Minecraft crafter guide: Recipe, uses, and more

The Minecraft 1.21 update is still quite a ways away before its full release, but players are getting their first taste of it courtesy of Java Snapshot 23w34a and Bedrock Preview 1.20.50.21. In these experimental releases, players can create one of the update's new blocks, known as the crafter, an automatic crafting apparatus that operates on redstone pulses.

After years of Minecraft fans asking for more automation without the need for mods, Mojang finally answered with the crafter. Since the block is an all-new inclusion in the game, it doesn't hurt to examine how it works including its crafting recipe and the basic premise of its uses and functionalities.

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What to know about the crafter block in Minecraft 1.21

Crafting recipe

A few materials factor into the creation of the crafter block (Image via Mojang)

As with countless other blocks in Minecraft, the crafter is forged in the crafting table by combining different resources. Specifically, players will need the following to create a single crafter block:

• Five iron ingots
• One crafting table
• Two redstone dust
• One dropper

To avoid any confusion, players will need a crafting table to use as a material and one to place and interact with (in order to open the crafting UI).

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Using the crafter block

A crafter can intake materials and use them to make items and blocks based on in-game crafting recipes (Image via Mojang)

On its most basic level, the crafter effectively functions as an automatic crafting table. It can have materials stored within it and then create items and/or blocks when it is activated via a redstone signal. This makes crafters particularly useful in redstone machinery and devices, where they can work in tandem with other blocks to create items/blocks automatically without the player being present.

Minecraft players can place resources into a crafter block either manually or via other blocks like hoppers and droppers. It's also possible to click empty slots to lock certain slots within the crafter to prevent it from creating objects via certain recipes. Once the crafter has received a redstone signal from any source, it will combine its resources to create one item or block.

I made an automatic melon farm with the new crafter block! byu/HEROTUBE inMinecraft

Although that's the basic premise of the crafter block, its uses are immense depending on how much redstone knowledge Minecraft players have. Since items and blocks can be inserted and removed from the crafter via hoppers, it can be a crucial cog in larger machines.

With just a little understanding of redstone machinery, players should be able to use the crafter to ostensibly create a working small-scale factory to create objects for them when they're not around. Moreover, they could even be attached to existing resource farms to process their yields into final products. The only limits are a player's knowledge and creativity at the end of the day.