Coal is one of Minecraft's most useful resources as it provides light in the sometimes dark and scary Overworld.

The item can be mined and gathered from coal ore blocks found throughout the Overworld.

Coal in Minecraft

Spawning

The following information pertains to the current Minecraft release, Update 1.16.5. Coal's spawning mechanics will change in Update 1.17.

Coal ore spawns very commonly from levels 0-137. It will spawn in veins as small as one ore to as large as 37 ore. On average, 307 ore spawns per chunk, which is quite a large amount.

Coal can be mined with any pickaxe, including Wooden. It can also be dropped by Wither Skeletons.

Uses

Here are some of the uses of coal in Minecraft:

• Coal can be used as fuel in a Furnace or Minecart with Furnace, smelting eight items per coal.
• Nine coal can be used to craft a block of coal (shown above).
• Coal's main use is to craft torches (this requires one coal).
• Coal can be used to craft campfires.
• Coal can be used to craft fire charges.
• A Novice-level Fisherman Villager may buy 10 coal for one Emerald. (50% chance)

Coal is commonly mistaken with Charcoal, which can be created by smelting logs or wood. It can also be obtained by breaking a Campfire without using the Silk Touch enchantment.