How to Make a Lodestone in Minecraft

Last Updated: May 21, 2022 References

The lodestone is a block added in the 1.16 Nether Update of Minecraft. When placed, you can use a compass on it to make it so the compass points in the lodestone's direction, even in the Nether and End. Here's how you can make and use this helpful block.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Getting Chiseled Stone

1
Get 11 stone. The easiest way to get stone is by mining stone blocks and then smelting the cobblestone dropped from them. Stone can be found from Y-level 0 and above and is mined with a wooden pickaxe or better. Open a furnace and put cobblestone in the top slot, a fuel source like coal in the bottom slot, and wait for it to smelt into stone, which will appear in the rightmost slot.^{[1]
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- You can also use a silk touch enchanted pickaxe to mine stone directly without it turning into cobblestone.
- Stone blocks can also be found in chests in villages.^{[2]
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2
Make a stonecutter. A stonecutter can be made using an iron ingot and 3 stones. Open a crafting table and put the iron ingot in the middle slot, and then fill the bottom row with the stone.^{[3]
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- In Bedrock Edition, you can use stone and its variants like granite, diorite, and andesite to make a stonecutter.
- Stonecutters can also naturally generate in Stone Mason houses in villages.^{[4]
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3
Turn the stone into chiseled stone bricks. Open the stonecutter and place the 8 stones left in the leftmost slot. Then, look in the menu in the middle for chiseled stone brick, it's a stone block with square rings carved into it. Select the chiseled stone brick option, then take the chiseled stone that appears on the rightmost slot and put it in your inventory.^{[5]
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- Stone bricks can also be used instead of stone.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Getting Netherite

1
Get 4 gold ingots. To make a netherite ingot, you'll need 4 gold ingots. Gold ore can be found by mining to Y-level 0-32 pre-1.18 and levels -64-32 in 1.18 and above.^{[6]
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Research source} Gold ore can be mined using an iron pickaxe or better. Once you have gold ore or raw gold, which is dropped from gold ore when mined, smelt the gold.
- Pre-1.18, Y-level 28 is where you'll find the most gold. In 1.18 and above, Y-level -16 is where gold is most abundant.
- Gold ore is most commonly found in Mesa biomes, where it can be found from Y-levels 32-79 pre-1.18 and 32-256 in 1.18 and above.
- Gold ingots can be found in chests in dungeons, mineshafts, bastions, desert temples, end cities, jungle temples, nether fortresses, ruined portals, shipwrecks, strongholds, villages, woodland mansions, and in buried treasure chests.^{[7]
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2
Get 10 obsidian. Obsidian can be mined with a diamond or netherite pickaxe. Obsidian can be found where water meets lava source blocks, it can commonly be found in lava ravines or you can make it by pouring a bucket of water over lava.^{[8]
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- Obsidian can also naturally generate as part of ruined portals, woodland mansions, and the pillars on the main end island.
- Obsidian can be found in chests in villages, bastions, nether fortresses, and ruined portals.^{[9]
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3
Make a Nether portal. The frame of a Nether portal is 4x5 blocks, but the corners don't need to be obsidian. Place 2 obsidian horizontally next to each other on the ground, then put a placeholder block like dirt on either end. Place 3 obsidian on top of the place holder blocks, then another place holder block at the tops. Finish the portal frame with 2 more obsidian blocks at the top, coming from the top placeholders. Finally, light the bottom obsidian block with a flint and steel.
4
Find 4 ancient debris. Ancient debris can be found by mining in the Nether and can be broken with a diamond pickaxe or better. Ancient debris attempts to generate twice in a chunk, once from levels 8-22 and again from levels 8-119. It can be most commonly found at Y-level 15.^{[10]
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- A common strategy for mining ancient debris is to mine down to Y-level 15, mine a long tunnel, mine off sideways in branches, and then place beds and use them to explode a large area. Beds in the nether explode when you try to sleep in them, so they can be used as a cheap way to blast mine. However, you can take a lot of damage from doing this, so wear good armor and bring food and/or healing potions.
- Ancient debris can also be found in chests in bastions.^{[11]
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- Mining for ancient debris can also reveal nether gold ore, which can be used to get gold ingots for making netherite ingots.
5
Smelt the ancient debris. Open a furnace and put the 4 ancient debris in the top slot, then put a fuel source like coal in the bottom slot. Wait a while until netherite scraps appear in the rightmost slot. Put the netherite scraps into your inventory.
- Netherite scraps can also be found in bastion chests.^{[12]
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Make a netherite ingot. Open a crafting table and place 4 netherite scraps and 4 gold ingots anywhere within the table, making sure they are not stacked. This will make a netherite ingot.^{[13]
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- Netherite ingots can also be found in bastion chests.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Making and Using a Lodestone

1
Craft the lodestone. Open a crafting table and put the netherite ingot in the middle slot, then surround it with 8 chiseled stone bricks in all other slots. If done correctly, a lodestone block will appear in the rightmost slot, which you can then take and put in your inventory.^{[14]
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2
Make a compass. A compass can be made using 1 Redstone and 4 iron ingots. Open a crafting table and place the Redstone dust in the middle slot, then, put an iron ingot directly next to, above, and below the Redstone dust.
3
Place the lodestone. Lodestones can be used in any dimension, but will only work in that dimension. Place a lodestone somewhere important or where you want to be able to easily find later on, as your base. Hold the lodestone block, face where you want to place it, then right-click on Java edition, tap on Minecraft PE, or press the left trigger on most consoles and controllers.
4
Use the compass on the lodestone. Hold the compass, face the lodestone, and use it on the lodestone. If done correctly, the compass will appear enchanted and will be renamed to "Lodestone Compass". It will then point in the direction of the corresponding lodestone.
- Multiple lodestones and compasses can be used at once, they will all point to their corresponding lodestone.
- Breaking a lodestone removes the corresponding compass, which will turn into a regular compass.