Coal
This article is about the coal lump and charcoal item. For other uses, see Coal (disambiguation).Coal lumps are items mainly obtained by harvesting coal ore blocks. Their main uses are as a fuel or crafting torches.
Charcoal is an alternative to coal obtained from smelting logs or wood. It has the same uses as normal coal, except 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 the methods of obtaining.
Mining[edit]
Coal ore mined using a pickaxe will drop 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 Log or Any Stripped Log or Any Wood or Any Stripped Wood + Any fuel |
Wither skeletons[edit]
Wither skeletons have a 1⁄3 chance of dropping a coal lump upon death, and amounts and chances increases by the Looting enchantment.
Natural generation[edit]
Coal can be found 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, and 26.6% of woodland mansion chests, all in stacks of 1–4; in 45.4% of shipwreck supply chests in stacks of 2–8; and in 34.3% of stronghold storeroom chests and 31.6% of chest minecarts in abandoned mineshafts in stacks of 3–8. In 1.14[upcoming] they can be found in 41.2% of village house chests in stacks of 1–4, in 40.0% of shipwreck supply chests in stacks of 2–8, and in 27.9% of village butcher chests in stacks of 1–3.
In Bedrock Edition, they can be found in 28.5% of stronghold storeroom chests in stacks of 3–8. Coal can also be found in a toolsmith's chest in villages.[upcoming: BE 1.11]
Campfires[edit]
Campfires broken without the silk touch enchantment will drop 2 charcoal.[upcoming: JE 1.14]
Usage[edit]
Crafting ingredient[edit]
| Name | Ingredients | Crafting recipe |
|---|---|---|
| Block of Coal | Coal | |
| Block of Coal Revision 1 | Coal | |
| Campfire | Stick + Coal or Charcoal + Any Log or Any Stripped Log or Any Wood or Any Stripped Wood |
|
| Fire Charge | Blaze Powder + Coal or Charcoal + Gunpowder |
|
| 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 (which smelts up to 8 items). Coal/charcoal used as fuel lasts more than 5 times longer than wood planks or wood logs used as fuel.
Coal and charcoal are also the only fuels accepted by powered minecarts. They provide approximately four minutes of transit each.
Trading[edit]
Villager fishermen, armorers, toolsmiths and weaponsmiths buy 16-24 coal for one emerald as part of their first tier trades. Butchers buy 16-24 coal for one emerald as part of their second tier trades.[until BE 1.11]
Armorer, toolsmith, and weaponsmith villagers buy 15 coal for an emerald as part of their first tier trades. Butcher villagers buy 15 coal for an emerald as part of their second tier trades. Fisherman villagers have a 50% chance to buy 10 coal for an emerald as part of their first tier trade.[upcoming: BE 1.11]
Data values[edit]
ID[edit]
| Item | Name ID |
|---|---|
| Coal | coal
|
| Charcoal | charcoal
|
| Item | Name ID | Numeric ID |
|---|---|---|
| Coal | coal
|
263 |
Achievements[edit]
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Availability | Xbox points earned | Trophy type (PS) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xbox | PS | Bedrock | Nintendo | ||||||
| Renewable Energy | Smelt wood trunks using charcoal to make more charcoal. | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 10G | Bronze | ||
Video[edit]
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, which can be mined from coal ore blocks. | |||
| Coal can be used to craft torches. | |||||
| February 19, 2010 | Coal texture has been changed. | ||||
| Java Edition Beta | |||||
| December 25, 2010 | Charcoal is suggested to Notch by @Moleculor as a writing implement. | ||||
| 1.2 | Charcoal has been added, with the same texture as coal. It is not used as a writing implement. | ||||
| 1.8 | Pre-release | Coal can 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 will 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 | Changed the charcoal texture. | ||||
| 1.8 | 14w02a | Fisherman, armorer, tool smith, weapon smith and butcher villagers will now buy 16–24 coal for 1 emerald. | |||
| Charcoal can now no longer be traded from villagers. | |||||
| 1.9 | 15w43a | Coal may now be found in igloo basement chests. | |||
| 15w44a | The average yield from mineshaft chests has 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 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 will now generate in shipwreck chests. | ||||
| Upcoming Java Edition | |||||
| 1.14 | 18w43a |   Changed the textures of coal and charcoal. | |||
| 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, which 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.[needs testing] | |||
| 0.8.1 | Changed the charcoal texture. | ||||
| 0.12.1 | build 1 | Coal is now dropped by wither skeletons. | |||
| 0.14.0 | build 1 | Coal can 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. | |||
| Changed the textures of coal and charcoal. | |||||
| Upcoming Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 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. | |||||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU1 | CU1 | 1.0 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | Added coal and charcoal. |
| TU19 | CU7 | 1.12 | Changed charcoal texture. | ||
| 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.
