Redstone Clocks

A redstone clock produces a repeating on/off pulse. Observer clocks are fast and tiny, repeater clocks are adjustable and reliable, and hopper clocks are easy to tune for slow timers.

Bedrock Edition · Updated 2026-06-02

What is a redstone clock?

A redstone clock is any circuit that turns itself on and off over and over on a steady beat. Clocks drive everything that needs to repeat: automatic farms, flashing lights, pulsing dispensers, and the timing core of larger machines. The art of clocks is choosing the right speed — some need to fire many times a second, others once a minute.

The three workhorses are the observer clock (fast), the repeater clock (adjustable), and the hopper clock (slow and tunable).

The observer clock

Point an observer at its own output, or face two observers at each other, and they trigger each other endlessly. The result is a very fast, very compact clock — great for rapid machines. Each observer fires a 1-redstone-tick pulse (the same on Bedrock and Java), so a two-observer clock runs at roughly that rapid rate.

Two observers facing each other pulse endlessly into a fast, steady beat — it starts ticking on its own.

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The repeater clock

Loop a repeater's output back to its input and it oscillates. Because each repeater's delay is adjustable from 1 to 4 ticks, and you can chain several, the repeater clock gives you fine control over the speed. It's the go-to when you want a specific, reliable rhythm.

Start it and adjust a repeater's delay to speed up or slow down the beat.

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The hopper clock (slow timers)

For slow intervals — seconds rather than fractions of a second — a hopper clock is ideal. Items shuttle back and forth between two hoppers, and a comparator reads when a hopper is full or empty to flip the output. Add more items to lengthen the interval. It's the easiest way to time something every several seconds without a giant repeater chain.

Watch the items shuttle between hoppers, flipping the output on a slow, even cycle.

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Key facts

Observer clock: fastest and most compact; best for rapid machines.
Repeater clock: adjustable 1–4 ticks per repeater; reliable mid-speed timing.
Hopper clock: easy to tune for slow, multi-second intervals by item count.
Avoid single-torch clocks — rapid switching causes torch burnout.
Always include a way to switch a clock off, or it runs forever and costs performance.

Bedrock note

On Bedrock the observer pulse is the same 1-redstone-tick length as Java's (so observer clocks aren't inherently faster), though a known bug can make Bedrock's observer delay a little inconsistent. Torch-loop clocks still suffer burnout if cycled too quickly, so prefer observer, repeater, or hopper designs. Bedrock timing can also vary slightly under heavy chunk load. This simulator models the Bedrock observer pulse length and repeater delays.