Are you having trouble figuring out how to craft a lantern in Minecraft? Can’t seem to find the right ingredients or don’t know where to start? Well, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll show you exactly how to craft a lantern in Minecraft, step-by-step.
We’ll go through all the ingredients you need and how to get them. We’ll also show you the exact crafting recipes for each type of lantern available in the game, so you know which one’s right for you. And of course, we’ll give you all the tips and tricks that come with crafting a good quality Minecraft lantern.

Gathering the Materials to Craft a Lantern
Minecraft has many items you can craft from the materials found in the game world. One of those is a lantern, which uses coal and iron ingots to produce. Here’s what you’ll need to know and what items you’ll need to collect if you want to craft one:
- Coal: You’ll need four pieces of coal to make a lantern in Minecraft. The best way to get coal is by mining it from the caves and ravines you can explore, but you can also buy it from villagers or trade with other players.
- Iron Ingot: You’ll also need eight iron ingots for crafting a lantern. Iron ore is more readily available than coal, so this should be easier for you to find. Again, caves are great places to start looking, but villages will have some too. If all else fails, trading or purchasing from another player could be an option as well.
Once you’ve collected these items, just head over to a crafting table and it won’t take long at all for your lantern to be ready for use!
Iron Nuggets – Finding and Mining Iron Ore
If you want to craft a lantern in Minecraft, you’ll need to find some iron nuggets. Luckily for you, iron ore can be found in most biomes, and when mined with a pickaxe, will drop between one and five iron nuggets.
To mine iron ore, all you’ll need is a stone or better pickaxe. Be sure to keep your tools enchanted while mining; it’s the best way to get as many ores from each block as possible. Once mined, the iron ore block will turn into an item on the ground, which can then be collected.
Mining is the fastest way to get your hands on these valuable resources, but if you’re in a pinch you can also smelt old armor and tools in the furnace for some quick iron nuggets. So don’t worry if you’re still getting your feet wet in the world of mining – just remember that with some patience and skill (and maybe even some luck!), you’ll soon have enough iron nuggets to craft that lantern!
Crafting a Furnace to Smelt the Iron Ore
Once you’ve gathered up 8 pieces of Iron Ore, it’s time to craft a Furnace to smelt the ore into Iron Ingots. To do this, you’ll need 8 Cobblestone blocks. Open your Crafting Table window and combine the Cobblestone blocks into a 3×3 square and select the Furnace from the options in the window. Now that you have a Furnace, place it on the ground, then right-click on it to open its UI window. Drag your 8 Iron Ores into it, and click ‘Smelt’ to make Iron Ingots.
Next up is crafting the Lantern itself! You’ll need 4 pieces of Iron Ingot and 1 Torch. Open your Crafting Table window again and arrange them in a V-shape—with Torch in the middle—to craft a Lantern:
- Place one piece of Iron Ingot in each corner of the Crafting table window
- Put one Torch in the middle
- Bandle away! You’ll see the Lantern appear as an item in your inventory—click to pick it up
- Now you can use your new Lantern!
Making Iron Ingots From Iron Nuggets
Making iron ingots from iron nuggets is the next step in crafting a lantern. Iron ingots are created by combining nine iron nuggets together in a crafting grid, which will give you one iron ingot. Iron Nuggets can be crafted from iron ore, which can be found all over the world of Minecraft.
Mining For Iron Ore
If you want to find iron ore, you’ll have to do some mining—but don’t worry, it’s not rocket science! Simply use a stone pickaxe or higher (iron pickaxe or better) to mine it. You may then smelt it in a furnace to get an iron ingot. But don’t stop there—there are also other materials that you’ll need to craft your lantern!
Crafting The Ingots
Once you’ve gathered enough ingots, you’re almost ready to craft your lantern. All you have to do now is combine the following items in the correct order:
- One piece of coal/charcoal and one piece of torch in the middle slot of the 3×3 crafting grid.
- Place four pieces of glass around it, with one glass block in each corner.
- Place four iron ingots around that, making sure there is one spacing between each one and the other blocks already placed down
- Finally, place an empty bucket on top to complete the recipe!
After doing this correctly, your lantern should appear– and voila! You have just crafted yourself a lamp with minimal effort!
Crafting an Iron Lantern Frame
Now that you have all the necessary materials, it’s time to craft an iron lantern frame! This is a great way to get creative with your lighting and decorate your Minecraft world.
To craft an iron lantern frame, you will need the following materials:
- 4 Iron Ingots
- 1 Torch
Once you have the required items, all you have to do is follow these simple steps:
- Open your crafting table and drag the four iron ingots into the grid as follows: two in the top row, one in the middle row, and one in the bottom row.
- Drag a torch into the remaining space in the top row of your crafting table.
- This will create an iron lantern frame, which can now be placed in your Minecraft world to provide additional lighting and decoration!
Adding a Torch to Complete the Lantern
Adding a torch to your lantern is the final step in crafting this useful item. To make a torch you simply need to combine coal (or charcoal) with sticks. Once you’ve got your ingredients, here’s what to do:
- Open up your crafting menu and place one piece of coal or charcoal in the middle box.
- Place a stick in each of the four remaining boxes.
- The torch icon should appear in the result box and you can now move the crafted torch into your inventory.
- Select a blank spot on the ground where you want to place your lantern and then put down your crafted torch!
Congratulations, you have now successfully crafted a lantern and it should be now lighting up your world brighter than ever before! You can feel safer exploring underground as well as having better visibility no matter where you go in Minecraft!