Sometimes, venturing to fight monsters in the middle of the night is a fun and exciting way to play Minecraft. At other times, especially at the beginning of a new playthrough, it’s challenging and stressful to avoid getting attacked by zombies or blown up by creepers. Thankfully, creating and sleeping in a bed helps you avoid this entirely. This guide will teach you how to make and use a bed in Minecraft Java and Bedrock Editions.

How to Make a Bed in Minecraft Java and Bedrock

To make a bed in Minecraft, you’ll need three blocks of wool and wooden planks. It does not matter what type of wool or wooden planks you use. You also need a crafting table since the 2×2 inventory crafting space is not enough to fit all six blocks. To craft your bed, place three wooden planks in a line at the bottom of the 3×3 crafting grid, with your three wool blocks above them. The picture above shows this in more detail.

While you can mix and match the planks you use, you can’t mix the wool colors. This means that while you can use multiple plank types to craft your bed, you must have three of the same wool color. Despite this limit, you can use any wool to craft your bed. Not only is any wool color usable in the crafting recipe, but the wool you use will determine what bed you make. For example, red wool will result in a red bed, while blue wool creates a blue bed. The picture above also shows this difference.

In Minecraft Java and Bedrock Editions, beds are mainly used to create a new spawn point. If you make or find a base far away from your original spawn, placing down a bed and sleeping will reset your spawn spot. By doing this, you’ll respawn closer to your base so that you don’t have to run back after dying.

You can also use beds to skip Minecraft’s night cycle. Since hostile monsters start spawning at night, sleeping through it will help prevent them from appearing. You’ll instead wake up during the day, where you can continue your Minecraft adventures without worrying about monsters. If any monsters spawned the night before you slept, they’ll either burn in the sunlight or hide in the shadows of trees and caves.

Minecraft is available on PC, Android, iOS, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation platforms.