Net Anchor

A fishing net strung between two Net Anchors catches fish on its own while you’re away — a passive setup, not something to stand and watch. It takes three steps: craft a pair of anchors, link them with Fishing String, then fill the span with Net blocks.

A finished net — two Net Anchors, a Fishing String link, and Net blocks filling the frame between them. Select the image to view it full size.

1. Craft two Net Anchors

At a crafting table, combine 1 Chest, 4 Iron Ingots, 3 Planks, and 1 Iron Chain. Any wood planks work. You need two — one for each end of the net.

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Net Anchor×1

2. Place and link them

Put a Net Anchor at each end of the stretch of water you want to fish. Anchors attach to the side or top of a block — mount them on a bank or pillar, or stand them on a surface. The pair must sit on the same axis, 3 to 8 blocks apart, over water in a river or ocean biome.

Net Anchors mounted on opposite banks, facing each other across the water. Select the image to view it full size.

Link the two with Fishing String — not vanilla String, which won’t work at the anchor. The link costs one Fishing String per block of the gap, and the string is only spent once the link actually succeeds.

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3. Fill the net

Right-click either anchor — or any point on the link between them — with a stack of Net blocks to auto-fill the whole frame at once, instead of placing each block by hand. The net hangs down through the water between the two anchors, as in the photo up top.

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Storage & Speed

The net stores its catch inside the anchor. Its GUI has the catch slots on the left and a column of five catalyst slots on the right — one per rarity. Insert Fish Catalysts from Common upward; each tier unlocks the next and raises the net’s storage capacity and catch speed.

A fresh anchor (left) has five catch slots and four catalyst tiers still locked. Fully upgraded (right): far more storage, and a readout of Speed 100%, 60.0s/catch.

Speed also depends on how much of the frame is actually filled with Net blocks — until at least one is placed, the GUI just reads “At least 1 Net required to catch fish”, and a partly-filled frame catches slower than a full one. Fully upgraded and fully filled, a net lands one fish every 60 seconds; un-upgraded, closer to once every five minutes.

Keep the net ticking

The net only catches while its area is loaded and ticking. Leaving the area beyond the server’s simulation distance can stop it; it does not accumulate an offline catch while its chunks are unloaded. For an AFK setup, stay close enough to keep the net ticking.

Emptying the net

When the net fills up it stops catching until you clear it, so empty it regularly. An indicator rises above the anchor whenever the net is full, so you can check it from a distance without opening the GUI.

The full-net indicator appears above the anchor when the net has no room left.

Set a chest against the anchor and the stored catch feeds into it automatically — route that into your base storage and the net runs unattended.

A chest set against the anchor collects the net’s catch. Select the image to view it full size.