How to Make a Map in Minecraft: Recipe

Crafting a map

You craft a basic map from 8 paper and 1 compass. At a crafting table, the paper surrounds the compass on all sides. A compass is crafted from 4 iron ingots and redstone dust.

Crafting gives you an empty map. Hold it and right-click, and the map starts filling in with an image of the terrain around you. The map covers an area of 128x128 blocks (the default zoom level).

Zooming a map at a cartography table

The cartography table is a job site block used to modify maps. You craft it from 2 paper and 4 planks of any wood.

At a cartography table you can:

Zoom out - put in a map and paper. Each zoom-out doubles the map's range. You can zoom out 4 times: from 128x128 blocks (level 0) to 2048x2048 blocks (level 4).
Copy a map - put in a filled map and an empty map. You get two identical copies.
Lock a map - put in a map and a glass pane. A locked map doesn't update, even if the terrain changes. Great for preserving a specific state of the world.

Zoom levels

A map has 5 zoom levels, numbered 0 to 4:

Level 0 (default) - 128x128 blocks, the most detail
Level 1 - 256x256 blocks
Level 2 - 512x512 blocks
Level 3 - 1024x1024 blocks
Level 4 - 2048x2048 blocks, the least detail

Each level covers four times the area of the previous one, but loses detail. Level 3 or 4 works well for navigating long distances. For marking a base, use level 0 or 1.

Locator map (Bedrock Edition)

In Bedrock Edition, the default map doesn't show the player's position. To get a map with a locator, use a cartography table: put in an empty map and a compass. You get a locator map, which shows a marker for your position and the direction you're facing. In Java Edition, every map crafted with a compass shows the player's position automatically.

Explorer maps

Explorer maps are special maps that point to the location of rare structures. You can't craft them. You buy them from a cartographer (a villager with the cartographer profession) for emeralds and a compass.

Ocean Explorer Map - points to the nearest ocean monument. Costs 13 emeralds and a compass.
Woodland Explorer Map - points to the nearest woodland mansion. Costs 14 emeralds and a compass.
Trial Explorer Map - points to the nearest trial chambers. Available since 1.21.

An explorer map shows the structure as a small icon marker. A blank area means unexplored terrain, and a colored one means terrain you've already covered while holding the map. The structure can be thousands of blocks away from your location.

Buried treasure maps

You'll find buried treasure maps in chests in ocean ruins and shipwrecks. The red X marks the location of buried treasure, which generates on a beach. The treasure is hidden under sand or gravel and contains a heart of the sea, which you need to build a conduit.

To find the treasure, follow the X on the map. When your marker overlaps the X, dig down. The treasure is right under the X, at a height between Y 40 and sea level.

Map walls

One of the most popular decorative projects is a map wall. Place item frames on a wall in a grid (for example 4x4 or 6x6) and put a map of a different piece of terrain in each frame. Maps in neighboring frames join up visually, forming one huge, coherent map of your world.

Tips for building a map wall:

Use maps at the same zoom level, otherwise the scale won't match.
Start with the central map (the one with your base) and expand in every direction.
Level 3 maps (1024x1024) are a good compromise between detail and range.
Lock the maps at a cartography table so they don't update by accident.
Glow item frames look better in dark rooms.

Banners on maps

You can mark a map with a banner: place a banner in the world, then right-click it while holding the map. A colored marker appears on the map at the banner's location. Rename the banner in an anvil, and the name shows up as a label on the map. It's a simple way to mark important locations - a base, a farm, a village.

Map in Minecraft: crafting and uses