A renewable resource (as opposed to a non-renewable resource, or finite resource) is a resource that can be recreated indefinitely in survival without exploiting glitches or using cheat commands. While running completely out of resources is unlikely to be a factor in normal worlds due to the massive size of a Minecraft map, only some resources can be produced over and over without having to explore more terrain. Running out of resources can be a bigger issue on superflat worlds, where resources are less plentiful, in PvP maps, where one would like to obtain resources without having to conquer more land, or simply if the accessible portion of the map is limited.
The listed fully renewable craftable items are items that can be crafted, smelted, or brewed using only renewable resources. For example, cookies are renewable as they require only wheat and cocoa beans, both of which can be regrown infinitely.
Most things dropped by animals or monsters are renewable because more mobs of the same kind can spawn and be killed again for more loot. The exceptions are drops of enemies that spawn just once with the generation of specific structures; elder guardians (three spawn with each ocean monument) and shulkers (in end cities). Drops of hostile mobs are not renewable on peaceful difficulty because the monsters do not spawn.
Renewably obtaining items
Many resources are renewably obtainable using certain main methods, such as farming. Others are obtainable by unusual item-specific methods, which can vary from building a cobblestone generator to harvesting obsidian from portals to collecting dragon breath into a bottle. The renewable method to obtain an item is not necessarily the easiest, fastest or safest, and may in some cases be highly impractical.
The most common methods for renewably obtaining items, ordered by roughly increasing effort are:
- Farming - grow it on the dirt or farmland, breed using renewable resources, etc.
- Crafting, smelting, or brewing using only renewable resource(s).
- Common drops from killing mobs.
- Fishing.
- Trading with villagers or wandering traders.
- Bartering with piglins.
- Rare mob drops.
The first three methods are often the most practical ways to obtain items that can be obtained by using them.
Most items obtainable by the fourth and fifth methods are obtainable in some other way, which may be easier or of comparable difficulty, but may not be renewable, they are especially worth using when the player wants to avoid the risk of mining, such as while playing in hardcore mode.
Grinding for rare drops is rarely practical unless there is no other option, as the player must kill many mobs to obtain the desired drops.
Renewable
Renewable items can be obtained through methods other than trading or rare drops.
| Resource | Renewable products | Renewable sources |
|---|---|---|
| Arrow |
| |
| Bamboo |
||
| Banners |
| |
| Basalt |
||
| Bee Nest |
— |
|
| Beetroot Seeds |
| |
| Blaze Rod |
||
| Bone |
| |
| Bucket of Fish |
| |
| Cactus |
| |
| Carrot |
||
| Chainmail Armor |
||
| Chorus Flower |
| |
| Coal and Charcoal |
| |
| Cobblestone and Stone |
||
| Cocoa Beans |
Grown on jungle wood | |
| Coral and Coral Fans |
| |
| Crying Obsidian |
||
| Dragon's Breath |
Obtained by using a glass bottle on the ender dragon's breath. | |
| Egg |
||
| Emerald |
||
| Ender Pearl |
||
| Enchanted Book |
| |
| End Stone |
| |
| Experience Orb |
See Enchanting and Repairing and renaming items |
|
| Feather |
||
| Ferns and Grass |
||
| Flowers |
| |
| Fungi |
||
| Ghast Tear |
| |
| Glass Bottle |
| |
| Glowstone Dust |
||
| Gold Ingot |
| |
| Gold Nugget |
| |
| Gravel |
||
| Gunpowder |
| |
| Honeycomb |
||
| Honey Bottle |
||
| Ice |
Forms from water source blocks in cold biomes or at high altitudes that have air above them, obtained using a tool enchanted with Silk Touch. | |
| Ink Sac |
||
| Iron Ingot |
| |
| Iron Bars |
— |
|
| Kelp |
| |
| Leather |
| |
| Lily Pad |
— |
|
| Magma Cream |
| |
| Melon Seeds |
| |
| Milk Bucket |
| |
| Brown Mushroom |
| |
| Red Mushroom |
| |
| Name Tag |
— | |
| Nautilus Shell |
— |
|
| Nether Brick |
| |
| Nether Quartz |
||
| Nether Sprouts |
— | Obtained by using bone meal on warped nylium. |
| Nether Wart |
Grown on soul sand. | |
| Obsidian |
| |
| Ominous Banner |
— |
|
| Phantom Membrane |
||
| Potato |
||
| Prismarine Shard |
Dropped by guardians. | |
| Prismarine Crystals |
Dropped by guardians. | |
| Pufferfish |
| |
| Pumpkin Seeds |
| |
| Rabbit Hide |
||
| Rabbit's Foot |
||
| Raw Beef |
Dropped by cows and mooshrooms | |
| Raw Chicken |
||
| Raw Cod |
| |
| Raw Mutton |
Dropped by sheep. | |
| Raw Porkchop |
||
| Raw Rabbit |
Dropped by rabbits. | |
| Raw Salmon |
| |
| Redstone Dust |
| |
| Roots |
— | |
| Rotten Flesh |
— | |
| Saddle |
— | |
| Saplings |
| |
| Scute |
| |
| Seagrass |
— | |
| Sea Pickle |
| |
| Slimeball |
| |
| Snowball |
| |
| Soul Sand |
||
| Spider Eye |
| |
| Stick |
||
| String |
||
| Sugar Cane |
| |
| Sugar |
| |
| Sweet Berries |
— |
|
| Totem of Undying |
— | |
| Tropical Fish |
— |
|
| Turtle Egg |
| |
| Twisting Vines |
— |
|
| Vines |
| |
| Water Bucket |
||
| Weeping Vines |
— |
|
| Wheat Seeds |
||
| Wool |
Tradable
These items are renewable through trading with villagers or the wandering trader, or as rare drops from mobs, and not by other methods.
| Resource | Renewable products | Renewable sources |
|---|---|---|
| Bell |
— | |
| Bottle o' Enchanting |
||
| Brick |
| |
| Coral Blocks |
Obtained by trading with a wandering trader. | |
| Diamond gear |
— | |
| Glass |
||
| Lapis Lazuli |
| |
| Podzol |
| |
| Polished Stone Blocks |
||
| Sand |
Obtained by trading with a wandering trader. | |
| Stained Terracotta |
|
Rare drops
These items are considered rare drops or are obtained by a mob dying in a unique way. For some of these items, this is the only way to obtain them; otherwise, this is the only renewable way to obtain them. Rare drops do not include any item the mob picked up after spawning. Mob farms are an option for obtaining rare drops more easily.
| Resource | Renewable products | Renewable sources |
|---|---|---|
| Mob Heads |
| |
| Music Discs |
— | |
| Trident |
— |
|
All status effects which can be legitimately obtained in Survival are also renewable.
Java Edition
Most resources are as renewable in Java Edition, as they are in Bedrock Edition. The resources, which are renewable in Java Edition, but aren't in Bedrock are listed here, for the ones which are non-renewable in Java Edition, but renewable in Bedrock, see the Non-renewable resource page. The product list include only renewable products that aren't renewable in other editions.
| Resource | Renewable products | Renewable sources |
|---|---|---|
| Banner Pattern |
— | |
| Clay |
| |
| Soul Soil |
— |
|
Bedrock Edition
Most resources are as renewable in Bedrock Edition as they are in Java Edition. The resources which are renewable in Bedrock Edition, but not in Java, are listed here. For the ones which are non-renewable in Bedrock Edition, but renewable in Java, see the Non-renewable resource page.
| Resource | Renewable products | Renewable sources |
|---|---|---|
| Arrow of Decay |
— | Obtained by trading with fletcher villagers. |
| Banner Patterns |
— | |
| Grass Path |
— |
|
| Netherrack |
|
Video
Trivia
- Using certain glitches, most non-renewable items can be obtained indefinitely; see Tutorials/Block and item duplication. However, the use of such glitches are not considered a renewable method.
- In addition to the items listed, experience and all status effects and enchantments that can be obtained in survival are also renewable.
- In Minecraft Earth, all items are renewable, since tappables and adventures regenerate indefinitely. Items that cannot be obtained directly through these means can be crafted, smelted, or otherwise obtained using only renewable resources.