Top 5 uses for coal in Minecraft

Coal is the most common ore found in Minecraft. This ore can be dug up with any pickaxe in the game, making it the most beginner-friendly ore in all of Minecraft. Coal ore is one of the most useful materials in Minecraft, especially at the beginning.

Coal ore naturally generates from y-levels 0 to 127, and players will often see coal ore exposed on the sides of mountains. Coal ore also attempts to generate 20 times per chunk in veins of 1 to 27. This is the most of any other ore in Minecraft.

There are plenty of uses for coal in Minecraft, and new players may not be aware of all of them.

Here are some of the best uses for coal in Minecraft.

Best 5 uses for coal in Minecraft

#1 - Smelting food

Smelting food with coal (Image via aminoapps)

In those first few nights of Minecraft survival, it's vital to have coal to cook food in a furnace. Any meat that players obtain from killing animals needs to be cooked to get the most nutrients possible from it. The only way to cook food early in Minecraft is with a furnace and coal.

Coal can be used to smelt any item in Minecraft, but the food is by far the most important for immediate survival.

#2 - Torches

Torche crafting recipe in Minecraft (Image via windowcentral)

Possibly the most useful item in all of Minecraft is a torch. Without torches, players would not be able to see at all at night. Torches help players mine, and without them, they'd fall victim to sneaky mobs like creepers in the dark depths of caves.

One of the only ways to make a torch in Minecraft is with one stick and one piece of coal. The other way to make a torch is by using charcoal, but charcoal is a resource-heavy material as it wastes a lot of wood in order to be made. This means coal is by far the best way to make torches in Minecraft since it is both readily available and easily attainable in the game.

#3 - Smelting ores

Smelting ores in a furnace (Image via Reddit)

Similar to cooking food, coal is great for smelting ores in a furnace. Some ores take longer to cook than others, like iron ores for example. A piece of coal will smelt the ore with much more efficiency than a few pieces of wood.

Oftentimes players will collect stacks full of coal and iron ores while they mine in the caves. Players will eventually need to smelt the iron ores into iron ingots, and using coal is much better than wasting all of the player's wood, since wood is very valuable when a player is mining.

#4 - Trading

Trading coal with villagers (Image via kavogaming)

Coal is very useful for trading with villagers, and it's a way to farm emeralds. Several different villagers will ask for different amounts of coal in exchange for an emerald. These villagers are weaponsmiths, fishermen, toolsmiths, armorers, and butchers. Fishermen will ask for the cheapest trade, only requiring 10 coal pieces for one emerald, while the other villagers will ask for 15 coal pieces in exchange for one emerald.

This is a great trade for players to make, especially newer players who are looking for extra emeralds. Coal is so readily available in Minecraft that players should have no trouble obtaining it in the game.

#5 - Campfires

Campfire crafting recipe in Minecraft (Image via minecrafthowto)

Campfires are not only a gorgeous decoration for player's bases but also a great source of light and a way to cook food. To make campfires, players will need at least one coal. The recipe for a campfire is relatively simple. It requires three sticks, three blocks of any wood, and one piece of coal.

Players can then go on to use the campfire for cooking food, light up their campsite, send smoke signals, and more. When the player cooks certain valuable items such as gold or diamonds, the campfires will even change colors.