Minecraft: How to Use a Composter

With how much Minecraft has been updated over the years, it’s easy to forget foundational mechanics. Whether you’re a new player or a returning one, here’s how to use a Composter.

What Does a Composter Do in Minecraft? Answered

This special block takes compostable items and turns them into Bone Meal. All you need to do is use food or almost any plant-related item on the Composter until seven layers have been added, after which the texture will change to show Bone Meal on top. Your next interaction with the Composter will produce the material and pop it out. The block will then change back to being empty and allow you to add more stuff to it.

Bone Meal is a very handy material to use. Aside from advancing a plant’s growth to the next stage, it can also be used with a variety of other minerals or dyes to create lighter dyes.

Related: How to Dye Armor in Minecraft

Something important to understand is that each compostable item has a specific chance attached to it for creating a layer. Using a Cake is guaranteed to create one layer, for example. But a Carrot only has a 65% chance. Things like Grass or Saplings are even lower, with only a 30% success rate. I mention this in case you’re worried that the block is taking your items and not working properly. Don’t fret — it’s simply all due to chance.

How to Craft a Composter

Aside from finding and using one in a village, it’s possible to make a Composter yourself with seven Wooden Slabs. Head over to a crafting table and arrange them in a U pattern, keeping the top two rows’ center spaces empty. Feel free to mix and match the types of Slabs if you don’t have enough of one type. It’ll work as long as you have enough Wooden Slabs in the right formation. All you need to do now is take it out of the output and add it to your inventory so you can place it somewhere.

That’s all you need to know about how to use a composter in Minecraft. If you’re in need of additional tips and tricks, such as how to make a bucket or how to find cherry blossom biomes, our Minecraft guides hub has you covered.