How to Make a Chest in Minecraft

Download Article

Co-authored by Zac Churchill

Last Updated: January 29, 2024

Download Article

Chests are Minecraft blocks that allow your character to store items gathered throughout the game.

Part 1

Part 1 of 6:

Making a Single Chest

Download Article

A single chest can store up to 27 stacks of items or blocks. It can hold up to 1728 blocks.

Use the chest recipe to craft the chest: Arrange the planks in every slot, apart from the middle one.

Advertisement
3
Place the chest. Always place a chest with free space above it. Otherwise, you won't be able to open it!
- Note that there are a few blocks that won't stop the chest from being opened if they're placed on top of it. These include: water, lava, leaves, cactus, glass, snow, stairs, farmland, cake, beds, fence, another chest, a torch, rails, signs, and a few more (translucent blocks).
- As of Minecraft 1.13, you can place more than two chests next to each other.

Part 2

Part 2 of 6:

Creating a Large Chest

Download Article

A large chest will have 54 storage slots. It opens as a single chest, with six rows of slots and can hold up to 3,456 blocks.

You can't craft a large chest.
2
Place two chest blocks adjacent to each other. You now have a large chest.
- You must place both chests from the same direction for them to connect into a large chest.
- If you hold shift while placing the chest, it won't connect and make a large chest.

Part 3

Part 3 of 6:

Creating a Trapped Chest

Download Article

This is much like a normal chest, with a few differences. for one, it releases redstone when open. .

These are made by, in a crafting table, putting 1 plank on top of a stick, on top of an iron ingot.
3
Combine the hook and the chest in the crafting table. This is a shapeless recipe.
- Note that you can put two trapped chests next to each other, to make a large chest.

Part 4

Part 4 of 6:

Understanding Chest Orientation

Download Article

1
Note that chests are designed with compass orientation that affects placement of items.
- The top three rows in the chest correspond to the western or northern chest block.
- The bottom three rows correspond to the southern or eastern chest block.
- In the large chest, you'll find the items organized into the southern or eastern side, which will depend on the orientation of the chest.

Part 5

Part 5 of 6:

Using Your Newly Created Chest

Download Article

For the first time of use, here is what to do:

It will open.
Shift click on the item. The item will go into a slot that's available for it.
3
Transfer items out of the chest. As with the previous step, shift click on the item in the chest and it will come out of the chest.
- Left clicking will help you to collect all of the items in the slot. Left click again to place items.
- Right clicking will let you take just half of the items in a slot.
- Right click to place a single item.
This can be done by simply pressing the inventory button or the ESC button.

Part 6

Part 6 of 6:

Finding Chests

Download Article

NPC villages are a great place to look. You can also check in abandoned mineshafts, jungle and desert temples and strongholds.

Community Q&A

Search

Add New Question

Question

Can a chest be relocated?

Community Answer

You can break a chest and move it, but all of the items inside the chest will fall out onto the ground.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 12 Helpful 21
Question

Can I make a chest made of iron?

Community Answer

You can't in vanilla, but if you install a mod that involves iron chests, you can.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 14 Helpful 15
Question

When I try to put a chest on a donkey or a mule, it will no longer work. What could be wrong?

Community Answer

You need to sit on the donkey and press "e" and then it will open up the donkey's inventory and its chest.

Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
Yes No

Not Helpful 15 Helpful 17

See more answers

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Video

Tips

Chests will face your character when they're placed.

Thanks
Helpful 53 Not Helpful 18
Chests will change to look like presents on December 24th and 25th.

Thanks
Helpful 55 Not Helpful 21
Double chests cannot be placed right next to each other.

Thanks
Helpful 4 Not Helpful 0

Show More Tips

Submit a Tip

All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published

Name

Please provide your name and last initial

Submit

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

Warnings

Updates to the game may change some of the content. In which case, feel free to edit to bring this up-to-date again.

Thanks
Helpful 25 Not Helpful 11