To make a campfire in Minecraft, put three logs, three sticks and one lump of coal or charcoal into a crafting table grid and take the campfire out.
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Charcoal smelted from a log replaces the coal, soul sand or soul soil from the Nether makes a soul campfire, and taiga and snowy taiga villages already have campfires in them.
The fastest way to make a campfire in Minecraft
The recipe book lays the ingredients out for you, so you never need to memorize the grid.
- Collect three logs, three sticks and one lump of coal or charcoal.
- Place a crafting table and open it to get the 3×3 grid.
- Open the recipe book and search for campfire.
- Select the campfire so the ingredients fill the grid; anything you are missing is highlighted in red.
- Take the campfire from the output slot, put it in your hotbar and place it on the ground.
Resources required to make a campfire
| Ingredient | How many | How to get it |
|---|---|---|
| Logs | 3 | Punch or chop a tree; the wood blocks float around you and are collected when you walk over them |
| Sticks | 3 | Craft two planks arranged one above the other; two bamboo in the same layout also makes sticks |
| Coal or charcoal | 1 | Mine coal with a pickaxe from coal veins, or smelt a log in a furnace to get charcoal |
| Crafting table | 1 (reusable) | Craft four planks in a square; one wood block makes four planks |
| Pickaxe | 1 (tool) | Craft two sticks and three planks into a wooden pickaxe; it mines coal, or the stone you need for a furnace |
Sticks also drop from dead bushes and decaying leaves, and they turn up in some village chests, which helps if you spawn somewhere without trees.
How to craft a campfire in Minecraft from scratch
Starting from an empty inventory, everything except the coal comes from trees, and a pickaxe is the only tool you need. Campfires sit right at the bottom of the tech tree, so you can make one almost from the very start of a new world.
- Punch a tree for wood blocks; keep three as logs for the campfire and turn the rest into planks.
- Open your inventory, put one wood block in the crafting grid and select Craft to get four planks.
- Craft the four planks in a square to make a crafting table, then place it.
- Turn more wood blocks into planks and craft two planks stacked vertically into sticks until you have five: three for the campfire and two for a pickaxe.
- Craft a wooden pickaxe from two sticks and three planks at the crafting table.
- Mine one lump of coal with the pickaxe; coal veins are usually below a certain height, in caves or underground, and sometimes visible on the surface. With no coal in sight, make charcoal instead (next section).
- Open the crafting table, select the campfire in the recipe book and collect it.
- Place the campfire where you want it.
How to make a campfire with charcoal instead of coal
Charcoal replaces coal in the campfire recipe, and it comes from logs, so you do not need to find a coal vein. The furnace that makes it still costs eight cobblestone.
- Mine stone with a wooden pickaxe until you have eight cobblestone, then craft a furnace from them at the crafting table.
- Open the furnace and put a log in it as the item to smelt.
- Add two sticks as fuel; two sticks fully cook one log into one charcoal.
- Collect the charcoal and use it in the campfire recipe in place of coal.
- Use one charcoal as fuel to cook eight more logs if you want a stock for torches as well.
Should you make a campfire or a soul campfire?
| Your situation | Make this | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You are in the Overworld early in the game | Campfire (coal or charcoal) | Every ingredient comes from trees or a coal vein, and it gives light level 15 |
| You have soul sand or soul soil from the Nether | Soul campfire | Soul sand and soul soil both craft soul campfires, added in the Nether Update |
| You need soul soil but cannot find a soul sand valley | Soul campfire made with soul sand, then break it | A soul campfire crafted with soul sand drops soul soil when broken |
Soul soil is collected naturally only in the soul sand valley biome, added in the Nether Update released in June 2020.
Where to find a campfire in Minecraft
Campfires were added in version 1.14, the Village & Pillage update, and they also generate in the world, so you can find one before you craft it.
| Where | What you find |
|---|---|
| Taiga villages | Naturally generated campfires |
| Snowy taiga villages | Naturally generated campfires |
| Anywhere, at a crafting table | A campfire from three logs, three sticks and one coal or charcoal |
Minecraft campfire uses
| Use | How it works |
|---|---|
| Light | Gives off light level 15 and melts snow out to three blocks around the fire |
| Cooking without fuel | Use up to four raw food items on the fire; they cook at the same time and pop off cooked after 30 seconds |
| Smoke signal | Smoke rises about ten blocks; place the campfire on a hay bale and it rises 24 blocks |
| Safe honey harvesting | A campfire under a beehive or bee nest lets you collect honey without the bees attacking (added in version 1.15) |
| Safe decoration | A fireplace that does not spread fire and can be lit or unlit |
To hide the smoke, bash out the fire with a shovel or put a trapdoor above it; a redstone-controlled trapdoor blocks the smoke until it opens.
How to check your Minecraft campfire is lit and working
- Look for flames and a pillar of smoke rising about ten blocks above the placed campfire.
- Stand next to it at night and check that the area around it is lit; a lit campfire gives light level 15.
- Use a raw food item on the campfire and watch it appear on the fire. In Java Edition, food can also be placed on an unlit campfire, so the food appearing does not prove the fire is lit.
- Wait 30 seconds; the cooked item pops off and can be collected.
Fix a Minecraft campfire that will not craft or stay lit
The recipe book shows the campfire ingredients in red
At least one ingredient is missing from your inventory.
- Count your logs and sticks; you need three of each.
- Check for coal or charcoal, and smelt a log in a furnace if you have neither.
- Reopen the crafting table and select the campfire again.
The campfire went out
A shovel extinguishes a campfire until it is lit again.
- Craft a flint and steel from flint and iron in the inventory grid.
- Hold the flint and steel and press the use button on the campfire.
- Alternatively, shoot a flaming arrow at it; in Java Edition any burning projectile lights a campfire.
The campfire's smoke gives away your base
Campfire smoke rises about ten blocks, and much higher on a hay bale.
- Place a trapdoor directly above the campfire to block the smoke.
- Wire the trapdoor to redstone if you want to switch the smoke on and off.
- Remove any hay bale under the campfire to bring the smoke back down.
Minecraft campfire FAQ
What do you need to make a campfire in Minecraft?
You need three logs, three sticks and one lump of coal or charcoal, crafted at a crafting table. Open the recipe book at the crafting table and select the campfire, and it lays the ingredients into the grid for you.
Can you make a campfire in Minecraft without coal?
Yes. Charcoal replaces coal in the campfire recipe. Smelt a log in a furnace, using two sticks as fuel, to get one charcoal, then craft the campfire with three logs, three sticks and that charcoal.
Can you make a campfire without a crafting table in Minecraft?
No. The campfire recipe uses seven items, three logs, three sticks and one coal, and the inventory crafting grid has only four slots. A crafting table costs four planks, which come from a single wood block, so it adds almost nothing to the cost.
How do you cook food on a campfire in Minecraft?
Use a raw food item on a lit campfire. Up to four items cook at once, with no fuel, and each one pops off cooked after 30 seconds. Walk over the cooked food to collect it.
How do you make a soul campfire in Minecraft?
Use soul sand or soul soil from the Nether; both craft soul campfires. Select the soul campfire in the recipe book at a crafting table and it fills the grid with the ingredients it needs, marking any you are missing in red. Soul campfires arrived with the Nether Update.
How do you put out a campfire in Minecraft?
Bash out the fire with a shovel. The campfire stays where it is, unlit, until you light it again with a flint and steel or a flaming arrow. A trapdoor above it hides the smoke without putting it out.
Do campfires spread fire in Minecraft?
No. The campfire was added in Java Edition 1.14 as a decorative fireplace without fire spread. Fire started with a flint and steel is different: it spreads through flammable blocks nearby, including wooden structures and forests.
How high does campfire smoke go in Minecraft?
Campfire smoke rises about ten blocks. Place the campfire on a hay bale and it becomes a signal fire whose smoke rises 24 blocks, which makes it useful as a marker for finding your way home.
Which button punches a tree for campfire logs in Minecraft?
Use the break block button: left-click on a computer, RT on Xbox, R2 on PlayStation and ZR on Nintendo Switch. Hold it on a tree block until the wood drops, then walk over it to collect it.
