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Learn how to craft TNT in Minecraft and use it for mining, destroying large groups of mobs, and setting up traps.
Few tools in a player’s arsenal are as thrilling or dangerous as TNT in Minecraft. Its explosive power can be harnessed to make mining more efficient or be unleashed upon the landscape in a series of chaotic detonations. Since it is made using common materials, TNT crafting can begin in the early game, allowing players to quickly access a powerful item for mining, clearing mobs, and turbulent landscaping.
Ingredients Needed To Craft TNT in Minecraft
To make TNT, you will need gunpowder and sand.
- Gunpowder x 5: Collect gunpowder by defeating Creepers, Ghasts, and Witches. Creepers are the most common source—just make sure to kill them before they explode.
- Sand x 4: You will find sand blocks easily on beaches, deserts, and riverbanks. You can also use red sand, found in mesa biomes, as a substitute.
TNT Crafting Recipe
Once you have your five pieces of gunpowder and four blocks of sand or red sand, head to a crafting table. Arrange the items in the 3×3 grid like this:
- Top row: Gunpowder | Sand | Gunpowder
- Middle row: Sand | Gunpowder | Sand
- Bottom row: Gunpowder | Sand | Gunpowder
This pattern gives you one block of TNT. Repeat the process to make as many as you need. You can find TNT in buried treasures and shipwrecks. In desert temples and woodland mansions, there are multiple blocks of TNT set as traps.
How To Use TNT in Minecraft
Place TNT blocks using right-click (use button). TNT will only explode once it’s primed and is safe to mine and place before its activation. Primed TNT will begin to flash white and explode in 4 seconds. Prime TNT using:
- Right-clicking with flint and steel.
- A redstone signal.
- Any Fire damage.
- Any Explosive damage.
- Placing it using a dispenser.
- Contact with spreading fire or lava.
Once activated, you cannot break or defuse TNT. Here are some ways to use TNT in Minecraft:
- Mining: Placing multiple TNT blocks together will cause a chain explosion. Primed TNT becomes an entity, reacts to gravity, and is sent flying by another TNT explosion near it. Therefore, detonating TNT blocks together can send them flying in different directions. This is especially useful to create a large cavern underground and unearth resources.
- Underwater Mining: TNT detonated in lava or water does not damage any blocks, only mobs. To break submerged blocks, create Underwater TNT in Bedrock Edition by placing Sodium and TNT in a crafting grid.
- Clearing Mobs: By placing TNT where hostile mobs gather—such as a pillager outpost, spawner rooms, or trap chambers—you can eliminate several enemies at once.
- Traps: Rig TNT with pressure plates or tripwires for defensive or prank setups.
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