You’re eventually going to find yourself smelting items as you test the creative limits of Minecraft. Furnaces are a great way to expand your creations, but a fuel source is required for them to function. The fuel sources in Minecraft have varying levels of efficiency, so it’s helpful to know which ones are the best and how to get them. On the other hand, the value of some fuel sources is their wide availability, so some less efficient fuel sources can sometimes be the better option.
Depending on your smelting needs and the availability of different fuel types around you, the best fuel may not always be the same. Here are the best fuel sources in Minecraft according to efficiency and availability to help you choose which is the best for your purpose.
Best Fuel Sources by Efficiency
You may find yourself sometimes with plenty of time and full access to many fuel sources. In these situations, taking the time to get the most efficient type of fuel may be more worthwhile than grabbing what’s most readily available.
Lava
You can’t go far in Minecraft without running into some lava. Luckily, it can be as useful as it is harmful, and it happens to be the most efficient fuel source in the game as shown by its ability to smelt through an entire stack of 64 blocks of starting material with less than a single bucket of lava.
Lava can be found in many areas, including the Overworld, but the best area to get it is in the nether below y-level 31. Using a bucket near lava will allow you to mine it. This will give you a bucket of lava, which provides enough fuel to smelt an entire stack of 64 blocks of starting material plus another 36 units for a total of 100!
Block of Coal
If you can’t find any lava, then a block of coal can be nearly as helpful as a fuel source in Minecraft. Even better, you’ll probably have an easier time finding one.
Just head to a crafting table with 9 pieces of coal and place them in the crafting grid. The resulting block of coal can then be taken to a furnace and used as a fuel to smelt an entire stack of 64 blocks of starting material. You’ll even have some fuel left over, so you can smelt an additional 16 items for a total of 80 while still using the same block of fuel!
Dried Kelp Block
As one of the most popular fuel sources in the game, many Minecraft players prefer to use dried kelp blocks as their preferred source of fuel. The reason for this is clear, as it’s the third most efficient fuel source in the game.
You may need more than 1 block of dried kelp to smelt an entire stack of 64 units, as it can only do 20 units per block, but it provides advantages beyond its role as a fuel source that set it apart from the other most productive fuels. In addition to being a fuel source, dried kelp blocks can also be used for composting, broken down into food, or even traded with villagers.
Getting a dried kelp block is as easy as making one once you have access to a crafting table and 9 pieces of dried kelp. To get kelp, head to the nearest ocean biome and swim to the ocean floor. You should quickly find more than enough kelp there, which you can then take to a furnace to create dried kelp. This dried kelp can then be taken to a crafting table and turned into a dried kelp block!
Blaze Rod
You may have found yourself with another of the most efficient fuel sources in the game if you recently braved the Nether and had to take out some blazes. Blaze rods are the fourth most efficient fuel source in the game and are never a bad choice, especially if you already have some. Blaze rods aren’t as efficient as dried kelp blocks, but they can still be used to smelt up to 12 items per blaze rod, so you’ll still get plenty of productivity out of them!
Blaze rods are acquired in a unique way from many other fuels. They can only be found from looting downed blazes, which can only be found in the Nether. If you happen to find yourself with an inventory full of blaze rods, remember they can be a great fuel source as well as starting material for crafting items like a brewing stand.
Best Fuels in Minecraft by Availability
Log, Wood, Or Planks (Plus Slabs in Bedrock)
It doesn’t take long playing Minecraft to realize wood is one of the most adaptive resources in the game. That versatility extends to its ability to be used as a fuel. These fuel sources may only smelt 1.5 items per block of fuel, but they are nonetheless among the most readily available items in the game. The ability to quickly gather plenty of these items in nearly any biome more than makes up for their low smelting speed.
Scaffolding
Some items may not be the best at any single task but are nonetheless valued for their versatility. Scaffolding is an item that is easily crafted and can be used both as a household construction item and as a relatively effective fuel source. It doesn’t burn quite as efficiently as some other fuel sources, but it still holds its own by smelting 6 items per unit of fuel.
Making scaffolding is simple and requires ingredients that are easily found. Check out our guide on how to make scaffolding to see how it can help your plans!
Furniture, Crafting Items, and Weapons
Maybe you have excess household furniture, weapons, or construction items like crafting tables in your inventory. It’s helpful to remember that you can use items like these as fuel sources that can help you lighten your load at the same time!
These items are very modest in terms of their fuel efficiency but are nonetheless valuable to remember since you can sometimes find yourself with a surplus. If you end up in this situation, it’s better to burn them as fuel than to simply throw them out, so don’t forget you can use them!
Coal or Charcoal
A few of the most balanced fuel sources in Minecraft are coal and charcoal. With virtually identical burning characteristics, they both rank as the fifth most efficient fuel source in the game. Better yet, they can be acquired a little more easily than the more efficient fuels in the game, truly rounding out their advantage as a fuel source.
Try following our guide on how to craft charcoal if you’d like to try it out as a fuel. To make regular coal, just take wood to a furnace and place it in the top box with fuel in the bottom box to smelt the wood. This will provide you with a piece of coal for every piece of wood smelted!
That’s everything you need to know about finding the best fuel sources in Minecraft! If you want to learn more about the game, be sure to check out the Minecraft section of our website.
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