How to make a compass in Minecraft

Aakrit Sharma
Compass in Minecraft

You can make maps and find your spawn point with a compass in Minecraft. The item certainly deserves to be in your inventory, and here’s how to make a compass in Minecraft.

Minecraft is all about exploring the massive open world but returning to your base is the perfect way to end the day. Players usually make their homes near the default spawn point or use beds to make custom spawn points.

A compass in Minecraft helps you reach your spawn point as it points in its direction. The item becomes more useful once you acquire a lodestone.

On that note, here’s everything to know about making a compass in Minecraft.

Minecraft plains with bees and flowers

How to craft a compass in Minecraft

You need iron ingots and redstone dust to craft a compass in Minecraft. The raw materials for both these items can be obtained from the Overworld and thereafter, you can use smelting (add the item to a furnace) to get them.

Before collecting iron ore and redstone ore, make sure that you have a furnace. If not, make one with the help of cobblestone and the crafting table:

Crafting recipe to make a furnace in Minecraft

How to get Iron Ingots in Minecraft

Iron ore, deep slate iron ore, and raw iron turn into iron ingots after smelting in Minecraft. Players can also add an iron block to a crafting table and get nine iron ingots out of it.

Iron ore is generally found underground. If you mine it without the Silk Touch enchantment, the blocks drop raw iron.

How to get redstone dust in Minecraft

Redstone ore turns into redstone dust through smelting. You can find Redstone ore underground and the chances of obtaining it increase as you go lower. If mined without Silk Touch and with an iron pickaxe, a block of redstone ore drops redstone dust.

You can also get redstone dust directly in jungle pyramids, woodland mansions, and ancient cities.

Crafting recipe for compass in Minecraft

After obtaining redstone dust and iron ingots, add them to a Minecraft crafting table in this manner to get a compass:

Crafting recipe for compass in Minecraft

How to naturally get a compass in Minecraft

You can get a compass in Minecraft naturally through these sources:

  • Map chests in shipwrecks – 7.7%
  • Villager cartographer chests – 26.3%
  • Stronghold altar chests – 10.9%

Having said that, it is always more reliable to make your own items than to wander around the Overworld in the hope to find them. This is what makes crafting so important in Minecraft.


For more content on Mojang’s sandbox game, check out these guides on how to make a lead in Minecraft, how to grow mushrooms in Minecraft, and how to make a lantern in Minecraft.

Image Credits: Mojang