Books are items used in enchanting and crafting.
Obtaining
Block loot
Three books are dropped when a bookshelf is mined without Silk Touch or destroyed by an explosion.
Crafting
| Ingredients | Crafting recipe |
|---|---|
| Paper + Leather |
Chest loot
| Item | Structure | Container | Quantity | Chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Java Edition | ||||
| Book | Ancient City | Chest | 3–10 | 35.9% |
| Shipwreck | Map chest | 1–5 | 34.5% | |
| Stronghold | Library chest | 1–3 | 89.2% | |
| Village | Plains house chest | 1 | 12.1% | |
| Desert house chest | 1 | 14.3% | ||
| Bedrock Edition | ||||
| Book | Ancient City | Chest | 3–10 | 35.9% |
| Shipwreck | Map chest | 1–5 | 34.5% | |
| Stronghold | Library chest | 1–3 | 88.3% | |
| Village | Plains house chest | 1 | 12.1% | |
| Desert house chest | 1 | 14.3% | ||
Grindstones
Disenchanting an enchanted book at a grindstone yields a normal book and a small amount of experience.
Villager gifts
in Java Edition, librarian villagers throw books at players under the Hero of the Village effect.
Usage
Crafting ingredient
| Name | Ingredients | Crafting recipe |
|---|---|---|
| Book and Quill | Book + Ink Sac + Feather |
|
| Bookshelf | Any Planks + Book |
|
| Enchanting Table | Book + Diamond + Obsidian |
Chiseled bookshelf
Using the chiseled bookshelf while having a book in the main hand will put the book inside the chiseled bookshelf.
Enchanting
Books can be made into enchanted books by enchanting them on enchanting tables.
Trading
Librarian villagers can buy a single book as part of an enchanted book trade.
Apprentice-level Librarian villagers have a 2⁄3 chance to buy 4 books for an emerald in Java Edition, and always offer the trade in Bedrock Edition.
Achievements
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Gamerscore earned | Trophy type (PS4) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS4 | Other | |||||
| Enchanter | Construct an Enchantment Table. | Pick up an enchantment table from a crafting table output. | 20G | Bronze | ||
| Librarian | Build some bookshelves to improve your enchantment table. | Pick up a bookshelf from a crafting table output. | 20G | Bronze | ||
Advancements
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Parent | Actual requirements (if different) | Resource location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | Enchanter | Enchant an item at an Enchanting Table | Diamonds! | Insert an item in an enchanting table, then apply an enchantment. | story/enchant_item
|
![]() | The Power of Books | Read the power signal of a Chiseled Bookshelf using a Comparator | Adventure | Place a comparator on any side of a chiseled bookshelf or the chiseled bookshelf against a comparator to trigger the advancement. | adventure/read_power_of_chiseled_bookshelf
|
Sounds
| Sound | Subtitles | Source | Description | Resource location | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book placed | Blocks | When a book is placed in a chiseled bookshelf | block | subtitles | 0.8 | varies [sound 1] | 16 | |
| Book taken | Blocks | When a book is removed from a chiseled bookshelf | block | subtitles | 0.8 | varies [sound 2] | 16 |
| Sound | Source | Description | Resource location | Volume | Pitch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blocks | When a book is placed in a chiseled bookshelf | insert | 0.8 | varies [sound 1] | |
| Blocks | When a book is removed from a chiseled bookshelf | pickup | 0.8 | varies [sound 2] |
Data values
ID
| Name | Identifier | Form | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Book | book | Item | item.minecraft.book |
| Name | Identifier | Numeric ID | Form | Item tags (JE) | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book | book | 387 | Item | minecraft:bookshelf_books | item.book.name |
Video
History
| Java Edition Alpha | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| v1.0.11 | |||||
| The only use of books is crafting bookshelves, which are used as a purely decorative block. | |||||
| Java Edition Beta | |||||
| 1.8 | Pre-release | Books are now found in the new stronghold library chests. | |||
| Java Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 | Beta 1.9 Prerelease 3 | Books are now used to craft enchantment tables. | |||
| 1.3.1 | 12w17a | The crafting recipe is now shapeless, so books can now be crafted in the player's 2×2 crafting area, although the recipe now requires leather. Before this version, books were crafted with three paper sheets in a single column. | |||
| A book can now be crafted into a book and quill, which can be used to create written books. | |||||
| 12w21a | Librarian villagers now buy 11–12 books for 1 emerald. | ||||
| 12w22a | Librarian villagers now sell enchanted books for 5–64 emeralds and 1 book. | ||||
| 1.4.6 | 12w49a | Books can now be enchanted into enchanted books, and then combined together in an anvil with a tool to then enchant it. | |||
| 1.8 | 14w02a | Librarian villagers now buy 8–10 books for 1 emerald. | |||
| 1.9 | 15w43a | Average yield of books in stronghold library chests has been substantially increased. | |||
| 1.12 | 17w13a | Added the knowledge book, a green-colored book that grants the player a recipe for crafting. | |||
| The recipe tab on the crafting table GUI uses a red-colored book. | |||||
| 1.13 | 17w47a | Prior to The Flattening, this item's numeral ID was 340. | |||
| 18w11a | Books now generate in shipwreck chests. | ||||
| 1.14 | 18w43a | ||||
| 18w48a | Books can now be obtain by disenchanting non-curse enchanted books in a grindstone. | ||||
| Books can now be found in chests in plains village houses. | |||||
| 18w50a | Books can now be found in chests in desert village houses. | ||||
| 19w13a | Librarian villagers now give books to players under the Hero of the Village effect. | ||||
| 1.19 | Deep Dark Experimental Snapshot 1 | Books now generate in ancient city chests. | |||
| 1.20 (Experimental) | 22w42a | Books can now interact with chiseled bookshelves. | |||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| v0.2.0 | |||||
| v0.3.0 | Books can be used to craft bookshelves. | ||||
| v0.5.0 | Books can now be obtained after activating the nether reactor. | ||||
| v0.12.1 | build 1 | The crafting recipe for books now requires leather. Before this version, books were crafted with three paper sheets in a single column. | |||
| Books are now used to craft enchanting tables. | |||||
| Books can now be enchanted into enchanted books, and then combined together in an anvil with a tool to then enchant it. | |||||
| Books are no longer available from the nether reactor. | |||||
| Pocket Edition | |||||
| 1.0.4 | alpha 1.0.4.0 | Librarian villagers now buy 8–10 books for 1 emerald. | |||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.2.0 | beta 1.2.0.2 | A book can now be crafted into a book and quill, which can be used to create written books. | |||
| 1.4.0 | beta 1.2.14.2 | Books can now be found inside of the map room chest in shipwrecks. | |||
| 1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | Books can now be found in plains village chests. | |||
| 1.11.0 | beta 1.11.0.4 | Librarian villagers now buy 4 books for an emerald. | |||
| Wild Update (Experimental) | beta 1.18.30.32 | Books now generate in ancient city chests. | |||
| 1.20 (Experimental) | beta 1.19.50.21 | Books can now interact with chiseled bookshelves. | |||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU1 | CU1 | 1.0 | Patch 1 | ||
| TU14 | 1.04 | The crafting recipe for books now requires leather. Before this version, books were crafted with three paper sheets in a single column. | |||
| PlayStation 4 Edition | |||||
| 1.90 | |||||
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||
| 0.1.0 | |||||
Issues
Issues relating to "Book" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
