Getting things right in the blocky world of Minecraft takes a lot of effort. That’s especially because most blocks only perform one function at a time. A blast furnace is for smelting ores, and similarly, the stonecutter only creates stone blocks. But if you know how to make a campfire in Minecraft, you can expand the block utility of the game exponentially. It is the perfect tool to cook food, light up Minecraft bases, and do a lot more. We will go through all uses of the campfire, along with its crafting process, in this guide. So, let’s not waste time and learn how to make a campfire in Minecraft.

The campfire in Minecraft has a huge number of interactions with other items in the game. Use the table below to explore each of them at your convenience. Before that, let’s learn how to make a campfire and soul campfire, along with the difference between them.

  • What is a Campfire in MinecraftHow to Find Campfire in MinecraftItems Needed to Make Campfire in MinecraftMinecraft Campfire Crafting RecipeDifferences Between Campfire and Soul CampfireUses of Campfire in Minecraft

What is a Campfire in Minecraft

In Minecraft, a campfire is a fire-based block that you can use to cook food, as a light source, and even send smoke signals. It looks just like a real-world campfire that uses wood to burn itself. But unlike in the real world, the campfire in Minecraft acts as an infinite source of the fire.

Moreover, Minecraft also includes a soul campfire variant. It has the iconic turquoise flames, commonly found in the nether dimension. We have covered the differences between the standard and soul campfire later in the guide.

The regular variant of the campfire is naturally generated in Minecraft at the following locations: Taiga villages, Snowy Taiga villages, and Ancient Cities. You can easily break the campfire by hand or use a tool to pick it up. As for the soul campfire, it doesn’t generate naturally in the game. You can only craft it manually using the steps described below.

Trade with Villagers to Get Campfire

If you can’t find a campfire in the villages, you can also trade with villagers to obtain it. The apprentice-level fisherman villagers sell regular campfires in exchange for emeralds.

You need the following items to craft a campfire in Minecraft:

Among these items, the logs are the easiest to obtain. You simply have to break a tree in Minecraft to obtain logs in no time. Then, you can use the same log to make planks, and later, sticks quite easily.

You can use our Minecraft ore distribution guide to easily find coal in Minecraft. We only need one piece of coal to craft a campfire. But if finding coal isn’t working out for you, you can smelt any wooden log inside the furnace to turn it into charcoal.

Both coal and charcoal act as a source of fuel for the fire. But neither one is more effective than the other. So, feel free to use whichever one is easier to obtain for you.

If you want to craft a soul campfire, you need soul soil as the fuel block. To find this block, you have to first make a Nether portal and travel to the Nether dimension. Here, with merely a few minutes of exploration, you can easily spot soul soil. The best indication of soul soil is the turquoise-colored flame burning on it.

If, for some reason, you don’t want to travel to the Nether, you can also find soul soil in the ancient city. But we won’t suggest you take such a high risk unless you know how to defeat the Warden.

To craft a campfire in Minecraft, you first need to place three logs in the bottommost row of the crafting area of a crafting table. As we can see below, the bottom row should be filled completely. Then, with coal or charcoal in the middle cell, place sticks on either side of it in the second row. Finally, place a stick in the middle cell of the first row, right above the piece of coal or charcoal.

On the other hand, if you want to make a soul campfire, place the soil sand block in the center cell of the crafting area. The rest of the recipe remains the same. Once your campfire is ready, you can use a fire charge or flint and steel to light it up.

Other than the visual differences, the soul campfire and the regular campfire have the following differences:

Uses of Campfire in Minecraft

Now that you know how to make a campfire and have possibly chosen a variant for your Minecraft house or base construction, it’s time to figure out the various uses of this block.

Since the campfire has practically unlimited fuel, you can use it to cook raw food. Unlike a furnace, cooking food on the campfire doesn’t require any additional fuel. However, it takes slightly longer than a furnace to cook the food. But because you can cook up to 4 items at the same time with no fuel, a campfire is definitely the more effective option.

Due to their ability to cause damage, you can use campfires to easily kill mobs in the right circumstances. You can make an automatic mob farm in Minecraft by placing a campfire in its killing area.

Harvest Honey from Bees

If you place a campfire under a beehive or bee nest, you can harvest honey bottles or honeycomb without irritating the bees. But make sure there is no other block between the campfire and bee’s home. Learn how to make a bee farm in Minecraft via the linked guide.

While burning, the campfire releases a smoke signal that goes up to 10 blocks before vanishing. You can place a hay bale under the campfire to make it go up to 24 blocks. However, if you place another block above the smoke signal, that block can reduce the signal height significantly.