How to Make Charcoal in Minecraft? (And Use It?)
In Minecraft, charcoal is an item that is obtained as a by-product in the smelting of Logs or woods. It can be used as fuel in a furnace, and also in the crafting of both touches and campfires. Charcoal, unlike coal, cannot be traded with villagers nor can it be crafted into a block of charcoal, it also cannot be stacked with coal, but it is still the best substitute for coal in the game, so how exactly can a player craft and use charcoal?
To make charcoal in Minecraft, place a wooden log in the upper cell of your furnace. Fill the lower cell of the furnace with a fuel of your choice like coal, wood, etc. Wait for the process to complete. When the charcoal is ready, simply click and drag it to your inventory. You can use the coal to craft.
Surviving your first night in Minecraft is never easy, and as the night comes so do the horrors of the land, so it is important to be able to see in the dark at least for that night. It is advisable to use torches to prevent mobs from spawning in the area, but coal can sometimes be difficult to find in some biomes. But no matter where you spawn, odds are there are some trees nearby, so you can always light up your surroundings with the charcoal you get from these trees.
Charcoal is also a renewable source of fuel and it is very easy to acquire because of its source, unlike coal. It is more efficient than other fuels and it is readily available in an almost infinite quantity since tree Saplings are nearly infinite. Charcoal has so much advantage over other fuels, they can also be crafted by multiple means and serve other creative purposes so stick around to find out what they are.
Can You Make Charcoal in Minecraft?
In Minecraft, charcoal is one of the most useful basic items that a player can have in their inventory. It has a wide array of uses, and ever since its addition, charcoal has always been available to Minecraft players on all sorts of platforms. Currently, charcoal is available in Minecraft versions like the Java Edition (includes both PC and Mac), Pocket Edition(that is both IOS and Android), and it is also available on Console versions (Xbox and PlayStation).
What Do You Need to Make Charcoal in Minecraft?
If you want to make charcoal in Minecraft you’ll need to have these materials:
- a furnace,
- a fuel source,
- and at least one out of the following wood types: oak log, spruce Log, birch log, jungle log, acacia log, dark oak log, stripped oak log, stripped spruce log, stripped birch log, stripped, jungle log, stripped acacia log, stripped dark oak log, stripped oak wood, stripped spruce wood, stripped birch wood, stripped jungle wood, stripped acacia wood, stripped dark oak wood, oak wood with bark, spruce wood with bark, birch wood with bark, jungle wood with bark, acacia wood with bark, dark oak wood with bark.
Keep in mind you don’t need all the wood types mentioned here to make charcoal, you just need the one that is available to you.
When you do have the required items, all you need is to follow the steps on how to make charcoal and you’re good to go.
Charcoal Crafting Recipe
Charcoal in Minecraft is obtained as a by-product in the smelting of logs or wood in a furnace. To craft a piece of charcoal, you’ll need one furnace, one wood or log, and a fuel source of your choice like wood or coal.
How to Make Charcoal in Minecraft?
Making charcoal is pretty easy, just follow this step-by-step guide and you’ll have your first stack of charcoal in no time.
Step 1, find a tree of your choice, any tree is okay be it a regular oak tree or acacia tree. Next, chop down the tree with either your hands or an axe if you have any.
Step 2 is straightforward, make a crafting table with some of your chopped wood. Next, you craft a pickaxe and mine some cobblestones, you will need at least 8 cobblestones to make a furnace with your crafting table. Place your furnace wherever you want, open the furnace and place your wood or logs at the top section.
Step 3, use the remaining wood as a fuel source, but since both log and plank can cook 1.5 items, it is more efficient to turn all your logs into planks because 1 log can make 4 planks. Place your fuel of choice in the lower section of your furnace and wait for the logs to cook. Once the process is complete, your charcoal can now be taken out of the furnace.
For an extra incentive, breaking a campfire without a Silk Touch enchantment drops some charcoal.
How Do You Make Charcoal from Coal in Minecraft?
In the actual sense, coal cannot be converted to charcoal, however, it can be used as a fuel in the production of charcoal. All you need to do is open your furnace, put the wood or log in the upper section of the furnace, and put the coal in the fuel cell which is the lower section of the furnace. Wait for the process to finish and Voilà, you have yourself a piece of charcoal.
Both charcoal and coal also have some similarities with each other. Despite coal being a purer source of fuel, it does still share the same burn and burn-out time with charcoal. So if a piece of coal can burn for one minute, a piece of charcoal can also burn for one minute.
How to Use Charcoal in Minecraft?
In Minecraft, charcoal has a wide variety of uses, for starters, and most importantly, charcoal is a fuel source item that is obtained by smelting logs or woods. For a player to get the most useful items in the game, they have to smelt or cook, and to do this the player needs fuel.
Although coal is the most basic fuel in the game, it is still best to make use of charcoal because of its high availability and efficiency.
Charcoal is also an important component used in crafting other useful blocks and items like torches and campfires. These torches and campfires serve as an important light source for players at night time because it prevents mobs from spawning in the vicinity. Players can also make use of them while exploring mineshafts, caves, and Ravin’s to increase the visibility of the area.
When combined with Blaze powder and Gun powder, charcoal can be used to create a Fire Charge, which is basically like a match stick used as ammunition for dispensers and as a substitute for flint and steel. Charcoal-made Campfire can also be converted to a soul campfire, which serves a similar function as a regular campfire except it drives away piglins and can be used as a form of decoration.
When combined with a stick and Soul soil or Soul sand, charcoal can be used to make a soul torch which functions in the same manner as a soul campfire.
Charcoal and coal are also the only 2 items that can power up a Powered Minecart. Another important use of charcoal happens when a player uses it as a fuel source to smelt logs. Doing this unlocks the “Renewable Energy” achievement in the game.
Overall, I can say that Charcoal is a highly beneficial item in the early stages of a Minecraft world. Mostly because the recipes needed to make a piece of charcoal are easy to get in large amounts. There is also the fact that Charcoal can be used to make torches which are also used in exploring the rest of the world easily, and charcoal also burns for the same amount of time that a regular coal would.
Although it does have the same similarities with coal when it is being used as fuel. So if you want to smelt 8 items in a furnace, make sure that all 8 items are in the furnace or you might end up producing only 7 finished items.
Difference Between Coal and Charcoal in Minecraft?
Minecraft has a lot of recipes that both coal and charcoal can substitute themselves for, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have certain differences. One of such differences comes in some interactions like villager trading, here many villagers only accept coal as a means of trade and they do not accept charcoal. Unlike coal, charcoal cannot be turned into a block, so saving space with charcoal is not as efficient, but it does still have the same fuel efficiency as coal.
Is It Worth Making Charcoal in Minecraft?
Charcoal is a highly beneficial item for players who don’t stay in a single base for a long time. Charcoal also burns at a far longer time compared to other fuels like wood and planks. Technically, 8 pieces of charcoal are equivalent to 20 pieces of wood.
