You can craft your first few items without any equipment. Your inventory has a 2 × 2 grid; a Crafting Table gives you 3 × 3 slots. Start by turning a log into planks, then use four planks to make the table. You can make both planks and the table in your inventory.
Turn a log into planks
Collect an Oak Log, place it in one crafting slot, and take the four Oak Planks from the output. The log is used up when you take the planks.
Craft Oak Planks
1 × any of (Oak Log, Oak Wood, Stripped Oak Log, Stripped Oak Wood) → 4 × Oak Planks
Crafting
Ingredients
4 accepted materials
Oak Wood
Stripped Oak Log
Stripped Oak WoodMake and open a crafting table
Put one plank in each of the four inventory crafting slots. Take the table, place it in the world, and use it to open the larger grid. Any plank type works, and you can mix wood types.
Craft Crafting Table
4 × any of (Acacia Planks, Bamboo Planks, Birch Planks, Cherry Planks, Crimson Planks, Dark Oak Planks, Jungle Planks, Mangrove Planks, Oak Planks, Pale Oak Planks, Spruce Planks, Warped Planks) → 1 × Crafting Table
Bamboo Planks
Birch Planks
Cherry Planks
Crimson Planks
Dark Oak Planks
Jungle Planks
Mangrove Planks
Pale Oak Planks
Spruce Planks
Warped PlanksMake sticks and your first tool
Place two planks one above the other to make four Sticks. This fits either crafting grid.
Craft Stick
2 × any of (Acacia Planks, Bamboo Planks, Birch Planks, Cherry Planks, Crimson Planks, Dark Oak Planks, Jungle Planks, Mangrove Planks, Oak Planks, Pale Oak Planks, Spruce Planks, Warped Planks) → 4 × Stick
A Wooden Pickaxe needs three planks and two sticks arranged in the crafting table. Follow the pickaxe guide for the exact pattern and the path to stone and iron tools. For chopping trees or digging, make a wooden Axe or Shovel. Each has its own pattern.
Use the recipe book
Open the recipe book from your inventory or crafting table. Search for an item and select its recipe to see the ingredients and arrangement. If a recipe is missing, turn off the filter that only shows craftable items. You’ll still need to gather any missing ingredients.
The table’s larger grid supports recipes that do not fit in your inventory. Smelting, brewing, and netherite upgrading use different stations rather than the crafting grid.
Why won’t the recipe work?
| Check | What to change |
|---|---|
| The recipe is wider or taller than two slots | Open a crafting table for the 3 × 3 grid. |
| You used logs where the recipe shows planks | Craft the logs into planks first. |
| Ingredients are in the wrong positions | Match the pattern and keep its empty slots empty. |
| One slot contains a stack but another is empty | A stack in one slot only counts once. Put an item in each slot the pattern uses. |
| You substituted a similar-looking item | Check the recipe’s accepted alternatives. Stone is not cobblestone. |
| There is no crafting output for the item | Check its item page: you may need to smelt it, find it, or use another station. |
When a recipe lists several alternatives, choose one for each slot. You don’t need all of them. For a shapeless recipe, the ingredients can go anywhere in the grid; for a shaped recipe, follow the pattern.
Browse crafting recipes for more projects.