How to get and use cocoa beans in Minecraft

The world of Minecraft features a plethora of unique flora and fauna. There are tons of crops inspired by real-life plants, such as wheat, carrots, etc. Players can find crops in different biomes and structures all over the world. Most crops are easy to find, like sugarcane, but a few are exotic and rare, such as cocoa beans.

Cocoa beans are one of the many growable crops in Minecraft. It is one of the oldest items in the game and has been present since its launch. Like other crops, cocoa beans are also helpful. In this guide, players will learn everything about cocoa beans in Minecraft.

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Cocoa beans in Minecraft: Everything you need to know

How to get cocoa beans in Minecraft

There are many ways to get cocoa beans in Minecraft. Players can go to jungle biomes to find cocoa pods as Jungle biomes are the only place where cocoa beans generate naturally. In jungle biomes, cocoa pods get generated attached to jungle tree trunks.

Players can use their bare hands or any tool to break cocoa pods. Using an ax is the fastest way to harvest cocoa beans. Upon breaking, a fully grown cocoa pod drops three cocoa beans, otherwise, only one cocoa bean will be dropped. A fully grown cocoa pod has a brown texture, while young pods have a greenish color. After obtaining cocoa beans, players can plant them on jungle logs to grow cocoa pods and get more cocoa beans.

Bedrock Edition has two more ways of obtaining cocoa beans. In Bedrock Edition, players might get a wandering trader who sells three cocoa beans for an emerald. Bedrock players also have a tiny chance to obtain cocoa beans by fishing in jungle biomes. However, both of these methods are unreliable and inconsistent.

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How to use cocoa beans in Minecraft

Use cocoa beans to make brown dye (Image via Mojang)

Cocoa beans are primarily used to craft brown dyes in Minecraft. Most players farm this crop to make brown dyes, as there is no other source of brown dye. Players can place cocoa beans in a crafting slot to make brown dyes.

Instead of crafting brown dyes, players can use cocoa beans directly in the recipes and use them just like brown dyes. It can be used to create brown variations of beds, carpets, banner patterns, concrete powder, fireworks, terracotta, shulker boxes, glass, glass panes, and wool. In the Education Editon, players can also use cocoa beans to make brown colored balloons, glow sticks, etc.

Other than this, cocoa beans can also be used to craft food. While cocoa beans are not edible, players can combine cocoa beans with wheat to make cookies. One cookie restores one hunger point and gives 0.4 hunger saturation.

Lastly, players can use cocoa beans in the composter to make bone meals. As it is a plant-related item, putting cocoa beans in a composter increases the compost level. One cocoa bean has a 65% of chance of increasing compost level by 1. Once a composter reaches level 7, it will create a piece of bone meal. Players can create a cocoa bean farm to get tons of cocoa beans and use the extra beans to make bone meals.