Crafting

For those of you who don’t know what Minecraft crafting is, it is the way in which tools, weapons and other items are made from raw resources such as wooden planks, iron, coal and stone. The earlier versions of Minecraft do not include the ability to craft items so make sure you are playing one of these versions of the game: Indev, Infdev or Alpha.

To craft an item, resources must be placed into a crafting grid from your inventory in a specific pattern to create a particular item. Some patterns are small and can be crafted on the 2×2 grid found in your inventory screen, but larger ones require a 3×3 grid. To access this larger grid, first build a crafting table which can then be used by right clicking on it once it has been placed on the ground. It is important to note that it does not matter where on the grid the resources are placed, as long as the correct pattern for the item is used. This means that every 2×2 recipe can also be implemented using a crafting table’s 3×3 grid. The crafting pattern can also be flipped horizontally. For example, you can craft a fishing pole with the string on the left side of the 3×3 grid.

2×2 Crafting Grid – Inventory Screen	3×3 Crafting Grid – Use a Crafting Table

The simplest way to understand the Minecraft crafting process and remember the crafting recipes (and not have to visit this list as often) is to visualize what item you are trying to craft. Take the pickaxe for example:

The pickaxe is created by placing two sticks down the middle of the 3×3 grid (see above). Visualize this as two small sticks being put together to form a long handle for the pickaxe. Three of the same resource (wooden planks, stone, iron, gold or diamond) are then placed across the top three boxes in the grid. Picture this as being the blade of the pickaxe that is attached to the top of the handle. You’re done! Many of the items you craft in Minecraft can be visualized this way, so try not to over think things.

Minecraft Crafting – Item Durability

Armor, some tools and swords can all be crafted using several different resources. These items will last longer and work faster/better if they are made from a harder resource. A small damage bar below each item displays how much longer a tool will last before it breaks and disappears.

The general equation for calculating the number of uses a tool or sword is good for is 2⁽ⁿ⁺⁵⁾ + 1. The “n” in the equation is the strength of the material. A use is counted if you completely break apart a block or hit an enemy. If you stop while you are still working on the block and do not finish breaking it, a use is not counted against your tool. If you use a tool (or sword) for a task other than what it is meant for such as using a shovel to break apart rock, this counts as two uses.

The amount of damage a piece of armor protects you from depends on the percentage of remaining uses it has and its number of base armor points. The number of base armor points that each piece of armor provides can be found in the Armor Recipes section. The protective ability of the armor will decrease as the number of times it has been used increases.

Example: After 30 uses (of minimal damage), a leather helmet will have 38.8% of its uses remaining (10 out of 49) and therefore 39% of a helmet’s maximum damage protection. A diamond helmet would have 92.2% of its uses left (355 out of 385) after 30 uses and would still have 92.2% of a helmet’s maximum damage protection remaining.

Summary

• Each block you break using the proper tool is 1 use. (Use axes for wood, shovels for dirt and pickaxes for stone-type blocks).
• Each block you break using the wrong tool is 2 uses.
• Each time you hit a mob with your sword is 1 use.
• Each time you hit a mob with a tool counts as 2 uses.
• Each time a piece of armor is used to protect against any amount of damage is 1 use. If you are wearing multiple pieces of armor, 1 use will be counted against each piece you are wearing. Wearing multiple pieces will absorb more damage.
• Each piece of armor provides a different amount of protection or “armor points”. The stronger the type of armor (leather, gold, iron, etc.), the better it is at retaining it’s ability to absorb damage as the number of uses increases.
• When the damage bar under a tool icon is completely empty, it will break after the next use.

Tool and Sword Durability

This is how many blocks a tool can break or hits a sword can deal when they are used properly.

Wood – 33 uses (n = 0)

Gold – 33 uses (n = 0)

Stone – 65 uses (n = 1)

Iron – 129 uses (n = 2)

Diamond – 1025 uses (n = 5)

Armor Durability

These values are how many half-hearts of damage a type of armor can sustain before breaking.

	Leather	Chainmail	Gold	Iron	Diamond
Helmet	34	67	67	133	265
Chestplate	49	97	97	193	385
Leggings	46	91	91	181	361
Boots	40	79	79	157	313

Simple Recipes

Name	Ingredients	Input >> Output
Wooden Planks	Wood (regular, birch or pine)	Can be used as a building material, but is usually used for a wide variety of crafting recipes.
Sticks	2 Wooden Planks	Used as handles for tools and weapons as well as for ladders, signs, torches and fences.
Torches	Stick and Coal or Charcoal	Torches create light. They also have the ability to melt ice and snow.
Crafting Table	4 Wooden Planks	When placed on the ground, it provides use of the 3×3 crafting grid.
Furnace	Cobblestone	Provides the ability to smelt.
Chest	8 Wooden Planks	Similar to your inventory. Holds 27 stacks of items or blocks.

Block Recipes

Name	Ingredients	Input >> Output
Ore Blocks	Gold Ingots, Iron Ingots, Diamonds and Lapis Lazuli Dye	Turn ingots or diamonds into a placeable block. Can be used for storage or to show off.
Glowstone Block	Glowstone Dust	Glowstone acts as a torch, and will melt snow and ice within 3 blocks of it. Breaking a brimstone block will only give 1 Glowstone Dust back.
TNT Block	5 Sulphur and 4 Sand	Causes an explosion and breaks apart blocks near it.
Cloth Block	String	Cloth blocks can also be acquired from sheep. Used as a building block.
Clay Block	Clay	Used as a building block.
Brick Block	Clay Bricks	Used as a realistic looking building material.
Snow Block	Snowballs	Used as a building material or snowball storage.
Bookshelf	6 Wooden Planks and 3 Books	Used as decoration.
Sandstone	4 Sand	Used as a building block.
Slabs	3 Cobblestone or 3 Stone or 3 Sandstone or 3 Wooden Planks	Each step is half the size of a regular block. Used to create long staircases quickly. Two slabs can be place on top of each other to make a full sized block.
Stairs	6 Wooden Planks or Cobblestone	Stairs take up less space than steps.
Jack-O-Lantern	Pumpkin and Torch	Acts as a torch, but emits more light. Can stay lit underwater.

Tool Recipes

Name	Ingredients	Input >> Output
Pickaxes	Sticks and Wooden Planks or Cobblestone or Iron Ingots or Gold Ingots or Diamond Gems.	Makes mining stone-type blocks faster.
Shovels	Sticks and Wooden Planks or Cobblestone or Iron Ingots or Gold Ingots or Diamond Gems.	Makes digging dirt, snow, gravel, sand and grass faster.
Hoes	Sticks and Wooden Planks or Cobblestone or Iron Ingots or Gold Ingots or Diamond Gems.	Used on grass and dirt to acquire seeds or prepare for farming crops.
Axes	Sticks and Wooden Planks or Cobblestone or Iron Ingots or Gold Ingots or Diamond Gems	Makes chopping wood-type blocks faster.
Bucket	3 Iron Ingots	Can hold lava, water or milk.
Flint and Steel	1 Iron Ingot and 1 Steel	Used to set fire to things.
Fishing Rod	3 Sticks and 2 String	Used to catch fish.
Compass	4 Iron Ingots and 1 Redstone Dust	Always points to your spawn point.
Watch	4 Gold Ingots and 1 Redstone Dust	Tells the time of day.

Weapon Recipes

Name	Ingredients	Input >> Output
Swords	Stick and 2 of either Wooden Planks or Cobblestone or Iron or Gold or Diamonds	Kills mobs faster than using your hands.
Bow	3 Sticks and 3 String	Allows for distance attacks using arrows.
Arrows	Flint and Feather and Stick	Shot at mobs using a bow.

Armor Recipes

Name	Ingredients	Input >> Output
Helmets	5 of either Leather or Gold or Iron or Diamond or Fire*	Helmets provide 1.5 base armor points.
Chestplates	8 of either Leather or Gold or Iron or Diamond or Fire*	Chestplates provide 4 base armor points.
Leggings	7 of either Leather or Gold or Iron or Diamond or Fire*	Leggings provide 3 base armor points.
Boots	4 of either Leather or Gold or Iron or Diamond or Fire*	Boots provide 1.5 base armor points.

Transportation Recipes

Name	Ingredients	Input >> Output
Rails	Stick and 6 Iron Ingots	Used to provide a route for minecarts.
Powered Rails	Stick and 6 Gold Ingots and Redstone Dust	Used to speed up or slow down Minecarts.
Detector Rails	Stone Pressure Plate and 6 Iron Ingots and Redstone Dust	Works like a pressure plate but can only be activated by a Minecart.
Minecart	Iron Ingots	Used for transporting players or mobs along minetracks.
Powered Minecart	Furnace and Minecart	Pushes other minecarts along tracks. Powered by fuel.
Storage Minecart	Chest and Minecart	Used to transport resources on minetracks.
Boat	5 Wooden Planks	Enables you to travel in water faster than swimming.

Mechanism Recipes

Name	Ingredients	Input >> Output
Redstone Torch	Redstone Dust and Stick	Sends a constant electric signal. Also emits small amount of light.
Lever	Cobblestone and Stick	Sends an electrical signal when in the “on” position. Stays in its current state unless it is clicked.
Pressure Plates	2 Stone or 2 Wooden Planks	Sends an electrical charge when a player or mob walks on it. Wooden Pressure Plates are also be activated when something is dropped on them.
Doors	6 Wooden Planks or 6 Iron Ingots	Wooden Doors can be activated by right-clicking on them or by sending them an electrical signal. Iron Doors can only be activated by an electrical signal.
Stone Button	Stone	Sends an electrical signal when pressed. Charge lasts for approximately one second.
Jukebox	8 Wooden Planks and 1 Diamond	Plays records.
Note Block	8 Wooden Planks and 1 Redstone Dust	Plays a note when used. Right click it to change the pitch of the note. A different instrument is played depending on the type of block it is placed on.
Dispenser	7 Cobblestone and Bow and Redstone Dust	Dispensers can store 9 stacks of items or blocks in a 3×3 grid. When powered by Redstone Dust, it ejects the items in random order. Snowballs, eggs and arrows are fired out as projectiles.
Redstone Repeater	3 Stone and Redstone Dust and 2 Redstone Torches	Used in redstone circuits as a diode, a repeater or a delayer.

Food Recipes

Name	Ingredients	Input >> Output
Bread	3 Wheat	Heals 2.5 hearts.
Mushroom Stew	Red Mushroom and Brown Mushroom and Bowl	Heals 5 hearts. The brown and red mushrooms can be switched when crafting.
Bowls	3 Wooden Planks	Holds mushroom stew. Bowls can be reused.
Golden Apple	8 Gold Blocks and Apple	Heals all 10 hearts.
Sugar	Sugar Cane	Used to make cake.
Cake	3 Milk, 2 Sugar, 3 Wheat and an Egg	Heals 1.5 hearts and can be used 6 times.

Miscellaneous Recipes

Name	Ingredients	Input >> Output
Paper	3 Reeds	Used to craft books.
Fences	6 Sticks	Used as a barrier that players and mobs cannot jump over.
Ladder	7 Sticks	Used to climb straight up.
Book	3 Paper	Used to craft a bookshelf.
Sign	6 Wooden Planks and Stick	Displays four lines of editable text entered by the player.
Ore	Iron, Diamond, Gold or Lapis Lazuli Blocks	Separates a block into individual gems/ingots.
Painting	Sticks and Cloth	Used for decorative purposes.
Bed	3 Wool and 3 Wooden Planks	Used to fast forward time from night to day if all the players in the world are in bed at the same time. Can only be used at night and any color of wool can be used.

Dye Recipes

Name	Ingredients	Input >> Output
Rose Red Dye	Rose	Used to dye wool red.
Orange Dye	Rose Red Dye and Dandelion Yellow Dye	Used to dye wool orange.
Dandelion Yellow Dye	Dandelion	Used to dye wool yellow.
Lime Dye	Cactus Green and Bonemeal	Used to dye wool green.
Light Blue Dye	Lapis Lazuli and Bonemeal	Used to dye wool light blue.
Cyan Dye	Lapis Lazuli and Cactus Green	Used to dye wool cyan.
Pink Dye	Rose Red and Bonemeal	Used to dye wool pink.
Magenta Dye	Purple Dye and Pink Dye	Used to dye wool magenta.
Purple Dye	Rose Red and Lapis Lazuli	Used to dye wool purple.
Light Gray Dye	Ink Sack and 2 Bone Meal	Used to dye wool light gray. Can be made using an ink sac and two bonemeal or gray dye and bonemeal. Combining gray dye with bonemeal is better because you make 4 light gray dye from every ink sac (instead of 3).
Gray Dye	Ink Sack and Bone Meal	Used to dye wool Gray.
Bone Meal (White Dye)	Bone	Used to dye wool white. (original colour) Can also be used as fertilizer to grow crops instantly.

Wool Recipes

Name	Ingredients	Input >> Output
Red Wool	Wool and Rose Red	Used as decoration.
Green Wool	Wool and Cactus Green	Used as decoration.
Brown Wool	Wool and Cocoa Bean	Used as decoration.
Orange Wool	Wool and Orange Dye	Used as decoration.
Yellow Wool	Wool and Dandelion Yellow	Used as decoration.
Light Blue Wool	Wool and Light Blue Dye	Used as decoration.
Cyan Wool	Wool and Cyan Dye	Used as decoration.
Blue Wool	Wool and Lapis Lazuli	Used as decoration.
Pink Wool	Wool and Pink Dye	Used as decoration.
Magenta Wool	Wool and Magenta Wool	Used as decoration.
Purple Wool	Wool and Purple Dye	Used as decoration.
Light Gray Wool	Wool and Light Gray Dye	Used as decoration.
Grey Wool	Wool and Grey Dye	Used as decoration.
Black Wool	Wool and Ink Sack	Used as decoration.

Source: http://www.minecraftcrafting.org/