How to get and use knowledge book in Minecraft Java Edition

In Minecraft Java Edition, players can obtain and craft all kinds of blocks and items. While most experienced players are familiar with the right crafting recipes, new users might be able to use some help. This is where the knowledge book comes into play.

A knowledge book has all the crafting recipes present in Minecraft Java Edition. It is fairly useful for those new to the game since crafting recipes can be difficult to remember. However, obtaining the book requires some effort.

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Knowledge book in Minecraft Java Edition: How to obtain the book and use it

How to obtain the knowledge book?

Command that gives players the knowledge book as an item in Minecraft Java Edition (Image via Mojang)

First, players must be aware that it is not possible to obtain a knowledge book in survival or adventure mode without commands and cheats. This book is not naturally generated in any chest and cannot be crafted.

The only way to obtain the book is by using the '/give' command after activating cheats in a world. Players can activate cheats either by opening an existing world to LAN, or by enabling it while creating a new world. Once cheats are enabled, they can type this exact command; '/give [player's name] minecraft:knowledge_book' to add the knowledge book to their inventory.

Knowledge book is present in each player's inventory and crafting table GUI in Minecraft Java Edition (Image via Mojang)

The most interesting part about the knowledge book is that players don't need to obtain it as an item because they will already have one integrated into their inventory GUI.

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How to use the knowledge book

Knowledge book simply gets consumed if used in Minecraft Java Edition (Image via Mojang)

After obtaining the knowledge book as an item, players can use it by right-clicking while holding the book in one of their hands. However, if this action is performed in creative mode, nothing will happen, and in survival mode, the book simply gets consumed and vanishes from the inventory, which means it cannot be used as an item.

As mentioned above, the knowledge book is available to all players from the start in their own inventory GUI. When players open their inventory, they will see the knowledge book icon which opens a new window displaying all the possible crafting recipes of available items.

Players can only use the knowledge book from the inventory and crafting table GUI (Image via Mojang)

When players click on a block or item in the knowledge book window, the available items in the player's inventory will automatically align in the crafting slots. This knowledge book option is also present in the crafting table GUI.

Hence, the only way to properly use the book is through the inventory and crafting table GUIs.

Apart from all this, the knowledge book is also used by custom mapmakers along with a game rule called 'doLimitedCrafting', which ensures that an item is only craftable if its recipe is unlocked in the book.