Minecraft has endured so long in the gaming universe because of its openness. It's a game that provides players with problems that have an infinite amount of solutions. Quite literally, players engineer their own experiences, which can include recreating the entirety of Super Mario Galaxy.
But creative inventions or solutions don't have to be so grandiose. For instance, new players can get one of the best power sources in Minecraft's base game without having to dig. Charcoal, an effective simulacrum for Coal, is very easy to produce.
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Charcoal can't be made without a Furnace, which is one of the first objects a player will craft anyways. It requires eight Cobblestone, which can be mined and harvested with a Wooden Pickaxe. Once eight Cobblestone blocks have been collected, simply place them in a Crafting Table, filling every slot except for the one in the middle, to produce a Furnace.
Making Charcoal requires two main things: a block of Wood that has not been turned into Planks, and some sort of fuel. If players are wanting to get Charcoal in the early game, then any sort of Wooden object will suffice as fuel, though the burn times aren't sustainable for future uses.
To start the process, place a fuel source in the bottom left slot of the Furnace's interface and a normal Wood block directly above that. After a brief period of time, Charcoal will pop up in the slot to the right. Below is a picture giving an example of the process.
One Wood block will turn into a single piece of Charcoal, meaning that 64 Wood blocks will be required to make a full stack of Charcoal. Charcoal could be used as a fuel source to make more Charcoal, but that wouldn't be a very efficient process. The most ideal way to smelt Charcoal is to use Coal as the fuel source, as one Coal piece can create eight Charcoal.
A Campfire will also drop two Charcoal if broken by a tool that does not have the Silk Touch enchantment.
As mentioned before, Charcoal cuts out the need to go mining for Coal, and it can be made within the first hour of a Minecraft playthrough. It serves the same purpose as Coal, in both crafting recipes and as the best fuel source for smelting Ores in a Furnace.
Players can craft four torches with one Wooden Stick and one Charcoal. It can also be combined with Blaze Powder to make one Fire Charge. The main difference between Coal and Charcoal is that the former can be made into a block, while the latter cannot-- a small price to pay for convenience.
Minecraft is available now on Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.