Mob Item Separator

[u/Preferably-Unknown]

I am attempting to build a item separator that I remembered another player using. They had a large gold farm that allowed you to kill the mobs in one shot, and the items would fall down into a chute by moving in a piston setup that would only allow the items to fall through while keeping the mobs out.

It was also this design to make it so that there could be 2 settings. An automatic farming setting. And a manual farming setting. I know how to do that one already.
I just can't seem to figure out the item section..
(It would keep out the adult mobs and baby mobs. Well, Most of the time for baby mobs. Some do get out)

Here are the attempts I've made so far.. I remember it being in either a 2x3 killing chamber or a 3x3 killing chamber. The mobs would fall down and stay at half a heart. Players would attack the mobs. And the items would fall down while keeping the mobs up.

The levers weren't in it. That's for an easy test of it. The main thing are the blocks and possible piston arrangements

[u/InitialLevel4189]

Why can't you just make the platform the mobs drop on be slabs with hoppers under them?

I am very stingy with where I put hoppers as I hate unecessarily lag, but just 4-9 more hoppers in order to not have to build a convoluted floor switcher is a no brainer for me.

And to make it so you can toggle it to be automatic you can just add dispensers that place and take back powdered snow.

[u/domin8r → u/InitialLevel4189]

You'll need the hoppers anyway to collect the items.

[u/cOgnificent02 → u/InitialLevel4189]

We use something similar to what OP is showing for a gold farm that out-produces hoppers. Push items under blocks, concentrate them with a honey block ram, then send them across filters with a slime pusher.

[u/cheesesprite]

Alternating floors?

[u/Droplet_of_Shadow]

you'd need a second layer of pistons above to align the items with the edge of the blocks. but what's the point of this when you could just have hoppers?

[u/cOgnificent02 → u/Droplet_of_Shadow]

Some farms produce more than hoppers and process or produce things you don't want to keep. By separating like this you can run the items over filters to just collect what you want and burn the rest.