Crafting - N-R

Note Block

Note Blocks make a brief noise when something powers them. Interact with the blocks to change the pitch of their noise and customize how they sound. If arranged carefully, this allows people to make music with them.

The instrument played by a Note Block is actually determined by the type of block underneath it. Wooden blocks produce a bass guitar noise. Sand and Gravel yield a snare drum sound. Stones are for a bass drum. Dirt does a synth piano.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Wood Plank (8), Redstone		Note Block

Orange Dye

Orange Dye stains Leather armor, Sheep, Wool, Glass, and other items a simple orange color.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Orange Tulip		Orange Dye
Rose Red, Dandelion Yellow		Orange Dye (2)

Painting

Paintings can improve the look of your home. Place them on walls to make your base impressive. Sometimes people put secret passages behind Paintings because you’re allowed to walk through them as long as a solid block isn’t on the other side. Experienced players are used to this and often search behind Paintings; this is why you might want to put a pit trap behind a Painting, in case someone runs straight through your Painting.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Stick (8), Wool		Painting

Paper

Paper is made into Books, Maps, and Fireworks. It’s made from Sugar Cane, which you can grow in large quantities as long as you have plenty of Water in the area. Turn Paper into Books once you have enough Leather, and use Books to make an Enchantment Table and tons of Bookshelves. That’s the route to better enchanting and superior equipment.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Sugar Cane (3)		Paper (3)

Pillar Quartz Block

Use two Quartz Blocks to make Pillar Quartz Blocks; they’re striated in such a way that they look a bit like marble pillars. If you’re making arches or other pieces of architectural flair, Pillar Quartz Blocks are perfect for the task.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Block of Quartz (2)		Pillar Quartz Block (2)

Pink Dye

Use Pink Dye to give a gentler appeal to Leather armor, Wool, Sheep, Stained Glass, and other items.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Pink Tulip		Pink Dye
Peony		Pink Dye (2)
Rose Red, Bone Meal		Pink Dye (2)

Piston

Pistons that receive power push blocks one space in a single direction. They can move an entire line of blocks up to 12 deep. When Pistons retract, they leave empty air behind. This resets their action, making it possible to push additional blocks forward if something new moves in front of them.

Pistons are often placed in areas when Cobblestone forms (from a Cobblestone Generator) or in spots where enemies get trapped. For the enemy scenario, use Pistons to shove blocks toward the enemies’ heads. This begins the suffocation process.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Wood Plank (3), Cobblestone (4), Redstone, Iron Ingot		Piston

Powered Rail

Regular Rails keep your Minecarts moving quickly only if they lead down a slope. Otherwise, you lose speed over time, especially if you try to ascend an upward slope. Powered Rails are a way to combat this problem. Place a Powered Rail every 32 blocks once a Minecart is up to speed, and use a trio of Powered Rails to start your journey from either end. Add Powered Rails more frequently during steep upward sections of rail.

To provide power, use a Redstone Torch next to the Powered Rails. This provides constant energy to them.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Gold Ingot (6), Stick, Redstone		Powered Railway (6)

Pressure Plate

Put Pressure Plates on the ground when you need to trigger a mechanism based on a monster or person’s position. Use them in front of internal Doors to let people run outside without having to stop and open the Door. In more dangerous areas, use Pressure Plates to trigger traps.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Stone (2) or Wood Plank (2)		Pressure Plate

Purple Dye

Purple Dye stains Leather armor, Sheep, Wool, Stained Glass, and so forth a pretty purple color.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Lapis Lazuli, Rose Red		Purple Dye (2)

Rail

Rails create a path for Minecarts. You have to make these yourself most of the time, but you can find them naturally in abandoned mineshafts in the Overworld. Once you lay a line of Rails between two points, Minecarts with Furnaces can ride between them without much trouble.

Add Powered Rails to a system, give them power, and you won’t have to rely on Minecarts with Furnaces or their fuel. Powered Rails accelerate Minecarts as long as they’re supplied with power, as from a Redstone Torch.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Iron Ingot (6), Stick		Rail (16)

Redstone Comparator

Redstone Dust carries power from a source, such as a Lever or Pressure Plate, to a machine that needs that power to operate. Redstone Comparators are more complex. They take power from the rear of the unit and transmit it to the front of the unit. Any power that comes in from the sides of the Comparator is used to either stop the back-to-front power entirely or to diminish it.

Use a Redstone Comparator in comparison mode to stop power if the side input is higher than the rear input. Otherwise, comparison mode does not affect power that comes out of the unit.

Use a Redstone Comparator in subtraction mode to reduce power output by the level of power coming in from the sides of the unit.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Redstone Torch (3), Nether Quartz, Stone (3)		Redstone Comparator

Redstone Lamp

Redstone Lamps require power to operate, but they produce light that is stronger than a Torch. They’ll function all day and night, provided power isn’t interrupted. Fiddle with Daylight Sensors if you’d like to have lamps that turn on only at night.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Redstone (4), Glowstone		Redstone Lamp

Redstone Repeater

Redstone Repeaters let you transmit Redstone power across greater distances. They take the signal coming into the rear of their unit and spit it out the front with greater strength. This causes a brief delay in signal propagation, which is sometimes useful for making complex machine timings, as with Note Blocks and timed music.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Redstone Torch (2), Redstone, Stone (3)		Redstone Repeater

Redstone Torch

Redstone Torches don’t yield much light, so they’re great for vision only if you put them in an intentionally shady area, like a Mushroom garden. Otherwise, they’re good for providing power. A Redstone Torch next to any machine gives that device continuous power. This is useful when you want to ensure that something is always functioning.

In other cases, you might want to invert a signal, and that’s where Redstone Torches get exciting. If you supply external power to a Redstone Torch, it turns off! This is known as an inverter, because it turns off with power instead of turning on.

Complex machines are possible thanks to interactions like this. You can have a device that gets power only under certain circumstances. The classic example is a Daylight Sensor that spits out power during the day. Draw a line of Redstone Dust from the Sensor over to a block with a Redstone Torch and a Redstone Lamp on the other side of it. The Redstone Dust carries power to the Redstone Torch during the day, and that disables the power. When the light level falls, the signal does as well, and the Redstone Torch resumes its normal function. This turns the Redstone Lamp back on.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Redstone, Stick		Redstone Torch

Rose Red

Rose Red turns Leather armor, Sheep, Wool, Stained Glass, and other items a deep red color.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Poppy or Red Tulip (or Beetroot in the Pocket Edition)		Rose Red
Rose Bush (or Rose on Consoles)		Rose Red (2)