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This article is about the item. For the ore, see Coal Ore. For the mineral block, see Block of Coal.

Coal is an item mainly obtained by harvesting coal ore blocks. It is used as fuel, for crafting torches, or for trading with villagers.

Charcoal is an alternative to coal obtained from smelting logs or wood. It has the same uses as normal coal, except that it cannot be traded with villagers or crafted into a block of coal. Coal and charcoal also cannot stack together.

Obtaining

The main difference between coal and charcoal is in how they are obtained.

Mining

Coal ore mined using a pickaxe drops 1 unit of coal. If the pickaxe is enchanted with Fortune, it may drop an extra unit per level of Fortune, up to a maximum of 4 with Fortune III.

Crafting

Name Ingredients Crafting recipe
Coal Block of Coal

9

Compound creation

Charcoal can be created from its base elements, using the compound creator.‌[Bedrock Edition and Minecraft Education only]

Name Elements Example recipe
Charcoal 7 Carbon
4 Hydrogen
1 Oxygen

Smelting

Name Ingredients Smelting recipe
Coal Coal Ore +
Any fuel


0.1
Charcoal Any Log or
Any Stripped Log or
Any Wood or
Any Stripped Wood +
Any fuel


0.15

Wither skeletons

Wither skeletons have a 13 chance of dropping a single coal upon death. The maximum amount of coal is increased by 1 per level of Looting. The chance of a wither skeleton not dropping any coal can be found using the formula 2 / (Looting Level + 3). For example, Looting III gives a 13 chance of not dropping any coal. All other amounts have an equal chance of occurring.

Natural generation


Item Structure Container Quantity Chance
Java Edition
Coal Dungeon Chest 1–4 26.6%
Mineshaft Chest 3–8 27.3%
Ancient City Chest 6–15 46.5%
Igloo Chest 1–4 70.4%
Cold Ocean ruins Cold ruins suspicious gravel 1 13.3%
Warm ruins suspicious sand 1 13.3%
Shipwreck Supply chest 2–8 37.3%
Stronghold Storeroom chest 3–8 34.3%
Trail ruins Suspicious gravel 1 2.2%
Underwater ruins Big ruins chest 1–4 81%
Small ruins chest 1–4 84.2%
Village Toolsmith's chest 1–3 9.9%
Fisherman's chest 1–3 43%
Snowy house chest 1–4 41.2%
Butcher's chest 1–3 27.9%
Woodland mansion Chest 1–4 26.6%
Bedrock Edition
Coal Dungeon Chest 1–4 26.6%
Mineshaft Chest 3–8 27.3%
Ancient City Chest 6–15 46.5%
Igloo Chest 1–4 70.4%
Cold Ocean ruins Cold ruins suspicious gravel 1 13.3%
Warm ruins suspicious sand 1 13.3%
Shipwreck Supply chest 2–8 37.3%
Stronghold Storeroom chest 3–8 28.5%
Underwater ruins Big ruins chest 1–4 81%
Small ruins chest 1–4 84.2%
Village Butcher's chest 1–3 27.9%
Snowy house chest 1–4 41.2%
Toolsmith's chest 1–3 9.9%
Woodland mansion Chest 1–4 26.6%

Campfires

A campfire broken without the silk touch enchantment drops 2 charcoal.

Usage

Crafting ingredient

Name Ingredients Crafting recipe
Block of Coal Coal

Campfire Stick +
Coal or
Charcoal +
Any Log or Stem or
Any Stripped Log or Stem or
Any Wood or Hyphae or
Any Stripped Wood or Hyphae

Campfire Stick +
Coal or
Charcoal +
Any Log or Stem or
Any Stripped Log or Stem or
Any Wood or Hyphae or
Any Stripped Wood or Hyphae

Fire Charge Blaze Powder +
Coal or
Charcoal +
Gunpowder
Soul Torch Coal or
Charcoal +
Stick +
Soul Soil or
Soul Sand
Torch Coal or
Charcoal +
Stick

Lab table ingredient

Charcoal is one of the lab table ingredients needed to produce the heat block.‌[Bedrock Edition and Minecraft Education only]

Result Materials Needed
Heat Block
Heat Block
Iron, Water, Charcoal, Salt

Fuel

When used in a furnace as a fuel, a coal lump or piece of charcoal lasts 80 seconds (smelting up to 8 items). Coal/charcoal used as fuel lasts more than 5 times longer than wood planks or wood logs used as fuel, being more efficient than any other use of wood for smelting in Java Edition, but outstripped by wooden slabs in Bedrock.

Coal and charcoal are also the only fuels accepted by powered minecarts. They provide approximately four minutes of transit each.

Trading

Main article: Trading

In Bedrock Edition, novice-level armorer, toolsmith, and weaponsmith villagers buy 15 coal for an emerald. Apprentice-level butcher villagers buy 15 coal for an emerald. Novice-level fisherman villagers have a 50% chance to buy 10 coal for an emerald.

In Java Edition, novice-level armorer, toolsmith, and weaponsmith villagers have a 40% chance of offering to buy 15 coal for one emerald. Apprentice-level butcher villagers have 23 chance of offering to buy 15 coal for one emerald. Novice-level fisherman villagers have a 50% chance of offering to buy 10 coal for one emerald.

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Item Namespaced ID
Coal coal
Charcoal charcoal

Bedrock Edition:

Item Namespaced ID Numeric ID
Coal coal 263

Achievements

Icon Achievement In-game description Actual requirements (if different) Gamerscore earned Trophy type (PS4)
PS4 Other
Renewable EnergySmelt wood trunks using charcoal to make more charcoal.Smelt a wooden log with charcoal as the fuel.10GBronze

History

classic
May 21, 2009Notch shows interest in adding coal, commenting that it might be combined with iron ore to make steel.
indev
0.31January 29, 2010 Added coal.
Mining coal ore blocks drops 2-5 pieces of coal.
Coal can be used to craft torches.
?Mining coal ore now drops 1 piece of coal (down from 2-5).
February 19, 2010Coal JE2 BE1 The texture of coal has now been changed.
beta
December 25, 2010Charcoal is suggested to Notch by @Moleculor on Twitter as a writing implement.
1.2Charcoal JE1 BE1 Added charcoal, with the same texture as coal.
Charcoal is not used as a writing implement.
1.8Pre-releaseCoal can now be found in the new abandoned mineshaft chests and stronghold storeroom chests.
Java Edition
1.2.112w04aCoal and charcoal are now used to craft fire charges.
1.3.112w21aBlacksmith and butcher villagers now buy 16–23 of either coal or charcoal for 1 emerald.
1.4.212w36aCoal is now dropped by wither skeletons, making it renewable.
1.6.113w18aCoal can now be used to craft coal blocks.
13w19aCharcoal JE2 BE2 The texture of charcoal has now been changed.
1.814w02aFisherman, armorer, tool smith, weapon smith and butcher villagers now buy 16–24 coal for 1 emerald.
Charcoal can no longer be traded from villagers.
1.915w43aCoal may now be found in igloo basement chests.
15w44aThe average yield of coal from mineshaft chests has now been decreased, and added to dungeon chests.
1.1116w39aCoal can now be found in the new woodland mansion chests.
1.1317w47aThe different data values for the coal ID have now been split up into their own IDs.
Prior to The Flattening, this item's numeral ID was 263.
18w09aCoal can now be found in the loot chests of underwater ruins.
18w11aCoal now generates in shipwreck chests.
1.1418w43aCoal JE3 BE2 Charcoal JE3 BE3 The textures of coal and charcoal have now been changed.
19w02aCoal and charcoal can now be used to craft campfires. Destroying a campfire returns 2 charcoal.
Pocket Edition Alpha
0.3.0Coal JE2 BE1 Added coal.
Coal can be used to craft torches.
0.3.2Charcoal JE1 BE1 Added charcoal.
0.8.0build 2Coal can now be crafted to make a block of coal.[is this the correct version?]
0.8.1Charcoal JE2 BE2 The texture of charcoal has now been changed.
0.12.1build 1Coal is now dropped by wither skeletons.
0.14.0build 1Coal can now be found inside chest minecarts in abandoned mineshafts.
0.15.0build 1Coal and charcoal are now used to craft fire charges.
Pocket Edition
1.0.0alpha 0.17.0.1Coal can now be found in the stronghold storeroom chests.
Coal may now be found in igloo basement chests.
1.0.4alpha 1.0.4.0Fisherman, armorer, toolsmith, weaponsmith and butcher villagers now buy 16–24 coal for 1 emerald.
1.1.0alpha 1.1.0.0Coal is now found in woodland mansion chests.
Bedrock Edition
1.4.0beta 1.2.13.8Added stripped log variants, which can be smelted to obtain charcoal.
beta 1.2.14.2Coal can now be found inside shipwreck chests.
beta 1.2.20.1Coal can now be found inside underwater ruins chests.
Charcoal now can be crafted using 7 Carbon, 4 Hydrogen, and an Oxygen in a compound creator.
Charcoal can now be used in the lab table to create a heat block.
1.10.0beta 1.10.0.3Coal and charcoal can now be used to craft campfires. Destroying a campfire returns 2 charcoal.
Coal JE3 BE2 Charcoal JE3 BE3 The textures of coal and charcoal have now been changed.
1.11.0beta 1.11.0.1Coal can now be found in snowy tundra village house chests and in village butcher and toolsmith chests.
beta 1.11.0.4Armorer, weaponsmith, toolsmith, and butcher villagers now buy 15 coal for an emerald.
Fishermen villagers now have a 50% chance to buy 10 coal for an emerald as part of their first tier trade.
Upcoming Bedrock Edition
1.16.0beta 1.16.0.51Coal and charcoal are now used to craft soul fire torches.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1CU1 1.0 Patch 11.0.1Coal JE2 BE1 Charcoal JE1 BE1 Added coal and charcoal.
TU19CU7 1.12 Charcoal JE2 BE2 The texture of charcoal has now been changed.
1.90 Coal JE3 BE2 Charcoal JE3 BE3 The textures of coal and charcoal have now been changed.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0Coal JE2 BE1 Charcoal JE2 BE2 Added coal and charcoal.

Issues

Issues relating to "Coal" or "Charcoal" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

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