How to Craft Bone Blocks in Minecraft
Bone blocks are solid blocks that you can craft and place in your world. They’re useful for building, decoration, and they can be mined back down into bone meal if you change your mind. Here’s everything you need to know about making and using them.
Finding Bone Blocks in Creative Mode
Java Edition (PC/Mac)
If you’re playing in Creative Mode, you can find bone blocks in the inventory menus:
| Version | Menu Location |
|---|---|
| 1.10 – 1.19 | Building Blocks |
| 1.19.3 – 1.20+ | Natural Blocks |
Materials You Need
To craft a bone block, you’ll need 9 pieces of bone meal. That’s it. Bone meal drops from skeletons when you kill them, so if you’ve got a skeleton farm or you’ve been fighting mobs, you probably have plenty lying around.
How to Craft a Bone Block
Step 1: Open Your Crafting Table
Open a crafting table to get your 3×3 crafting grid ready. You can place one down anywhere or use one that’s already in your base.
Step 2: Add the Bone Meal
Place 9 bone meal in the crafting grid, filling all 9 slots. It needs to be a full 3×3 pattern – 3 bone meal on top, 3 in the middle, 3 on the bottom. The pattern matters, so make sure you fill every slot.
Step 3: Move It to Your Inventory
Once the bone block appears in the result box, click it to add it to your inventory. Done. You’ve got a bone block.
Item IDs and Commands
Java Edition (PC/Mac)
| Version | ID Name | Command |
|---|---|---|
| 1.10 – 1.12 | minecraft:bone_block | /give @p bone_block 1 0 |
| 1.13 – 1.20+ | minecraft:bone_block | /give @p bone_block 1 |
Use these commands if you want to get bone blocks instantly without crafting. The ID name is always minecraft:bone_block.
Block States
Bone blocks have an axis property that controls how they’re oriented when you place them.
| Axis | Orientation | Example Command |
|---|---|---|
| y (default) | Vertical | /setblock ~ ~ ~ bone_block[axis=y] |
| x | East-West | /setblock ~ ~ ~ bone_block[axis=x] |
| z | North-South | /setblock ~ ~ ~ bone_block[axis=z] |
This matters if you’re using commands to place bone blocks and want them to face a specific direction.
What You Can Do With Bone Blocks
Bone blocks are primarily for building. They fit well in spooky builds, dungeons, and structures that need a skeletal or otherworldly look. You can also mine them back down if you need the bone meal again.
Key Details
- Stack size: 64 per stack
- Hardness: Takes a while to mine with your hand, but picks work fine
- Luminance: None – they don’t glow
- You can’t craft bone blocks in older versions below 1.10