Minecraft bell guide: How to get and use it

Bell is one of the many wonderful blocks you can find in Minecraft. If you have been to a village, then you must have spotted a shiny golden bell in it. A bell isn't just a shiny decoration item for villagers. It serves as a common meeting spot for villagers in Minecraft, where they prefer to meet up with their neighbors and gossip about their trades.

Added back in the Village & Pillage update of 2019, the bell is a naturally generating block found at the center of villages. Unfortunately, there is no way to craft a bell in Minecraft. But there are a few ways to get yourself a bell. Continue reading this Minecraft guide to find out about different ways to get a bell and use it.

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How to get a bell in Minecraft

There are three ways to get a bell in Minecraft:

1. Steal from a village
2. Trade with an armorer, toolsmith, and weaponsmith
3. Loot chests in ruined portals

1) Stealing from a village

Villages almost always have bells (Image via Mojang)

The easiest way to get a bell in Minecraft is by stealing one from a village. Villages have a high chance of generating with a gathering spot where you will find villagers roaming around a bell. You can simply mine the bell block using any kind of pickaxe and store it in your inventory.

That said, stealing a bell from the village might feel wrong to some players as it can stop villagers from meeting up with each other. This may also cause villagers to wander away from the village during the daytime and get stuck in a cave or killed by a zombie.

Related: How to find village in Minecraft

2) Villager trading

You can purchase bells from certain villagers (Image via Mojang)

Villager trading is an excellent way to get many uncraftable items, such as a bell. You can get an infinite supply of bells by trading with a toolsmith and a weaponsmith as long as you have emeralds. Among all villager jobs, toolsmiths and weaponsmiths are guaranteed to sell bells for 36 emeralds after reaching the apprentice level.

Armorers can also sell bells, but they have a 50% chance in Java Edition and a 33% chance in Bedrock Edition to have the bell trade. If the 36-emerald price seems steep to you, then you can turn a villager into a zombie and cure them for a discount.

3) Ruined portals

Try your luck in a ruined portal chest (Image via Mojang)

In the Overworld and the Nether, you can discover ruined obsidian portals. These structures are always accompanied by a chest. This chest has a small 1.5% chance of having a bell inside it. Scavenging ruined portals isn't a reliable way to get bells, but if you have a ruined portal nearby, it's always worth trying your luck.

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How to use bells in Minecraft

There are many ways to use bells in Minecraft:

1. Setting up a gathering spot for villagers
2. As a decoration
3. As a redstone block
4. Finding hidden illagers during raids

1) Use bells to make a villager gathering spot

You can use a bell to make a gathering spot (Image via Mojang)

If you have set up your own village and want a common spot for gathering villagers, then using the bell is the way to go. This block was added for the sole reason of creating a space for gathering villagers. In case you don't like a gathering spot in a naturally generated village, you can break the bell and place it somewhere to your liking to make a new gathering spot.

2) Decoration

Use bell as decoration (Image via Mojang)

Bells can be a sweet decoration for most bases in Minecraft. Who doesn't like to sleep and wake up to ring a bell and scream "Top of the morning!"? Bells can be hung from the ceiling or placed on a block. If one is creative enough, one can fit a bell as a decoration in any build.

3) As a redstone block

Bell can be used with redstone (Image via Mojang)

A bell is one of the many blocks that can interact with redstone. You can ring a bell using a redstone signal or use a sculk sensor to detect sounds made by a bell. There are many ways to implement a bell into your redstone builds.

4) During illager raids

Bell shows pillagers during raid (Image via Mojang)

Illagers are not the smartest creatures, at least during raids, as they are often found stuck inside caves. If you have been struggling to find the last remaining illagers in a raid, then simply ring a bell. It will create a glowing aura around illagers that are part of the raid. You can then go and kill them to finish the raid.