Minecraft boasts a relatively straightforward farming system, but its more helpful blocks often go overlooked by players. This block, the composter, has two crucial purposes in the game. Composters are the job block for farmer villagers in Minecraft, and they can be used to provide bone meal.
The composter in Minecraft requires just one type of ingredient to be built: wooden slabs. Players first need to craft seven slabs out of any wood. Then they need to arrange three slabs on either side and one in the bottom middle slot in the recipe space to make a composter. A crafting table is essential for this. Because of their recycling capabilities, composters make the most sense when placed closer to a player's crops.
The other way to get a composter is to grab one from the numerous villages in the Minecraft overworld. Any village with a farm will have a composter as it serves as the job block for the farmer villager. Often there are numerous farms in villages and, therefore, numerous composters for players to gather (the fastest way is to grab it with an axe, but any tool should work).
This is not without consequence, however. Removing job blocks usually resets that respective villager's job and turns them back into a general villager. Crafting a composter is the better option for players who want to continue to harvest from villager farms.
Composters are most useful because of their ability to recycle food and plant items into bone meal. For most plants and crops, bone meal works as a fertilizer. This means it can be used to rapidly accelerate the growth of plants and crops, making it invaluable for those looking to increase the speed of their Minecraft farm's turnover.
The list of materials that can be used includes beetroot seeds and sweet berries to pumpkins, cactuses, cookies, and even cake. Minecraft players should know there are five tiers as to the percentage chance the item will add a layer of compost to the composter. In general, seeds have the smallest percentage chance of adding a layer of compost, while larger and more complex items such as hay bales, mushroom blocks, and pumpkin pies have better odds.
Adding new layers to the composter comes with green sparkles and a visible increase of compost within the block. When the composter is full with seven layers of compost, white dots appear on top of the compost. This indicates that players can grab bone meal from the composter and reset the cycle. Players then need to add the bone meal to their crops to help them grow.
Minecraft is available now on Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
