For other uses, see Book (disambiguation).
Books are items used in enchanting and crafting.
Obtaining[]
Block loot[]
Three books are dropped when a bookshelf is mined without Silk Touch or destroyed by an explosion.
Crafting[]
| Ingredients | Crafting recipe |
|---|---|
| Paper + Leather |
Chest loot[]
| Item | Structure | Container | Quantity | Chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Java Edition | ||||
| Book | Ancient City | Chest | 3–10 | 35.9% |
| Shipwreck | Map chest | 1–5 | 34.5% | |
| Stronghold | Library chest | 1–3 | 89.2% | |
| Village | Plains house chest | 1 | 12.1% | |
| Desert house chest | 1 | 14.3% | ||
| Bedrock Edition | ||||
| Book | Ancient City | Chest | 3–10 | 35.9% |
| Shipwreck | Map chest | 1–5 | 34.5% | |
| Stronghold | Library chest | 1–3 | 88.3% | |
| Village | Plains house chest | 1 | 12.1% | |
| Desert house chest | 1 | 14.3% | ||
Grindstones[]
Disenchanting an enchanted book at a grindstone yields a normal book and a small amount of experience.
Villager gifts[]
in Java Edition, librarian villagers throw books at players under the Hero of the Village effect.
Usage[]
Crafting ingredient[]
| Name | Ingredients | Crafting recipe |
|---|---|---|
| Book and Quill | Book + Ink Sac + Feather |
|
| Bookshelf | Any Planks + Book |
|
| Enchanting Table | Book + Diamond + Obsidian |
Chiseled bookshelf[]
Using the chiseled bookshelf while having a book in the main hand will put the book inside the chiseled bookshelf.
Enchanting[]
Books can be made into enchanted books by enchanting them on enchanting tables.
Trading[]
Librarian villagers can buy a single book as part of an enchanted book trade.
Apprentice-level Librarian villagers have a 2⁄3 chance to buy 4 books for an emerald in Java Edition, and always offer the trade in Bedrock Edition.
Achievements[]
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Gamerscore earned | Trophy type (PS4) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS4 | Other | |||||
| Enchanter | Construct an Enchantment Table. | Pick up an enchantment table from a crafting table output. | 20G | Bronze | ||
| Librarian | Build some bookshelves to improve your enchantment table. | Pick up a bookshelf from a crafting table output. | 20G | Bronze | ||
Advancements[]
| Icon | Advancement | In-game description | Parent | Actual requirements (if different) | Resource location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  | Enchanter | Enchant an item at an Enchanting Table | Diamonds! | Insert an item in an enchanting table, then apply an enchantment. | story/enchant_item
|
| The Power of Books | Read the power signal of a Chiseled Bookshelf using a Comparator | Adventure | Place a comparator on any side of a chiseled bookshelf or the chiseled bookshelf against a comparator to trigger the advancement. | adventure/read_power_of_chiseled_bookshelf
|
Sounds[]
| Sound | Subtitles | Source | Description | Resource location | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book placed | Blocks | When a book is placed in a chiseled bookshelf | block | subtitles | 0.8 | varies [sound 1] | 16 | |
| Book taken | Blocks | When a book is removed from a chiseled bookshelf | block | subtitles | 0.8 | varies [sound 2] | 16 |
| Sound | Source | Description | Resource location | Volume | Pitch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blocks | When a book is placed in a chiseled bookshelf | insert | 0.8 | varies [sound 1] | |
| Blocks | When a book is removed from a chiseled bookshelf | pickup | 0.8 | varies [sound 2] |
Data values[]
ID[]
| Name | Identifier | Form | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Book | book | Item | item.minecraft.book |
| Name | Identifier | Numeric ID | Form | Item tags (JE) | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book | book | 387 | Item | minecraft:bookshelf_books | item.book.name |
Video[]
History[]
| Java Edition Alpha | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| v1.0.11 |  Added books.
| ||||
| The only use of books is crafting bookshelves, which are only used as a purely decorative block until Beta 1.9 Prerelease 3. | |||||
| Java Edition Beta | |||||
| 1.8 | Pre-release | Books are now found in the new stronghold library chests. | |||
| Java Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 | Beta 1.9 Prerelease 3 | Books are now used to craft enchantment tables, gaining their first functional usage outside of decoration. | |||
| 1.3.1 | 12w17a | The crafting recipe is now shapeless, so books can now be crafted in the player's 2×2 crafting area, although the recipe now requires leather. Before this version, books were crafted with three paper sheets in a single column. | |||
| A book can now be crafted into a book and quill, which can be used to create written books. | |||||
| 12w21a | Librarian villagers now buy 11–12 books for 1 emerald. | ||||
| 12w22a | Librarian villagers now sell enchanted books for 5–64 emeralds and 1 book. | ||||
| 1.4.6 | 12w49a | Books can now be enchanted into enchanted books, and then combined together in an anvil with a tool to then enchant it. | |||
| 1.8 | 14w02a | Librarian villagers now buy 8–10 books for 1 emerald. | |||
| 1.9 | 15w43a | Average yield of books in stronghold library chests has been substantially increased. | |||
| 1.12 | 17w13a | Added the knowledge book, a green-colored book that grants the player a recipe for crafting. | |||
| The recipe tab on the crafting table GUI uses a red-colored book. | |||||
| 1.13 | 17w47a | Prior to The Flattening, this item's numeral ID was 340. | |||
| 18w11a | Books now generate in shipwreck chests. | ||||
| 1.14 | 18w43a |  The texture of books has been changed. | |||
| 18w48a | Books can now be obtain by disenchanting non-curse enchanted books in a grindstone. | ||||
| Books can now be found in chests in plains village houses. | |||||
| 18w50a | Books can now be found in chests in desert village houses. | ||||
| 19w13a | Librarian villagers now give books to players under the Hero of the Village effect. | ||||
| 1.19 | Deep Dark Experimental Snapshot 1 | Books now generate in ancient city chests. | |||
| 1.20 (Experimental) | 22w42a | Books can now interact with chiseled bookshelves. | |||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| v0.2.0 | Added books. They are currently unobtainable and serve no purpose. | ||||
| v0.3.0 | Books can be used to craft bookshelves. | ||||
| v0.5.0 | Books can now be obtained after activating the nether reactor. | ||||
| v0.12.1 | build 1 | The crafting recipe for books now requires leather. Before this version, books were crafted with three paper sheets in a single column. | |||
| Books are now used to craft enchanting tables. | |||||
| Books can now be enchanted into enchanted books, and then combined together in an anvil with a tool to then enchant it. | |||||
| Books are no longer available from the nether reactor. | |||||
| Pocket Edition | |||||
| 1.0.4 | alpha 1.0.4.0 | Librarian villagers now buy 8–10 books for 1 emerald. | |||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.2.0 | beta 1.2.0.2 | A book can now be crafted into a book and quill, which can be used to create written books. | |||
| 1.4.0 | beta 1.2.14.2 | Books can now be found inside of the map room chest in shipwrecks. | |||
| 1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | Books can now be found in plains village chests. | |||
| The texture of books has been changed. | |||||
| 1.11.0 | beta 1.11.0.4 | Librarian villagers now buy 4 books for an emerald. | |||
| Wild Update (Experimental) | beta 1.18.30.32 | Books now generate in ancient city chests. | |||
| 1.20 (Experimental) | beta 1.19.50.21 | Books can now interact with chiseled bookshelves. | |||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU1 | CU1 | 1.0 | Patch 1 | Added books. | |
| TU14 | 1.04 | The crafting recipe for books now requires leather. Before this version, books were crafted with three paper sheets in a single column. | |||
| PlayStation 4 Edition | |||||
| 1.90 | The texture of books has now been changed. | ||||
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||
| 0.1.0 | Added books. | ||||
Issues[]
Issues relating to "Book" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
See also[]
How book is renewable[]
The paper comes from sugar canes, which is renewable because it grows and the leather from killing cows, renewable because cows breed