How to Make a Torch in Minecraft

Last Updated: September 16, 2021

Lighting is essential to survival in Minecraft. Light prevents monsters from appearing inside your structures, helps you find your way home, and makes exploring underground much easier. Torches can also prevent deaths from falling or other dangers by making them visible at night.

Part 1

Part 1 of 4:

Gathering Materials

1
Turn wood into planks and sticks. As you may already know, you can break down trees to make wood. You'll need to turn these into a few other materials for the steps below:
- Drag wood to the crafting area in your inventory. Shift-click the Planks in the results box to complete the recipe.
- Place one plank above a second plank in the crafting area. Shift-click the Sticks in the results box.
- Note — all crafting instructions in this article describe the computer edition. On consoles or Pocket Edition, just open the crafting menu and select the name of the recipe.
2
Make a crafting table. If you don't have a crafting table yet, place four planks in the crafting area to make one. Place it on the ground and right-click to use it for the next steps.
- On Pocket Edition, just tap the crafting table. On consoles, just open the crafting menu while standing near the table.
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3
Make a wooden pickaxe. If you don't have a pickaxe, make one now. Here's the simplest pickaxe you can make, a Wooden Pickaxe:
- Place a stick in the center of the crafting table's 3 x 3 grid.
- Place a second stick directly below it.
- Fill the top row with three planks.

Part 2

Part 2 of 4:

Making Torches

1
Mine coal. Coal ore looks like stone with black flecks in it. It is fairly easy to find in cliff faces, shallow caves, and anywhere large amounts of stone are exposed. Mine this by equipping your pickaxe and breaking it to get coal.
- If you cannot find any coal, skip down to the charcoal method instead.
2
Combine sticks and coal to make torches. Place coal directly above a stick in the crafting area to make four torches. They're very useful objects, so make as many as you can.

Making Torches from Charcoal

1
Build a furnace. If you can't find any coal ore, here's another method of making torches. Start by making a furnace out of eight cobblestone. Place the cobblestone in a crafting table's crafting area, leaving only the center empty. Place the furnace on the ground.
2
Place wood in the top slot of the furnace. Use the furnace to open the interface. Place wood in the top slot, above the outline of flames. This wood will burn into charcoal once you start the furnace.
3
Place planks in the lower slot of the furnace. The lower slot of the furnace is the fuel slot. As soon as you put something flammable in here, the furnace will start. Planks are more efficient at burning than wood, so put a few planks in this slot.
4
Wait for the charcoal to form. The furnace will burn through the wood fairly quickly, leaving charcoal in the results slot on the right. Move this charcoal to your inventory.
5
Craft torches from charcoal and sticks. Place charcoal directly above a stick in your crafting area to make torches. Each pair of ingredients makes four torches.

Part 3

Part 3 of 4:

Using Torches

1
Place torches on floors or walls. Move the torch to your quick slot, select it, and click the ground or wall. A torch can go on any solid, opaque surface, and will burn indefinitely. You can pick up the torch again by "breaking" it, or by breaking the block attached to the torch.
2
Light areas fully to prevent mob spawning. Most mobs (enemies) cannot appear in brightly lit locations, although they can wander into torch-lit areas without harm. Here are a few examples of minimum torch placements to prevent monsters from appearing:^{[1]
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- In a one block wide tunnel, place torches at eye level every 11th block.
- In a two block wide tunnel, place torches at eye level every 8th block.
- For a large room, place torches in a row on the ground every 12th block. At the end, walk back along the row 6 blocks, walk left or right 6 blocks, and start another row. Repeat until you cover the floor in these staggered rows.
3
Plant torches to guide your journey back. When exploring caves or going on long overnight journeys, place torches to find your way back. In caves, keep these only on your right as you go further in. This way, if you get turned around, you know you're heading back to the surface if the torches are on your left.
4
Make landmarks. Torches aren't all that bright, but they are still visible from pretty far away. Build a tall tower of dirt or other materials, then cover the top in torches. Now you can use this as a landmark if you ever lose track of your base or other important location.

Part 4

Part 4 of 4:

Making Redstone Torches

1
Craft redstone torches for redstone circuitry. These red torches create light but not enough to prevent mobs from spawning. Redstone is Minecraft's version of electricity, so redstone torches are most commonly used as part of circuits.They also create a spooky atmosphere, so you could use them when building a haunted house.
2
Find redstone. This is found when mining deep underground. To mine redstone, you need at least an iron pickaxe.
3
Place the redstone on top of the stick in your crafting grid. This recipe is the same as a normal torch, but with redstone instead of coal.
- You can also make redstone torches flicker.

Community Q&A

Question

Can I get mods without paying?

CamelHey73

Top Answerer

Most Minecraft mods are free. Try looking at trustworthy sites such as Planet Minecraft for safe, reliable mods.
Question

How do I make torches out of flint?

CamelHey73

Top Answerer

You can't. Torches require at least one stick and one coal/charcoal to be crafted.
Question

Can a torch be made of squid ink and red stone?

Community Answer

Torches are made from wood planks (any type) and coal/ charcoal. If you are looking to make redstone torches, wood planks and redstone dust will be required.