Minecraft crafter guide: Recipe, uses, and more

Minecraft's 1.21 update, also known as Tricky Trials, is introducing a plethora of new content. However, one of the most exciting additions may be the crafter block, a new means of automation that functions much like a crafting table but can be operated by using redstone signals. After years of waiting, automatic crafting is now possible in the Tricky Trials update without the use of mods.

Although the crafter is similar to the crafting table in Minecraft, it does have some aspects of its design that are unique to it. With that in mind, it doesn't hurt to examine the crafter block from top to bottom including its crafting recipe, how it works, and how players can use it to serve their crafting needs.

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What to know about the crafter block in Minecraft 1.21

Crafting recipe

A few materials factor into the creation of the crafter block (Image via Mojang)

As with countless other blocks in Minecraft, the crafter is forged in the crafting table by combining different resources. Specifically, players will need the following to create a single crafter block:

• Five iron ingots
• One crafting table
• Two redstone dust
• One dropper

To avoid any confusion, Minecraft players will need a crafting table to use as a crafting material and one to place and interact with (in order to open the crafting UI). In the crafting grid, players can place their iron ingots in the same pattern as a helmet, a crafting table in the center, the dropper underneath it, and the redstone in the final two slots.

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Using the crafter block

A crafter can intake materials and use them to make items and blocks based on in-game crafting recipes (Image via Mojang)

On its most basic level, the crafter effectively functions as an automatic crafting table. It can have materials stored within it and then create items and/or blocks when it is activated via a redstone signal. This makes crafters particularly useful in redstone machinery and devices, where they can work in tandem with other blocks to create items/blocks automatically without the player being present.

Minecraft players can place resources into a crafter block either manually or via other blocks like hoppers and droppers. It's also possible to click empty slots in the crafter's UI to lock certain slots and prevent them from accidentally creating other objects via certain recipes. Once the crafter has received a redstone signal from any source, it will combine its resources to create one item or block.

It should be noted that the crafter will craft one item/block per redstone signal. If a signal runs through the block and activates it, it will remain active until the signal deactivates. For example, if players attach a button to the crafter, it will craft one item/block per button press, but if players want to make a crafter continue crafting, they'll need to repeatedly send a signal (by using a redstone clock for example).

Minecraft 1.21's crafter is compatible with a wide range of other redstone blocks (Image via Mojang)

Although that's the basic premise of the crafter block, its uses are immense depending on how much redstone knowledge Minecraft players have. Since items and blocks can be inserted and removed from the crafter via hoppers, it can be a crucial cog in larger machines. Crafters can take resource input from blocks like hoppers or hopper minecarts, then craft items and place them in storage blocks.

With just a little understanding of redstone machinery, Minecraft players should be able to use the crafter to ostensibly create a working small-scale factory to create objects for them when they're not around. Moreover, they could even be attached to existing resource farms to process their yields into final products. The only limits are a player's knowledge and creativity at the end of the day.