Bricks are one of the oldest building materials in Minecraft, and they still look great on houses, chimneys, walls and town halls. In Minecraft, the word brick means two things: the brick item, which you get by smelting clay, and the bricks block, which you craft from four of those items. This guide explains how to make bricks in Minecraft step by step, where to find clay, how to get bricks from villagers, and every recipe that uses them.
Quick answer: how to make bricks in Minecraft
- Find clay blocks in shallow water, rivers, swamps or lush caves.
- Mine them with a shovel. Each clay block drops 4 clay balls.
- Put the clay balls in the top slot of a furnace and add fuel to the bottom slot.
- Each clay ball smelts into 1 brick in 10 seconds.
- Put 4 bricks in a 2 by 2 square on a crafting table to make 1 bricks block.
So one clay block becomes one bricks block: 1 clay block, 4 clay balls, 4 bricks, 1 bricks block. The recipe is the same on Java Edition, Bedrock Edition and consoles.
Where to find clay
Clay is a pale gray-blue block that is easy to spot underwater. Look in these places:
- Rivers, lakes and beaches: clay forms in patches on the floor of shallow water. Swim along riverbeds and look for the smooth gray blocks between sand and gravel.
- Swamps and mangrove swamps: the shallow water often hides clay.
- Lush caves: the pools in lush caves are lined with clay, often in large amounts.
- Villages: some village houses, especially in plains and savanna villages, use terracotta you can collect, though it is not the same as clay.
Do not break clay with a pickaxe or your hand if you are in a hurry; a shovel is much faster. If you mine a clay block with a Silk Touch tool, you get the block itself instead of 4 clay balls, which is useful for building but not for bricks.
How to make clay renewable
Natural clay runs out eventually, but you can make more. Turn dirt into mud with a water bottle, place the mud on a block, and hang pointed dripstone below that block. After a while the mud dries into a clay block. Build a row of these and you have a clay farm. See how to make mud and how to get clay for the full setup.
How to get bricks from villagers
Mason villagers, also called stonemasons, are the brick experts. A novice mason buys clay balls for emeralds and sells bricks for emeralds, so you can either turn spare clay into emeralds or skip smelting and buy bricks directly. To make a mason, place a stonecutter near an unemployed villager. Prices change with demand and with the hero of the village effect, so check the trades often. See how to make a stonecutter.
Other ways to get bricks
- Chests: bricks sometimes appear in village chests.
- Breaking brick blocks: mining a bricks block with a pickaxe drops the block, not loose bricks. You cannot turn a block back into four brick items.
- Decorated pots: breaking a decorated pot without silk touch drops its bricks and sherds back.
Every brick recipe
| Item | Ingredients | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Brick | 1 clay ball (smelted) | 1 brick |
| Bricks block | 4 bricks in a 2×2 square | 1 bricks block |
| Brick stairs | 6 bricks blocks in a stair shape | 4 stairs |
| Brick slab | 3 bricks blocks in a row | 6 slabs |
| Brick wall | 6 bricks blocks in two rows | 6 walls |
| Flower pot | 3 bricks in a V shape | 1 flower pot |
| Decorated pot | 4 bricks or pottery sherds in a diamond | 1 decorated pot |
A stonecutter turns 1 bricks block into 1 stair, 2 slabs or 1 wall, which saves material compared with the crafting table. For pots, see how to make a flower pot and the guide to decorated pots and pottery sherds.
Brick vs nether brick vs mud brick
Minecraft has several brick-style blocks that are made differently:
- Bricks come from clay balls smelted in a furnace.
- Nether bricks come from netherrack smelted into nether brick items, then 4 crafted into a block. Nether fortresses are built from them.
- Mud bricks come from packed mud, which is mud plus wheat. No furnace needed.
- Stone bricks come from 4 stone blocks in a square. See how to make stone bricks.
Tips for a brick build
- Plan your build first and count blocks. Each bricks block needs one clay block, so a house can use a whole riverbed.
- Smelt clay in several furnaces at once with hoppers, or use the furnace and fuel calculator to plan fuel.
- Mix bricks with granite, terracotta and spruce wood for a warm look, or with stone bricks and dark oak for a city feel.
- Bricks are fireproof, so they make safe chimneys around a fireplace or campfire.
Once you have a steady supply of clay, bricks become one of the cheapest good-looking blocks in the game.
How long it takes and how much fuel you need
A furnace smelts one clay ball every 10 seconds, so a full stack of 64 clay balls takes just under 11 minutes in a single furnace. One piece of coal or charcoal smelts 8 items, so a stack of clay needs 8 coal. A bucket of lava smelts 100 items and a block of coal smelts 80, which makes either one perfect for a big brick batch. If you split the stack across four furnaces, it is done in under three minutes. In other words, 64 clay balls become 64 bricks, and 64 bricks become 16 bricks blocks. A small brick house of around 300 blocks therefore needs about 1,200 clay balls, or 300 clay blocks from rivers or your clay farm.
Brick build ideas
- Town houses: brick walls with dark oak trim, stone brick foundations and glass pane windows give a classic city look.
- Chimneys and fireplaces: bricks cannot catch fire, so build a brick chimney around a campfire and let the smoke rise through it.
- Factories and train stations: brick walls with iron bars, chains and lanterns suit redstone builds and rail hubs.
- Garden walls: brick walls with flower pots on top add color to any yard.
Common mistakes
- Smelting clay blocks: a clay block in the furnace makes terracotta, not bricks. Smelt the clay balls instead.
- Using a Silk Touch shovel: it drops clay blocks. Use a normal shovel, or place and break the blocks again without Silk Touch.
- Confusing bricks and nether bricks: nether brick comes from netherrack and has a dark red color. Bricks are the orange-red block from clay.
FAQ
How many bricks do you need for a brick block?
Four. Place 4 brick items in a 2 by 2 square on a crafting table or in your inventory crafting grid to make 1 bricks block.
Can you make bricks without a furnace?
Not by crafting. You can buy bricks from a mason villager instead, or find them in chests. Making brick items yourself requires smelting clay balls.
Why do I get a clay block instead of clay balls?
Your tool has Silk Touch. Mine clay with a normal shovel to get 4 clay balls.
Can you smelt a clay block into bricks?
Smelting a clay block gives terracotta, not bricks. Break the clay block into clay balls first, then smelt the balls.
What villager sells bricks?
The mason, also called the stonemason. Place a stonecutter near an unemployed villager to give it this job.
Checked by the Game Respawned editorial team against the current Java and Bedrock versions. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.