Minecraft wiki entry for Sugar_cane_farming, associated text: There are four main types of automatic sugar cane farms: Stationary, flying, sim-tick, and zero-tick. Stationary designs, while simpler for platforms without quasi-connectivity, are generally more resource and space intensive as compared to flying designs. Flying designs usually require slime blocks however which may be difficult to obtain for some players. Sim-tick designs move the player so the plant is out of simulation distance, then uses a sticky piston that is within simulation distance to remove and then replace the block beneath it, and when you move back so the plant is within simulation distance, the plant has grown. Zero-tick designs remove and replace a requirement for the plant within the same game tick, also forcing a growth update. These designs usually use pistons or sand manipulation. Zero-tick sugar cane farms are faster in Bedrock Edition, with some getting at or above 2,000 sugarcane per hour per plant.