A lectern is a librarian's job site block found in villages. It is used to hold books for multiple players to read in multiplayer.
Obtaining
Natural generation
Lecterns can generate in village libraries.
Breaking
Lecterns can be broken with any tool, but an axe mines it the fastest. Lecterns drop themselves and the book they are holding.
| Block | Lectern | |
|---|---|---|
| Hardness | 2.5 | |
| Tool | ||
| Breaking time[A] | ||
| Default | 3.75 | |
| Wooden | 1.9 | |
| Stone | 0.95 | |
| Iron | 0.65 | |
| Diamond | 0.5 | |
| Netherite | 0.45 | |
| Golden | 0.35 | |
- ↑ Times are for unenchanted tools as wielded by players with no status effects, measured in seconds. For more information, see Breaking § Speed.
Crafting
| Ingredients | Crafting recipe |
|---|---|
| Any wood Slab + Bookshelf |
Usage
Lecterns hold a single book and quill or written book that other players can read at the same time. Right-clicking an empty one with a book and quill or written book places it. Right-clicking a lectern with a book already occupied opens an interface to read the book. Books occupying a lectern can be retrieved through the interface,[Java Edition only] punching the lectern[Bedrock Edition only] or by destroying the lectern, even when /gamerule doTileDrops is false.
Redstone signal
Lecterns holding a book emit a full-strength redstone pulse that is one game tick long (0.5 redstone ticks) when a page is turned. A redstone comparator also records book reading and sends a signal, depending on what page the player is currently on. Because Bedrock Edition displays two pages of the book at once, the same signal strength increments require double the number of pages.
For Java Edition a book with only 1 page gives maximum signal strength, however page 1 always gives 1 signal strength no matter what if a book contains at least 2 pages.
Due to this, to calculate the signal strength of books with more than 1 page, use the following formula:
Where is the "floor" operation (round down), is the maximum number of pages the book on the lectern has, and is the current page number the lectern is turned to.
This is most noticable when a book has 2 pages where the signal strength is either 1 on page 1 or 15 on page 2.
A book that would step up or down in increments of 1 per page would be 15 pages long.
For Bedrock Edition the formula is slightly different. Due to Bedrock showing 2 pages at once and counting a change to the book's output only if the highest even numbered page contains information, a redstone comparator treats books with 3 pages the same as those with 1 or 2 pages of information, the same as how Java would treat a book with just 1 page.
For 4 or more pages of information use the following formula to calculate signal strength.
In this case is half of the maximum page number rounded down, and is half of the current highest page number containing data displayed on the book interface, rounded down.
Rounding down is required to eliminate the discrepancy caused by books containing an odd number of pages. For example, a book with 8 pages gives a signal strength of 15 when looking at pages 7-8. A book with 9 pages has a signal strength of 15 when looking at either pages 7-8 and 9-10.
In Bedrock Edition, a book that steps up or down in increments of 1 per page turned must be exactly 30 pages long, with information left on page 30.
Changing profession
If a village has a lectern that has not been claimed by a villager, any villager has a chance to change their profession into librarian if those villagers have not already chosen a job site block.
Fuel
Lecterns can be used as fuel in furnaces to smelt 1.5 items.
Note Blocks
Lecterns can be placed under note blocks to produce "bass" sound.
Sounds
| Sound | Subtitles | Source | Description | Resource location | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Block broken | Blocks | Once the block has broken | block | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8 | 16 | |
| Block placed | Blocks | When the block is placed | block | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8 | 16 | |
| Block breaking | Blocks | While the block is in the process of being broken | block | subtitles | 0.25 | 0.5 | 16 | |
| None[sound 1] | Entity-Dependent | Falling on the block with fall damage | block | None[sound 1] | 0.5 | 0.75 | 16 | |
| Footsteps | Entity-Dependent | Walking on the block | block | subtitles | 0.15 | 1.0 | 16 |
| Sound | Source | Description | Resource location | Volume | Pitch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blocks | Once the block has broken | dig | 1.0 | 0.8-1.0 | |
| Blocks | When the block is placed | dig | 1.0 | 0.8 | |
| Blocks | While the block is in the process of being broken | hit | 0.23 | 0.5 | |
| Players | Falling on the block with fall damage | fall | 0.4 | 1.0 | |
| Players | Walking on the block | step | 0.3 | 1.0 | |
| Players | Jumping from the block | jump | 0.12 | 1.0 | |
| Players | Falling on the block without fall damage | land | 0.18 | 1.0 |
Data values
ID
| Name | Identifier | Translation key |
|---|---|---|
| Lectern | lectern | block.minecraft.lectern |
| Name | Identifier |
|---|---|
| Block entity | lectern |
| Name | Identifier | Numeric ID | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lectern | lectern | 448 | tile.lectern.name |
| Name | Savegame ID |
|---|---|
| Block entity | Lectern |
Block states
| Name | Default value | Allowed values | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| facing | north | eastnorthsouthwest | The direction the lectern is facing. The opposite from the direction the player faces while placing the lectern. |
| has_book | false | falsetrue | If the lectern currently has a book. |
| powered | false | falsetrue | If the lectern is currently outputting a redstone signal. |
| Name | Metadata Bits | Default value | Allowed values | Values for Metadata Bits |
Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| direction (Deprecated) | 0x10x2 | 0 | 0123 | 0123 | The direction the lectern is facing.
|
| minecraft:cardinal_direction | Not Supported | south | eastnorthsouthwest | Unsupported | The direction the lectern is facing. The opposite from the direction the player faces while placing the lectern. |
| powered_bit | 0x4 | false | falsetrue | 01 | If the lectern is currently outputting a redstone signal. |
Block data
A lectern has a block entity associated with it that holds additional data about the block.
- Block entity data
- Tags common to all block entities
- Book: The book item, without the slot tag, currently on the lectern, may not exist.
- Tags common to all items
- Page: The page the book is currently on, starting from 0, does not exist if there's no book. If higher than the total amount of pages in the book, gets set to -1.
History
| Java Edition | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 18, 2012 | |||||
| December 18, 2013 | Dinnerbone states in his Reddit AMA that he has revisited lecterns, but scrapped them again as "something about them just didn't feel right". | ||||
| October 18, 2018 | |||||
| 1.14 | 18w44a | ||||
| Lecterns are currently obtainable only from the creative inventory and have no functionality. | |||||
Lecterns currently have a BookItem field, which holds the book item to be displayed. However, this field cannot be set and is not written to the block entity. | |||||
| There is a file lectern.png which has each texture of the lectern on a large sheet. However, this is unused, as separate files ae also present. | |||||
| 18w45a | The inventory icon of lecterns has been slightly changed from to . | ||||
| Removed the unused lectern.png file. | |||||
| The bottom texture of lecterns has been changed from File:Lectern (bottom) JE1.png to File:Lectern (bottom) JE2.png. | |||||
| 18w47a | File:Lectern (bottom) JE3 BE1.png The bottom texture of lecterns has been changed, once again. | ||||
| 18w48a | Lecterns can now generate in plains village libraries. | ||||
| 18w49a | Lecterns now can also generate in savanna and snowy tundra village libraries. | ||||
| 19w02a | Lecterns now have a crafting recipe. | ||||
| Lecterns now emit a redstone pulse when a page is changed. | |||||
| Lecterns now use the correct cullface argument for its bottom face. | |||||
| ? | Lecterns now use some corrected side cullface arguments for the front and back of their base plate. | ||||
| 19w03a | Certain blocks can no longer be supported by the top of a lectern.[1] | ||||
| 19w03c | Lecterns now use correct cullface arguments on the left and right hand side of their base plate. | ||||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | ||||
| 1.11.0 | beta 1.11.0.1 | Lecterns now emit a redstone pulse when a page is turned. | |||
| PlayStation 4 Edition | |||||
| 1.90 | |||||
Issues
Issues relating to "Lectern" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Gallery
The first image of a modern lectern.[2]
- Lectern with a book from above.png
Lectern holding a book shown from above.
References
- ↑ MC-141991
- ↑ "sup" – @Dinnerbone (Nathan Adams) on X, October 18, 2018


![The first image of a modern lectern.[2]](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/minecraft_gamepedia/images/4/4f/New_Lectern.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/120?cb=20201207091118)
