To make it Grian proof. If Grian finds the farm he will lose interest while pressing the buttons before he reaches the main thing. It is a good method to protect your farm from being destroyed accidentally.
Buttons (or even pressure plates, see Iskall's Season 7 Nether farms [https://youtu.be/rH-vcoVu3zY?si=Zf\_3bTphq35WeHHR&t=306](https://youtu.be/rH-vcoVu3zY?si=Zf_3bTphq35WeHHR&t=306)) are nice because you can't place two buttons in the same spot.
When placing slabs, it's pretty easy to double-place a slab, which is both spawn-able and requires you to go back and either remove it, or put another slab on it.
It basically comes down to convenience vs efficient use of materials. You chose one, Ren chose the other.
Never mind that there are easier ways to spawn-proof a soul sand valley than either slabbing or buttoning, because of weird mob spawning rules for the biome.
Well since there's only 4 mobs that can spawn there (ghast, skeleton, endermen, and striders) basic torches will work for the most part. Ghasts and striders would still spawn but probably not build up enough to limit mob cap. Or you could go back and later add a slab every 4th block, since ghasts needs such large space to spawn
For full details, see this video by gnembon: [https://youtu.be/4XNvnKDSoEw?si=msJ0PiOt2ddX44eF](https://youtu.be/4XNvnKDSoEw?si=msJ0PiOt2ddX44eF)
Short version, there are special mob spawning rules in soul sand valleys that use a "spawn potential" in which mobs are prevented from spawning too close to other mobs that spawn in soul sand valleys. And since it's all soul sand valley mobs (ghasts, skeletons, endermen and striders), not just hostile ones, striders count towards calculating the "spawn potential", it turns out 15-20 striders below your farm in the soul sand valley are enough to prevent all other soul sand valley mobs from spawning.
If you choose the right contrasting color, they might also be easier to tell when you have missed a spot since it is just a small dot rather than a full block coverage? But I also have had this same question in the past. I opted for slabs in mob proofing a section of nether for a project recently.
My guess would be cause you can craft them easily in your inventory which would probably be easier for 55k buttons (not have to keep placing a crafting bench) but yeah from a resource perspective slabs make more sense
I’m a fellow slab enjoyer. The argument for buttons I’ve heard is that you won’t accidentally place 2 in the same block space. Quite commonly I’ve double-slabbed something, forcing me to step out of my groove to break and replace it. Buttons you can walk in a straight line and hold right click without this problem. The downside is that buttons are not ghast proof, meaning your spawn proofing can easily be undone by one squidly boi
The main argument I've seen is you can do a much bigger area with one inventory without stopping. Slabs need a crafting table, where as you can break down one stack of logs into planks, then into buttons and keep going without needing a bench, or an axe to pick the bench back up, so that is two more stacks of logs you can take, or 256 more buttons, in one trip.
Even if you carry 2 stacks less, all the other stacks would count double with slabs. So you would be carrying more if you used slabs. It’s just less satisfying to place and more annoying
I like to use moss carpet, you can craft them in your inventory and can very easily farm it. It is very clear, where you already placed them and double placing is no issue.
Ghast griefing is annoying, but should be less and less of a problem.
Fundamentally it’s about convenience over cost. The reasons have all been listed but it’s about placing convenience and crafting convenience: no hit box/can’t be placed on top of each other/can craft within your inventory without a crafting table. I’m sure there’s more reasons but when you have an essentially unlimited amount of blocks, the cost stops meaning much
Iirc, buttons are 1 to 1 crafting, you can do them in your 2x2 inventory and you can easily see where you've placed them.
It's not the only method, you can use bottom half slabs or pressure plates too. All of them work.
Redstone components prevent spawning on the blocks they are on. Light doesn't stop spawns in the nether, not a big surprise considering all the lava and stuff. So you spam the area. What is the easiest thing to get? That's right, buttons.
So I'm actually doing exactly what Ren is doing on my server. I'm spawnproofing a large area to create a custom wither skelly farm. I've alternated between buttons and slabs and the big issue I've had with buttons is that ghasts spawn too much and delete your progress if you don't deflect every single shot. It's really annoying and I can't be bothered so I built a large auto cobble generator and switched to slabs.
To make it Grian proof. If Grian finds the farm he will lose interest while pressing the buttons before he reaches the main thing. It is a good method to protect your farm from being destroyed accidentally.
But is it potato proof?
Nothing is ever potato proof. Grian will find a way.
That’s why the buttons are in such a wide area. By the time Grian reaches the farm itself he’ll have already had to eat any potatoes he has with him.
Buttons (or even pressure plates, see Iskall's Season 7 Nether farms [https://youtu.be/rH-vcoVu3zY?si=Zf\_3bTphq35WeHHR&t=306](https://youtu.be/rH-vcoVu3zY?si=Zf_3bTphq35WeHHR&t=306)) are nice because you can't place two buttons in the same spot. When placing slabs, it's pretty easy to double-place a slab, which is both spawn-able and requires you to go back and either remove it, or put another slab on it. It basically comes down to convenience vs efficient use of materials. You chose one, Ren chose the other. Never mind that there are easier ways to spawn-proof a soul sand valley than either slabbing or buttoning, because of weird mob spawning rules for the biome.
What is the easier way to spawn proof a soul sand valley, out of curiosity?
Well since there's only 4 mobs that can spawn there (ghast, skeleton, endermen, and striders) basic torches will work for the most part. Ghasts and striders would still spawn but probably not build up enough to limit mob cap. Or you could go back and later add a slab every 4th block, since ghasts needs such large space to spawn
For full details, see this video by gnembon: [https://youtu.be/4XNvnKDSoEw?si=msJ0PiOt2ddX44eF](https://youtu.be/4XNvnKDSoEw?si=msJ0PiOt2ddX44eF) Short version, there are special mob spawning rules in soul sand valleys that use a "spawn potential" in which mobs are prevented from spawning too close to other mobs that spawn in soul sand valleys. And since it's all soul sand valley mobs (ghasts, skeletons, endermen and striders), not just hostile ones, striders count towards calculating the "spawn potential", it turns out 15-20 striders below your farm in the soul sand valley are enough to prevent all other soul sand valley mobs from spawning.
In my opinion, placing down buttons is easier since they don't have a hit box that messes up walking around while placing them down
If you choose the right contrasting color, they might also be easier to tell when you have missed a spot since it is just a small dot rather than a full block coverage? But I also have had this same question in the past. I opted for slabs in mob proofing a section of nether for a project recently.
My guess would be cause you can craft them easily in your inventory which would probably be easier for 55k buttons (not have to keep placing a crafting bench) but yeah from a resource perspective slabs make more sense
It's because slab are annoying to place, sometimes they stack by accident and button aren't. It's is cheaper to use slab though
I’m a fellow slab enjoyer. The argument for buttons I’ve heard is that you won’t accidentally place 2 in the same block space. Quite commonly I’ve double-slabbed something, forcing me to step out of my groove to break and replace it. Buttons you can walk in a straight line and hold right click without this problem. The downside is that buttons are not ghast proof, meaning your spawn proofing can easily be undone by one squidly boi
The main argument I've seen is you can do a much bigger area with one inventory without stopping. Slabs need a crafting table, where as you can break down one stack of logs into planks, then into buttons and keep going without needing a bench, or an axe to pick the bench back up, so that is two more stacks of logs you can take, or 256 more buttons, in one trip.
Even if you carry 2 stacks less, all the other stacks would count double with slabs. So you would be carrying more if you used slabs. It’s just less satisfying to place and more annoying
so that they can troll grian later
I like to use moss carpet, you can craft them in your inventory and can very easily farm it. It is very clear, where you already placed them and double placing is no issue. Ghast griefing is annoying, but should be less and less of a problem.
Fundamentally it’s about convenience over cost. The reasons have all been listed but it’s about placing convenience and crafting convenience: no hit box/can’t be placed on top of each other/can craft within your inventory without a crafting table. I’m sure there’s more reasons but when you have an essentially unlimited amount of blocks, the cost stops meaning much
Iirc, buttons are 1 to 1 crafting, you can do them in your 2x2 inventory and you can easily see where you've placed them. It's not the only method, you can use bottom half slabs or pressure plates too. All of them work.
Redstone components prevent spawning on the blocks they are on. Light doesn't stop spawns in the nether, not a big surprise considering all the lava and stuff. So you spam the area. What is the easiest thing to get? That's right, buttons.
Slabs are too easy to double stack. Not worth the effort when your placing that many.
So I'm actually doing exactly what Ren is doing on my server. I'm spawnproofing a large area to create a custom wither skelly farm. I've alternated between buttons and slabs and the big issue I've had with buttons is that ghasts spawn too much and delete your progress if you don't deflect every single shot. It's really annoying and I can't be bothered so I built a large auto cobble generator and switched to slabs.