Items in Minecraft: a complete guide
Minecraft has over 1,300 unique items and blocks, from simple wooden tools to legendary artifacts like the Dragon Egg or the Elytra. Every item has its own properties, a way to get it and uses. On this page you'll find an overview of every category, with links to detailed descriptions.
Items in Minecraft fall into a few main categories. You craft some at a crafting table, and you get others from mobs, chests, villager trading or exploring structures. Below we go through each category with the most important examples and links to dedicated pages.
Tools
Pickaxes, axes, shovels, hoes and shears. From wooden to netherite, each tier has its own durability, mining speed and uses.
Example items: pickaxe, axe, shovel, hoe, shears, fishing rod, compass, clock, spyglass.
Weapons
Swords, bows, crossbows, tridents and maces. Every weapon has its own combat mechanics, enchantments and play style.
Example items: sword, bow, crossbow, trident, mace, arrows, shield.
Armor
Helmets, chestplates, leggings and boots. Leather, chainmail, iron, diamond, netherite: each material gives different protection and Armor Toughness.
Example items: helmet, chestplate, leggings, boots, elytra, turtle shell, shield.
Food
From apples to golden carrots. Food restores your hunger bar and health, and different foods give different amounts of saturation.
Example items: steak, golden apple, golden carrot, cooked salmon, cake, beetroot soup, bread, baked potato, suspicious stew.
Materials and resources
Raw materials for crafting, building and trading. From wood to netherite ingots, the foundation of every survival world.
Example items: diamond, netherite ingot, emerald, iron ingot, gold ingot, copper ingot, lapis lazuli, redstone dust, amethyst shard, blaze rod.
Potions and brewing
Potions, splash potions, lingering potions and dragon's breath. Brewing gives you powerful buffs and debuffs for combat and exploration.
Example items: potion of healing, potion of strength, potion of swiftness, potion of fire resistance, potion of water breathing, potion of invisibility, dragon's breath.
Special and rare items
Unique artifacts that don't fit any standard category. The rarest and most powerful items in the game.
Example items: ender pearl, eye of ender, dragon egg, nether star, heart of the sea, totem of undying, name tag, saddle, lead, wind charge.
Decorations and music
Music discs, banners, fireworks, item frames, armor stands and dyes. Items for personalization and style.
Example items: music discs, banner, firework rocket, item frame, armor stand, painting, dye.
Tool tiers compared
Tools in Minecraft come in several material tiers. Each tier has its own durability, mining speed and the level of blocks it can mine:
| Material | Durability | Speed | Mining level | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wood | 59 | 2.0 | Stone | Starter tier, lasts a few minutes |
| Stone | 131 | 4.0 | Iron | Quick to make, good for the early game |
| Iron | 250 | 6.0 | Diamond, Redstone | The main tier for most of the game |
| Gold | 32 | 12.0 | Stone | The fastest, but extremely fragile |
| Diamond | 1,561 | 8.0 | Obsidian | Durable, required for obsidian |
| Netherite | 2,031 | 9.0 | Obsidian | Doesn't burn in lava, the best tier |
Gold tools are a paradox: they mine the fastest, but they have only 32 durability. Netherite tools are the endgame tier. They combine the highest durability with lava resistance, and you can upgrade diamond tools to netherite at a smithing table.
Best food ranked
Not all food is equal. Two stats matter: hunger points (the drumstick icons on the HUD) and saturation (a hidden stat that decides how soon you get hungry again). Here are the 5 best foods in the game:
- Golden carrots - 6 hunger points, 14.4 saturation. Absolutely the best food for saturation. It doesn't restore more than steak, but it keeps you full the longest. You craft it from gold nuggets and a carrot, or buy it from a farmer villager.
- Steak / cooked porkchop - 8 hunger points, 12.8 saturation. The easiest good food to mass-produce. Build a cow or pig farm, kill the animals with fire (Fire Aspect) and you have endless supplies.
- Golden apple - 4 hunger points + an Absorption effect (extra hearts) for 2 minutes + Regeneration II for 5 seconds. Not an everyday food, but it saves lives in boss fights.
- Cooked salmon - 6 hunger points, 9.6 saturation. Ideal near water: salmon spawn in large numbers in rivers.
- Suspicious stew - different effects depending on the flower used to craft it. It can give Regeneration (from an oxeye daisy), Saturation (from a dandelion) or other buffs. Stew with the Saturation effect is technically the best food in the game if you count the efficiency of a single use.
How to get items
You can get items in Minecraft in several ways:
- Crafting - making items at a crafting table from materials laid out in the right pattern. Most tools, weapons and blocks are made this way. You'll find detailed recipes in our crafting recipe database.
- Mining and gathering - you dig up resources like diamonds, iron, gold, redstone and lapis lazuli underground. You collect wood from trees and stone from caves.
- Mob drops - every mob has its own loot table. Mobs drop materials, weapons, armor and special items (for example, wither skeleton skulls, or ender pearls from Endermen).
- Villager trading - villagers offer various items for emeralds. Librarians sell enchantments, toolsmiths sell tools, and farmers sell food.
- Structure loot - chests in dungeons, temples, mineshafts, bastions and End Cities contain rare items (for example, saddles, name tags and horse armor).
- Brewing - potions are made in a brewing stand from blaze powder and various ingredients. Details are in the potions guide.
- Killing bosses - the Ender Dragon drops a huge amount of XP and opens the way to End Cities. The Wither drops a nether star, which you need for a beacon.
You can upgrade many items with enchantments at an enchanting table or an anvil. The enchanting system adds special properties, from increased damage (Sharpness, Smite) to automatic repair (Mending).
Database of the 50 most important items
We've built a detailed database of the 50 most important items and blocks in Minecraft, with in-depth descriptions, crafting, trivia and tips. Every item has its own subpage with full information.
Go to the item and block database (50 entries)
Featured items from the database:
- Mace - a new weapon from Minecraft 1.21 with a smash attack mechanic
- Wind Charge - a new wind projectile from Trial Chambers
- Elytra - wings for flying, found in End City ships
- Dragon Egg - the rarest item in the game (1 per world)
Frequently asked questions
How many items are there in Minecraft?
Minecraft Java Edition 1.21 has over 1,300 unique items and blocks. Blocks alone number over 800 entries, and items about 500. The number grows with every update.
What is the rarest item in Minecraft?
The Dragon Egg: exactly one exists in each world. It appears on top of the exit portal after you kill the Ender Dragon for the first time. On multiplayer servers it's by far the most valuable item, and often a status symbol.
Are netherite tools worth it?
Absolutely. Netherite tools have 30% more durability than diamond, they're faster, they give more Armor Toughness (armor) and, most importantly, they don't burn in lava. If you fall into lava with a netherite sword, you get it back. With a diamond one, you lose it forever. The only downside is how hard netherite is to get: you have to mine ancient debris in the Nether at Y=15.
What's the difference between an item and a block?
Blocks can be placed in the game world (cobblestone, wood, obsidian). Items exist only in your inventory and can't be placed directly in the world (a sword, food, an ender pearl). Some things are both a block and an item. For example, you can place TNT in the world and also carry it in your inventory.
How do I check a crafting recipe in the game?
Open a crafting table and click the book icon (Recipe Book) on the left side of the crafting grid. The game shows all the recipes you've discovered. You unlock new recipes by collecting the right materials. You can also use our crafting recipe database, which has visual diagrams.
Detailed descriptions of selected items
- Cornflower - a blue flower used to craft blue dye
- Book - an item for crafting bookshelves and enchanted books
- Lava - a liquid that generates obsidian, a light source and a danger
- Lodestone - a block that locks a compass onto a fixed point, including in the Nether and the End
- Campfire - a block for cooking, smoke signals and decoration
- Resin - a new material from Minecraft 1.21.4
- Fermented spider eye - a brewing ingredient for negative potions