List of all fuels in Minecraft

Fuel is one of the most essential resources in Minecraft. Players need coal to make torches to see and stop hostile mobs from farming; they also need fuel to smelt raw iron and gold down into usable metal ingots. These two metals are some of the best crafting materials in the game, especially iron, which is a component in many redstone components used in advanced builds.

Many different items can be used to smelt within the furnace, probably more than one would expect. Detailed below are all the different kinds of fuel in the game, along with when they should be used and which ones are the best for surviving long enough to reach the final boss fight against Minecraft's ender dragon.

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Minecraft's real furnace fuels

Coal is the most common fuel source in the game (Image via Mojang)

When it comes to smelting, certain items are more efficient than others. The first category of items that should be used for smelting are those considered real fuel. This includes coal, charcoal, buckets of lava, and even the rods dropped by the blaze mob found in the nether. These items are significantly better at smelting than others and should be the first choice for any player.

The complete list of these types of fuel:

Item	Smelts per one	Smelts per stack	Amount needed to smelt a stack
Lava Bucket	100	Does not stack	0.64
Block of Coal	80	5120	0.8
Dried Kelp Block	20	1280	3.2
Blaze Rod	12	768	5.33...
Coal/Charcoal	8	512	8

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Emergency fuels

Smelting with sticks is a great way to get rid of them after chopping down trees (Image via Mojang)

The remaining kinds of fuel can be categorized as emergency fuel. These types of fuel are not very effective for the resources used. They should only be used in emergencies when coal is scarce or to eliminate old, unwanted wooden items clogging up an automatic Minecraft storage system.

The complete list of all other flammable items, except those with version differences, can be found below.

Item	Smelts per one	Smelts per stack	Amount needed to smelt a stack
Any Boat, any Chest Boat	6	Does not stack	10.66...
Bamboo Mosaic, bamboo mosaic stairs, chiseled bookshelves, logs, stripped logs, planks, wooden stairs, wooden pressure plates, wooden trapdoors, wooden fences, all crafting stations, storage solutions, wooden redstone components, and banners	1.5	96	42.66...
Wooden doors, signs, hanging signs, and wooden tools	1	64	64
Saplings, sticks, dead bushes, azaleas	0.5	32	128
Bamboo and scaffolding	0.25	16	256

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Parity fuel differences

The bee blocks can't be used as fuel on Java Edition, unlike Bedrock (Image via Mojang)

These are the items that have different smelting characteristics between versions. As Minecraft Bedrock receives parity updates, this list will probably get shorter, but it currently consists of:

Item	Smelts per one	Smelts per stack	Amount needed to smelt a stack	Version/version
Bamboo Mosaic Slab	0.75/1.5	48/96	85.33.../42.66...	Java/Bedrock
Bee Nest and Beehive	1.5	96	42.66...	Bedrock Exclusives
Block of Bamboo, Block of Stripped Bamboo	1.5	96	42.66...	Java Exclusive
Overworld Wooden Slab	0.75/1.5	48/96	85.33.../42.66...	Java/Bedrock
Overworld Wooden Button	0.5/1.5	32/96	128/42.66...	Java/Bedrock
Mangrove Roots, Ladders	1.5	96	42.66...	Java Exclusive
Crossbow, Bow	1.5/1	Does not stack	42.66.../64	Java/Bedrock
Bowl	0.5/1	32/64	128/64	Java/Bedrock
Any Wool	0.5	32	128	Java Exclusive
Any Carpet	0.335	21.44	191.04	Java Exclusive

It is worth noting that different versions of the game have varying quality of smelting items. This means that some items are better in one version than another. It is hoped that when the two versions are brought to the same level, the best smelting items from both versions will be combined, giving players better options for emergency smelting.

Considering how long Mojang took to make parity changes to items, it may take some time to address any smelting inconsistencies, just like how Bedrock players needed shovels to craft boats for a long time.