How to Make a Map in Minecraft: Java vs. Bedrock Recipes

In Minecraft Java Edition, a standard empty map is crafted with eight paper surrounding one compass on a crafting table. In Bedrock Edition, you can craft a regular empty map with nine paper, while a locator map uses a compass. To see your surroundings, hold the finished map and use it: crafting alone does not fill it with terrain.

Know which map you need

Recipe book names and controls can vary with updates and platform, so check the item label before crafting several copies. A map is not an online seed map: it only records terrain in the saved world where you activate and explore it.

Craft a map step by step

1. Harvest sugar cane and turn it into paper. Our paper-crafting guide shows the three-cane recipe.
2. For a Java map or Bedrock locator map, make a compass from four iron ingots and one redstone dust.
3. Open the 3×3 crafting table. In Java, put the compass in the middle and surround it with eight paper. In Bedrock, nine paper produce a regular empty map, or use a compass in the middle for a locator map.
4. Put the map in your hotbar, select it and use it to begin recording the nearby terrain.
5. Move around with the map selected to reveal areas that are still blank.

If you’re in Creative Mode, the inventory may provide ready-made map types. This is different from crafting in Survival.

How to enlarge, copy and lock maps

A cartography table gives maps a separate workflow. Open it and combine an existing map with paper to increase the territory that map covers; the trade-off is that individual structures appear smaller. Combine a map with an empty map to make a copy for a teammate. Combine a map with a glass pane to lock its explored appearance. Some steps differ slightly across Java and Bedrock, especially how the locator marker is added. See Mojang’s explanation of cartography-table operations for the edition distinctions.

Do not enlarge a map simply because the outer area is blank. First decide whether you need more detail around your base or a broader view of surrounding terrain.

Fix a blank or confusing map

• Map has no terrain: it may not have been activated. Hold it and use it once.
• Marker is missing: Bedrock players may have crafted a non-locator map rather than a locator map.
• Map shows the wrong area: an older map is bound to the area where it was created. Make a new map at the new location rather than expecting it to move.
• Map is too small: enlarge it with paper at a cartography table, but remember that this also reduces detail.
• Explored terrain will not update: a locked map is designed to preserve its existing appearance.

Practical map strategy for a first survival base

Craft one detailed map for the area around your base and keep a backup in storage. Make another map for distant trips instead of zooming every map to its maximum scale. When traveling through a Nether portal, remember that Nether travel can cover large Overworld distances; the map you carried from home does not become a universal GPS. A clearly named collection of maps is more useful than an unorganized chest of identical-looking copies. For travel preparation see our Nether portal guide.

Frequently asked questions

Can I make a map without a compass?

Yes, Bedrock Edition supports a plain empty map made from nine paper. Java’s usual empty-map crafting recipe requires a compass.

Why does my map have no arrow?

You probably have a non-locator map on Bedrock. Convert or craft the locator version with a compass.

Can I reuse a Minecraft map in a different world?

No. Map items belong to their world save; a map from one world cannot load terrain from another.

Do I need to explore before copying a map?

No, but copies are most useful after you have drawn the area you want to share. A copied map refers to the same mapped area.

Featured image: jencu / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (photo of Minecraft being played). Photo is illustrative of Minecraft gameplay; it is not a screenshot of the specific recipe or interaction.