How to make and use Charcoal in Minecraft

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Charcoal is an renewable item in Minecraft that can be used as fuel or as a crafting recipe to make torches. Coal and charcoal used to have the same texture, but they later changed this to avoid confusion among players. Since Coal is a bit harder to find since Minecraft 1.18, you could find yourself stuck in the Deep Dark without a torch or Coal, and need an alternative. Charcoal is exactly that, so here’s a guide how to make Charcoal in Minecraft.

How to make Minecraft Charcoal

Step

1

Get a Crafting Table

The first thing you need is a Crafting Table. If you haven’t already got one in your inventory, you’ll need to obtain wood from a tree and craft four Wooden Planks. Then place those back in the from your crafting menu to make a Crafting Table.

Step

2

Craft A Furnace

Now that you have a Crafting Table, you’ll need to craft a Furnace. To make this, you’ll need eight Cobblestone or Cobbled Deepslate, which you can gather by mining with a pickaxe. Once you have eight Cobblestone, place them around the outside of the crafting grid, leaving the centre square empty.

Step

3

Burn wood

As long as you have a Furnace and Wooden Logs in your inventory, you can make Charcoal wherever you have these. Place Wood, stripped Wood, Logs, or Stripped Logs in the top box of your Furnace interface. Place any fuel (including Logs or Wood themselves) in the bottom box, and you’ll turn your Wood into Charcoal.

Where To Find Charcoal

Charcoal can be found out and about in your Minecraft world, as well, but it’s easier to just craft it. If you do come across a campfire, though, either your own or in a village, destroy the campfire with a tool that doesn’t have the silk touch enchantment equipped and you’ll receive two pieces of Charcoal.

You can also get charcoal using Minecraft commands. To use the give command on the Java Edition, type the version you’re using and type the command /give @p charcoal 1 into your chat for one piece of Charcoal. For more, simply change the number at the end!

You can’t trade for Charcoal with villagers, so you can only craft it or obtain it from Campfires.

How To Use Charcoal

You can use charcoal as a substitute for coal, and it works as good fuel for your furnace to cook food. Even though you can use charcoal to replace coal in crafting recipes, it doesn’t mean that you can use it to craft coal blocks.

Torches

You can also use it to craft torches, which is handy if you’re in a biome where you can’t find coal easily.

To craft a torch, you need a Stick and one piece of Charcoal. Place them on your crafting table with the Charcoal above the Stick, and you’ll get four Torches. These will ensure that you are not swarmed by mobs, especially when mining further underground.

There’s nothing worse than getting swarmed by mobs on your first night, so Torches are vital to keeping you safe and having decent shelter around you. 

You can make a Soul Torch with Charcoal, as well. Make a torch as you usually would, place the Charcoal in the top middle square, and in the central square, put your Stick, and include some Soul Sand or Soul Soil in the bottom center square.

If you’re wondering what the difference is between a Soul Torch and a regular Torch, and it’s not only the color of the flame. The soul torch is blue and also dimmer than the standard torch, but you can also use it to scare away Piglins down in the Nether.

Campfire

Charcoal is the central ingredient to make a campfire. You can use a campfire for cooking food, just like your Furnace, but it can also be a light source and smoke signal.

If you travel further from your home, you have a better chance of finding your way back. It also means you can free up your Furnace to smelt Ingots and other resources.

To craft a Campfire, place the charcoal into the central square of your crafting table. Place three sticks around it in a triangle formation, and in the bottom row, place three pieces of wood. With this placement, you’ll be able to craft your campfire.

Fire Charge

You can make a Fire Charge with Charcoal or Coal, which is helpful when traveling. It can work as a substitute for Flint and Steel and can prime TNT or light Nether Portals and Campfires.

When fired from a Dispenser, you can use it as a small fireball. This way, you can keep a portable campfire with you.

To craft a Fire Charge, put your Charcoal in the central square of your Crafting Table. Put some Blaze Powder in the square above, and in the square below the Charcoal, place your Gunpowder. Then, you’ll gain some Fire Charges in your inventory.

Coal and charcoal can craft the same items, but they have different benefits. As a fuel, Coal smelts more items per stack than Charcoal. The Charcoal will make eight items per stack, while Coal will double this amount. The benefit to Charcoal being that it is completely renewable.. As long as there’s a tree and a Furnace nearby, you’ll always have access to Charcoal.

Considering the speed at which you’d like to craft and how much you want, it’s essential to consider these when deciding whether you want to use Coal or Charcoal as your primary resource. Generally speaking, you’ll use Coal as your main source all the time you can find it, resorting to Charcoal when desperate!

More Minecraft Crafting Recipe guides

• All you need to know about the Minecraft Crafting Table
• How to craft and use a Blast Furnace
• How to craft a Fermented Spider Eye
• How to make and use a Minecraft Armor Stand
• How to make a book in Minecraft
• How to craft a Shulker Box in Minecraft
• How to make and use a Fletching Table
• How to craft Minecraft Fireworks
• How to make green dye in Minecraft
• How to craft, find and use Minecraft Lanterns

And head over to our Minecraft hub for even more news, guides and how-tos!