How To Make Concrete in Minecraft

Much like the real world, concrete is one of the most versatile materials to build with. Concrete blocks come in all sorts of colors and textures; so, whether you’re building a modern house or an art gallery, you can rest assured that concrete will add vibrancies into your Minecraft world. The best part? It is extremely easy to craft! Here is everything you need to know about concrete as well as how to make concrete in Minecraft.

What You Need to Make Concrete in Minecraft

Now, in order to make concrete, concrete powder must be made. Before getting into the actual crafting process, there are a few blocks that you will need to make concrete powder. Luckily, these blocks are abundant throughout your Minecraft world.

Gravel

Gravel can be found in most biomes, including the extreme hills, oceans, and river biomes. You can mine gravel with any tool; however, using a shovel is the most efficient.

Sand

Sand is another common block that can be found primarily in deserts and alongside beaches. Similar to gravel, sand can be efficiently mined with a shovel as well.

Dye

Concrete can be dyed in 16 different colors, and the dye you chose will be the final color of your concrete. Dyes can be crafted from various items. Here is how you get all the dye colors:

Green Dye -> Smelted from Cacti
Brown Dye -> Crafted from Cocoa Beans
Purple Dye -> Made from mixing Blue + Red Dye
Gray Dye -> Made from mixing Black + White Dye
Yellow Dye -> Crafted from Dandelions or Sunflowers
Blue dye -> Obtained from Lapis Lazuli or Cornflowers
Black dye -> Obtained from Ink Sac or Withered Roses
Red Dye -> Crafted from red flowers like Poppies or Roses
White Dye -> Crafted from Bone Meal or Lily of the Valley Flowers
Pink Dye -> Crafted from pink flowers such as Peonies or Pink Tulips
Lime Dye -> Crafted from Sea Pickles or by mixing Green + White Dye
Orange Dye -> Crafted from Orange Tulips or by mixing Red + Yellow Dye
Magenta Dye -> Crafted from Lilac Flowers or by mixing Purple + Pink Dye
Cyan Dye -> Obtained from Pitcher Plant or crafted from Blue + Green Dye
Light Blue Dye -> Crafted from Blue Orchards or by mixing Blue + White Dye
Light Gray Dye -> Obtained from White Tulips, Oxeye Daises , or Azure Bluet Flowers

Fun Fact: Red and Cyan concrete can be found in Trail Ruins

How To Craft Concrete Powder

The crafting recipe for concrete powder requires a crafting table, so ensure you have one. First, you will need 4 gravel blocks and 4 sand blocks. You can place the sand and gravel blocks anywhere in the crafting table grid because the crafting recipe has no specific shape. Next, you will need the dye of your choice. Place your dye in the last remaining crafting table grid. This crafting recipe will yield 8 blocks of concrete powder, which will have a similar texture to sand but in the color of the dye you used. With this in mind, you can create up to 16 different colors of concrete powder. Concrete powder also has the same physics as sand, so it will fall if there is no block supporting it from under. Now, with your newly crafted concrete powder block, it’s time to make it into solid concrete.

Turning Concrete Powder into Concrete Blocks

To change concrete powder into solid concrete blocks, you need to make it touch water. There are many different ways to do this such as using pistons or really complicated machines. However, the most simple method is to find an infinite water source and using your offhand, place the concrete powder into the water. This will automatically turn the powder into a solid block. Then, use your default hand to break the newly-formed concrete block.

Another method of converting powder into solid concrete is with direct water placement. Instead of placing concrete into water, put down all of your concrete powder on the ground and then use a bucket of water to pour over it. This will waterlogged the concrete powder, turning it into solid concrete.

If you’re planning to mine a large amount of concrete, it is also not a bad idea to enchant your pickaxe with efficiency. An efficiency enchant will quicken the process of mining. Additionally, you can also use a Haste beacon to add a 20% increase in mining speed and 40% with Haste II.

Fun Fact: These methods work in every version of Minecraft that has concrete, including all the Bedrock editions (Xbox, Playstation, Switch, Pocket Edition, Windows 10) and Java edition as well.

Tips for Building with Concrete

Building should come as second nature, but there are a few things to keep in mind while building with concrete:

Plan Your Colors

Because of the large variety of concrete colors that can be crafted, it’s always best to plan which colors you need ahead of time. Additionally, ensure you have the ample amount of blocks If you are working on a mega-project, make sure you have enough sand and gravel available to craft with.

Use Water Wisely

Be mindful of where you place your water. You don’t want to accidentally flood an area of your base with flowing water, or even worse, ruin a nearby redstone contraption while converting concrete powder. Buckets of water can be easily controlled, however, just be careful with natural water sources.

Fun Fact: As a building material, concrete’s hardness is slightly higher than stone, but its blast resistance is slightly lower, making it more susceptible to explosions.

Concrete Blocks vs. Other Blocks

Concrete blocks offer a smooth and vibrant texture compared to other building blocks of similar color like wool or terracotta. Wool can often times seem faded or pixelated when viewing it up close. Moreover, the largest aesthetic difference between normal terracotta and concrete is that terracotta has a more muted tone.

Unlike wool, concrete isn’t flammable, which makes it the better option for building near lava or fire. Concrete also has a more polished look compared to stone and wooden planks, making it the primary option for sleek designs.

Now that you’ve learned everything you need to know about concrete, it’s time to put your newfound knowledge to use!