Coal is a mineral item mainly obtained from coal ore. It is primarily used for crafting torches and campfires, as well as fuel.
Obtaining[]
Chest loot[]
| Item | Structure | Container | Quantity | Chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Java Edition | ||||
| Coal | Dungeon | Chest | 1–4 | 26.6% |
| Mineshaft | Chest | 3–8 | 27.3% | |
| Ancient City | Chest | 6–15 | 46.5% | |
| Igloo | Chest | 1–4 | 70.4% | |
| Cold Ocean ruins | Cold ruins suspicious gravel | 1 | 13.3% | |
| Warm ruins suspicious sand | 1 | 13.3% | ||
| Shipwreck | Supply chest | 2–8 | 37.3% | |
| Stronghold | Storeroom chest | 3–8 | 34.3% | |
| Trail ruins | Suspicious gravel | 1 | 2.2% | |
| Underwater ruins | Big ruins chest | 1–4 | 81% | |
| Small ruins chest | 1–4 | 84.2% | ||
| Village | Toolsmith's chest | 1–3 | 9.9% | |
| Fisherman's chest | 1–3 | 43% | ||
| Snowy house chest | 1–4 | 41.2% | ||
| Butcher's chest | 1–3 | 27.9% | ||
| Woodland mansion | Chest | 1–4 | 26.6% | |
| Bedrock Edition | ||||
| Coal | Dungeon | Chest | 1–4 | 26.6% |
| Mineshaft | Chest | 3–8 | 27.3% | |
| Ancient City | Chest | 6–15 | 46.5% | |
| Igloo | Chest | 1–4 | 70.4% | |
| Cold Ocean ruins | Cold ruins suspicious gravel | 1 | 13.3% | |
| Warm ruins suspicious sand | 1 | 13.3% | ||
| Shipwreck | Supply chest | 2–8 | 37.3% | |
| Stronghold | Storeroom chest | 3–8 | 28.5% | |
| Underwater ruins | Big ruins chest | 1–4 | 81% | |
| Small ruins chest | 1–4 | 84.2% | ||
| Village | Butcher's chest | 1–3 | 27.9% | |
| Snowy house chest | 1–4 | 41.2% | ||
| Toolsmith's chest | 1–3 | 9.9% | ||
| Woodland mansion | Chest | 1–4 | 26.6% | |
Mining[]
Coal ore are mined using a pickaxe and drops 1 piece of coal. If the pickaxe is enchanted with Fortune, it may drop an extra piece per level of Fortune, up to a maximum of 4 with Fortune III.
Mob loot[]
Wither skeletons have a 1⁄3 chance of dropping a single coal upon death. The maximum amount of coal is increased by 1 per level of Looting. The chance of a wither skeleton not dropping any coal can be found using the formula 2 / (Looting Level + 3). For example, Looting III gives a 1⁄3 chance of not dropping any coal. All other amounts have an equal chance of occurring.
Crafting[]
| Name | Ingredients | Crafting recipe |
|---|---|---|
| Coal | Block of Coal |
Smelting[]
| Ingredients | Smelting recipe |
|---|---|
| Coal Ore + Any fuel |
Usage[]
Crafting ingredient[]
| Name | Ingredients | Crafting recipe |
|---|---|---|
| Block of Coal | Coal | |
| Campfire | Stick + Coal + Any Log or Stem or Any Stripped Log or Stem or Any Wood or Hyphae or Any Stripped Wood or Hyphae |
|
| Campfire | Stick + Coal + Any Log or Stem or Any Stripped Log or Stem or Any Wood or Hyphae or Any Stripped Wood or Hyphae |
|
| Fire Charge | Blaze Powder + Coal + Gunpowder |
|
| Soul Torch | Coal + Stick + Soul Soil |
|
| Torch | Coal + Stick |
Fuel[]
When used in a furnace as a fuel, a piece of coal lasts 80 seconds (smelting up to 8 items), like charcoal. Coal used as fuel lasts more than 5 times longer than wood planks or wood logs used as fuel, being more efficient than any other use of wood for smelting in Java Edition, but outstripped by wooden slabs in Bedrock Edition.
Coal and charcoal are also the only fuels accepted by furnace minecarts. They provide approximately four minutes of transit each.
Trading[]
Novice-level fisherman villagers have a 50% chance to buy 10 coal for one emerald.
In Java Edition, novice-level armorer and toolsmith villagers have a 40% chance of offering to buy 15 coal for one emerald. Novice-level weaponsmith villagers and apprentice-level butcher villagers have 2⁄3 chance of offering to buy 15 coal for one emerald.
In Bedrock Edition, novice-level armorer, toolsmith, and weaponsmith villagers and apprentice-level butcher villagers buy 15 coal for one emerald.
Trades that involve coal cannot be substituted by charcoal.
Data values[]
ID[]
| Name | Identifier | Form | Item tags | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coal | coal | Item | coals | item.minecraft.coal |
| Name | Identifier | Alias ID | Numeric ID | Form | Item tags (JE) | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coal | coal | coal / 0 | 302 | Item | minecraft:coals | item.coal.name |
History[]
| Java Edition Classic | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 2009 | Notch shows interest in adding coal, commenting that it might be combined with iron ore to make steel. | ||||
| Java Edition Indev | |||||
| 0.31 | 20100128 |  Added coal.
| |||
| Mining coal ore blocks drops 2-5 pieces of coal. | |||||
| 20100129 | Coal can be used to craft torches. | ||||
| ? | Mining coal ore now drops 1 piece of coal (down from 2-5). | ||||
| 20100219 |  The texture of coal has been changed. It is now more centered. | ||||
| Java Edition Beta | |||||
| 1.8 | Pre-release | Coal can now be found in the new mineshaft chests and stronghold storeroom chests. | |||
| Java Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 | ? | Coal can be now obtained by smelting coal ore. | |||
| 1.2.1 | 12w04a | Coal can now be used to craft fire charges. | |||
| 1.3.1 | 12w21a | Blacksmith and butcher villagers now buy 16–23 of either coal or charcoal for 1 emerald. | |||
| 1.3 |  The texture of coal has been changed. | ||||
| 1.4.2 | 12w36a | Coal is now dropped by wither skeletons, making it renewable. | |||
| 1.6.1 | 13w18a | Coal can now be used to craft coal blocks. | |||
| 1.8 | 14w02a | Fisherman, armorer, tool smith, weapon smith and butcher villagers now buy 16–24 coal for 1 emerald. | |||
| 1.9 | 15w43a | Coal may now be found in igloo basement chests. | |||
| 15w44a | The average yield of coal from mineshaft chests has been decreased, and added to dungeon chests. | ||||
| 1.11 | 16w39a | Coal can now be found in the new woodland mansion chests. | |||
| 1.13 | 17w47a | The different data values for the coal ID have been split up into their own IDs.
| |||
| Prior to The Flattening, this item's numeral ID was 263. | |||||
| 18w09a | Coal can now be found in the loot chests of underwater ruins. | ||||
| 18w11a | Coal now generates in shipwreck chests. | ||||
| 1.14 | 18w43a |  The texture of coal has been changed. | |||
| 18w48a | Coal can now be found in chests in village fishing cottages. | ||||
| 18w49a | Coal can now be found in chests in village butcher shops and snowy village houses. | ||||
| 18w50a | Coal can now be found in chests in village toolsmith houses. | ||||
| 19w02a | Coal can now be used to craft campfires. Destroying a campfire returns 2 charcoal. | ||||
| 1.16 | 20w06a | Coal can now be used to craft soul torches. | |||
| 1.19 | 22w13a | Coal may now be found in ancient city chests. | |||
| 1.20 | 23w12a | Coal can now be found in suspicious gravel and suspicious sand in cold and warm ocean ruins and in trail ruins. | |||
| 23w16a | Coal no longer generates in suspicious sand in trail ruins. | ||||
| Due to the split of the archaeological loot tables for the suspicious gravel within the trail ruins; coal now is in the common loot. | |||||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| v0.3.0 | Added coal.
| ||||
| Coal can be used to craft torches. | |||||
| v0.8.0 | build 1 | The texture of coal has been changed.
| |||
| Coal can now be crafted to make a block of coal. | |||||
| v0.12.1 | build 1 | Coal is now dropped by wither skeletons. | |||
| v0.14.0 | build 1 | Coal can now be found inside chest minecarts in mineshafts. | |||
| v0.15.0 | build 1 | Coal is now used to craft fire charges. | |||
| Pocket Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 | alpha 0.17.0.1 | Coal can now be found in the stronghold storeroom chests. | |||
| Coal may now be found in igloo basement chests. | |||||
| 1.0.4 | alpha 1.0.4.0 | Fisherman, armorer, toolsmith, weaponsmith and butcher villagers now buy 16–24 coal for 1 emerald. | |||
| 1.1.0 | alpha 1.1.0.0 | Coal is now found in woodland mansion chests. | |||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.4.0 | beta 1.2.14.2 | Coal can now be found inside shipwreck chests. | |||
| beta 1.2.20.1 | Coal can now be found inside underwater ruins chests. | ||||
| 1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | Coal can now be used to craft campfires. Destroying a campfire returns 2 charcoal. | |||
| The texture of coal has been changed. | |||||
| 1.11.0 | beta 1.11.0.1 | Coal can now be found in snowy tundra village house chests and in village butcher and toolsmith chests. | |||
| beta 1.11.0.4 | Armorer, weaponsmith, toolsmith, and butcher villagers now buy 15 coal for an emerald. | ||||
| Fishermen villagers now have a 50% chance to buy 10 coal for an emerald as part of their first tier trade. | |||||
| 1.16.0 | beta 1.16.0.51 | Coal can now used to craft soul torches. | |||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU1 | CU1 | 1.0 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | Added coal. |
| ? | The texture of coal has been changed. | ||||
| 1.90 | The texture of coal has been changed. | ||||
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||
| 0.1.0 | Added coal. | ||||
Issues[]
Issues relating to "Coal" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.