During the day, the world of Minecraft is bright, warm and welcoming. But the same world can get overwhelming and scary at night, especially for new players. Luckily, if you know how to find coal in Minecraft, you can turn the tide in your favor. It’s the ultimate fuel source for crafting a variety of light sources and even acts as material for your tools. With that, let’s dive in and explore coal in Minecraft!
How to Get Coal in Minecraft (2022)
Coal is one of the many Minecraft ores that appear in the overworld. It’s the most common fuel in the game. We’ll cover its uses, crafting, and mechanics in separate sections, so let’s dive into it.
Where does coal spawn in Minecraft
Most often, players will find coal in caves in the Minecraft world. By developing this, you can get coal using these three ways – from chest loot, by killing mobs, and finally by mining coal ore. Let’s look at each of these methods in detail below:
Chest loot in certain places
Coal can be obtained directly as an item if you encounter in-game chests in certain locations. These chests spawn in the following locations:
- Dungeons
- mine shafts
- Igloo
- Shipwrecks
- Strongholds
- ancient city
- Woodland Mansion
- underwater ruins
- Town
Among these, the igloos and underwater ruins have the highest chance of having a chest full of coal. However, when considering quantity, Chests in Ancient Towns in Minecraft can spawn with up to 15 pieces of Coal at a time. Other spots only offer a maximum of 8 coal.
Get coal by killing Hostile Freak
If exploration isn’t your forte, you can kill mobs to get coal. Unfortunately, you can only get Coal by killing the Skeleton Wither mob. They appear in the Nether dimension and are very dangerous. Unless you plan on building a loot farm with them, it’s best to avoid them. Instead, it’s best to stick with the traditional way of finding coal in Minecraft, which is mining.
Mine coal ore (easiest way)
The most common and reliable way to get coal in Minecraft is mining. It reproduces as the coal ore in mountains and caves of the overworld. You can mine ore directly with any pickaxe to have it drop coal as an item. Based on ore generation, coal generates twice in the overworld.
In mountainous areas, coal ore drops form between the global height of Y=136 and Y=320. Meanwhile, at ground level, the second set of coal blocks generate between the world height of Y=0 to Y=190.
The second set of coal blocks are usually hidden under other blocks and not directly exposed to the air. Additionally, Minecraft biomes do not affect its spawn rate, and you can find the largest amount of coal ores at the height of Y=95.
How to Make Coal in Minecraft
Because coal can be obtained naturally in Minecraft, crafting is usually not in the picture. But if you somehow come across a coal block, you can place it on a crafting table to make 9 pieces of coal. Similarly, if you get a coal ore block with a silk pickaxe, you can smelt it using a furnace to get coal.
However, unless you are playing on a custom Minecraft map or one of the best survival servers, such a situation is hard to imagine in everyday Minecraft gameplay with friends. Also, since smelting coal ore produces only one lump of coal, it’s practically a waste of fuel.
How to Use Coal in Minecraft
Now, the next obvious question that many players ask is: how do I use the coal I find in Minecraft? Well, here are the different ways to use the coal block in the game:
- Fuel: Coal can be used to fuel a Furnace and Blast Furnace in Minecraft to smelt different items.
- Trade: Minecraft villagers with jobs as a fisherman, gunsmith, blacksmith, weaponsmith, or butcher can sometimes offer emeralds in exchange for coal.
- Manufacturing: Coal is a common crafting ingredient that you can use to craft a variety of useful items. Read more about them in the next section.
How to Make a Torch in Minecraft
The most common and important task that players perform at the start of Minecraft survival mode is crafting a torch. If you want to do it too, follow the recipe for crafting the torch for Minecraft below:
In the DIY area, place coal in a block, then place a stick in the block below to make a torch. You can use this recipe with a crafting table and even with the crafting area in your inventory. Also, if you have a piece of soul earth block, you can place it under the staff to craft a soul fire torch. The Soul Fire torch emits blue fire and will look cool in your Minecraft house builds.
Crafting Other Items With Minecraft Coal
Besides a torch, you can also use coal in the following crafting recipes:
- Campfire : Combined with pieces of sticks and blocks of logs, you can use coal to make a campfire, which is used for cooking food and as a light source.
- Coal block: You can place 9 pieces of coal together in the crafting area to form a coal block, which acts as fuel and an alternative option for storing coal.
- Fire Charge: You can also combine charcoal with blaze powder and gunpowder to create a fire charge, which can be used to ignite fire and nether portals in Minecraft.
Find coal and explore its uses in Minecraft
Now, whether you want to create a bunch of light sources for your Minecraft house or a collection of efficient fuel sources, Coal in Minecraft is perfect for you. Our guide will help you get the most out of finding and using coal in the game. Once you have enough coal, you can go on to find other important ores in the dark caves and mark your way using torches. We already have a guide to help you find diamonds in Minecraft, giving you a head start. That said, how are you going to use coal in Minecraft? Tell us in the comments below!