SteelSeries Homepage
Cover Image for How to Make Compass in Minecraft
Gaming Tips ——

How to Make Compass in Minecraft

Create a Compass to point to bed.

Luke Siuty
By Luke Siuty
4 minute read

A Compass aids navigation towards spawn points or lodestones and for crafting maps. They enhance gameplay by providing direction and aiding exploration.


In Creative mode, you can access a compass directly from your inventory without needing to craft it. Simply search for “compass” in your menu and drag it into your hotbar.

In this guide we’ll show you how to craft a compass in survival mode.

Materials Needed to Make a Compass:

  • 4 Iron Ingots: These are obtained by smelting raw iron in a furnace.

  • 1 Redstone Dust: This can be found by mining redstone ore, typically located between Y-levels 15 and -64.

Step-by-Step Guide to Make a Compass

1. Craft Iron Ingots

Find Iron Ore:

Mining: Iron ore can be found underground, typically between Y-levels 1 and 63. Look for blocks with a grayish appearance and brown flecks, which indicate iron ore.

Tools Required: You need at least a stone pickaxe to mine iron ore. Wooden pickaxes will not drop the ore.

Craft a Furnace: If you don’t already have a furnace, you can craft one using 8 cobblestones arranged in a square in your crafting table.

Add Fuel: Open the furnace interface and place your raw iron (the mined iron ore) in the top slot. You also need to add fuel in the bottom slot; common fuels include:

  • Coal

  • Charcoal

  • Wood or wooden planks

  • Lava buckets

Smelt Iron Ore: Wait for the smelting process to complete. Once finished, the raw iron will turn into iron ingots, which will appear in the result box of the furnace. Drag them into your inventory.

Other ways to Obtain Iron Ingots

  • Chests: Iron ingots can also be found in certain generated structures such as shipwrecks, strongholds, and village blacksmiths.

  • Trading: In some cases, you can trade with villagers (specifically toolsmiths or armorer villagers) for iron ingots.

2. Craft Redstone Dust

Mine Redstone Ore:

Use an iron pickaxe or better to mine redstone ore blocks. Each block mined will drop one piece of raw redstone.

Craft Redstone Dust:

  • Open your crafting table interface.

  • Place the raw redstone (the item you obtained from mining) anywhere in the crafting grid. Each piece of raw redstone will yield one piece of redstone dust.

  • Smelting: You can also obtain redstone dust by smelting redstone ore in a furnace, which will convert it into redstone dust directly.

3. Open the Crafting Table

Now that you have iron ingots and redstone dust, you’re ready to craft your compass. Right-click on the crafting table to open the crafting interface.

If you don’t have a crafting table already, follow these quick steps:

  • Craft a Crafting Table: Open your inventory, place 4 wooden planks in the 2x2 crafting grid, and create a crafting table.

  • Open the Crafting Table: Place it down and right-click to access the 3x3 crafting grid.

4. Place the Items

  • Place the redstone dust in the center slot of the crafting grid.

  • Place one iron ingot in each of the four slots surrounding the redstone (top, bottom, left, and right).

5. Collect Your Compass

Once you’ve arranged the items correctly, a compass will appear in the result box. Drag it into your inventory.


Luke Siuty
About Luke Siuty

Wordsmith at SteelSeries. Enthusiastic about Dota 2 and fighting games. A cat dad.