How to obtain coal in Minecraft Skyblock

Minecraft's wildly popular Skyblock challenge maps are a test of a player's limits. These maps place gamers in an extreme survival situation where they have incredibly limited resources.

Death is always near for a new Minecraft Skyblock player. They could either fall off the tiny confines of the suspended island or run out of resources due to the irresponsible use of blocks and materials.

Even when things are cozy, expanding one's island is tricky, especially when it comes to finding the right materials to make it happen. One of these core materials is coal, which is obviously needed to power furnaces for both food and the smelting of ingots.

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Getting charcoal in Skyblock in Minecraft

Obtaining coal can be tricky in Minecraft Skyblock (Image via Mojang)

Minecraft players who are used to mining coal from the underground will need to somewhat adjust their strategy.

Fortunately for players, there's an alternative to coal that works just as well as the original. Charcoal comes from burning wood in minimal oxygen spaces in real life, and the same method can be used in Minecraft in order to obtain it.

Luckily, players won't have to sweat the whole "oxygen" thing, as they can simply burn wooden logs in order to create stacks of charcoal.

Players should keep in mind that only wooden logs, stripped wood logs or wooden bark blocks can be burned in a furnace to create charcoal. Using wooden planks or other wood-based creations will not produce the necessary result.

Wooden logs are easy enough to obtain, as even the starter Skyblock island in Minecraft is equipped with one tree. Players will want to make sure that they are able to procure saplings once they've expanded their islands so that they can grow additional trees. Things may get cramped when it comes to space, so ensure that the island has increased in size substantially before undertaking the task of planting trees.

The good news is that burning any form of wooden log in Minecraft will manufacture charcoal, so players won't need to worry if the tree is Oak or Acacia.

Growing trees is a fairly straightforward procedure. As long as they have several blocks around them to grow and are in direct sunlight, watering won't be necessary. In addition, expedient players may opt to use Bone Meal on the planted saplings to speed up their growth.

Once players have hacked down the wood from their trees, all they need to do is place the logs in the top window of their furnace interface. The necessary fuel will need to be placed at the bottom, or else the furnace will not begin burning.

If Minecraft players have no coal or charcoal available, they can try using wooden planks to begin lighting the furnace instead. Once the furnace has finished burning the wood, it will output charcoal on the right-most window of the interface. This will provide players with a renewable source of fuel as long as they continue planting and harvesting trees.

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