How To Make Bricks In Minecraft: Clay, Smelting & Recipes

Bricks are one of the most useful building materials in Minecraft. They give houses, chimneys, and towns a warm, classic look, and they’re easy to make once you know where to find clay.

Table of Contents

This guide covers everything from finding clay to crafting brick blocks, stairs, slabs, walls, flower pots, and decorated pots, so you can go from raw materials to full-blown structures.

Quick answer: To make bricks in Minecraft, mine clay blocks to get clay balls (4 per block), then smelt each clay ball in a regular furnace to get 1 brick. Put 4 bricks in a 2×2 square on a crafting table to make a Bricks block. You can also buy 10 bricks for 1 emerald from a Novice Mason villager.

What You Need to Make Bricks

Item	Why you need it
Clay balls	The raw material. Each clay block drops 4
Furnace	Smelts clay balls into bricks. Blast furnaces and smokers won’t work
Fuel	Coal, charcoal, wood, a lava bucket, or other furnace fuel
Shovel (optional)	The fastest tool for breaking clay blocks
Crafting table	For brick blocks, stairs, slabs, walls, and pots

Step 1: Find and Collect Clay

Clay blocks are smooth and gray-blue, and they’re usually found underwater.

Where to look:

Shallow rivers, lakes, and oceans: Clay forms disk-shaped patches on the bottom in most grassy biomes.
Lush caves: These have large amounts of clay on pond floors and in blobs, which makes them one of the best sources.
Villages and abandoned camps: Clay can appear in some plains, savanna, desert, and taiga villages.

Break clay with any tool, but a shovel is fastest. Each block drops 4 clay balls. Fortune doesn’t increase the drop, and Silk Touch gives you the clay block itself instead of balls.

Tip: A Respiration helmet or a Potion of Water Breathing makes underwater clay mining much easier.

Step 2: Smelt Clay Balls into Bricks

Place a furnace and open it.
Put clay balls in the top slot.
Add fuel to the bottom slot.
Collect your bricks from the output slot.

Each clay ball makes 1 brick. Make sure you smelt clay balls, not clay blocks. Smelting a clay block gives you terracotta instead.

Step 3: Craft Brick Blocks and Variants

Item	Recipe	Yield
Bricks (block)	4 bricks in a 2×2 square	1
Brick Stairs	6 Bricks blocks in a stair shape	4
Brick Slab	3 Bricks blocks in a row	6
Brick Wall	6 Bricks blocks in two rows of three	6
Flower Pot	3 bricks in a V shape	1
Decorated Pot	4 bricks, or a mix of bricks and pottery sherds	1

Save materials with a stonecutter: One Bricks block makes 1 stair, 2 slabs, or 1 wall in a stonecutter. That’s often more efficient than the crafting table, especially for stairs.

Older versions of this article said brick walls are made from brick items. Walls, stairs, and slabs all use Bricks blocks, not individual bricks.

Other Ways to Get Bricks

Trade with a Mason: Novice Mason villagers sell 10 bricks for 1 emerald, and they also buy clay balls.
Archaeology: Brushing suspicious sand in desert wells, or suspicious gravel in trail ruins, can sometimes give you bricks.
Break decorated pots: Breaking a decorated pot without Silk Touch can drop bricks or pottery sherds.
Natural brick blocks: Bricks blocks appear in ocean ruins, trail ruins, and some plains village houses.

How to Get Clay Fast

Explore lush caves. They often have more clay than rivers.
Make your own clay. Place a mud block above a block with pointed dripstone hanging underneath it. Over time, the mud turns into clay. This works in the Overworld but not the Nether. You can make mud by using a water bottle on dirt.
Trade for it. Instead of mining, you can buy bricks directly from masons once you have emeralds.

What Can You Build with Bricks?

Houses and townhouses with a classic or European look
Chimneys, fireplaces, and pizza ovens
Garden walls, paths, and patios
Fountains and town squares

Design tips:

Mix bricks with stone bricks, dark oak, spruce, or granite.
Use stairs, slabs, and walls to add depth.
Balance heavy brick walls with glass, wood, or lighter blocks.
Add lanterns, iron bars, and flower pots for detail.

Don’t confuse regular bricks with mud bricks, which are made from packed mud and have a lighter, earthy color.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake	Fix
Smelting clay blocks	Break them into clay balls first, or you’ll get terracotta
Using a blast furnace or smoker	Only a regular furnace smelts clay balls
Crafting walls or stairs from brick items	Craft Bricks blocks first
Using Fortune on clay	It has no effect. Save it for ores
Building only flat brick walls	Add stairs, slabs, and walls for texture

FAQs About Making Bricks in Minecraft

What is the brick recipe in Minecraft?

Smelt 1 clay ball to get 1 brick. Then put 4 bricks in a 2×2 square to make 1 Bricks block.

How many clay balls does a clay block drop?

4 clay balls. Fortune doesn’t increase that number.

Can I make bricks without a furnace?

No. You need a regular furnace, unless you buy bricks from a Mason villager.

Do villagers trade bricks?

Yes. Novice Masons sell 10 bricks for 1 emerald.

How do I make brick stairs, slabs, and walls?

Use Bricks blocks. A stonecutter is the most efficient option: 1 block makes 1 stair, 2 slabs, or 1 wall.

What’s the difference between bricks and mud bricks?

Bricks come from smelted clay. Mud bricks come from packed mud and look lighter and earthier.

Conclusion

Making bricks in Minecraft is simple: find clay, break it into clay balls, smelt them, and craft. Once you have a steady supply from lush caves or a mason, you can build anything from a cozy cottage to a full brick town. If your game starts lagging on bigger builds, our guide on how to improve gaming performance can help.

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This article is independent and isn’t affiliated with Mojang Studios or Microsoft. Minecraft recipes and features can change between updates and editions.

How to Make Bricks in Minecraft: Clay, Smelting & Every Brick Recipe