How to Make a Simple Trap in Minecraft

TNT Trap

Obtain four sand blocks and 5 gunpowder to make some TNT. To obtain sand blocks, find beaches and deserts. They are most likely to have sand. To obtain gunpowder, kill a Creeper (don't let it explode), Ghast, or find some in chests, usually found in dungeons.

Get two stone blocks. You get stone by mining cobblestone and smelting it in a furnace. The cobblestone will turn into regular stone. Craft a stone pressure plate by placing two stone blocks next to each other in the crafting space in your inventory or a crafting table. To open your inventory, press E.

Place the block of TNT anywhere. Make sure it isn't next to one of your creations.

Place the pressure plate directly on top of the TNT block that you placed. Wait for someone to step on it. It will explode, killing or hurting them.

Try experimenting. There are lots of different ways to customize simple traps. Make sure to clean up the mess you might have caused experimenting or else it would seem to obvious what was going to happen to the victim!

Door Trap

Place a Pressure Plate.

Place 4 iron doors around the plate. If you use wood doors, it is very easy to break and your trap will only last a few seconds. Unless the person trapped has a pickaxe, it could take a while to get out.

Place a block of Obsidian on top of the doors. If you are unable to get obsidian, use another hard to break item. Bedrock would be ideal, but since there is no way to get it in survival mode, obsidian is the easiest.

Lure someone into the trap. Once they step on the plate, the doors will close and they will be stuck inside. Since the only way to press the button again is to step off the block and back on it, since they cannot jump up or go forward, the doors will remain closed indefinitely. You can also place TNT under the pressure plate so when someone gets trapped, the TNT will go off.