As the name implies, crafting is the main thing in this game, or at least half of the game is about making things. Minecraft in Survival mode allows you to change the world around you. You can turn trees into wooden swords, destroy mountain sides to build railroads, and in the end build amazing forts and machines. All of this should start with learning how to create a crafting interface in the edition of Minecraft you're playing.
If you already know how to make objects in the game and just want to find some useful recipes, then try reading this basic guide to getting started with the game.
Step
Method 1 of 3: Creating Things in Computer Edition
Step 1. Open the inventory
Press the E key to see what items you have, then look for the small crafting screen. This is a 2 x 2 grid called " Crafting ", which is to the right of your character's photo.
Step 2. Drag the objects to the crafting area
Every object that can be made on the craft table has its own recipe. When you drag the right item into the crafting area, the recipe results will appear in the box on the right. Minecraft doesn't share the recipe. So you have to find it yourself.
Example: Drag a block of wood into the crafting area and leave the other 3 squares empty. The box on the right will show a picture of a wooden plank, with the number four next to it. (To get wood, move the mouse over a tree trunk and hold down the left mouse button.)
Step 3. Drag the finished item to the inventory
The item will be in your inventory, while the materials you put in the crafting area will be lost.
Example: Drag a wooden plank to inventory. The wood you used to make the boards will be lost
Step 4. Make a craft table
The crafting screen in the inventory can only be used to craft certain items. You'll need a crafting table if you want to make more Minecraft objects. Make a crafting table by placing 4 wooden planks across a crafting grid that has 2 x 2 dimensions. Drag the crafting table from the box to the right of the hotbar. (The hotbar is a row of objects at the bottom of the screen.)
- This recipe won't work if you only place 4 boards in the same box. Recipes in Minecraft take into account the types of items in each box, not the total number of items.
- Right-click on a pile of wooden planks to separate it into several piles. If you're using a Mac that doesn't have a right-click button, use Control+click or use a command with the trackpad.
Step 5. Place the crafting table
Close the inventory by pressing the E key again. Select the crafting table in the hotbar. Move the mouse over the solid block, then right-click to place the crafting table in its place.
Step 6. Open the crafting table
Open a new screen by right-clicking the crafting table. It looks similar to the crafting screen in your inventory, but has a 3 x 3 grid. You can put more items in this crafting area so you can make more recipes.
Step 7. Make a pickaxe
Minecraft is a game about how to turn objects into better tools. One of the first tools a player must make when starting the game is a wooden pickaxe. Follow these steps to create it:
- Make a wooden plank by dragging wood into one of the squares in the crafting area.
- Make a stick by placing two planks in a vertical row in the crafting area.
- Place three boards in the top row of the crafting area. Place one stick in the center square, and another stick just below it.
- This last recipe will make one wooden pickaxe. Insert the pickaxe into the hotbar and select the pickaxe. You can use it to break stone blocks.
Step 8. Find another recipe
Experiment to find homemade recipes, or look online for clues. Some basic recipes you can try to get started with the game include:
- Make a sword to use to fight against monsters.
- Make other tools that can be used to break blocks faster or to break blocks that are more difficult. Get stone axes and pickaxes as fast as you can, then mine iron ore so you can upgrade again.
- Build a cobblestone furnace to cook food and smelt iron ore to make usable metal.
- Make a torch to light up the house and prevent monsters from appearing in the house.
- Make armor of leather or iron to protect your body.
- Make a bed so you can sleep at night and set a new spawn point.
Method 2 of 3: Creating Items in Pocket Edition
Step 1. Open your inventory
Tap the button… at the bottom of the screen. By default, the "Block" tab on the left will be selected. A list of all the items you have in your inventory will be displayed.
Step 2. Tap the bookshelf icon
The bookshelf tab on the left will display the crafting interface. This will display a list of all the recipes that you can use to make something with the items in your inventory.
- If no recipe shows up, try chopping down some wood, then reopen the crafting screen.
- The number next to each recipe indicates how much you can make the item with the items currently available. If the recipe is grayed out (unclickable) and doesn't show a number, then you actually have all the ingredients, but there aren't enough of them.
Step 3. Choose a recipe to make an object
Select the object you want to make on the crafting screen. When you select it, the grid on the right will fill with the items the recipe requires. To change the object to something new, tap the button at the bottom of the grid, next to the name of the object you created.
- For example, if there is wood in your inventory, a plank recipe (a wooden cube icon) will appear on the crafting screen. Select the recipe, and you'll see a log in the grid on the right. Tap the button under "Planks" to turn the log into 4 planks.
- There are several types of wood in the game so the button will say something like "Oak Planks" or "Spruce Planks". Each type of wood has a different look, but they all use the same recipe.
Step 4. Make a craft table
The crafting screen in the inventory provides very few recipes. If you want to use more recipes, you'll need a crafting table. You must have 4 boards in your inventory to make a crafting table recipe. The craft table looks like a wooden cube that has a grid on the top.
Step 5. Place the crafting table you made
You have to put the table somewhere so you can use it. Maybe you already know how to place blocks. However, if you don't know how, follow these guidelines:
- Tap the blocks tab in your inventory to return to the screen containing your items.
- Tap the crafting table, then tap one of the hotbar slots at the bottom of the screen.
- Close inventory by tapping X.
- Tap the crafting table on the hotbar, then tap any solid, flat blocks around you to place the table.
Step 6. Use the crafting table
Tap the crafting table while standing next to it to unlock the full crafting screen. It works exactly the same as the crafting screen in your inventory, but this table provides more recipes.
Step 7. Collect items to get more recipes
The crafting screen only shows recipes that can be made from items in your inventory. If you want to get more recipes, fill your inventory with various blocks, as well as various objects dropped by animals and monsters. Some of the items you should collect first include:
- Make a plank using wood, then use the plank to make sticks.
- Combine sticks and boards to make various tools. A wooden pickaxe is one of the most useful tools because you can use it to mine stone blocks that will give you cobblestones.
- You can make stone tools using stones, boards, and sticks. Some very useful recipes to make early in the game include axes, pickaxes, and stone swords.
- Use your pickaxe to mine new blocks like coal or iron ore to get new, more useful recipes. You have to build a furnace made of cobblestone to melt ore into useful metal.
Method 3 of 3: Creating Items in Console Edition
Step 1. Open the crafting screen
You can do this by pressing the X button on Xbox, Y on Wii U, or square on Playstation. A window will appear with a row of recipe icons. Inventory is at the bottom right, and the crafting grid is at the bottom left.
- If you play the game in Creative mode, it will take you directly to the inventory window. In Creative mode, you can choose any item you want and move it to your inventory without having to create it.
- If you have Classic Crafting enabled, this screen shows only the inventory and the crafting grid. Classic Crafting uses the same crafting system as in the PC edition. This can be disabled in the settings if you prefer to play a simpler console system.
Step 2. Scroll through the tabs present at the top
The console edition separates recipes into groups, for example Structures, Tools & Weapons, and Food. To move to another group, press the right and left buttons (the R1 and L1 buttons on the PlayStation).
Step 3. Browse available recipes
Use an analog stick or d-pad to move to other recipes in the same group. (Maybe you only have one recipe at the start of the game because you don't have many ingredients yet.)
- Recipes only appear when you have the ingredients. If there's no recipe listed there, cut down a tree for wood and double-check to see if a recipe appears.
- Several related recipes will be grouped into one column. If a vertical row of recipes appears when you select a recipe, press the up or down button to browse through it.
Step 4. Make the thing you want
When you select a recipe, the grid in the lower left will show you what items are needed to make it. If you want to turn the item into something of your choosing, press the craft button. This is the A button if you're using an Xbox and Wii U, or an X if you're using a PlayStation. Items you create will appear in your inventory.
If you don't have enough material, the boxes in the grid will display a red background
Step 5. Make a craft table
Under the Structures tab, build a plank out of wood, then build a craft table using four planks. The craft table provides more recipes.
Step 6. Place the crafting table you made
Move the crafting table to the hotbar. Select the table, then place it on a solid, flat block around you by pressing the LT button on the Xbox, L2 on the PlayStation, or ZL on the Wii U.
Step 7. Open the full crafting menu
Position yourself so that the "+" sight icon is directly above the crafting table. Reopen the crafting menu. You'll see a grid with dimensions of 3 x 3 (instead of 2 x 2) on the bottom left. You can get more recipes if you use the crafting table, although you may have to collect more items before the recipes appear.
Step 8. Make some basic equipment to start the game
Here are some useful methods in Minecraft for crafting various items in Survival mode after you've created a crafting table:
- Turn wooden planks into sticks.
- In the Tools & Weapons screen, turn boards and sticks into wooden pickaxes. Pick a wooden pickaxe on the hotbar, and use it to break up rocks that can be turned into cobblestones.
- Combine cobblestones and sticks to make stone pickaxes (to mine stone and ore), axes (to chop down trees), and swords (to fight).
- If you already have iron ore, build a furnace (under Structures). Use the furnace to melt the ore into ingots. Ingots can be used to make better tools, weapons, armor, and other things.
