Minecraft Wiki

The Minecraft Wiki has moved from Fandom; see the linked discussion page for details.

READ MORE

Minecraft Wiki
Advertisement

Information icon
This feature is exclusive to Java Edition and Bedrock Edition. 

Written books are an item created after a book and quill is signed. It appears as the same red book, but without the quill, and has an enchanted-looking glint.

Obtaining

Signing a book and quill

Written books can be obtained by signing a book and quill. After it has been signed, it can not be edited again. The label does not say "Written Book", but what the player titles it. It will say the title on the top line of the label, and "by <player>" on the bottom. <player> is the username of the player who signed the book. In the Pocket Edition, this is customizable without commands.

Copying

Ingredients Crafting recipe Description
Book and Quill +
Written Book
Written Book
Written BookWritten Book2Written Book3Written Book4Written Book5Written Book6Written Book7Written Book8
The input written book is not consumed.
The new copies will be "Copy of Original" or "Copy of Copy", depending on whether the input written book is "Original" or "Copy of Original".
Copies of copies cannot be copied.
Copied books of the same generation ("Original", "Copy of Original", "Copy of Copy", or "Tattered") will stack.

Usage

Written books can be opened by right-clicking (or holding down on the screen on the Pocket Edition), and will display a GUI allowing you to read it or turn the page.

The contents of a book are an extra set of data attached to the item. This means that when a book is destroyed, its contents are lost with it.

Trading

Two written books can be traded to a librarian villager for 1 emerald as part of their tier 3 trades. The two books must be stacked (and therefore must be identical); despite the trading interface having two slots, the villager will not trade for one book in each slot.

Data values

Written books have a data value of 387, and the ID name minecraft:written_book. They use their item data to determine the contents and some other properties of the book.

Item data

Written Book/DV

History

release
1.3.112w17aAdded written books.
12w21aWritten books can now be sold to librarian villagers, at 1 written book for 1 emerald.
1.7.213w36aWritten books can now be cloned the same way maps can, but by using Book and Quills instead of Empty Maps. Multiple copies of the same written book can be cloned by putting more book and quills in the crafting grid.
Written books can also be stacked (up to 16 per stack).
1.814w02aTrading changed: librarian villagers now buy 2 written books for 1 emerald.
14w05aCopying written books will now mark them as "Copy of Original" or "Copy of Copy". The copying status of a book is denoted in a separate line in the tooltip, beneath the author's name. Copies of copies cannot be copied.
1.915w33cA written book titled "Work in Progress" generates within a hopper as a part of the end ship in the end cities. It reads: "We will have something else here soon..." and is signed by Searge.
15w41aEnd ships no longer contain a written book.

Trivia

  • When written books are obtained with commands (without the correct data tag), the label will only show "Written Book" and will have the text "*Invalid book tag*" when opened. The book is signed and cannot be edited without commands.
  • Commands which were added to a written book using serialized JSON objects will be executed through the chat system. This means that any command added to a written book can't be longer than 256 characters, which is the maximum chat line limit.

Gallery

Issues

Issues relating to "Written Book" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

See also


Advertisement