I had wondered about this before but never really investigated. This is super helpful—thanks for sharing, Kefka!

is that even math

is that even math

i would think a farm with 3x water strip would be the most economical because it would allow you to build the farms on the pathways you can build on the irrigation-strip meaning all the irrigated land is usable farm land after all the farm buildings and paths take up land as well

it makes me wonder if the water dump they tried to nerf with the change is now just a line of three instead of a single

Guys, I don't think we need to overexplain the most basic concept in the game, everything you've said is already presented in this "guide". Whether you count the water block or not is up to you, the irrigation (the point of the guide) remains the same

@xONRTTODELIVERY - The water blocks are not accounted for in the guide. It's 1=6, 2=12, 3=16. If you'd follow your assumption it would be 1=6-1=5, 2=12-2=10, 3=16-3=13.But since it changes nothing in terms of scaling, your result still is correct.

1 waterblock = 6 irrigated blocks to each side. That's a 7x7 blocks field, or 48 blocks per water block.
2 waterblocks = 12 irrigated blocks to each side. That's a 26x26 blocks field, or 168 blocks per water block.
3 waterblocks = 16 irrigated blocks to each side. That's a 35x35 blocks field, or ~135 blocks per water block.
I'm always assuming a water square. i. e.: 1 water block, 2x2 water blocks, 3x3 water blocks - easier to calculate, since the result would be a square and not a rectangle. Just takes off a bit of complexity. So it's: irrigated blocks per water block = (fieldsize - waterblocks) / waterblocks

The most optimal irrigation, in terms of used space, would then be a raster of 2x2 puddles. So your conclusion is right.

If you don't count the water blocks its 1=5, 2=11, 3=15. in that case it appears that 2 wide gives you the best results per water block used.

thank you king

awesome test thanks man