What are the best uses for coal in Minecraft 1.18?

One of the more easily accessible resources in Minecraft, coal is often found underground or occasionally on the surface of the Overworld and provides a number of uses.

As one of the most plentiful ores in the entire game, players typically have quite a significant amount of coal laying around if they don't use it. Between being used as a crafting ingredient and as a fuel source, coal serves plenty of purposes in Minecraft.

It's part of the reason that coal has remained a core resource in the game for over a decade. Although there are alternatives, coal still serves as a bedrock ingredient for both crafting and fueling work blocks.

Minecraft: Best uses of coal in version 1.18

Building campfires

Campfires are useful for both light and marking a location (Image via Mojang)

A relatively new block compared to most coal creations, campfires are excellent sources of light while serving many other purposes. By combining coal with sticks and logs/wood/crop stems, players can form a homely campfire for nights in the wilderness.

Furthermore, campfires can be useful when pacifying bees in their hives and nests thanks to the smoke they emanate. If a haybale is placed beneath a campfire, players can even create a signal fire that marks a location for further reference.

Forming fire charges

Fire charges are quite helpful for combat (Image via Mojang)

When combined with blaze powder and gunpowder, coal can be formed into fire charges. These items make decent substitutes for flint and steel, and can even be fired from dispensers.

Setting their targets on fire, fire charges can make for both an improvisational fire-starting tool as well as defensive ammunition. When fired from a dispenser, the fire charge essentially operates like a fireball fired by a blaze. They can even prime TNT for detonation, making them an excellent utility tool in Minecraft.

Crafting torches

Torches are almost synonymous with the early game (Image via Mojang)

Few Minecraft players have gotten far in their early-game adventures without making torches to keep the hostile mobs away, and that makes it one of the most important uses of coal as a crafting ingredient.

With just some coal (or charcoal) and a stick, players can make multiple torches which serve as foundational lighting until players can begin to make objects such as redstone lamps, glowstone blocks, lanterns, and sea lanterns.

They may go by the wayside in the late game, but there's no denying the incredible help that torches are for players in Survival Mode.

Fueling furnaces and other work blocks

Furnaces can be fueled in many ways, but coal is still one of the most reliable options (Image via Mojang)

Fueling furnaces, blast furnaces, and smokers is an undertaking that requires a considerable amount of materials. Although players can fuel these blocks with the likes of wood, lava buckets, and even kelp, coal remains one of the easiest resources to access and utilize as fuel.

Since coal burns slower than many fuel sources and can be stacked up to 64 pieces per stack, coal is still the gold standard for fueling work blocks when the job is called for.