Tools · Basics · 1.21
How to Make a Bucket
One bucket, three iron, and a surprising amount of jobs. It hauls water and lava, doubles as a cure-all milk flask, scoops up fish, and even carries powder snow.
The recipe
Three iron ingots in a V: the two top corners and the centre.
What it carries
Water
Place a source, make farms, or break your fall. A 2x2 is infinite.
Lava
Top furnace fuel (100 items), makes obsidian, and powers Nether travel.
Milk
Drink it to instantly clear every potion effect, good or bad.
Powder snow
Scoop and place it; mobs sink and freeze, and it softens falls.
Fish & axolotls
Scoop up aquatic mobs to carry and re-home them safely.
The infinite water trick
Dig a 2x2 hole and place water in two opposite corners. The whole square turns into an infinite source: scoop from any of the four cells forever and it refills. One of the most useful tricks in the game.
Quick answers
01
What is the recipe?
Three iron ingots in a V shape: top-left, top-right, and the centre slot. That makes one bucket.
02
Is water really infinite?
Yes. A 2x2 square of water becomes an endless source, so one bucket can fill it and you scoop from it forever.
03
Does milk cure effects?
Drinking milk clears all active potion effects at once, both buffs and debuffs. The classic panic button.
04
How do I carry a fish or axolotl?
Right-click the mob with an empty bucket to scoop it up, then right-click to release it wherever you want.
05
Is a lava bucket good fuel?
It is the best common fuel at 100 smelted items, and you keep the empty bucket afterwards.
06
What does powder snow do?
Mobs and players without leather boots sink into it and slowly freeze. It also breaks fall damage.
Smelt the iron at a furnace (and a lava bucket fuels it). Look up every bucket fill on the items database, read about axolotls, or grab the recipe on crafting.