Coal
This article is about the item. For the ore, see Coal Ore. For the mineral block, see Block of Coal.Coal is an item mainly obtained by harvesting coal ore blocks. It is used as fuel, for crafting torches, or for trading with villagers.
Charcoal is an alternative to coal obtained from smelting logs or wood. It has the same uses as normal coal, except that it cannot be traded with villagers or crafted into a block of coal. Coal and charcoal also cannot stack together.
Contents
Obtaining[edit]
The main difference between coal and charcoal is in how they are obtained.
Mining[edit]
Coal ore mined using a pickaxe drops 1 unit of coal. If the pickaxe is enchanted with Fortune, it may drop an extra unit per level of Fortune, up to a maximum of 4 with Fortune III.
Crafting[edit]
| Name | Ingredients | Crafting recipe |
|---|---|---|
| Coal | Block of Coal |
Compound creation[edit]
Charcoal can be created from its base elements, using the compound creator.[Bedrock and Education editions only]
| Name | Elements | Example recipe |
|---|---|---|
| Charcoal | 7 Carbon 4 Hydrogen 1 Oxygen |
Smelting[edit]
| Name | Ingredients | Smelting recipe |
|---|---|---|
| Coal | Coal Ore + Any fuel |
|
| Charcoal | Any Overworld Log or Any Overworld Stripped Log or Any Overworld Wood or Any Overworld Stripped Wood + Any fuel |
Wither skeletons[edit]
Wither skeletons have a 1⁄3 chance of dropping a single coal upon death. The maximum amount of coal is increased by 1 per level of Looting. The chance of a wither skeleton not dropping any coal can be found using the formula 2 / (Looting Level + 3). For example, Looting III gives a 1⁄3 chance of not dropping any coal. All other amounts have an equal chance of occurring.
Natural generation[edit]
Coal can be found in 43.0% of village fisherman chests, 9.9% of village toolsmith chests, and 27.9% of village butcher chests, all in stacks of 1–3; in 40.0% of shipwreck supply chests in stacks of 2–8; in 81.0% of big underwater ruins chests, 84.2% of small underwater ruins chests, 26.6% of dungeon chests, 70.4% of igloo chests, 41.2% of snowy village house chests, and 26.6% of woodland mansion chests, all in stacks of 1–4; and in 34.3% of stronghold storeroom chests and 31.6% of chest minecarts in Mineshafts in stacks of 3–8.
In Bedrock Edition, they can be found in 28.5% of stronghold storeroom chests in stacks of 3–8.
Campfires[edit]
A campfire broken without the silk touch enchantment drops 2 charcoal.
Usage[edit]
Crafting ingredient[edit]
| Name | Ingredients | Crafting recipe | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Block of Coal | Coal | ||
| Campfire | Stick + Coal or Charcoal + Any Log or Any Stripped Log or Any Wood or Any Stripped Wood or Any Stem or Any Stripped Stem or Any Hyphae or Any Stripped Hyphae |
||
| Fire Charge | Blaze Powder + Coal or Charcoal + Gunpowder |
||
| Soul Fire Torch | Coal or Charcoal + Stick + Soul Soil |
[upcoming: JE 1.16 & BE 1.16.0] | |
| Torch | Coal or Charcoal + Stick |
Lab table ingredient[edit]
Charcoal is one of the lab table ingredients needed to produce the heat block.[Bedrock and Education editions only]
| Result | Materials Needed |
|---|---|
 Heat Block |
|
Fuel[edit]
When used in a furnace as a fuel, a coal lump or piece of charcoal lasts 80 seconds (smelting up to 8 items). Coal/charcoal used as fuel lasts more than 5 times longer than wood planks or wood logs used as fuel, being more efficient than any other use of wood for smelting in Java Edition, but outstripped by wooden slabs in Bedrock.
Coal and charcoal are also the only fuels accepted by powered minecarts. They provide approximately four minutes of transit each.
Trading[edit]
In Bedrock Edition, novice-level armorer, toolsmith, and weaponsmith villagers buy 15 coal for an emerald. Apprentice-level butcher villagers buy 15 coal for an emerald. Novice-level fisherman villagers have a 50% chance to buy 10 coal for an emerald.
In Java Edition, novice-level armorer, toolsmith, and weaponsmith villagers have a 40% chance of offering to buy 15 coal for one emerald. Apprentice-level butcher villagers have 2⁄3 chance of offering to buy 15 coal for one emerald. Novice-level fisherman villagers have a 50% chance of offering to buy 10 coal for one emerald.
Data values[edit]
ID[edit]
| Item | Namespaced ID |
|---|---|
| Coal | coal
|
| Charcoal | charcoal
|
| Item | Namespaced ID | Numeric ID |
|---|---|---|
| Coal | coal
|
263 |
Achievements[edit]
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Xbox points earned | Trophy type (PS) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Renewable Energy | Smelt wood logs using charcoal to make more charcoal. | — | 10G | Bronze |
History[edit]
| Java Edition Classic | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 2009 | Notch shows interest in adding coal, commenting that it might be combined with iron ore to make steel. | ||||
| Java Edition Indev | |||||
| 0.31 | January 29, 2010 |  Added coal.
| |||
| Mining coal ore blocks drops 2-5 pieces of coal. | |||||
| Coal can be used to craft torches. | |||||
| ? | Mining coal ore now drops 1 piece of coal (down from 2-5). | ||||
| February 19, 2010 |  The texture of coal has now been changed. | ||||
| Java Edition Beta | |||||
| December 25, 2010 | Charcoal is suggested to Notch by @Moleculor on Twitter as a writing implement. | ||||
| 1.2 | Added charcoal, with the same texture as coal.
| ||||
| Charcoal is not used as a writing implement. | |||||
| 1.8 | Pre-release | Coal can now be found in the new abandoned mineshaft chests and stronghold storeroom chests. | |||
| Java Edition | |||||
| 1.2.1 | 12w04a | Coal and charcoal are now used to craft fire charges. | |||
| 1.3.1 | 12w21a | Blacksmith and butcher villagers now buy 16–23 of either coal or charcoal for 1 emerald. | |||
| 1.4.2 | 12w36a | Coal is now dropped by wither skeletons, making it renewable. | |||
| 1.6.1 | 13w18a | Coal can now be used to craft coal blocks. | |||
| 13w19a |  The texture of charcoal has now been changed. | ||||
| 1.8 | 14w02a | Fisherman, armorer, tool smith, weapon smith and butcher villagers now buy 16–24 coal for 1 emerald. | |||
| Charcoal can no longer be traded from villagers. | |||||
| 1.9 | 15w43a | Coal may now be found in igloo basement chests. | |||
| 15w44a | The average yield of coal from mineshaft chests has now been decreased, and added to dungeon chests. | ||||
| 1.11 | 16w39a | Coal can now be found in the new woodland mansion chests. | |||
| 1.13 | 17w47a | The different data values for the coal ID have now been split up into their own IDs.
| |||
| Prior to The Flattening, this item's numeral ID was 263. | |||||
| 18w09a | Coal can now be found in the loot chests of underwater ruins. | ||||
| 18w11a | Coal now generates in shipwreck chests. | ||||
| 1.14 | 18w43a |   The textures of coal and charcoal have now been changed. | |||
| 19w02a | Coal and charcoal can now be used to craft campfires. Destroying a campfire returns 2 charcoal. | ||||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| 0.3.0 | Added coal.
| ||||
| Coal can be used to craft torches. | |||||
| 0.3.2 | Added charcoal. | ||||
| 0.8.0 | build 2 | Coal can now be crafted to make a block of coal.[is this the correct version?] | |||
| 0.8.1 | The texture of charcoal has now been changed. | ||||
| 0.12.1 | build 1 | Coal is now dropped by wither skeletons. | |||
| 0.14.0 | build 1 | Coal can now be found inside chest minecarts in abandoned mineshafts. | |||
| 0.15.0 | build 1 | Coal and charcoal are now used to craft fire charges. | |||
| Pocket Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 | alpha 0.17.0.1 | Coal can now be found in the stronghold storeroom chests. | |||
| Coal may now be found in igloo basement chests. | |||||
| 1.0.4 | alpha 1.0.4.0 | Fisherman, armorer, toolsmith, weaponsmith and butcher villagers now buy 16–24 coal for 1 emerald. | |||
| 1.1.0 | alpha 1.1.0.0 | Coal is now found in woodland mansion chests. | |||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.4.0 | beta 1.2.13.8 | Added stripped log variants, which can be smelted to obtain charcoal. | |||
| beta 1.2.14.2 | Coal can now be found inside shipwreck chests. | ||||
| beta 1.2.20.1 | Coal can now be found inside underwater ruins chests. | ||||
| Charcoal now can be crafted using 7 Carbon, 4 Hydrogen, and an Oxygen in a compound creator. | |||||
| Charcoal can now be used in the lab table to create a heat block. | |||||
| 1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | Coal and charcoal can now be used to craft campfires. Destroying a campfire returns 2 charcoal. | |||
| The textures of coal and charcoal have now been changed. | |||||
| 1.11.0 | beta 1.11.0.1 | Coal can now be found in snowy tundra village house chests and in village butcher and toolsmith chests. | |||
| beta 1.11.0.4 | Armorer, weaponsmith, toolsmith, and butcher villagers now buy 15 coal for an emerald. | ||||
| Fishermen villagers now have a 50% chance to buy 10 coal for an emerald as part of their first tier trade. | |||||
| Upcoming Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.16.0 | beta 1.16.0.51 | Coal and charcoal are now used to craft soul fire torches. | |||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU1 | CU1 | 1.0 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | Added coal and charcoal. |
| TU19 | CU7 | 1.12 | The texture of charcoal has now been changed. | ||
| 1.90 | The textures of coal and charcoal have now been changed. | ||||
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||
| 0.1.0 | Added coal and charcoal. | ||||
Issues[edit]
Issues relating to "Coal" or "Charcoal" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
