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A renewable resource is a resource that can be recreated indefinitely in survival without exploiting glitches (as opposed to a non-renewable 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, or in PvP maps, where one would like to obtain resources without having to conquer more land.

The listed fully renewable craftable items are items which can be crafted, smelted, or brewed using only renewable resources. For example, Cookies are renewable as they only require Wheat and Cocoa Beans that can be regrown infinitely, while TNT isn't because it requires Sand, which is not renewable. Anything that is dropped by a monster or animal, besides the Dragon Egg dropped by the Ender Dragon and the Nether Star dropped by the Wither, is renewable because all mobs can respawn and be killed again for more loot. This is not the case for the Ender Dragon, which spawns only once per world, nor the Wither, which requires nonrenewable Soul Sand to spawn.

Brief introduction to methods

There are some main methods to get renewable resources and some item-specific methods. Item-specific methods vary from building a cobblestone generator to harvesting obsidian from portals, so it's very important sometimes to choose non-renewable, but easier and/or safer ways to get them. The methods are listed in increasing difficulty order:

  • Farming - grow it on the dirt or farmland block, breed using renewable resources etc.
  • Craft it using only renewable resource(s)
  • Buy it from villagers
  • Get it as a guaranteed or very probable drop after monster's death
  • Get it as a rare drop after monsters death
  • Find it while fishing

The first three methods are the easiest. They are especially worth using when you want to avoid risk, such as while playing in hardcore mode. The fourth method is normally used to get something that is only possible to get by killing monsters, such as blaze rods, carrots or bone meal. The last two methods are worth using only when there is no other practical choice, as you will really spend a lot of time executing the method before getting what you need.


Renewable Resources

Resource Renewable products Renewable method
Arrows
  • Dropped upon any kind of death of skeletons.
  • Traded with farmer (or fletcher, with minecraft 14w02b or later) villagers.
Blaze Rods
  • Dropped upon death of blazes, if registered as killed by a player.
Bones
Cactus
  • Grown on sand to produce more.
    • They generate in desert biomes.
Carrots
  • Rarely dropped upon death of zombies, if registered as a player kill.
  • Grown on farmland (tilled dirt) to produce more.
    • They also generate in some village farm-fields.
Coal/Charcoal
Cobblestone and Stone
Stone Bricks SlabButton
  • Created (in block form, but is mined with renewable pickaxes) by letting lava flow against or over water.
Cocoa Beans
  • Grown on jungle wood to produce more.
Eggs
  • Dropped (laid) by adult chickens every 5 to 20 minutes.
Ender Pearls
  • Dropped upon any kind of death of endermen.
Experience Orb
File:XP orb animation.gif
See enchanting
Feathers
  • Dropped upon any kind of death of adult chickens.
  • Before beta 1.8 was dropped upon any kind of death of zombies.
Ferns
-
Flowers



  • Short flowers can be created when bone meal is used on grass blocks in the appropriate places in biomes.
  • Tall flowers drop when bonemeal is used on them.
  • Poppies are dropped upon any kind of death of iron golems.
Ghast Tears
  • Dropped upon any kind of death of ghasts.
Glass Bottle
  • Dropped upon any kind of death of witches.
  • Crafted using glass.
Glowstone Dust
Glowstone Block
  • Dropped upon any kind of death of witches
  • Trading for glowstone with priest villagers, and then breaking them.
  • Dropped upon any kind of death of blazes, if registered as killed by the player in the Xbox version.
Gunpowder
Huge Brown Mushroom
Huge Brown MushroomRedMushroomStalk
  • Created by using bone meal on normal mushrooms to grow huge mushrooms (if there is enough space), then broken with a tool that has a silk touch enchantment on it.
Huge Red Mushroom
Huge Red MushroomRedMushroomStalk
  • Created by using bone meal on normal mushrooms to grow huge mushrooms (if there is enough space), then broken with a tool that has a silk touch enchantment on it.
Ice
  • Created by letting water source blocks in cold biomes that turn into ice over time (when there is no block above them), then broken with a tool that has a silk touch enchantment on it.
Ink Sacs
  • Dropped upon any kind of death of squids.
Leather
Magma Cream
Melon Seeds
Melon (Block)
Milk
Brown Mushrooms
Huge Brown MushroomRedMushroomStalk
  • Waiting for normal mushrooms to spread.
  • Using bone meal on normal mushrooms to grow them into huge mushrooms (if there is enough space), then broken with anything.
Red Mushrooms
Huge Red MushroomRedMushroomStalk
  • Waiting for normal mushrooms to spread.
  • Using bone meal on normal mushrooms to grow them into huge mushrooms (if there is enough space), then broken with anything.
  • Shearing mooshrooms for red mushrooms.
Nether Wart
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. Mining only the corners and "ledges" will keep the portal active if desired. More here
  • Entering an End Portal will always generate a 5x5 platform of Obsidian at the same position in the End. In other words, the Obsidian can be mined and the platform will be regenerated next time you enter the End (Note: To leave the End without dying, you will have to defeat the Ender Dragon).
Potatoes
  • Rarely dropped upon death of zombies, if registered as a player kill.
  • Grown on farmland (tilled dirt) to produce more. Sometimes, when breaking fully grown potato crops, poisonous potatoes will drop.
    • They also generate in some village farm-fields.
Pumpkin Seeds
Jack 'o' Lantern
Raw Beef
Raw Chicken
Raw Porkchop
Redstone
Rotten Flesh
Saplings and Trees
Wooden Pressure PlateJack 'o' LanternTrapdoorFenceFence GateWooden DoorSignWooden ButtonBedGold SwordGold PickaxeGold ShovelGold AxeGold Hoe
  • Trees are grown from saplings placed on lit dirt. When broken a leaf block has a 5% chance of dropping a sapling. See tree farming. Charcoal can be obtained by smelting any kind of log in a furnace. Leaves can be obtained by breaking them with shears. Sticks are also dropped upon any kind of death of witches.
Seeds
  • Dropped by breaking tall grass.
  • Grown on farmland (tilled dirt) to produce more.
    • They also generate in some village farm-fields.
Slimeballs
  • Dropped upon any kind of death of slimes.
Snowballs
Snow (cover)
  • Snow (cover) is created above Y90 in cold biomes, or in ice plains/spikes, when it snows. It can then be broken with any shovel to produce snowballs.
  • Snow cover is created by snow golems in certain biomes, when they walk on a block where it can legitimately be placed. It can then be broken with any shovel to produce snowballs.
    • Dropped upon any kind of death of snow golems, but they drop less snowballs than are used to create them.
Spider Eye
String
Bed
Sugar Cane
Tall Grass
Vines
  • Grown on the side of blocks, then broken with shears.
  • Spawns on the sides of 2x2 Jungle Trees grown from saplings.
Water Bucket
  • Created by having 2 water sources in the appropriate spots, then right-clicking (picking it up) with an empty bucket.
Wool
Bed
  • Dropped upon any kind of death of, or by shearing sheep.
  • Crafted with 4 string.
    • White, light gray, gray, black, brown, and pink colors can be found on wildly spawned sheep.
    • Green, lime, red, orange and yellow wool require renewable dyes to produce.

Renewable resources from fishing

Resource Renewable resources Renewable method


Jack 'o' LanternFenceFence GateSignGold SwordGold PickaxeGold ShovelGold AxeGold HoeBed Obtained via fishing

Rare drops

These items are only occasionally dropped by monsters, so getting them quickly or in quantity is normally done by mining, then smelting/crafting non-renewable resources (mob farms being an option).

Resource Renewable Products Renewable Method
Bows
Bows are rarely dropped by skeletons, and can be enchanted with Power I and with an even more rare chance a Power II Bow followed by secondary enchantments. Usually, one would rather craft a bow with renewable sticks and string.
Chainmail Armor
Chain Armor HelmetChain Armor ChestplateChain Armor LeggingsChain Armor Boots
Can regularly be found equipped to Zombies, Zombie Pigmen, and Skeletons. Can also be found being sold by Villagers.
Diamond Armor
Can very, very rarely be found equipped to Zombies, Zombie Pigmen, and Skeletons. More commonly, they can be obtained by trading with villager blacksmiths.
Enchanted items
  • Equipped items rarely dropped by Zombies, Skeletons, or Zombie Pigmen will rarely have enchantments on them (chance increases with difficulty).
  • Enchanted items may be traded from Villagers (Priests in 1.7, Smiths in 1.8).
  • Enchanted Books are renewable by trading with Villagers and Anvils may be made from renewable iron, and many unenchanted items are renewable.
  • A single enchantment table can also be used indefinitely to create enchanted items from renewable items and experience (and, in 1.8, Lapis Lazuli), but creating the table itself requires two non-renewable diamonds.
Gold Nuggets and Gold Ingots
Gold SwordGold PickaxeGold ShovelGold AxeGold HoeGold HelmetGold ChestplateGold LeggingsGold BootsWeighted Pressure Plate (Light) Nuggets are dropped by killed zombie pigmen, ingots as a rare drop.
Gold Swords and Gold Armor
Gold SwordGold HelmetGold ChestplateGold LeggingsGold Boots
Sword is a rare drop of killed zombie pigmen. These swords can be enchanted with any level I and some level II or III sword enchantments. Armor can often be found equipped to Zombies, Zombie Pigmen, and Skeletons.
Iron Ingots
Weighted Pressure Plate (Heavy) Dropped by killed iron golems and rarely dropped by killed zombies.
Iron Swords, Iron Shovels, and Iron Armor
Armor can very rarely be found equipped to Zombies, Zombie Pigmen, and Skeletons. Can be worn/held by zombies, zombie pigmen, and skeletons. Swords and shovels are equipped only to Zombies.
Leather Armor
Can often be found equipped to Zombies, Zombie Pigmen, and Skeletons. Can be worn/held by zombies, zombie pigmen, and skeletons.
Music Discs
13 Disccat Discblocks Discchirp Discfar Discmall Discmellohi Discstal Discstrad Discward DiscWait Disc11 Disc
Dropped only when a skeleton kills a creeper. It doesn't matter who dealt most of the damage, as long as the final blow is dealt by the arrow of the skeleton.
Wither Skeleton Skulls
Wither Skeleton Skulls are a rare drop of Wither Skeletons. The other heads are currently creative only.

Tradable

Resources that in normal circumstances would be non-renewable, except that they can be obtained through trading with villagers.

Resource Renewable Products Renewable Method
Bottle o' Enchanting
File:XP orb animation.gif Obtained by trading with villager Priests.
Diamond Tools
Obtained by trading with villager Blacksmiths.
Emerald
Main articles: Trading and Villager

Obtained by trading renewable items to villagers, such as raw chicken. These can be used to buy other things from villagers, including resources that are otherwise non-renewable, like glass. Villagers never run out of stock (but their selling offers may vary), and they can be "bred", making villagers themselves renewable.

Enchanted Books
Enchanted items Obtained by trading with villager Librarians. Enchanted Books can also be caught when fishing. A single enchantment table can also be used indefinitely to create enchanted books from renewable books and experience (and, in 1.8, Lapis Lazuli), but creating the table itself requires two non-renewable diamonds.
Enchanted
Up to level 19
Obtained by trading with villager Priests.
Flint and Steel
Obtained by trading with villager Farmers.
Glass



Obtained by trading with villager librarians. Glass bottles can be utilized to make potions. With redstone and glowstone bought from priests, extended potions and level II potions can also be brewed renewably. Glass bottles are also dropped by killed Witches.
Saddle
Obtained by trading with villager Butchers.

Renewable, but require non-renewable resources

These resources can be made infinitely, but require one use of a non-renewable items/resources.

Resource Renewable products Renewable method
Wool - Blue, Cyan, and Purple
Bed Sheep will regrow their wool by eating Grass from Dirt blocks, and can thus be shorn multiple times. Indeed, by breeding two sheep of a color one can create an infinite number of re-shearable sheep. However, a single unit of the respective dye, containing non-renewable Lapis Lazuli, is required to color the initial sheep. (As of the upcoming 1.8 version, Lapis Lazuli will be sold by villagers, making it renewable)

Planned Renewable Resources

These items are renewable, however, they are only in snapshots and prereleases. An official update has yet to display them.

Resource Renewable Products Renewable Method
Armor Stand
Made by crafting stone-type Slabs and Sticks. (Only renewable if crafted out of renewable slab)
Banners
Crafted with wool and sticks, then modified with renewable dyes, Oxeye Daisies and mob heads. Brick pattern banners are renewable by copying, but initially consume one brick block.
Doors
Crafted with planks
Fences
Crafted with planks and sticks
Fence Gates
Crafted with planks and sticks
Iron Trapdoors
Craftable using Iron Ingots
Lapis Lazuli
Obtained by trading with a cleric villager.
Mob Heads
Mob heads are dropped by their respective mobs when killed by charged Creepers. Wither Skeleton Skulls are also dropped as a rare drop from Wither Skeletons.
Moss Stone
Crafted using Cobblestone and Vines.
Prismarine Shards
PrismarineSea Lantern Dropped upon any kind of death of Guardians.
Prismarine Crystals
Sea Lantern Dropped upon any kind of death of Guardians.
Rabbit Hide
Dropped upon any kind of death of a rabbit
Rabbit's Foot
Rarely dropped upon death of a rabbit, if registered as a player kill
Raw Mutton
Dropped upon any kind of death of a sheep
Raw Rabbit
Dropped upon any kind of death of a rabbit
Slime Blocks
Craftable using Slimeballs
Stone Bricks
Stone Bricks Slab Made respectively by crafting Stone Bricks Slabs, or Stone Bricks and Vines, or smelting Stone Bricks.

Planned Non-Renewable Resources

These items are renewable, however, in snapshots and prereleases they are no longer renewable. An official update has yet to change them.

Resource Renewable Products Non-renewable Reason
Diamond Shovel

Diamond Hoe
Can no longer be traded by Villager Blacksmiths, and Diamonds are not renewable.
Flint and Steel
Can no longer be traded by Villager Farmers, and Flint is not renewable.

Video

Renewable resource/video

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