How spawners work on DonutSMP
A spawner is a placeable block you buy from the shop or from other players. Once placed it spawns its mob type inside a radius around it, as long as a player is nearby, the light level allows it and the local mob cap is not already full.
The important difference from vanilla is stacking: multiple spawners of the same type placed in the same block merge into one stacked spawner, and the spawn rate scales with the stack. That is why players talk about 'a stack of 64 skeleton spawners' rather than individual blocks.
- Spawners only run while a player is within activation range, an AFK spot next to the room is required.
- Light level still matters for hostile mobs. Keep the spawn platform fully dark.
- Every spawner room competes with the same mob cap, so one huge room outperforms several half-built ones.
- Killing mobs faster raises income directly: the cap clears, the spawner refills.
How much does a skeleton spawner make?
A single skeleton spawner is close to worthless on its own, the value comes from stacking. As a rough planning figure, one skeleton spawner running with a proper kill chamber and an AFK player produces on the order of a few thousand dollars per hour, so a stack of 32 to 64 skeleton spawners is what turns into millions per hour of AFK time.
Actual numbers move whenever DonutSMP changes sell prices or spawner prices, so treat any figure you read, including this one, as a ratio rather than a promise. The reliable rule is: skeletons and zombies are the cheap, high-volume entry tier; blaze and iron golem spawners cost far more but pay back faster per block.
- Skeleton: cheapest entry, bones and arrows, best value per dollar spent early.
- Zombie: similar tier to skeleton, rotten flesh volume, very common first room.
- Blaze: much higher price, blaze rods sell well, needs a nether-safe room or a hidden overworld build.
- Iron golem: top tier income, highest upfront cost, the endgame of most spawner rooms.
Building a spawner room that actually pays
The build itself is solved: rather than designing it yourself, paste a proven farm schematic and adapt the entrance.
- Pick a hidden location: a spawner room is the single most raidable thing you own. Underground, far from any path, no surface tells.
- Stack all spawners of one type into a single block rather than spreading them out.
- Build a compact kill chamber directly under the spawn platform so mobs die instantly and the cap clears.
- Funnel drops into hoppers and a chest system you can empty quickly.
- Set your AFK spot inside activation range but outside the fight, and never AFK somewhere visible.
Protecting spawner income
Spawners are lootable. A raider who finds your room takes the spawners themselves, not just the drops, which means losing weeks of income in one visit. Treat the room like a stash: no path, no lighting leaks, no visible hopper lines and no obvious entrance.
Split large investments across two locations. A single mega room is a single point of failure.