Charcoal is produced by smelting any log or wood block in a furnace, making it the renewable alternative to mined Coal in Minecraft. Charcoal never spawns naturally and cannot be dug from ore, so every piece comes from a furnace fueled by wood, planks, or another fuel source. Charcoal burns for 80 seconds and smelts exactly 8 items per piece — identical to Coal — which makes Charcoal a self-sustaining fuel for players who keep a tree farm but have no coal deposits.

Charcoal crafts torches (1 Charcoal plus 1 stick yields 4 torches), campfires, soul campfires, and fire charges, covering nearly every early-game lighting and cooking need. The one limitation is that Charcoal cannot be compressed into a Block of Coal and cannot be sold to villagers, unlike mined Coal. Charcoal also will not stack together with Coal in the same inventory slot despite the near-identical texture, so keep the slightly browner Charcoal separate when sorting fuel.