Crafting is the process of constructing tools, items, and blocks in Minecraft. Players can craft by moving items from their inventory to a crafting grid, arranging them according to a recipe. A 2×2 crafting grid can be accessed from the player's inventory and a 3×3 grid can be accessed by using a crafting table. Items crafted in the 2×2 grid can also be crafted in the crafting table.
Players in Creative, Survival, Adventure, or Spectator will have access to the 2×2 crafting grid from their inventory screen. Small crafting recipes that are at most 2×2 can be made there. These include wooden planks, sticks, crafting tables, torches, and some shapeless recipes. To craft items using a 3×3 grid, create a crafting table with 4 wooden planks, place it in the world, and press use while facing it. This brings up an interface with a 3×3 crafting grid, which the player can use to craft any crafting recipe in the game. There is also a Recipe book where you can access all the crafting recipes.
Some recipes do not require their ingredients to be arranged in a specific way on the crafting grid. These are commonly known as shapeless recipes. For example, players can craft a fermented spider eye by placing its ingredients anywhere within the grid.
On the other hand, many recipes must have their ingredients placed in the correct relative positions on the crafting grid. These are commonly known as shaped recipes. Ingredients in shaped recipes can be ‘moved’ up, down, left, or right. They can also be flipped side-ways. For example, a 3×1 recipe, such as bread, can be made using the top, middle, or bottom row of the 3×3 grid, and a bow may be made with the strings placed on the left instead of on the right.
There are recipes that may not be moved or mirrored in this way. These are commonly known as fixed recipes. For example, dyes in banner recipes must be specifically placed to achieve the desired pattern. [ Bedrock Edition only ] Fixed recipes can be added by data packs or mods.
Unlike other in-game actions such as smelting, brewing, and enchanting, crafting is completely silent.
The recipe book is a mechanic in Minecraft that serves as a catalog of recipes and as a crafting guide. It shows every crafting recipe that the player has had materials for.
Crafting recipes are organized in several different categories. The categories differ between Java and Bedrock. On Bedrock, categories consist of craftable items from each Creative inventory tab. On Java, the categories are as follows:
Recipes, including crafting recipes, can be configured by data packs in Java Edition or add-ons in Bedrock Edition. There are currently 379 crafting recipes as of 1.16.
To save space, some recipes are animated (requires JavaScript). On this wiki, shapeless recipes are marked with a pair of intertwined arrows on the crafting table graphic, while fixed crafting recipes are marked by an exclamation point. These symbols do not appear in the game.