Coal

This article is about the item. For the ore, see Coal Ore. For the mineral block, see Block of Coal. For the smelted wood, see Charcoal.

Coal

Rarity color	Common
Renewable	Yes
Stackable	Yes (64)

Coal is an item mainly obtained by harvesting coal ore blocks. It is used as fuel, for crafting torches and campfires, or for trading with villagers. Coal and charcoal cannot stack together.

Obtaining

Natural generation

See also: Coal Ore § Natural generation

Item	Structure	Container	Quantity	Chance
Java Edition
Coal	Dungeon	Chest	1–4	26.6%
	Mineshaft	Chest	3–8	31.6%
	Igloo	Chest	1–4	70.4%
	Shipwreck	Supply chest	2–8	40%
	Stronghold	Storeroom chest	3–8	34.3%
	Underwater ruins	Small ruins chest	1–4	84.2%
		Big ruins chest	1–4	81%
	Village	Butcher's chest	1–3	27.9%
		Toolsmith's chest	1–3	9.9%
		Fisherman's chest	1–3	43%
		Snowy house chest	1–4	41.2%
	Woodland mansion	Chest	1–4	26.6%
Bedrock Edition
Coal	Dungeon	Chest	1–4	26.6%
	Mineshaft	Chest	3–8	31.6%
	Igloo	Chest	1–4	70.4%
	Shipwreck	Supply chest	2–8	40%
	Stronghold	Storeroom chest	3–8	28.5%
	Underwater ruins	Big ruins chest	1–4	81%
		Small ruins chest	1–4	84.2%
	Village	Snowy house chest	1–4	41.2%
		Toolsmith's chest	1–3	9.9%
		Butcher's chest	1–3	27.9%
	Woodland mansion	Chest	1–4	26.6%

Breaking

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.

Mob loot

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.

Crafting

Name	Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Coal	Block of Coal	9

Smelting

Ingredients	Smelting recipe
Coal Ore + Any fuel	0.1

Usage

Crafting ingredient

Name	Ingredients	Crafting recipe	Description
Block of Coal	Coal
Campfire	Stick + Coal + Any Log or Stem or Any Stripped Log or Stem or Any Wood or Hyphae or Any Stripped Wood or Hyphae
Fire Charge	Blaze Powder + Coal + Gunpowder	3
Gunpowder	Coal + Sulfur + Bone Meal	3	‌[Bedrock and Education editions only]
Soul Torch	Coal + Stick + Soul Soil or Soul Sand	4
Torch	Coal + Stick	4
Torch	Coal + Stick	4

Fuel

When used in a furnace as a fuel, a piece of coal lasts 80 seconds (smelting up to 8 items), like charcoal. Coal 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

Novice-level fisherman villagers have a 50% chance to buy 10 coal for an emerald.

In Java Edition, novice-level armorer and toolsmith villagers have a 40% chance of offering to buy 15 coal for one emerald. Novice-level weaponsmith villagers and apprentice-level butcher villagers have ²⁄₃ chance of offering to buy 15 coal for one emerald.

In Bedrock Edition, novice-level armorer, toolsmith, and weaponsmith villagers and apprentice-level butcher villagers buy 15 coal for an emerald.

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Namespaced ID	Item tags (JE)	Translation key
Coal	coal	coals	item.minecraft.coal

Bedrock Edition: ^{[until BE 1.16.100]}

Name	Namespaced ID	Numeric ID	Translation key
Coal	coal	263	item.coal.name item.charcoal.name

‌^{[upcoming: BE 1.16.100]}

Name	Namespaced ID	Alias ID (BE)	Numeric ID	Translation key
Coal	coal	None	263	item.coal.name
Charcoal	charcoal	coal / 1	263	item.charcoal.name

Item data

In Bedrock Edition coal uses the following data values:

	DV	Description
	0	Coal
	1	Charcoal

Achievements

Icon		Achievement	In-game description	Actual requirements (if different)	Gamerscore earned	Trophy type (PS)
		Renewable Energy	Smelt wood trunks using charcoal to make more charcoal.	Smelt a wooden log with charcoal as the fuel.	10G	Bronze

History

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 28, 2010			Added coal.
					Mining coal ore blocks drops 2-5 pieces of coal.
		January 29, 2010			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 been changed.
Java Edition Beta
1.8		Pre-release			Coal can now be found in the new abandoned mineshaft chests and stronghold storeroom chests.
Java Edition
1.0.0		?			Coal can be now obtained by smelting coal ore.
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.
		1.3			The texture of coal and charcoal have been changed.
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.
1.8		14w02a			Fisherman, armorer, tool smith, weapon smith and butcher villagers now buy 16–24 coal for 1 emerald.
1.9		15w43a			Coal may now be found in igloo basement chests.
		15w44a			The average yield of coal 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 now generates in shipwreck chests.
1.14		18w43a			The textures of coal and charcoal have 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.
0.8.0		build 2			The texture of coal and charcoal have been changed.
					Coal can now be crafted to make a block of coal.
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
		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.
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 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.
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.
?					The texture of coal and charcoal has been changed.
		1.90			The textures of coal and charcoal have been changed.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					Added coal and charcoal.

Issues

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

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