Glass is one of the most important building blocks in Minecraft. You need it for windows, greenhouses, aquariums, beacons, bottles for potions and more. Making glass is simple once you know what to smelt, but breaking it without the right enchantment destroys it, so a little planning saves a lot of sand. This guide shows how to make glass in Minecraft, how to make glass panes, stained glass and tinted glass, how to pick up glass without breaking it, and everything glass is used for in Java and Bedrock Edition.
How to make glass in Minecraft
Smelt sand or red sand in a furnace. Each sand block becomes one glass block. Any furnace fuel works: coal, charcoal, wood, kelp blocks or a lava bucket. Blast furnaces and smokers cannot smelt sand, so use a regular furnace.
| Item | Recipe | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Glass | Smelt 1 sand or red sand | 1 glass |
| Glass pane | 6 glass in two rows of three | 16 glass panes |
| Stained glass | 8 glass around 1 dye | 8 stained glass |
| Stained glass pane | 6 stained glass, or 8 glass panes around 1 dye | 16 or 8 panes |
| Tinted glass | 1 glass surrounded by 4 amethyst shards (plus pattern) | 2 tinted glass |
| Glass bottle | 3 glass in a V shape | 3 bottles |
Where to get sand
- Deserts and beaches have huge amounts of sand. Use a shovel, ideally with Efficiency, to dig fast.
- Badlands have red sand, which makes the same clear glass.
- Rivers and ocean floors have sand and gravel.
- Wandering traders sometimes sell sand and red sand.
How to make glass panes
Place 6 glass blocks in two full rows on a crafting table to get 16 glass panes. Panes are thin and connect to each other and to nearby blocks, so they make cleaner, more realistic windows than full glass blocks. They are also much more efficient: 6 blocks of glass become 16 panes, so you cover almost three times the area.
Glass panes cannot be smelted back into glass. Plan how many full blocks you need for things like beacons and bottles before crafting everything into panes.
How to make stained glass
Surround 1 dye with 8 glass on a crafting table to get 8 stained glass in that color. There are 16 colors, one for each dye. Stained glass is translucent, so light passes through and you see a colored tint. For colored panes, either craft 6 stained glass into 16 stained glass panes, or surround 1 dye with 8 plain glass panes to dye them. Need dyes? See how to make every dye.
Stained glass and beacons
Placing stained glass on top of a beacon changes the color of its beam. Stacking different colors mixes them, so you can make a beam in almost any shade to mark your base, a meeting point or a portal.
How to make tinted glass
Tinted glass is a dark glass that blocks light but still lets you see through it. Craft it with 1 glass in the center and 4 amethyst shards above, below and to the sides, which gives 2 tinted glass. Amethyst shards come from amethyst geodes underground. Tinted glass is perfect for mob farms and dark rooms where you want to see in but keep the light level at zero so mobs keep spawning. Unlike regular glass, tinted glass always drops itself when broken, even without Silk Touch.
How to pick up glass without breaking it
Regular glass, glass panes and stained glass break and drop nothing when mined normally. To pick them up, use a tool enchanted with Silk Touch, such as a Silk Touch pickaxe. Without Silk Touch, the glass is lost, so be careful when moving windows. This is why many builders place glass last.
What is glass used for?
| Item | Glass needed | Use |
|---|---|---|
| Glass bottle | 3 glass for 3 bottles | Potions, honey, experience |
| Beacon | 5 glass + nether star + 3 obsidian | Powerful area effects |
| Daylight detector | 3 glass + 3 nether quartz + 3 wooden slabs | Redstone light sensor |
| End crystal | 7 glass + eye of ender + ghast tear | Respawn the Ender Dragon |
| Windows and greenhouses | Any | Light passes through; crops still grow |
| Aquariums | Any | Display axolotls and fish |
For potions, glass bottles are essential; see the potions guide. For the beacon you also need obsidian; see how to make obsidian.
Smelting glass in bulk
Big builds need thousands of glass blocks. Set up several furnaces in a row with hoppers: a chest of sand above feeds the furnaces, a chest of fuel feeds from the side, and a chest below collects the glass. Eight furnaces turn a stack of sand into glass in under two minutes. Dried kelp blocks are an efficient renewable fuel, each smelting 20 items.
Building tips
- Use panes for houses and full blocks for modern glass walls.
- Mix light gray and white stained glass for frosted windows.
- Use tinted glass in bedrooms and mob farms to control light.
- Put glass roofs on farms so crops get light while staying protected.
- Light passes through glass, but mobs cannot spawn on it, which makes glass floors useful for spawn-proofing.
Glass FAQ
How do you make glass in Minecraft?
Smelt sand or red sand in a furnace.
How do you make glass panes?
Craft 6 glass in two rows of three to get 16 panes.
How do you make stained glass?
Surround 1 dye with 8 glass on a crafting table.
Why does glass break when I mine it?
Glass drops nothing unless you use a Silk Touch tool.
Can a blast furnace make glass?
No. Only a regular furnace smelts sand into glass.