If you are here because you just looked up ‘How to make a barrel in Minecraft’, you’re probably a newbie learning how to navigate your way in the world of crafts and constructions that is Minecraft.
Here’s a little snippet:
It is not as complex as it seems! All you need is a few good old wood items (any type of wood will do); including planks or sticks as well as wood slabs, a crafting table and you’re good to go.
Unless you have been living under a rock, you’re probably well aware of the addictive game that has gained immense popularity around the globe in the past few years. And if you have only recently gained interest in the game, you’re likely feeling perplexed about some aspects of it.
But don’t worry! You’re not alone, we are here to help you out of this conundrum. Read along if you need a step-by-step guide on how to craft a barrel for storing items and blocks, specialized according your gaming medium and version.
Before getting started, you need to determine if you are running a Minecraft edition that supports barrel crafting. You can do that as long as you’re playing Minecraft on one of the following editions:
- Java Edition – Windows, Mac, and LINUX PC’s
- Bedrock Edition – Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, Fire OS, Windows 10 PC’s
- Education Edition – Mac, iOS 12, Windows 10 PC’s
- PlayStation Edition – PS3 & PS4
Step 1
Gather the required materials which include the following:
Java Edition
- 6 Planks
- 2 Wood Slabs
Bedrock and Education Edition
- 6 Sticks
- 2 Wood Slabs
It is important to point out that you can use any kind of wood to make a barrel. Such as; Acacia, Oak, Spruce, Birch, Crimson or Warped wood.
Step 2
The next step involves opening up your crafting table, which is the first and one of the most important items in the game used to craft all the other tools and materials.
The 3×3 grid that subsequently opens up has to be filled by the required wood items in a particular order discussed in the next step.
Step 3
If you’re playing the Minecraft Java Edition, the 3×3 crafting grid is to be filled with 6 planks in the first and third column and 2 wood slabs in the second boxes of first and third rows, respectively.
However, since Minecraft Bedrock and Education Edition requires the use of sticks for crafting a barrel, the same process as mentioned above is followed but with one difference.
The only difference is that 6 sticks are used instead of the 6 planks in the first and third column of the grid. The 2 wood slabs are positioned in the crafting grids the same way.
After all items have been positioned accurately, a barrel appears in the result box.
Step 4
The last step to finish off this recipe of making a barrel in Minecraft simply requires moving the item to inventory so can use it as and when required.
Now that you know how to make a barrel in Minecraft, it’s imperative to find out if there’s any other way to craft it.
Commands to Build a Barrel
If you want to save yourself the trouble of doing everything mentioned above, you can also ‘Give Command’ to make a barrel in Minecraft in the following way using one the versions mentioned down below:
- Java Edition
To run the barrel command, you’re required to open your chat window and type in:
/give @p barrel 1
The aforementioned method is only applicable if you’re running Java Edition 1.13 or higher.
- Education Edition and Bedrock Edition (Used on Xbox One, Windows 10 and Nintendo Switch)
To acquire a barrel if you are using one of the above mentioned editions of the game, you have to open the chat window and enter the following command:
/give @p barrel 1 0
Voila! You will have a barrel ready for use in your inventory as soon as you have given the barrel command, without putting in any effort or going through any trouble while collecting slabs, sticks or planks.
Why do you need to craft a barrel?
The answer to this is simple. A barrel is a convenient and cheap storage device that is fairly easy to make. It is used to store items such saplings and is also used as a working tool by fishermen. And since it is used as a fisherman’s job site block, it is obtained in fisher cottages in villages.
A barrel has many other uses in Minecraft. For example, if you place barrels together in a row, their efficiency is increased in terms of utility and capacity.
Surprisingly, barrels not only function as storage devices, but also as decorative items. They can, therefore, also be used while building a wall, to add a little extra detail to its design or even camouflage the barrel inside the ceiling wall to hide the fact that it’s even there!
While using it for decorative purposes, you can also use barrels to create a campfire setting. This can be done by positioning barrels around the campfire block, creating a pleasant and admirable environment.
How is a barrel used?
Now that you know all about the uses and crafting of a barrel, the next thing you need to know is the way it is used. Akin to its crafting, its usage is simple as well.
Just as barrels can be used to craft an aesthetically pleasing wall as mentioned above, it can also be used to create a large reinforced door. This can be done by building a stone arch and stacking up barrels in the centre of the arch in such a way that a button is positioned to act as a handle.
Nevertheless, one of the most interesting things that can be done with a barrel is to use it as a makeshift TNT. All you have to do is place a TNT under the barrel and position pressure plates on all sides of the barrel. When your player stands on the pressure plate, the makeshift TNT explodes.
This finding, however, is particularly rare but has been labelled ‘epic’ by a number of Minecraft users.
Barrel can be moved with a piston (which is a device used to move blocks, mobs or players) when given a redstone pulse. Barrels also appear to be ‘immune’ to lava and water as they remain unscathed when either of the two flow around them. Thus, barrel does not catch fire or get burned.
And last but not the least, barrel can be used as fuel to smelt items. This is particularly important since the smelting process that takes place in furnaces and blast furnaces plays a vital role in crafting of numerous items.
Barrel vs. Chest
Since barrels and chests are both storage items used in the game. You might ask, ‘Why should we be using barrels instead of chests?’. And while both of them have their fair share of pros, barrels come with an extra set of advantages.
For instance, while crafting both these items is fairly inexpensive, barrel crafting is cheaper and unlike chests, barrels can be accessed even if there is a block or a Redstone component over it.
Another huge advantage offered by barrels is their use as silos for storage. Chest silos can lag at times while barrel silos do not and therefore, it can increase the FPS (Frame Per Second) rate of the game, making video gaming a much better experience.
Other than a chest, barrel also shares visual and functional similarities with various other block items.
These include looms; which are used for printing patterns and serve as job site blocks to shepherds, grindstone; which is a block item used for repairing other items and a fletching table, which is used as a job site block for fletcher villages.
Conclusion
Following all the steps and methods mentioned above is an ideal and easy way to make barrels in Minecraft. It is imperative you know how to craft basic items in the game to upgrade your level of expertise and have fun competitions while playing multiplayer level game with your friends.
Minecraft is an entertaining yet complex video game that challenges your intellect and improves your spatial thinking at every step. It is therefore no secret that it can often be daunting and leave you feeling a little perplexed.
Nevertheless, with a little research, training and critical thinking; you will become an expert at crafting not only barrels in the game, but much more complex items such as houses, in no time.
