A renewable resource is a resource that can be recreated indefinitely (as opposed to a nonrenewable resource). While running out of resources isn't likely to be a factor due to theoretically infinite (and still quite vast in practice) map generation, this is a list of resources that can be produced over and over without having to explore for more. However, running out of resources can be a bigger issue on Superflat worlds, where resources are less plentiful.
The listed fully renewable products are items which can be crafted or smelted using only renewable resources. Note that TNT and arrows are crafted from a combination of renewable and non-renewable resources (sand and flint).
Fully renewable resources
These resources do not require any nonrenewable items in order to be collected.
| Resource | Fully renewable products | Method |
|---|---|---|
| Arrows |
— | Dropped by killed skeletons. |
| Beef |
Dropped by killed cows. | |
| Bones |
Dropped by killed skeletons. | |
| Cactus |
Will grow to 3 blocks high and can be trimmed or replanted. Must first be found in the world. | |
| Chicken Eggs |
— | Dropped roughly every 7 minutes by living chickens. |
| Cobblestone and Stone |
ButtonStone BrickStone Bricks Slabs | Let flowing lava meet water. (One should take care not to let the water come into contact with the lava source block, which will extinguish the lava to make obsidian.) Smooth stone is created when letting lava fall on water and can be harvested with a pickaxe with a silk touch enchantment, or by smelting cobblestone with the renewable fuel of your choice. |
| Crops |
Harvesting crops may produce seeds, which can be used to produce more crops. Seeds can also be harvested from Tall Grass. | |
| Ender Pearls Enderpearl |
— | Dropped by killed endermen. |
| Feathers |
— | Dropped by killed chickens. |
| Fish |
Obtained by fishing using a Fishing Rod. | |
| Flowers FlowersFlowers |
Can occasionally spawn when Bone Meal is used to generate patches of Tall Grass. | |
| Gunpowder |
— | Dropped by killed creepers and ghasts. |
| Ink Sacs |
Dropped by killed squid. | |
| Iron Ingots Iron (Ingot) |
Iron (Block)Powered MinecartStorage MinecartRails | Dropped by killed zombies and Iron Golems. |
| Leather |
Dropped by killed cows. | |
| Melon Seeds |
Melon Seeds are only found in Abandoned Mine Shafts. They can be renewed once grown by breaking a melon stem, or crafting them from melon slices. | |
| Mushrooms MushroomsMushrooms |
Using Bone Meal on normal mushrooms will grow them into Huge Mushrooms, if there is enough space, which can then be broken to get more of the normal mushroom. Normal mushrooms also spread slowly on their own. Also, mooshrooms can be sheared for red mushrooms or milked for Mushroom Stew, which can also be crafted with a bowl and both mushrooms. | |
| Music Discs Music DiscsMusic DiscsMusic DiscsMusic DiscsMusic DiscsMusic DiscsMusic DiscsMusic DiscsMusic DiscsMusic Discs |
— | Get a skeleton to kill a creeper with its arrows. |
| Pork |
Dropped by killed pigs. | |
| Pumpkin Seeds Pumpkin seeds |
Jack-O-Lantern | Pumpkin Seeds are found in Abandoned Mine Shafts. You can also get seeds from putting a pumpkin in a crafting table or by breaking Pumpkin Stems. |
| Raw Chicken |
Dropped by killed chickens. | |
| Red Apples Red Apple |
— | Broken leaves each have a 0.5% chance to drop an apple. |
| Rotten Flesh |
— | Dropped by killed zombies and Zombie Pigmen. |
| Saplings and Trees SaplingSapling SpruceSapling BirchSapling Jungle [note 1] |
WoodWood (Pine)Wood (Birch)Wood (Jungle)Wooden PlankLaddersFenceFence GateWooden DoorTrapdoorSignWooden StairsWooden Pressure PlateJack-O-LanternCharcoal (Item)BedRed Apple | Trees can be grown from saplings placed on lit dirt; breaking trees' leaves drops saplings. See tree farming. Charcoal can be produced by smelting any kind of log. Leaves can be obtained by harvesting with shears. |
| Slimeballs |
— | Dropped by killed slimes. |
| Snowballs |
Snow (Block) | Snow is replaced whenever it snows, and is also produced by Snow Golems. |
| Spider Eye |
Dropped by killed spiders. | |
| String |
Bed | Dropped by killed spiders. |
| Sugar Canes |
Will grow to 3 blocks high and can be trimmed or replanted. Must first be found in the world. | |
| Wool |
Bed | Obtained by killing sheep (or shearing and regrowing as of 12w06a), crafting 4 strings dropped by spiders, by breeding two sheep which will result in a child caring the same type of wool as the parents, or by using shears on sheep. Six of the shown colors (white, light gray, gray, black, brown and pink) occur naturally in sheep; green, lime, red, orange and yellow wool require renewable dyes to produce. |
Renewable, but require nonrenewable resources
These resources can be made infinitely, but to collect require nonrenewable items/resources with infinite uses.
| Resource | Fully renewable products | Method |
|---|---|---|
| Blaze Rods |
Dropped by killed blazes.
However to be able to kill blazes one must first open a portal to the Nether which requires non-renewable obsidian, which can be used unlimited times. | |
| Ghast Tears |
— | Dropped by killed ghasts.
However to be able to kill ghasts one must first open a portal to the Nether which requires non-renewable obsidian, which can be used unlimited times. |
| Gold Nuggets |
Gold SwordGold PickaxeGold ShovelGold AxeGold HoeGold (Block)Gold HelmetGold ChestplateGold LeggingsGold Boots | Dropped by killed Zombie Pigmen.
However to be able to kill zombie pigmen one must first open a portal to the Nether which requires non-renewable obsidian, which can be used unlimited times.[note 2] As of 12w06a, zombie pigmen rarely drop gold ingots, along with gold swords and helmets. |
| Huge Mushroom Huge MushroomsHuge MushroomsHuge Mushrooms |
— | Using Bone Meal on normal mushrooms will grow them into Huge Mushrooms (if there is enough space), which can then be broken to get more of the normal mushroom. With the Silk Touch enchantment though, the Huge Mushroom blocks themselves can be collected.
However, Silk Touch enchantment requires a single craft of non-renewable Enchantment Table. |
| Magma Cream |
— | Dropped by killed magma cubes.
However to be able to kill magma cubes one must first open a portal to the Nether which requires non-renewable obsidian, which can be used unlimited times. |
| Milk | Obtained by milking cows or mooshrooms with a bucket. | |
| Nether Wart Nether Wart Seeds |
— | Harvested from fully grown nether wart.
However to be able to farm and renewably harvest nether warts, one must first open a portal to the Nether which requires non-renewable obsidian, which can be used unlimited times. |
| Water |
Two water spring blocks in the appropriate pattern produce a third; see water for details. | |
| Wool - Blue, Light Blue, Cyan, Purple, and Magenta |
Bed | Baby sheep will maintain the color of their parents. Killing a colored sheep will drop one block of colored wool, however since 12w06a, use of regrowth is also renewable.
However, two uses of the respective dye, containing non-renewable Lapis Lazuli (Dye), are required to color the parent sheep. |
Renewable, but exhaust nonrenewable resources
These resources can be made infinitely, but to collect require nonrenewable items with limited durability.
| Resource | Fully renewable products | Method |
|---|---|---|
| Obsidian |
— | Entering a Nether Portal for which there is no matching exit will generate 14 free blocks of obsidian (and 4 more "ledge" blocks if the portal is formed in mid-air). Only mining the corners (and "ledges") will keep the portal active.
However, to harvest obsidian, one would require a pickaxe made from diamond.[note 3] |
| Leaves LeavesLeaves (Pine)Leaves (Birch)Leaves (Jungle) |
SaplingSapling SpruceSapling BirchSapling JungleRed Apple | Trees grow with leaves, and the trees themselves are renewable.
However, to harvest leaves, one would require shears made from iron.[note 3] |
| Tall Grass Tall Grass1Tall Grass2Tall Grass3 |
Bonemeal being used on grass blocks plants tall grass on the ground.
However, to harvest tall grass, one would require shears made from iron. | |
| Vines |
— | Found on jungle trees and swamp trees.
However, to harvest vines, one would require shears made from iron. |
Planned Renewable Resources
These Resources are found ingame, however, aren't completely Renewable until a Future update implements a way to make them renewable. These updates may be discussed in developer tweets/blogs/etc. or in prereleases.
Notes
- ↑ Because saplings have a 1/16 chance to fall from a leaf block, there is a chance that a tree will not drop any saplings. However, the number of generated trees is virtually infinite, making the chance to not get any saplings from destroying all trees negligible.
- ↑ Zombie pigmen can very rarely spawn in the overworld when a pig is struck by lightning, but it is so rare that full renewability of gold without the use of Nether portals is impractical and negligible.
- ↑ a b Can also be harvested with any golden/wooden/stone tool enchanted with Silk Touch. Enchanting itself is renewable, yet requires a single craft of an Enchantment Table.
| Resource | Fully Renewable Products | Method |
|---|---|---|
| Cocoa Beans |
Found in Dungeon Chests, however, they aren't replantable and are only a 1-use item. Jeb is trying to make a way where they can be farmable, like Wheat, and also considering having them drop from jungle trees. |