Crafting - S-Z

Sandstone

Sandstone forms beneath sandy areas. Use a Shovel to dig through the upper sandy layers and search for the harder Sandstone below. This material is quick to harvest with a Pickaxe, and it looks very nice. For color differentiation, use red sand to create the same types of blocks but in a much deeper color.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Sand (4)		Sandstone
Sandstone (4)		Smooth Sandstone (4)

Sea Lantern

You rarely find Sea Lanterns when exploring the deep oceans of the Overworld. Limited only to ocean temples, these items are only seen on extremely rare occasions. They’ll be destroyed if you try to mine them normally; only use items with Silk Touch if you’re trying to harvest your own Sea Lanterns.

Lacking that enchantment, you can get enough Prismarine Crystals by breaking a couple of Sea Lanterns to craft one of your own. Though inefficient, this is still effective enough if you can’t otherwise get these nifty underwater lamps for yourself.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Prismarine Crystal (5), Prismarine Shard (4)		Sea Lantern

Sign

Signs are normally used to alert or remind players about areas that they’re moving through. “This Chest has food.” “This Chest has metal.” “Lava ahead!” You can write several lines on each Sign, conveying a fair amount of information. Use arrows in the text to indicate directions.

<--- Home

Village --->

Your characters can walk through Signs without any problems, but Lava and Water won’t flow through them. Use this trick to create air pockets underwater.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Wood Plank (6), Stick		Sign (3)

Slab

Slabs of material create half blocks that can be placed on an area’s ground or ceiling. Though you don’t have to jump to get onto Slabs, they still restrict movement if there isn’t enough room overhead, so it’s almost like you’re walking on top of a full block even if it doesn’t look that way.

You can place Redstone Dust trails underneath Slabs, allowing you to obscure your traps and machinery in subtle ways. Lay your power lines, test them, and then bury as much of their length as possible under a single layer of Slabs so it looks like nothing is there.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Three blocks of the following items: Stone, Sandstone, Cobblestone, Bricks, Wood Planks, Nether Brick, Quartz, Granite, Diorite, Andesite, or Polished Stones		Slab (6)

Snow

Use groups of Snowballs to craft entire blocks of Snow. Place these in and around your home to add a wintery appeal. Because Snow is packed nice and tight, it won’t melt—even in the sun, and regardless of biome.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Snowball (4)		Snow

Snowball

Break Snow blocks or ground cover to gather Snowballs. These items are crafted into Snow Blocks or can be equipped and thrown at targets for fun. They don’t hurt most targets, but Blazes and the Ender Dragon are an exception to this; both of them are vulnerable to Snowball attacks.

Stained Clay

Go to a Crafting Table with eight blocks of Hardened Clay, which is made by cooking regular Clay Blocks in a Furnace. Craft Stained Clay by adding any dye you like to this batch of Hardened Clay. The result can be any color in the game, determined by the dye used.

Decorate your house any way you like with this method of coloring.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Hardened Clay (8), any dye		Stained Clay (8)

Stained Glass

Combine eight normal blocks of Glass with any dye to produce blocks of Stained Glass. Make a chapel, get some privacy, or just set up neat windows for fun.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Glass (8), any dye		Stained Glass (8)

Stained Glass Panes

Stain your Glass any color, and then craft the results into Glass Panes. They retain their color. Now you have even more decorating options.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Stained Glass (6)		Stained Glass Panes (16)

Stairs

You can craft Stairs out of a variety of materials. Create a crude set of blocks going up one block and then over one block. Repeat this until you have a series of “steps” allowing characters to jump until they reach the top. Then descend these natural steps and place your Stairs on the lower side of each block. If you try to place the Stairs too high, they come in upside-down and aren’t useful for climbing.

A real set of Stairs reduces jumping and saves a huge amount of energy when climbing a long flight. Jumping burns through your hunger meter, so this is a worthwhile endeavor. Stairs look nice, too, so there’s an aesthetic consideration as well.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Any six blocks of the following: Wood Planks, Cobblestone, Bricks, Stone Bricks, Nether Bricks, Sandstone, or Quartz		Stairs (4)

Stick

Divide Wood Planks into Sticks for a wide range of crafting options. Sticks are required for Swords, almost all tools, Rails, Fences, Gates, Signs, Ladders, Item Frames, and more. They’re invaluable. Unless your inventory is filling up very quickly, having Sticks on hand is a nice timesaver for replacing broken tools or making new Torches without taking extra steps.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Wood Plank (2)		Stick (4)

Sticky Piston

Sticky Pistons have the same general function as Pistons in that they push blocks one space forward. However, Sticky Pistons pull back the block to which they’re attached. They’re fun for making doors out of solid blocks. Trigger a Sticky Piston, let it open the makeshift door, and then cut the power to put the wall back in place. How cool is that for a secret lair?

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Piston, Slimeball		Sticky Piston

TNT

Craft blocks of TNT to use in traps, mining, or simply to have fun. The ingredients are easy to come by when hunting Creepers. Carry TNT to a room you want to demolish, and place the block of explosives in the middle. Ignite TNT with a power source or something that creates fire (e.g., Flint and Steel), but make sure you don’t stand nearby for the blast. TNT delivers a huge amount of damage.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Gunpowder (5), Sand (4)		TNT

Torch

Get a supply of Coal and Wood, and you can make Torches by the bundle. They’re great for lighting your house, keeping your property clear of monster spawns, and for lighting tunnels while mining and exploring. Put Torches on the walls or the ground to create light. They aren’t the strongest light source in the game, but they’re close—and they’re inexpensive.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Stick, Coal/Charcoal		Torch (4)

Trapdoor

Use Trapdoors to conceal pits and prevent creatures from falling into them. Trapdoors open manually but can also be opened or closed with Redstone power. Use trails of Redstone Dust to activate Trapdoors from safety to drop monsters into deadly pits. You can craft Trapdoors with either Wood or Iron Ingots, depending on the visual look of the item you’re interested in making.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Wood Plank or Iron Ingot (6)		Trapdoor (2) or Iron Trapdoor (1)

Trapped Chest

Trapped Chests produce Redstone power when they’re opened. They have a red tinge around their lock, so careful players spot them before they open the chests. Signals from Trapped Chests are used to activate TNT, pits, and other defenses.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Chest, Tripwire Hook		Trapped Chest

Tripwire Hook

Place two Tripwire Hooks across from each other in a passage; use a piece of String to connect them. This arms your trap, producing a pulse of energy if anything walks over the String or cuts it without using Shears.

Attach your Tripwire Hooks to a Redstone trail and devise a nasty device to punish intruders: Lava from the ceiling, pits below, Pistons to close the corridor around someone, etc.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Iron Ingot, Stick, Wood Plank		Tripwire Hook (2)

Wall

Walls protect areas from ingress by monsters, animals, and players. They can’t be jumped over, so people have to break them or go around. They still allow a line of sight over the top edge, so you can see the areas outside your defensive perimeter. Shoot over your Wall to safely kill monsters when they approach.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Cobblestone (6) or Mossy Cobblestone (6)		Wall (6)

Weighted Pressure Plate

Weighted Pressure Plates don’t send a maximum-strength Redstone signal unless a certain amount of weight is placed upon them. Gold makes plates that trigger more easily and send a full-strength signal if there are 15 entities on top of it. Iron plates require much more weight to give off a strong signal; it takes over 140 items and creatures to fully trigger these plates.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Iron Ingot (2) or Gold Ingot (2)		Weighted Pressure Plate

Wood Plank

Create Wood Planks by crafting any type of Wood in your inventory. You can then break down the resulting Planks even further into Sticks, or use the Planks to make a wide range of Wood-based items. Wood Planks are critical for wooden tools and equipment, the first accessible tier of these implements.

Wood Planks are also used to make a vast range of furniture. At no point in the game do you stop using Wood or Wood Planks. Always keep a large supply in your Chests, and carry a full stack when leaving home.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Wood		Wood Plank (4)

Wool

Gather Wool by using Shears on Sheep. Killing them yields less Wool, and live Sheep can regrow their Wool as long as they have access to yummy grass.

Wool is one of the most easily customized items in the game. Use dyes to change the color of your Wool, and then make custom blocks of Wool or craft colored Carpet. Wool is used to craft Beds and Paintings as well.

Written Book

Craft a Book and Quill, and then use this item from your hotbar. This lets you edit the text in the Book and Quill and turn it into a Written Book. Villagers trade Emeralds for these when you’re lucky, and they’re also good for writing down stories for other players.

To copy a Written Book that you’ve edited, craft your existing one with another Book and Quill.

Recipe

Ingredients	Crafting Recipe	Result
Written Book, Book and Quill		Written Book (2)