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Yes—but not by crushing them instantly with the piston head. A piston can push a solid block into a mob’s head space; if the mob cannot get clear, it takes suffocation damage. The piston is the mechanism, and suffocation is what kills.
How a piston mob crusher works
A typical crusher funnels mobs into a confined space, then uses a piston or sticky piston to move a solid block into their space. If the mob cannot escape, suffocation damage accumulates while the block remains in place. Minecraft’s official piston explanation says pistons can push blocks and entities in their path: Minecraft: Taking Inventory: Piston. The Minecraft Wiki’s piston-use tutorial also describes suffocation when a piston moves a block into the same space as a mob or player: Tutorials: Block and item duplication — Suffocation.
This is not an instant impact kill: the block must stay in place long enough for suffocation damage to do its work. A single redstone pulse should not be treated as a guaranteed kill.
What to expect from a basic grinder
A Minecraft Wiki tutorial describes a piston grinder that moves mobs with water and directs drops toward a hopper. Its design is slow, and it does not handle spiders well; the tutorial suggests sorting spiders separately. The same principle can be adapted for smaller mobs, but the illustrated setup is intended for tall mobs. These are design notes for that tutorial, not guarantees for every mob or current version: Minecraft Wiki: Tutorials/Mob grinder.
- Kill speed: Expect a delayed suffocation kill rather than an instant one.
- Mob selection: Test the intended mob, especially if the build must handle spiders or a mix of sizes.
- Drop collection: A hopper can collect drops if the grinder is built to route them into it.
- Redstone timing: The block needs to remain in the mob’s space long enough to cause damage.
Does it work the same in Java and Bedrock?
Do not assume a design behaves identically across editions or versions. Microsoft’s Bedrock documentation lists both piston and suffocation as damage causes, while its Java/Bedrock comparison documents redstone differences, including Java quasi-connectivity, which Bedrock does not have. That supports checking the build in your own edition; it does not mean every Java crusher fails in Bedrock. See Microsoft Learn: EntityDamageCause and Minecraft: Java and Bedrock edition differences.
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Before relying on a crusher, test it in the edition and version you play with the specific mob you want to kill. The cited official material does not establish every mob’s collision, suffocation, or piston behavior.
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Practical checklist
- Confine the target mob so it cannot move out of the block’s space.
- Use a solid block moved by a piston or sticky piston, and keep it in place long enough for suffocation damage.
- Test the timing and target mob before building a large farm around the design.
- If you want automatic drops, include a hopper and make sure the grinder routes drops to it.
- Check redstone behavior in your edition and version rather than assuming a tutorial transfers unchanged.
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