Maps are one of the most underrated tools in Minecraft. They show the terrain around you from above, help you find your way home, record the places you have explored, and can even be turned into giant wall displays or pixel art. Making a map is simple once you have a compass and some paper. This guide explains how to make a map in Minecraft, how to fill it in, how to zoom out to a bigger map, how to copy and lock maps, how to add markers, and how to build a map wall.
Quick answer: how to make a map in Minecraft
- Craft a compass from four iron ingots around one redstone dust.
- Gather eight paper from sugar cane.
- On a crafting table, place the compass in the center and surround it with the eight paper.
- You get an empty map. Hold it and use it to start drawing the area around you.
On Bedrock Edition you can also craft an empty map from nine paper at a cartography table, or from paper alone without a compass, but that map will not show your position marker until you add a compass. A locator map on Bedrock includes the player marker.
Step 1: Make a compass
You need four iron ingots and one redstone dust. Iron ore is common underground and on mountain sides; smelt raw iron in a furnace to get ingots. Redstone ore is found deep underground, below Y level 16, and drops redstone dust when mined with an iron pickaxe or better. Place the redstone in the center of the crafting grid and the iron ingots above, below, left and right of it. Read how to make a compass.
Step 2: Make paper
Collect sugar cane from riverbanks and place three in a horizontal row on a crafting table to get three paper. You need eight paper for one map, so craft at least nine sugar cane. If you plan to zoom out maps later, make extra paper. See how to make paper.
Step 3: Craft and use the map
Put the compass in the middle of the crafting table grid and fill the other eight slots with paper. Take the empty map, hold it in your hand and use it (right-click, or the use button on console). It becomes a filled map centered on the area you are in, and it begins drawing the terrain as you walk around. Anything you have not explored stays blank. Walk or ride around the area to fill it in completely.
How maps work: scale and size
A new map is at zoom level 0, showing a 128 by 128 block area, where each pixel equals one block. Maps are locked to a fixed grid in the world, so the map does not center on exactly where you stood, but on the grid square containing that spot. Each zoom level doubles the area, up to zoom level 4, which shows 2,048 by 2,048 blocks with each pixel representing 16 by 16 blocks.
How to zoom out a map
There are two ways to make a map show a bigger area:
- Cartography table: place the filled map in the top slot and one paper in the bottom slot. Each paper zooms the map out one level. This is the cheapest method.
- Crafting table: place the map in the center and surround it with eight paper to zoom out one level.
When you zoom out, the existing drawing shrinks and you must explore the newly visible area to fill it in. Zooming out four times gives the largest map, perfect for overview maps of your whole base region.
Copying and locking maps
Use a cartography table to make copies: put a filled map in the top slot and an empty map in the bottom slot to get two identical maps. Copies are great for giving friends directions or for map walls. You can also lock a map with a glass pane in a cartography table, which freezes it so it never updates again, useful for keeping a record of an area before you build or terraform it.
Markers on maps
- Player marker: shows your position and direction while you are within the map area. Outside the area it becomes a small dot at the edge.
- Banners: on Java, use a filled map on a placed banner to add a colored marker. If the banner has a name from an anvil, the name shows on the map.
- Item frames: a map placed in an item frame shows a green marker at the frame’s location on Java.
- Explorer maps: cartographer villagers sell maps that point to ocean monuments, woodland mansions, trial chambers and other structures. Buried treasure maps from shipwrecks show an X.
How to build a map wall
A map wall shows a large area as a single picture. Make several maps of neighboring areas at the same zoom level, place item frames in a grid on a wall, and put each map in the matching frame. Using zoom level 0 or 1 maps gives a detailed wall of your base, while zoom level 4 maps show huge regions. Lock the maps if you want the wall to stay unchanged, or leave them unlocked so they update as you explore.
Maps in the Nether and the End
Maps work in the Nether, but because of the bedrock ceiling they show a static, noisy pattern instead of terrain, so they are not very useful there; the player marker still works. Maps in the End show the islands normally. For Nether navigation, coordinates are better; see how to see coordinates and Nether portal coordinates.
Map art
Map art is a creative hobby where players build huge flat images out of colored blocks, then capture them on a map. Because maps show block colors from above, a carefully designed 128 by 128 block canvas becomes a picture when mapped. Concrete, wool and terracotta are popular because of their flat colors. See how to make concrete for the brightest palette.
Common map problems
- The map is blank: you have not used it yet, or you are outside its area. Hold it and walk around.
- No player marker: on Bedrock, the map was made without a compass. Add one at a cartography table.
- The map is not centered on my base: maps snap to a fixed grid. Make a new map from a neighboring area or zoom out.
- The map will not update: it may be locked, or you are holding it in a different dimension.
Map FAQ
How do you make a map in Minecraft?
Surround a compass with eight paper on a crafting table, then use the empty map.
Can you make a map without a compass?
On Bedrock you can craft an empty map from paper alone, but it lacks a player marker. On Java you need a compass.
How do you make a bigger map?
Add paper at a cartography table to zoom it out, up to four times.
How big is a Minecraft map?
From 128 by 128 blocks at zoom 0 to 2,048 by 2,048 blocks at zoom 4.
How do you copy a map?
Put the filled map and an empty map in a cartography table.
Once you master maps, you will never get lost again, and your base walls will look fantastic.