Fire charges are items that can be used as a single-use version of a flint and steel or shot as a small fireball from a dispenser.
Obtaining
Chest loot
| Item | Structure | Container | Quantity | Chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Java Edition | ||||
| Fire Charge | Ruined portal | Chest | 1 | 46.4% |
| Bedrock Edition | ||||
| Fire Charge | Ruined portal | Chest | 1 | 46.4% |
Crafting
| Ingredients | Crafting recipe |
|---|---|
| Blaze Powder + Coal or Charcoal + Gunpowder |
Bartering
Piglins may barter 1 fire charge when given a gold ingot.
Usage
Dispensing Fire Charge
Fire charges can be used as ammunition for dispensers, or as a substitute for flint and steel.
When used, it instantly places a fire, similar to flint and steel. The fire charge is consumed in the process. It can prime TNT, light nether portals, campfires, candles and cakes with candles like flint and steel. However, it cannot be used to detonate creepers.[until JE 1.19.3]
When a fire charge is fired from a dispenser, it shoots a small fireball.
Crafting ingredient
| Name | Ingredients | Crafting recipe | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Firework Star | Gunpowder + Matching Dye + Fire Charge + Glowstone Dust + Diamond |
Up to eight dyes can be added. One head, gold nugget, feather, or fire charge can be added. Both the diamond and the glowstone dust can be added with any of the other ingredients. | |
| White Firework Star or Blue Firework Star or Brown Firework Star or Black Firework Star |
Gunpowder + Bone Meal or Lapis Lazuli or Cocoa Beans or Ink Sac + Fire Charge + Glowstone Dust + Diamond |
[Bedrock Edition and Minecraft Education only] Up to eight dyes can be added. One head, gold nugget, feather, or fire charge can be added. Both the diamond and the glowstone dust can be added with any of the other ingredients. |
Sounds
| Sound | Subtitles | Source | Description | Resource location | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ghast shoots | Hostile Creatures | When a fireball is shot by a ghast | entity | subtitles | 10.0 | 0.8-1.2 | 16 [verify] | |
| Blaze shoots | Hostile Creatures | When a fireball is fired from a dispenser or a blaze | entity | subtitles | 2.0 | 0.8–1.2 | 32 | |
| Fireball whooshes | Blocks | When a fireball is used by hand | item [1] | subtitles [1] | 1.0 | 0.8-1.2 | 16 |
| Sound | Source | Description | Resource location | Volume | Pitch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hostile Creatures | When something shoots or uses a fire charge | mob | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Data values
ID
| Name | Identifier | Form | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fire Charge | fire_charge | Item | item.minecraft.fire_charge |
| Name | Identifier | Alias ID | Numeric ID | Form | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fire Charge | fire_charge | fireball | 509 | Item | item.fireball.name |
Entity data
Achievements
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Gamerscore earned | Trophy type (PS4) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS4 | Other | |||||
| Into The Nether | Construct a Nether Portal. | Light a nether portal. | 30G | Bronze | ||
Advancements
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Parent | Actual requirements (if different) | Resource location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | We Need to Go Deeper | Build, light and enter a Nether Portal | Ice Bucket Challenge | Enter the Nether dimension. | story/enter_the_nether
|
Video
History
| Java Edition | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0.0 | Beta 1.9 Prerelease | ||||
| 1.2.1 | 12w04a | Added fire charges, which use the above texture. They can be crafted only with coal. | |||
| 12w05a | Fire charges can now be crafted with charcoal. | ||||
| 1.4.2 | 12w38b | The sound when using the fire charge has now been changed; it now uses the same sound as flint and steel. | |||
| 1.4.6 | 12w49a | Fire charges can now be used to craft fireworks. | |||
| 1.8 | 14w31a | The sound when using fire charges to set fire has now been changed; it now uses the same sound as when fired from dispensers. | |||
| 1.9 | 15w33c | Fire charges now appear purple and explode with dragon's breath when fired from dispensers. Whether a true dragon fireball entity is created or if this effect is purely visual is unknown. | |||
| 15w44b | Fire charges once again appear as small fireballs when fired from dispensers. | ||||
| 1.11 | 16w40a | The life tag is no longer used for anything, but still saved/read.[more information needed] | |||
| 1.13 | 17w47a | Prior to The Flattening, this item's numeral ID was 385. | |||
| 1.14 | 18w43a | ||||
| 1.15 | 19w42a | Dispensed fire charges[more information needed] can now light campfires. | |||
| 1.16 | 20w07a | Fire charges have a 5⁄109 (~4.59%) chance of being given by the new piglins when bartering, in a stack size of 1. | |||
| 20w09a | Fire charges now have a 20⁄226 (~8.82%) chance of being given by piglins when bartering, in a stack size of 1–5. | ||||
| 20w16a | Fire charges now generate in ruined portal chests. | ||||
| java upcoming | |||||
| 1.19.3 | Pre-release 2 | Fire charges can now be used on creepers. | |||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| v0.15.0 | build 1 | ||||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.2.0 | beta 1.2.0.2 | Fire charges can now be used to craft firework stars. | |||
| 1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | ||||
| 1.16.0 | beta 1.16.0.57 | Fire charges can now be obtained from bartering with piglin. | |||
| Fire charges can now be found in ruined portal chests. | |||||
| 1.16.100 | beta 1.16.100.56 | The ID of fire charges has been changed from fireball to fire_charge. | |||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU9 | CU1 | 1.0 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | |
| TU31 | CU19 | 1.22 | Patch 3 | Fire charges now make sounds when igniting blocks. | |
| 1.90 | |||||
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||
| 0.1.0 | |||||
Issues
Issues relating to "Fire Charge" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Gallery
A fire charge found in a ruined portal chest, together with an enchanted golden apple.

