You’ll probably craft a furnace right at the beginning of your world and then use it for the rest of your time in Minecraft. But the mechanics behind this essential block go much deeper than they first appear! By now there are also two more furnace types and a campfire, plus a whole bunch of different fuels you can use to power them. The system has become much more complex and offers returning players plenty of new possibilities. From automatic furnaces to renewable fuel sources, we’ll walk you through it all in this guide.
Minecraft furnaces explained: Campfire, smoker, and blast furnace
A furnace is used to process and smelt various items. You can cook food, smelt ores, or convert stone. It’s a versatile block you’ll use constantly throughout your Minecraft playthrough.
Most players know the classic recipe of 8 cobblestone in a ring, since it’s one of the first workstations you need in Minecraft. But many don’t realize there are more ways to craft a furnace: instead of cobblestone you can also use blackstone or cobbled deepslate—mixing the blocks works too.
A regular furnace isn’t the only way to process items. Players often forget about the campfire, which is great for roasting food early on. You only need one coal or charcoal, three logs, and three sticks. Then you can place up to 4 food items on the campfire to cook. After a short while they’ll be done. The advantage: it consumes no fuel at all.
There are also two additional furnace variants that are easy to overlook: the smoker and the blast furnace. Both process certain items twice as fast. The smoker is crafted from one regular furnace and four logs. It can only process food, but does so in half the time. For a blast furnace, you’ll need a furnace plus 5 iron ingots and 3 smooth stone. It smelts ores twice as fast, but can’t process other item types.
Different furnaces are a smart investment when you want to speed up specific tasks. And campfires aren’t just atmospheric—they’re a great way to save fuel.
Best fuel in Minecraft: How to power your furnace efficiently
A furnace doesn’t run by itself—it needs fuel to process your items. Minecraft now offers plenty of options. Some are especially worthwhile if you can harvest them renewably and feed them into your furnaces. Here’s a look at useful materials and resources you can use.
Lava bucket: Lava is the strongest fuel in Minecraft—one full bucket smelts 100 items. The empty bucket is returned and can be reused. That’s convenient, but lava isn’t always easy to get. Either collect it in the Nether or produce it renewably with pointed dripstone and cauldrons. You’ll also need iron for the buckets.
Block of coal: A block crafted from 9 coal smelts 80 items, which is 8 more than using 9 individual coal. If you’ve stockpiled lots of coal, blocks are absolutely worth it. Coal is only conditionally renewable (for example via wither skeletons). Charcoal is more work to produce, but fully renewable.
Dried kelp block: Kelp is an underrated renewable energy source for your furnaces. You can grow kelp in automatic farms, then use a Crafter to compress it into dried kelp blocks and feed them straight into your furnaces. A dried kelp block smelts 20 items; because you first have to dry the kelp, the net yield ends up around 11 items. Kelp grows quickly, making it very practical.
Coal: Regular coal or charcoal is the go-to for many beginners. Each smelts 8 items. Sooner or later, switch to blocks of coal to get more value.
Blaze rod: Blaze rods are only worth using if you’ve built an efficient farm (Build an Automatic Blaze Farm: Endless Blaze Rods and Experience Points) . Each rod smelts 12 items.
Bamboo: Like kelp, bamboo is renewable and can be gathered in bulk with an automatic farm. Raw bamboo burns fast—plan on about 4 bamboo per item smelted. If you have a lot, it can still serve as serviceable fuel.
Automatic furnace in Minecraft: Hoppers, minecarts, and farming XP
You don’t have to run furnaces by hand—they also work with hoppers and can be automatically filled and emptied. Combined with rails, you can take automation even further and keep your smelters running on their own. We’ve covered more about item transport here (Minecraft: Item Transport Systems With and Without Redstone) . You’ll just need to keep the fuel and input items stocked.
The basic setup works like this:
- Hopper on top: Insert the items you want to smelt from above.
- Hopper from the side: Feed fuel—coal, lava buckets, bamboo, etc.—from the side.
- Hopper underneath: Extract the finished items at the bottom. Empty buckets from lava buckets end up here as well.
This kind of system is also handy for passive experience, since smelting items generates a bit of XP. That XP is stored in the furnace until you manually remove items or break the furnace. Place a lever on or next to the furnace to power and “lock” the connected hoppers, then pull items out by hand to claim the stored XP. This is a great way to earn experience without mobs, especially on Peaceful.
Conclusion: Use your Minecraft furnace efficiently for XP and farms
The furnace is one of Minecraft’s most important blocks, but many of its mechanics are deeper than they first seem. From smokers and blast furnaces to renewable fuels and fully automated XP generation, furnaces can do more than you might think. Use smokers or blast furnaces for the right items, and experiment with campfires. For passive XP, we recommend an automatic smelter—especially on Peaceful.
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