How to Make Paper in Minecraft

As you start your early-game progression, you will find that Paper in Minecraft is one of the most essential items you can craft. It might seem simple, but Paper unlocks excellent tools, like maps for exploration and books needed to create a powerful enchantment table.

This guide is going to teach you everything about Paper in Minecraft, from finding the sugar cane you need to the exact paper recipe and how to build a simple sugar cane farm. Making Paper in Minecraft is an easy process, and mastering it will help you move quickly into the mid-game progression of your world.

Let us begin your journey to becoming a master cartographer and enchanter. You will soon see that Paper, as a crafting material, is essential for success.

What Is Paper in Minecraft?

Paper in Minecraft is a renewable item that is used for a variety of advanced recipes. It is a thin, white sheet that does not have any direct use on its own, meaning you cannot place it down or use it as a tool. It is a valuable material for crafting other essential items.

Paper is a resource you will need constantly, especially if you want to explore your world or set up an enchanting system. Because it is so easy to produce from sugar cane, Paper is an item you should always have a large supply of in your chests.

Paper as a Crafting Material

Paper as a crafting material is the most common way it is used in Minecraft. It is the main ingredient for two of the most essential tools in the game: maps and books. Without a steady supply of Paper, you will not be able to fully explore your world or unlock the power of enchantments.

The simplicity of the paper recipe is a good thing because you will need hundreds of pieces of Paper as you get deeper into the game. Since Paper is renewable, setting up a sugar cane farm early will make the rest of your progression mechanics much smoother.

Uses of Paper (Books, Maps, Trading)

There are three main uses for Paper in Minecraft that are crucial for every player.

• Books: Combining Paper with leather creates books, which are then used to make bookshelves. Bookshelves are necessary to power your enchantment table, allowing you to get the best enchantments for your gear.
• Maps: Maps are made with Paper and a compass. These are vital for exploring the vast Minecraft world and marking your base location. An empty map is easy to craft with Paper.
• Trading: Librarian villagers buy Paper for emeralds. This makes Paper a fantastic item for farming the valuable emeralds, which are used in the villager trading mechanics for rare items.
• Fireworks: Paper is also used to create fireworks and firework rockets, which are used for faster travel when flying with elytra.

Materials Needed to Craft Paper

The good news is that you only need one simple material to create Paper in Minecraft. This single ingredient is both renewable and easy to find near water.

Sugar Cane Requirement

The sugar cane requirement for Paper is very straightforward.

You need 3 units of Sugar Cane to make 3 sheets of Paper.

This means the ratio is one-to-one, which is very efficient. Because you need three pieces of sugar cane for one crafting recipe, you should always harvest as much sugar cane as you can find. You will quickly run out if you do not start a sugar cane farm early.

Where to Find Sugar Cane

Sugar cane grows naturally next to water source blocks in most biomes in the Minecraft world.

• Look for it along the edges of rivers, lakes, and oceans.
• It looks like a tall, light green reed, and it is usually found growing in stalks that are two or three blocks high.
• Sugar cane is often found growing on sand or dirt blocks that are directly touching the water.
• The best biomes for sugar cane are typically desert rivers and swamp biomes, where you can find large patches.

Can You Make Paper Without Sugar Cane?

No, you cannot make Paper with anything other than sugar cane. The paper recipe is unique and requires this specific plant.

While you can get Paper without crafting it with sugar cane, you cannot make it. The only ways to obtain Paper without using the sugar cane requirement are through villager trading mechanics or finding it as structure loot in chests, which is not a reliable source. For a steady supply of Paper, sugar cane is the only way to go.

Crafting Paper Step by Step

Making Paper in Minecraft is one of the easiest recipes in the game. You can do it in your inventory crafting grid or a full crafting table.

Paper Recipe in Minecraft

The paper recipe is simple and requires no specific order other than placing the sugar cane in a straight line.

• Open your Crafting Table (3x3 grid) or Inventory (2x2 grid).
• Place 3 pieces of Sugar Cane horizontally in a straight row.
• Collect the 3 sheets of Paper that appear in the output slot.

How to Craft Paper in Minecraft (PC, Bedrock, PE)

The steps for how to craft Paper in Minecraft are the same on every version of the game.

• The method is the same across Minecraft Java Edition, Minecraft Bedrock Edition, and Minecraft Pocket Edition (PE).
• Step 1: Gather at least 3 pieces of Sugar Cane.
• Step 2: Open your Crafting Table. If you do not have one, you can use the smaller inventory crafting grid.
• Step 3: Place the 3 Sugar Cane pieces in any horizontal row in the grid.
• : Drag the resulting 3 sheets of Paper to your inventory.

Fastest Way to Get Paper

The fastest way to get Paper is by setting up a large, automated sugar cane farm. While looting chests in structures can give you Paper, this is not reliable.

The best way is to gather sugar cane, then quickly turn it into Paper using a crafting table. Once you have a steady supply of sugar cane growing, you can make as much Paper as you need instantly. This is much faster and more efficient than searching for Paper as structure loot.

Alternative Ways to Obtain Paper

If you are starting and need a few sheets of Paper right away, there are two alternatives to crafting it with sugar cane. However, you must remember that these are not reliable ways to get the large amount of Paper you will need later on.

Trading with Villagers

Villager trading mechanics offer a reliable way to get emeralds using Paper, but they do not sell Paper.

The Librarian villager is the key to using Paper in the trading system.

• Librarian villagers buy Paper for emeralds. This trade is usually available at their lowest level (Novice).
• This is great for early-game progression because sugar cane is easy to farm, giving you a safe way to get emeralds.
• The Trading system is also how you get valuable books from villagers later in the game.

Looting Chests in Structures

Paper in Minecraft can often be found as chest loot inside different generated structures in the world.

• Shipwrecks: These sunken structures often contain Paper in their map or supply chests.
• Strongholds: The library sections of strongholds sometimes have chest loot that includes Paper.
• Woodland Mansions: The chests inside these massive structures can contain Paper.
• Dungeons: These small, underground structures sometimes have Paper in their treasure chest loot.

Best Uses of Paper in Minecraft

The most crucial function of Paper as a crafting material is unlocking key aspects of progression mechanics in Minecraft.

Crafting Books and Bookshelves

Books are the first step to enchanting your gear.

• Books are made with Paper and leather.
• Bookshelves are then made with books and wood planks.
• You need 15 Bookshelves placed near an Enchantment Table to unlock the best enchantments in the enchanting system.

Crafting Maps and Cartography Table Uses

Maps are vital for exploration in the Minecraft world.

• An Empty Map is made with 8 pieces of Paper surrounding a compass.
• The Cartography Table is used to clone maps, zoom them out to cover a larger area, or lock them so they cannot be updated anymore.
• Paper is also used to craft the Cartography Table itself, along with wood planks.

Crafting Fireworks

Paper is a required ingredient for fireworks, which are essential for fast travel.

• Fireworks are made with Paper and gunpowder.
• Firework rockets are used to propel players when flying with Elytra, allowing for swift movement across the Minecraft world.

Tips for Farming Paper Efficiently

Once you understand the sugar cane requirement, the next step is setting up a solid sugar cane farm for good farming efficiency.

Building a Sugar Cane Farm

A basic sugar cane farm is one of the easiest farms to create in Minecraft for early-game progression.

• Step 1: Dig a one-block-wide ditch and fill it with water source blocks.
• Step 2: Place a row of sand or dirt blocks right next to both sides of the water.
• Step 3: Plant the Sugar Cane on these blocks.
• Step 4: When harvesting, only break the top two blocks and leave the bottom one planted. This saves you from replanting.

Best Biomes for Sugar Cane Growth

Sugar cane growth mechanics are not affected by light so that you can grow it anywhere, even underground.

• River biomes and swamp biomes have the most sugar cane naturally, making them great places to start your farm.
• Sugar cane grows faster when the chunks it is in are loaded, so build your sugar cane farm close to your main base.

Automating Paper Production

For the best farming efficiency, you can automate the sugar cane harvesting process using Redstone mechanics. This is how you get an almost endless supply of Paper in Minecraft.

• Redstone mechanics are used to detect when the sugar cane has grown.
• Observers are placed to detect the sugar cane growth.
• The Observers activate pistons to break the top two sections of the sugar cane.
• Hoppers or water streams are used to collect the fallen sugar cane into a chest, creating an automatic sugar cane farm.

Conclusion

Paper in Minecraft is simple to create, but incredibly important.

• The only material you need is Sugar Cane.
• The Paper Recipe requires 3 Sugar Cane placed horizontally in a Crafting Table to produce 3 sheets of Paper.
• You can find Sugar Cane growing next to water in almost all biomes.

Mastering the sugar cane farming process and the paper recipe is your key to unlocking advanced features in Minecraft Java Edition and Minecraft Bedrock Edition.

Why Paper Is Essential for Progression

Paper is essential for progression because it is the foundation for your enchanting system and exploration. It is the starting point for bookshelves and maps, allowing you to find and secure your base, then power up your tools. Trading surplus paper to Librarian villagers for emeralds also provides a safe way to finance your mid-game progression. Make sure to set up your sugar cane farm today and keep that Paper as a crafting material flowing.