Top 5 things to do with fire in Minecraft

Fire is a native and core concept within Minecraft, added to the game in the alpha version over ten years ago.

Originally, Notch (Minecraft's creator) intended for fire to have very different gameplay mechanics than its current state. For example, in the Alpha version, players would be required to use fire to smelt collected ores.

Although this sounds ridiculous now, fire within Minecraft still plays a prominent role, especially in some niche use cases.

Note: This article consists of the writer's opinion only; hence, others' views may differ.

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Five best uses for fire within Minecraft

#5 - Make a cozy fireplace

Many players would argue that making a mere fireplace isn't one of the most practical uses for fire, and they would be right. However, due to the sheer popularity of fireplaces inside many Minecrafters' homes, it earns an honorable mention.

To make their own fireplace, players can use a block of netherrack and light it normally with a flint and steel. This creates an everlasting fire that can be contained within a cozy fireplace exterior.

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#4 - Clearing a forest

Players who have found themselves inside a thick forest biome that needs clearing might consider using fire to their advantage.

In Minecraft, it's a well-known fact that fire spreads rapidly between flammable blocks. If players need to prune a forest quickly, they can light a few flammable wood trees on fire, and the laws of physics will handle the rest.

Within a few minutes, most of the forest should be brilliantly alight and in the process of burning to the ground.

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#3 - Making a Flaming Arrow machine

Many Minecrafters will be aware that they can use a dispenser to shoot arrows by simply placing them inside and activating it.

What some players may not know, however, is that a simple fire can be placed directly in front of any dispenser, making all arrows it shoots turn into flaming ones.

These flaming arrows will light any mob (or player) that they strike on fire, dealing substantial burn damage over time. Flaming arrows can also be used to light TNT from a long distance without Redstone.

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#2 - Crafting chainmail armor

Prior to 1.8, fire blocks were used to craft chainmail armor

As a disclaimer, players must be using a Minecraft version below 1.8 for this to work. This is because Mojang decided to remove the fire technical item from the Minecraft code in the 1.8 update.

It may come as a shock to many players that the mysterious fire block item can be used to craft chainmail armor, which is a similarly mysterious item for those unaware.

Although this seems to make absolutely no sense in any logical terms, it was the only way to craft the armor in these older versions of the game.

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#1 - Quickly cook mobs

Many of the best speedrunners in the top categories of Minecraft utilize the nifty property of fire to auto cook mobs upon their death.

To perform this, most players carry around a flint and steel, lighting mobs on fire while attacking them with a sword. If the mob dies while being alight, it will drop its cooked meat counterpart.

As most players are aware, meat in Minecraft is much more nutritious when eaten cooked rather than raw. This trick saves players from having to cook raw meat themselves, saving both time and resources.