How to use a locator map in Minecraft 1.19 update

Maps are important items to have in Minecraft that are extremely helpful for exploring, getting back home, and finding other players or structures that have been visited before. They're also the subject of an incredibly difficult achievement that requires players to fill out nine adjacent maps perfectly.

Losing a map is painful, especially when players have taken the effort to fill it out and use it to get anywhere they want to go. Dying in lava means everything is gone, and that includes the map. If players are fortunate and die in another spot, they can recover their gear and maps thanks to the brand-new recovery compass added in the 1.19 update.

When maps are lost, or if crafters don't start out with one, it's important to be able to make more. Fortunately, creating maps doesn't require a lot of effort or resources. Here's how to make one and use it in Minecraft version 1.19.

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Minecraft 1.19: Making and using a locator map

Cartography table (Image via OMGCraft on YouTube)

There are several ways to make locator maps in Minecraft version 1.19. The easiest way to make one is with a cartography table. This requires two papers and four wood planks to craft. Cartography tables can sometimes spawn naturally in villages as well.

To create a full map, players will need four pieces of paper in total. To ensure that it is a locator map, players will need a compass. These are crafted with four iron ingots and one redstone dust.

Putting the paper and compass into the cartography table makes a level one locator map. This will only show the immediate surrounding area once it is opened.

To extend it to level four, players have to place the map back on the table and use the extra paper to extend it one level at a time.

The second method requires an anvil and takes some of the item's durability. A locator map and a piece of paper in the two slots of the anvil will zoom out the map the same way a cartography table can. Adding a compass to the anvil will make it a locator map.

The third and final method is to simply use the crafting table. An empty map can be crafted with nine pieces of paper, which should fill the crafting grid. However, using this map isn't particularly recommended.

Using it will create a map of the area, but it will not have locators for other players or for the holder of the map.

Combining the new empty map with a compass in the crafting grid will turn it into a level one locator map.

In the same way as the other methods, Minecraft gamers need extra paper to extend the map. This is done in the crafting table GUI, one level at a time with one piece of paper at a time.

To use the map, crafters will need to click the use button, and it will open. From there, Minecraft players can explore to fill out the map and use it to get around or for the Map Room achievement.