How to make a compass in Minecraft 1.19 update

Minecraft’s compass is an interesting item, mostly due to the fact that the compass itself is not particularly useful. The compass has, for the entirety of the game, pointed in the direction of the world spawn, which is not particularly useful if the player did not build their base near the world spawn.

However, there are many things that a compass can be used for, making it quite useful in the game. This article will explain how players can make a compass and use it in Minecraft.

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Everything players should know about compasses in Minecraft 1.19

How to make a compass

The crafting recipe for a compass (Image via Minecraft)

The crafting recipe for a compass is basic and has not changed since its inclusion in the game more than a decade ago when the game was still in beta.

To craft a compass, players will need a single redstone dust and four iron ingots. The redstone dust needs to be placed in the direct center of the nine-box crafting grid, with a single iron ingot directly next to the redstone dust in each cardinal direction.

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Where to find a compass

Players might find a compass in an ancient city (Image via Minecraft)

Crafting is not the only way for players to obtain a compass in the game. They can also be found as random loot in a few of the game’s different structures.

Ancient cities can contain chests that have a 16.1% chance of containing a single compass. The map chest of shipwrecks has a slightly lower chance of having a compass, at only 7.7%. The library chests of strongholds have a 10.9% chance of containing a compass, and lastly, cartographer’s chests in villages have a 26.3% chance of having a single compass. These percentages are for the Java Edition of the game.

Only one of these percentages is different for the Bedrock Edition of the game, and that is the stronghold library chest percentage, which drops down to 10.5% on the Bedrock Edition.

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Trading for a compass

An expert level librarian selling a compass for four emeralds (Image via Minecraft)

Villager trading is an amazing way to obtain interesting and powerful items in the game. This includes things like cookies, mending books, enchanted diamond armor, and compasses. In the Java edition of the game, expert-level librarian villagers will have a 50% chance of selling a compass for a total of four emeralds.

In the Bedrock Edition of the game, the same expert-level librarian villagers will also sell a compass for four emeralds; however, the chance of them having this trade is lower, at only 33.3%.

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Uses of a compass

Players can use a compass to make a map (Image via Minecraft)

The main use of a compass is to point in the direction of the world’s spawn. However, most players craft them to surround the compass with paper to create an empty map that players can fill in by exploring.

There are also two Bedrock Edition exclusive ways to use a compass. It offers the ability to combine a compass with either an empty or filled map. This will add location markers to any maps made only of paper. Players can do this either in a crafting interface or by using an anvil.