Renewable resource
A renewable resource (as opposed to a non-renewable, or finite resource) is a resource that can be recreated indefinitely in survival without exploiting glitches or using cheat commands. While running completely out of resources isn't likely to be a factor in normal worlds due to the massive size of a Minecraft map, only some resources can be produced over and over without having to explore more terrain. Running out of resources can be a bigger issue on superflat worlds, where resources are less plentiful, in PvP maps, where one would like to obtain resources without having to conquer more land, or simply if the accessible portion of the map is limited.
The listed fully renewable craftable items are items that can be crafted, smelted, or brewed using only renewable resources. For example, cookies are renewable as they require only wheat and cocoa beans which can be regrown infinitely.
Most things dropped by animals or monsters are renewable because more mobs of the same kind can spawn and be killed again for more loot. The exceptions are drops of the wither, which requires non-renewable soul sand to spawn and of enemies that spawn just once with the generation of specific structures; elder guardians (three spawn with each ocean monument) and shulkers (in end cities). Drops of hostile mobs are not renewable on peaceful difficulty because the monsters don't spawn.
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Renewably obtaining items[edit]
Many resources are renewably obtainable using certain main methods, such as farming. Others are obtainable by unusual item-specific methods, which can vary from building a cobblestone generator to harvesting obsidian from portals to collecting dragon breath into a bottle. The renewable method to obtain an item isn't necessarily the easiest, fastest or safest, and may in some cases be highly impractical.
The most common methods for renewably obtaining items, ordered by roughly increasing effort are:
- Farming - grow it on the dirt or farmland, breed using renewable resources, etc.
- Crafting/Smelting/Brewing using only renewable resource(s)
- Common drops from dead mobs.
- Trading with villagers
- Fishing
- Rare mob drops.
The first three methods are often the most practical ways to obtain the items which can be obtained by using them.
Most items obtainable by the fourth and fifth methods are obtainable in some other way, which may be easier or of comparable difficulty, but may not be renewable, they are especially worth using when the player wants to avoid the risk of mining, such as while playing in hardcore mode.
Grinding for rare drops is rarely practical unless there is no other option, as the player must kill many mobs to obtain the desired drops.
Renewable[edit]
Renewable items can be obtained through methods other than trading or rare drops.
| Resource | Renewable products | Renewable sources |
|---|---|---|
| Arrow |
| |
| Bamboo |
||
| Banners |
||
| Beetroot Seeds |
| |
| Blaze Rod |
|
|
| Bone |
| |
| Bucket of Fish |
| |
| Cactus |
| |
| Carrot |
||
| Chainmail Armor |
|
|
| Chorus Flower |
| |
| Coal and Charcoal |
| |
| Cobblestone and Stone |
|
|
| Cocoa Beans |
Grown on jungle wood | |
| Coral and Coral Fans |
| |
| Dragon's Breath |
Obtained by using a glass bottle on the ender dragon's breath | |
| Egg |
||
| Emerald |
| |
| Ender Pearl |
||
| Enchanted Book |
| |
| End Stone |
| |
Experience Orb
|
See Enchanting and Repairing and renaming items |
|
| Feather |
||
| Ferns and Grass |
||
| Flowers |
| |
| Ghast Tear |
Dropped by ghasts | |
| Glass Bottle |
| |
| Glowstone Dust |
| |
| Gold Ingot |
| |
| Gold Nugget |
| |
| Gunpowder |
| |
| Ice |
Forms from water source blocks in cold biomes or at high altitudes that have air above them, obtained using a tool enchanted with Silk Touch | |
| Honey Bottle |
||
| Honeycomb |
||
| Ink Sac |
||
| Iron Ingot |
|
|
| Iron Bars |
— |
|
| Kelp |
| |
| Leather |
| |
| Lily Pad |
— |
|
| Magma Cream |
|
|
| Melon Seeds |
| |
| Milk |
| |
| Brown Mushroom |
| |
| Red Mushroom |
| |
| Name Tag |
— | |
| Nautilus Shell |
— |
|
| Nether Wart |
Grown on soul sand | |
| Obsidian |
| |
| Ominous Banner |
— |
|
| Phantom Membrane |
||
| Potato |
||
| Prismarine Shard |
    
|
Dropped by guardians |
| Prismarine Crystals |
|
Dropped by guardians |
| Pufferfish |
| |
| Pumpkin Seeds |
| |
| Rabbit Hide |
||
| Rabbit's Foot |
||
| Raw Beef |
Dropped by cows and mooshrooms | |
| Raw Chicken |
||
| Raw Cod |
| |
| Raw Mutton |
Dropped by sheep. | |
| Raw Porkchop |
Dropped by pigs | |
| Raw Rabbit |
Dropped by rabbits | |
| Raw Salmon |
| |
| Redstone |
| |
| Rotten Flesh |
— |
|
| Saddle |
— | |
| Saplings |
| |
| Scute |
| |
| Seagrass |
— | |
| Sea Pickle |
| |
| Slimeball |
|
|
| Snowball |
| |
| Spider Eye |
| |
| Stick |
||
| String |
| |
| Sugar Cane |
| |
| Sugar |
| |
| Sweet Berries |
— |
|
| Totem of Undying |
— | |
| Tropical Fish |
— |
|
| Turtle Egg |
| |
| Vines |
| |
| Water Bucket |
||
| Wheat Seeds |
||
| Wool |
Tradable[edit]
These items are renewable through trading with villagers or the Wandering Trader, or as rare drops from mobs, and not by other methods.
| Resource | Renewable products | Renewable sources |
|---|---|---|
| Bell |
— | |
| Block of Quartz |
||
| Bottle o' Enchanting |
|
|
| Brick |
| |
| Coral Blocks |
Obtained by trading with a wandering trader. | |
| Diamond gear |
— | |
| Glass |
||
| Lapis Lazuli |
| |
| Large Fern |
Obtained by trading with a wandering trader. | |
| Podzol |
| |
| Polished Stone Blocks |
||
| Red Sand |
Obtained by trading with a wandering trader. | |
| Stained Terracotta |
|
Rare drops[edit]
These items are considered rare drops or are obtained by a mob dying in a unique way. For some of these items, this is the only way to obtain them; otherwise this is the only renewable way to obtain them. Rare drops do not include any item the mob picked up after spawning. Mob farms are an option for obtaining rare drops more easily.
| Resource | Renewable products | Renewable sources |
|---|---|---|
| Mob Heads |
| |
| Music Discs |
— |
Dropped by creepers when a skeleton or stray deals the final blow |
| Trident |
— |
|
All status effects which can be legitimately obtained in Survival are also renewable.
Java Edition[edit]
Most resources are as renewable in the Java Edition, as they are in the Bedrock Edition. The resources, which are renewable in Java Edition, but aren't in Bedrock are listed here, for the ones which are non-renewable in Java Edition, but renewable in Bedrock, see the Non-renewable resource page. The product list include only renewable products that aren't renewable in other editions.
| Resource | Renewable products | Renewable sources |
|---|---|---|
| Banner Pattern |
— | |
| Clay |
| |
| Sand |
Obtained by trading with a wandering trader. |
Bedrock Edition[edit]
Most resources are as renewable in the Bedrock Edition as they are in the Java Edition. The resources which are renewable in Bedrock Edition, but not in Java, are listed here. For the ones which are non-renewable in Bedrock Edition, but renewable in Java, see the Non-renewable resource page.
| Resource | Renewable products | Renewable sources |
|---|---|---|
| Arrow of Decay |
— | Obtained by trading with fletcher villagers. |
| Banner Patterns |
— | |
| Grass Path |
— |
In Bedrock Edition, grass paths drop themselves when mined with Silk Touch. |
| Netherrack |
The Platform generated when a nether portal is generated in the air contains netherrack in addition to the obsidian that would be there normally in the Bedrock edition. It is possible to break all the blocks of that portal, and go back through on the nether end, and it generates another platform, making the netherrack there renewable. |
Video[edit]
Trivia[edit]
- Although wither roses are technically renewable, they are very dangerous to obtain renewably; the player would need to spawn the wither without killing it.
- Using certain glitches, most non-renewable items can be obtained indefinitely; see Tutorials/Block and item duplication. However, the use of such glitches are not considered a renewable method.
- In addition to the items listed, Experience and all status effects and enchantments that can be obtained in survival are also renewable.
