Charcoal has many uses in Minecraft. You can use it as a replacement for coal to make campfires, fire charges and torches. It is also used as a fuel source, much like coal. However, it does not have its own ore block like coal, so you cannot find it in caves. While charcoal acts as a substitute for coal, the method of obtaining it is very different. By the end of this guide, you will learn how to make charcoal in Minecraft.
How to Make Charcoal in Minecraft
You can obtain charcoal by smelting either logs or wood in a furnace. It does not matter what type of wood you use as long as it is still in log form. You cannot make charcoal by burning wooden planks in a furnace. However, you can use planks as a fuel source to burn your logs. On PS4, if you use charcoal to burn wood logs, you will receive an achievement, earning you a bronze trophy.
If you have trouble finding trees or other sources of wood logs in your world, you can also break naturally generated campfires. If you do not use silk touch, a campfire will drop charcoal when you break it. Campfires naturally spawn in snowy villages in both Java and Bedrock versions of Minecraft. You can also buy a campfire from fisherman villagers in both editions in exchange for emeralds that you can break to obtain charcoal.
While you can use charcoal as a replacement for coal in crafting recipes, you can’t use it to make a block of coal. You also can’t trade it with villagers. If you want to make coal blocks as decoration for your world or as a stronger fuel source, you will need to gather coal from caves or chests.
Minecraft is available on PC, Android, iOS, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation platforms.
