Paper is a great resource to create and harvest. It’s also something that helps you to learn the systems of Minecraft and that ultimately allows you to create some of the more advanced recipes in the game. Before you can do that, though, you have to understand how to gather the materials you need for paper and how to use the recipe properly.
FYI – we have also covered how to make a lead in Minecraft.
Finding the Ingredients for Paper
Paper requires relatively few ingredients compared to most other recipes in the Minecraft world. In fact, you can probably gather all the ingredients you need for the paper without ever crafting a single tool – something you definitely can’t say for most of the items that you’re going to need later on.
Paper is made of sugar cane in Minecraft, the same plant you’ll use for sugar when you’re baking. In this case, you’ll just need three of the plants. Note that this means you’re going to need three units, so a single plant that is three blocks high is going to give you all of the sugar cane that you need.
Given that paper is used for some high-end items, you’re probably going to want to set up a little sugar cane farm for this purpose. Growing sugar cane is incredibly easy – you’ll just need some dirt next to water for the plants to grow. Place a single block on the dirt and you can continue to harvest everything that grows above the initial plant.
How to Make Minecraft Paper
Making paper is also a fairly simple process. You will need a crafting table for this, but that’s the only other tool you’ll have to use. There’s no need to refine anything or to craft multiple objects – you just need to set down your ingredients in the right pattern, just like almost every other recipe in the game.
Paper comes from three sugar cane plants that are all placed on the bottom row of your crafting grid. When you use this recipe, you’ll get three pieces of paper, making this recipe one of the most resource-efficient recipes in the entire game.
Read More: how to make a bed in minecraft
Uses of Paper in Minecraft
Despite its simple recipe, paper is actually one of the core resources in Minecraft. It’s actually used for some pretty advanced recipes and most players who are looking to conquer survival are going to make quite a bit of paper in their attempts to reach The End.
The big item for which paper used is the map. Making a basic map with no locator requires nine pieces of paper, and it will be generated as a blank map. If you’d like a map that shows your player’s position, you can use the same pattern with eight pieces of paper and a compass.
Paper is also one of the key ingredients for the cartography table, fireworks, and even books. If you are playing the Bedrock Edition, you’ll also end up using paper as part of your recipe for your banners. From here, you’ll also end up using items like books and maps to make many other advanced items, so don’t forget to keep making paper. Paper can also be a valuable trading tool with villagers – twenty-four sheets will get you an emerald.
Why make a boring old paper farm in #Minecraft when you can turn it into a beautiful underground Zen garden?
— The Angry Philosopher On Drugs 💡 (@OfficialAPoD) March 25, 2020
An evening in with @BadCrippIe well spent. pic.twitter.com/CTWIod2jWc
Make sure to keep a good sugar cane farm around so that you can continue to make paper when necessary. You’ll definitely want it for a map at the very least, though books can be necessary for some players. Regardless of the recipe that you choose to make, having paper around is just a great idea.