Minecraft has many ways to clear an area or remove pesky blocks. But demolishing a space with TNT is the most satisfying method. TNT is more of a special effects item in Minecraft, but it has some solid uses. But before you can even think about what to blow up with TNT, you need to know how to make it and how it works.
How to make TNT in Minecraft
The recipe for TNT is very simple and requires only two ingredients. It’s rather difficult to get just one of those items, so once you’re familiar with Minecraft you shouldn’t have any problems crafting TNT. You can see the full crafting recipe for TNT below.
- On the workbench, place 2 sand blocks in the top and bottom center boxes and 2 more sand blocks in the center of the outer pillars.
- Fill the remaining crafting table with gunpowder to make 1 TNT.
Sand blocks are very easy to obtain. All you have to do is find water. Mine sand with any tool and collect as much sand as you need from around you or from the water. Or, if you get too fond of Red Sand, it can replace regular sand blocks.
Gunpowder is a little trickier to obtain in Minecraft. Gunpowder cannot be crafted, but can be obtained as a loot drop from various mobs. The most common mobs that drop gunpowder are Creepers, which can drop up to 5 gunpowders at higher loot levels. You have to kill the Creeper before it explodes to get gunpowder, which is easy to do with a bow and arrow. Witches and Ghasts may drop varying amounts of gunpowder. None of these mobs have a guaranteed chance of dropping gunpowder, so you’ll have to get lucky.
Gunpowder can also be found in certain chests in dungeons, desert temples, shipwrecks, and woodland mansions. This applies to both Java and Bedrock Edition.
How to use TNT in Minecraft
Once you have the necessary crafting materials and some TNT in your inventory, it’s time to get started in Minecraft. There are several ways to activate TNT, but the simplest way is to use Flint and Steel. Flint and steel can be crafted using the recipes below.
- Place the flint pieces and iron ingots side by side on the crafting table.
Flint is mainly obtained by mining gravel, as doing so has a 10% chance of mining flint fragments. This chance increases if you use a lucky pickaxe, and the higher the enchantment level you use, the higher the chance. Flint can also be found in village chests.
Iron ingots are made by putting iron ore in a furnace and melting it to make ingots. To power a furnace, you need a heat source, such as coal.
Craft flint and steel from flint and iron ingots. Then put down the TNT and use flint and steel on the TNT. If done correctly, the TNT will start moving and turn white for a moment. After a few seconds, the TNT explodes, along with other nearby TNTs. The explosion destroys any nearby blocks or structures, so make sure there’s nothing important nearby when activating the TNT.
There are other ways to activate TNT, such as activating redstone or touching lava, but the most common ways to activate TNT in Minecraft are flint and steel.
