 Bow, 1 Redstone
Redstone Repeater	6	3 Stone, 2 Redstone Torch, 1 Redstone
Stone Button	1	1 Stone

TNT Cannon costs are worked out from the crafting recipes in Java Edition 26.2.

The TNT Cannon in short: what it is and what it does

A cannon that uses TNT charges to launch a TNT projectile over long distances. Water prevents the charge TNT from destroying the cannon. Timing is critical, the projectile must ignite after the charge.

As a weapon or defence build it delivers damage on demand, whether launching explosives or laying down automatic fire. It sits at an intermediate level: nothing exotic, but the timing between parts has to be right for it to work smoothly.

Clear a space of 3W x 8L x 3H for the TNT Cannon. Any version of Minecraft from 1.0+ up to and including 26.2 will run it as described.

What makes the TNT Cannon run, part by part

A line of charge TNT detonates in a water trough, the water cancels the block damage but not the push, and that blast launches a separately-timed projectile TNT out of the barrel. Repeater delays fire the projectile a few ticks after the charges so it is already primed and moving when the blast hits it.

Strip the TNT Cannon back to what actually moves and what is left is TNT, dispenser, redstone Dust, redstone Repeater, and water Bucket; all the rest of the 7 material types is scaffolding built around those.

Because it fires on a redstone signal, the timing between charge and payload (or the clock rate) is what separates a working weapon from one that destroys itself.

How to build the TNT Cannon

1. 1Build a channel: 1 wide, 1 deep, 4-8 blocks long.
2. 2Place water at the back of the channel (protects the cannon from charge explosions).
3. 3Place dispensers along the sides of the channel, loaded with TNT (these are charges).
4. 4At the front of the channel, place one dispenser facing up or forward (this is the projectile).
5. 5Wire the charge dispensers to fire first (all simultaneously).
6. 6Wire the projectile dispenser to fire 2-4 ticks AFTER the charges (use repeater delays).
7. 7The charges explode in water (no damage), launching the projectile TNT forward.
8. 8Press the button to fire. Adjust delays and charge count for range.

What the TNT Cannon is used for

• ▸As a weapon or defence build it delivers damage on demand, whether launching explosives or laying down automatic fire.
• ▸Reckon on 10× TNT, 4× dispenser, 16× redstone Dust, and 6× redstone Repeater before you start digging. For a intermediate project that is still a fairly short shopping list to put together.
• ▸Mount it on a base perimeter and trigger it from tripwires for automatic defence.
• ▸Tune the timing or fire rate to match your target range before relying on it.

Tips & common mistakes

• !Get the charge-versus-projectile timing wrong and the cannon destroys itself; the water back wall is essential to protect the firing mechanism.
• !A intermediate build is cheap enough to redo, so run the TNT Cannon through one full cycle in creative before you spend the materials on it in survival.

Builds that share parts with TNT Cannon

Follow TNT Cannon further into the site through these 5 contraption pages:

• 3x3 Piston Door, intermediate like TNT Cannon, and 3 shared parts
• Hidden Staircase, also intermediate, 2 shared parts
• Item Sorter, also intermediate, 2 shared parts
• 2x2 Piston Door, beginner level, 3 parts the same
• Arrow Dispenser Turret, beginner level, 3 parts the same