How to Make Terracotta in Minecraft: Crafting and Smelting Guide
If you’re wondering how to make terracotta in Minecraft, you’re in luck! Terracotta is a versatile and stylish block perfect for adding color and unique designs to your builds. Minecraft offers many building materials, from basic stone blocks to concrete, but terracotta offers its own charm, especially since it can be dyed and patterned for a distinctive look.
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How to Make Terracotta in Minecraft
Learning how to make terracotta in Minecraft begins with obtaining clay blocks, the essential crafting material. Clay blocks can be found in shallow lakes, usually appearing as the second or third layer beneath the water’s surface. These blocks typically spawn in small veins.
To make terracotta in Minecraft, you’ll need:
- Clay block
- Fuel (coal, wood, etc.)
Step 1: Obtain Clay Balls
First, you’ll need to mine clay blocks. Clay is recognizable by its greyish color and appears in shallow water. Use any shovel to break the clay blocks, which will drop clay balls.
Step 2: Craft Clay Blocks from Clay Balls
With clay balls, you can craft clay blocks:
- Open your crafting table.
- Arrange four clay balls in a 2×2 square.
- Collect your clay block.
Step 3: Craft Terracotta in a Furnace
The final step in how to make terracotta in Minecraft is smelting:
- Open your furnace.
- Add fuel (coal, wood, seaweed, etc.) in the lower slot.
- Place the clay block in the top slot.
- Collect your freshly made terracotta block.
How to Dye Terracotta in Minecraft
After learning how to make terracotta in Minecraft, you can dye it to add vibrant colors:
- Open your crafting table.
- Place your chosen dye in the center slot.
- Surround it with eight terracotta blocks.
- Collect dyed terracotta.
How to Add Patterns to Terracotta
If you’re looking to get creative beyond simply knowing how to make terracotta in Minecraft, adding patterns is a great next step:
- Start by dyeing your terracotta blocks.
- Smelt the dyed terracotta in a furnace again using any fuel source to create glazed terracotta.
- Arrange glazed terracotta blocks to form detailed patterns. Remember, each glazed block pattern varies based on the dye used.
- Place these blocks carefully to match patterns; typically, a counterclockwise arrangement works best.
- To create larger patterns, continue placing glazed terracotta blocks next to each other in 2×2 arrangements or larger.
Useful Tips for Patterned Terracotta
- Cannot be pulled by sticky pistons but can be pushed.
- Doesn’t stick to honey or slime blocks.
- Must be dyed first before glazing.
- There are 16 unique dye colors, each producing a unique glazed pattern.
- Some patterns include arrows (magenta), suns (yellow), creeper faces (cyan), and sword hilts (purple).
- Glazed terracotta blocks are more brittle due to double furnace exposure.
- Available for trade from expert-level stonemasons.
Where to Find Glazed Terracotta in Minecraft
If you don’t feel like crafting glazed terracotta yourself, you can also trade for it. Master-level stone masons in villages will often trade glazed terracotta in various colors. This can save time if you’re short on dyes or don’t want to smelt everything yourself.
Natural Occurrence of Terracotta in Minecraft
Terracotta isn’t only craftable — it also generates naturally in several biomes and structures. Knowing exactly which types of terracotta appear where can help you target the blocks you want.
Badlands Biome (Mesa):
This biome is the single best natural source of terracotta. It generates in massive layers across cliffs and plateaus, often exposed on the surface.Colors found naturally: Orange, White, Light Gray, Yellow, Brown, and Red Terracotta.
Distribution: Colors form distinct horizontal bands, making it easy to mine large amounts of one shade at a time.
Desert Villages:
Many desert houses and structures use terracotta in their builds. By dismantling them (if you don’t mind upsetting the locals), you can collect ready-made blocks.Commonly found types: Plain (undyed) Terracotta, White Terracotta, and sometimes Orange Terracotta depending on the structure.
Specific uses: Desert village temples and houses often use terracotta for walls, floors, or decorative touches.
Mineshafts in Badlands:
Mineshaft supports in badlands biomes often generate with undyed terracotta instead of the usual wooden planks found in other biomes.Other Structures:
While rarer, terracotta may appear in certain decorative elements within naturally generated desert environments or as filler blocks in ruins.
Why This Matters for Players
If you’re after Orange or White Terracotta, raiding desert villages is the quickest method. For bulk supplies of Red, Yellow, Brown, or Light Gray Terracotta, the badlands biome is unbeatable. Meanwhile, if you only need plain terracotta, exploring abandoned mineshafts in badlands saves you from having to smelt clay at all.
Conclusion: How to Make Terracotta in Minecraft
Now that you’ve learned exactly how to make terracotta in Minecraft, you can build stylish and resilient structures. Although terracotta is blast-resistant like stone, creating large buildings with it is challenging due to the limited stacking of clay balls (16 per stack). Be sure to plan accordingly, and have fun customizing your colorful terracotta designs!
If you’re playing Minecraft unblocked at school or work, use our guide to bypass restrictions and fully enjoy the game anytime, anywhere.
Remember, dyed terracotta cannot be re-dyed, so choose your colors carefully!
