Minecraft shelves: storage, Redstone tricks and hotbar switching

Minecraft’s new shelves may not look particularly spectacular at first glance, but alongside the Copper Golem they’re arguably the best feature of 1.21.9! They can do far more than it first appears. Essentially, they act as enhanced item frames, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. With shelves, you can revolutionise your inventory sorting and unlock new building ideas. The shelf is therefore an extremely versatile block that every player should start using. Whether for storage or decorative elements, let’s take a closer look at the shelf!

Minecraft shelves explained: functions, slots and crafting

Think of shelves as item frames with extra functionality. While frames hold only one item, a shelf lets you place up to three items side by side. They also look smarter, with three central slots and thicker top and bottom beams.

To craft shelves, you need stripped logs. This feature is often overlooked and is a great way to incorporate the bare logs into crafting recipes. You do have to manually strip logs with your axe to obtain them, but it’s absolutely worth the effort! Shelves come in all wood types, from regular oak and bamboo to the warped and crimson stems found in the Nether. Place three stripped logs in the top row and three in the bottom row of the crafting table to receive six shelves.

Store items and stacks in Minecraft shelves

As the name suggests, shelves are storage for your items. They’re better than item frames in that they can display up to 3 items at once. They don’t just hold a single item either, but up to one full stack. Each position takes the contents of one inventory slot. So you can store 64 cobblestone or 16 eggs in them. Tools, however, can only be stored individually.

Click a free slot on the shelf with an item to transfer that inventory slot into the shelf. You can take it back out with an empty hand, or swap it with a hand holding an item.

Shelves are perfect as a buffer for items, as labels for chests, or simply as decorative elements in any build. Because items are displayed directly, you decide exactly what to showcase. In kitchens, for instance, food looks great, while around an enchanting table, lapis lazuli and blank books fit perfectly. It’s far more convenient than constantly opening chests.

Redstone with Minecraft shelves: hoppers, comparators and signals

Shelves also interact with Redstone. For example, they can be filled and emptied by hoppers, which is extremely practical. That way you don’t always need to open chests and tidy your inventory—shelves can take care of it for you. Items fill a slot until it’s full, progressing from left to right.

Thanks to their multiple slots, shelves can emit signals that a comparator can read. This can be used for puzzles or secret passages, among other things. When all slots are filled, they can output and be read at up to strength 7.

Signals are emitted as follows:

• Signal strength 1 for the left slot
• Signal strength 2 for the middle slot
• Signal strength 4 for the right slot

Switch your Minecraft hotbar with shelves and Redstone

The most important interaction with Redstone and shelves happens when you power the shelves themselves. Their appearance changes slightly, and the vertical dividers between the three slots disappear. Now, when you click the shelf, the last three items (counting from the right) in your hotbar are taken and stored in the shelf. If the shelf already contained items, they’re swapped accordingly.

A Redstone signal makes the shelf work as a whole. And it’s no coincidence it has exactly three slots. Your hotbar at the bottom of the screen has 9 slots, so if you set up three shelves side by side and power them all, you can store your entire hotbar at once! With just two shelves, the 6 rightmost slots are swapped.

This is incredibly useful when you need to switch your items quickly. You can prepare multiple hotbars—for caving, woodcutting, or building projects, for example. And thanks to hoppers, slots can be refilled while you’re not using them.

Minecraft shelves as decoration: build ideas and vertical slabs

Beyond their functional uses, shelves are fantastic for decorations—and that goes far beyond simply displaying items! Many players now call shelves “vertical slabs”, a block most Minecraft players have long wished for.

Shelves work brilliantly as a vertical step between one full block and another. They also combine well with trapdoors, which likewise exist in all wood types. They’re a superb accent to create depth and make your builds feel more three-dimensional.

Another neat trick is combining the displayed items with banners. You can, for example, create banners with letters and use them as signage.

Further inspiring ideas for shelves as decorative elements:

• Base or ornament for columns
• Bed headboard
• Edging around dirt as a planter
• Drawers for chests of drawers
• Backrest for chairs
• Transition pieces for arches
• Fence or property boundary
• Mantelpiece
• Shutters
• Street sign
• Shelving for a supermarket or shop

Your creativity has no limits! Shelves are not only functional; they also change how you approach buildings and the accents you can add.

Conclusion: Minecraft shelves for storage, Redstone and decoration

With version 1.21.9, not only were a range of copper items added, but also the shelf. At first it may seem inconspicuous, but its functions help in many different situations. You can display and buffer up to three items, and thanks to Redstone you can even swap out your entire hotbar. At the same time, shelves are a wonderful block for decorations, acting a bit like vertical half-slabs.

Rent one of our Minecraft servers and explore the new shelves together with your friends. You’re sure to come up with even more uses for them as a team.