Composter

A composter is a block that converts some biological material into bone meal. It also serves as a farmer's job site block.

Composters can be broken using any tool, though an axe is the fastest. The composter does not retain the compost inside; instead, it drops empty.

Composters generate in village farms. They can also generate in trail ruins.

Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Any Wooden Slab

Composters can be used to recycle a selection of food and plant items into bone meal. To do so, the player must use any of a selection of items on the composter. When an adjacent comparator is facing away from the composter, a comparator signal strength of up to 8 is emitted depending on the fullness of the block.

Composters appear to have an empty interior. As such, entities can enter and exit a composter through the top, but not the sides or bottom. The composter has a "floor", whose height depends on the fullness. When the composter is completely empty, this floor is slightly above the block below, and when it is completely full, there is a slight dip on top. In Bedrock Edition, when the composter’s fullness increases, any entities inside are pushed up accordingly.

The composter can be filled with compost, which is done by adding compostable items to it. When successfully adding an item, a green particle () appears. The table below lists supported items, which have different composting chances. The higher the percentage of an item, the more likely it is for it to add another layer of compost. However, when the composter is empty, any compostable item added always creates the first layer of compost, regardless of its usual composting chance.^[1] Each layer of compost has a podzol-like appearance. When the composter reaches the 7th layer of compost and once 20 game ticks (1 second) have passed, the compost changes appearance indicating that bone meal can be collected by using the composter a final time or by breaking the composter.

The following table shows the items that can be used in a composter, the percent chance for an item to add a level of compost, and the average number of items needed to fill a composter. Smaller pieces (individual pieces of wheat, melon slices, etc.) produce more compost than the blocks or other items that can be made from them. The exception is cookies, because each recipe produces 8 cookies, and together those give more than 3 times the compost.

Despite being plants, it is not possible to compost bamboo,^[2] dead bushes,^[3] poisonous potatoes,^[4] chorus plant products,^[5] and golden plant items.^[6] Meat items, fish, and bones are also not compostable.^[7]

Using with a composter while holding a debug stick will raise the level by 1, and the debug stick is not consumed.

Composting chance (per item)
30%	50%	65%	85%	100%
Items
Beetroot Seeds Bush Cactus Flower Dried Kelp Firefly Bush Glow Berries Grass Block‌[BE only][8] Hanging Roots Kelp Leaves Leaf Litter Mangrove Propagule Mangrove Roots Melon Seeds Moss Carpet Pale Hanging Moss Pale Moss Carpet Pink Petals Pitcher Pod Pumpkin Seeds Red Shrub​[upcoming] Saplings Seagrass Short Grass Short Dry Grass Small Dripleaf Sweet Berries Tall Dry Grass Torchflower Seeds Wheat Seeds Wildflowers	Cactus Dried Kelp Block Flowering Azalea Leaves Glow Lichen Melon Slice Nether Sprouts Sugar Cane Tall Grass Twisting Vines Vines Weeping Vines	Apple Azalea Beetroot Big Dripleaf Carrot Cocoa Beans Fern Flowers Large Fern Lily Pad Melon Moss Block Brown Mushroom Red Mushroom Shelf Mushroom​[upcoming] Mushroom Stem Nether Fungi Nether Wart Pale Moss Block Potato Pumpkin Carved Pumpkin Crimson Roots Warped Roots Sea Pickle Shroomlight Spore Blossom Straw Bed​[upcoming] Wheat Wither Rose	Baked Potato Bread Cookie Flowering Azalea Hay Bale Mushroom Blocks Nether Wart Block Pitcher Plant Torchflower Warped Wart Block	Cake Pumpkin Pie
Average number of items to complete compost[note 1]
21.00	13.00	10.23 (133⁄13)	8.06 (137⁄17)	7.00
Average compost yield (per stack of 64)[note 1]
3.05 (64⁄21)	4.92 (64⁄13)	6.26 (832⁄133)	7.94 (1088⁄137)	9.14 (64⁄7)
Number provider‌[Java Edition only]​[upcoming: JE 26.3][note 2]
low	low_medium	medium	medium_high	always_add_one

The average number of items to complete compost can be calculated with the formula ${\displaystyle y=1+\frac{6}{x}}$, where x is the compost chance of the given item (with 0.3 and 1 corresponding to 30% and 100% chance respectively), and y is the average number of items to complete compost. The average compost yield per stack of 64 can be calculated by simply dividing 64 by y.^{[note 1]}

If a composter has not been claimed by a villager, any nearby unemployed villager has a chance to change their profession to farmer and claim the composter as their job site block. Also, farmers can use composter to compost, and use the derived bone meal to grow crops.

A composter can act as a power source for a redstone comparator. With a composter behind it (either directly, or separated by an unpowered solid block), a comparator outputs a signal strength between 0 and 8, proportional to how full the composter is: 0 for empty, 1 for ¹⁄₇ full, 2 for ²⁄₇ full, and so on to 6. 7 is for completely full but the bone meal is not ready to collect, and 8 for completely full and the bone meal is ready to collect.

Composters can interact with hoppers. A hopper directly below a composter pulls bone meal from it. A hopper or dropper facing downward directly above a composter pushes items into it. See Hopper § Redstone component for more details.

Hoppers cannot interact with the sides of a composter.

A composter can be used as fuel in a furnace to smelt 1.5 items.

Java Edition:

v t e wood sound type
Sound	Closed captions	Source	Description	Identifier	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	​Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	block.wood.break	subtitles.block.generic.break​	1.0	0.8	16
	​Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	block.wood.place	subtitles.block.generic.place​	1.0	0.8	16
	​Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	block.wood.hit	subtitles.block.generic.hit​	0.25	0.5	16
	​Something falls on a block	Entity-Dependent	Falling on the block with fall damage	block.wood.fall	subtitles.block.generic.fall​	0.5	0.75	16
	​Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	block.wood.step	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.15	1.0	16

Bedrock Edition:

v t e wood sound type
Sound	Closed captions	Source	Description	Identifier	Translation key	Volume	Pitch
	​Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	dig.wood	subtitles.block.generic.break​	1.0	0.8–1.0
	​Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	place.wood	subtitles.block.generic.place​	1.0	0.8
	​Axe strips	Blocks	When an axe strips a log or wood block [sound 1]	use.wood	subtitles.block.generic.hit​	1.0	0.8
	​Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	hit.wood	subtitles.block.generic.hit​	0.23	0.5
	​Footsteps	Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	fall.wood	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.4	1.0
	​Footsteps	Players	Walking on the block	step.wood	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.3	1.0
	​Footsteps	Blocks	Jumping from the block	jump.wood	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.12	1.0
	​Footsteps	Blocks	Falling on the block without fall damage	land.wood	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps​	0.18	1.0

Java Edition:

Sounds
Sound	Closed captions	Source	Description	Identifier	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	​Composter empties	Blocks	When a composter is emptied	block.composter.empty	subtitles.block.composter.empty​	1.0	1.0	16
	​Composter filled	Blocks	When adding to a composter	block.composter.fill	subtitles.block.composter.fill​	0.3	0.8	16
	​Composter filled	Blocks	When successfully adding to a composter	block.composter.fill_success	subtitles.block.composter.fill​	1.0	1.0	16
	​Composter composts	Blocks	When composting completes	block.composter.ready	subtitles.block.composter.ready​	1.0	1.0	16
	​Farmer works	Friendly Mobs	Randomly while a farmer is working	entity.villager.work_farmer	subtitles.entity.villager.work_farmer​	1.0	0.8–1.2	16

Bedrock Edition:

Sounds
Sound	Closed captions	Source	Description	Identifier	Translation key	Volume	Pitch
	​ ?	Blocks	When a composter is emptied	block.composter.empty	​ ?	1.0	1.0
	​ ?	Blocks	When adding to a composter	block.composter.fill	​ ?	1.3	0.8
	​ ?	Blocks	When adding to a composter [sound 1]	item.bone_meal.use	​ ?	1.0	0.9–1.1
	​ ?	Blocks	When successfully adding to a composter	block.composter.fill_success	​ ?	1.3	1.0
	​ ?	Blocks	When composting completes	block.composter.ready	​ ?	1.0	1.0
	​ ?	Blocks	Randomly while a farmer is working	block.composter.fill	​ ?	1.3	0.8

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Translation key
Composter	composter	Block & Item	block.minecraft.composter

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Item ID[i 1]	Translation key
Composter	composter	468	Block & Giveable Item[i 2]	Identical[i 3]	tile.composter.name

Composter with different compost levels

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Java Edition:

Name	Default value	Allowed values	Description
level	0	0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8	When at level 8, bone meal is able to be collected from the composter.

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Metadata Bits	Default value	Allowed values	Values for Metadata Bits	Description
composter_fill_level	0x1 0x2 0x4 0x8	0	0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8	0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8	When at level 8, bone meal is able to be collected from the composter.

Java Edition
1.14			19w03a				Added composters.
							Composter blocks are found in the "Miscellaneous" tab in the Creative inventory.[9]
							The crafting recipe of composters is 4 fences and 3 planks.
			19w03b				All mushroom blocks can now be used in composters.
			19w04a				Composters now spawn in village farms.
			19w05a				The chances of composters have been changed from 10/20/50/80/100% to 30/50/65/85/100%.
			19w11a				Composters now serve as farmer villagers' job site block.
1.15			19w45a				The crafting recipe of composters has been changed to match Bedrock Edition.
1.16			20w06a				Moved composter blocks to the "Decoration Blocks" tab from the "Miscellaneous" tab in the Creative inventory.[9]
			20w15a				Weeping vines, twisting vines, crimson roots, warped roots, nether sprouts, Nether fungi, nether wart, nether wart blocks, and warped wart blocks can now be composted.
			pre3				Shroomlights can now be composted.[10]
1.17			21w05a				Azalea, dripleaves, hanging roots, glow berries, moss blocks, moss carpets and spore blossoms can now be composted.
			21w11a				Glow lichen can now be composted.
1.19			22w11a				Mangrove propagule can now be composted.
			22w12a				Mangrove leaves can now be composted.[11]
			22w15a				Mangrove roots can now be composted.[12]
1.19.4 Experiment Update 1.20			23w07a				Torchflowers, torchflower seeds, pink petals, cherry saplings, and cherry leaves can now be composted.
1.21.2 Experiment Winter Drop			24w40a				Pale moss blocks, pale moss carpets, pale hanging moss, pale oak saplings, and pale oak leaves can now be composted.
1.21.5			25w03a				Leaf litter and wildflowers can now be composted.
Upcoming Java Edition
26.3			snapshot 1				Red shrubs and shelf mushrooms can now be composted.
			snapshot 3				Straw beds can now be composted.
			snapshot 4				Added the #cushion_uses_collision_shape block tag.

Bedrock Edition
1.10.0 Experiment Experimental Gameplay			beta 1.10.0.3				Added composters.
							Composters are currently available only through Experimental Gameplay.
							The crafting recipe of composters are 7 wooden slabs.
1.11.0			beta 1.11.0.1				Added functionality like in Java Edition.
							Added level 8 "content ready" state.
							Changed models of level 0-7.
							Composters are available outside of Experimental Gameplay.
			beta 1.11.0.3				Composters now support hopper placement.
1.16.0			beta 1.16.0.57				Weeping vines, twisting vines, crimson roots, warped roots, nether sprouts, Nether fungi, nether wart, nether wart blocks, and warped wart blocks can now be composted.
1.16.100			beta 1.16.100.55				Shroomlight can now be composted.
1.16.220			beta 1.16.220.52				Azalea, dripleaves, glow berries, moss blocks, moss carpet and spore blossoms can now be composted.
1.17.0			beta 1.16.230.50				Hanging roots and glow lichen can now be composted.
			beta 1.16.230.54				Small dripleaf can now be composted.
1.19.0			Preview 1.19.0.21				Mangrove propagules, mangrove leaves, and mangrove roots can now be composted.
1.19.70 Experiment Sniffer			Preview 1.19.70.23				Torchflower seeds can now be composted.
1.19.80 Experiment Next Major Update			Preview 1.19.80.20				Pink petals and cherry saplings, and cherry leaves can now be composted.
1.20.0			Preview 1.20.0.20				Torchflowers can now be composted.
1.20.30			Preview 1.20.20.21				Decreased the hardness and blast resistance of composters from 2 to 0.6.
1.21.50			Preview 1.21.50.20				Pale moss blocks, pale moss carpets, pale hanging moss, pale oak saplings, and pale oak leaves are now compostable.
1.21.50 Experiment Upcoming Creator Features			Preview 1.21.50.26				Added the minecraft:compostable item component that allows custom items to be composted.
1.21.60			Preview 1.21.60.27				Moved the minecraft:compostable item component out of experimental.
1.21.70			Preview 1.21.70.20				Leaf litter and wildflowers can now be composted.

PlayStation 4 Edition
1.91							Added composters.

Issues relating to "Composter" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

• The compost texture is based on the podzol texture.
• If planting crops specifically for composting, potatoes produce somewhat more than beets, carrots, or wheat. However, melons offer nearly the same yield per field space, and do not require replanting after harvest.

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  A composter generated in a village
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  A full and partially filled composter in a farm
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  An official screenshot of a composter used on Minecraft.net^[13]

• Block of the Week: Composter – Minecraft.net on March 23, 2023

v t e Blocks
Structural Lumber Logs Stripped Wood Stripped Stems Stripped Hyphae Stripped Block of Bamboo Stripped Bamboo Mosaic Planks Stone/Deepslate Stone Cobblestone Mossy Smooth Stone Stone Bricks Chiseled Cracked Mossy Granite Polished Diorite Polished Andesite Polished Deepslate Chiseled Cobbled Polished Deepslate Bricks Cracked Deepslate Tiles Cracked Tuff Chiseled Polished Tuff Bricks Chiseled Overworld Bricks Packed Mud Mud Bricks Resin Bricks Chiseled Sandstone Chiseled Cut Smooth Red Sandstone Chiseled Cut Smooth Cinnabar Chiseled Polished Bricks Sulfur Chiseled Polished Bricks Prismarine Bricks Dark The Nether Netherrack Nether Bricks Chiseled Cracked Red Blackstone Polished Blackstone Chiseled Polished Blackstone Bricks Cracked Basalt Polished Smooth The End End Stone Bricks Purpur Block Pillar Mineral Block of Quartz Bricks Chiseled Pillar Smooth Block of Copper Chiseled Cut Grate Block of Iron Block of Gold Block of Amethyst Block of Coal Block of Diamond Block of Emerald Block of Lapis Lazuli Block of Netherite Block of Redstone
Ornamental Decorative Crying Obsidian Gilded Blackstone Reinforced Deepslate Partial Block Bars Iron Copper Chains Iron Copper Fences Wooden Nether Brick Slabs Cut Copper Wooden Stairs Cut Copper Wooden Walls Dyeable/Dyed Wool Slab​[upcoming: Third Drop 2026] Stairs​[upcoming: Third Drop 2026] Carpets Terracotta Stained Glazed Concrete Slab​[upcoming: Third Drop 2026] Stairs​[upcoming: Third Drop 2026] Powder Glass Pane Tinted Stained Glass Pane Lighting Candle Dyed End Rod Froglight Glowstone Jack o'Lantern Lantern Copper Soul Sea Lantern Torch Copper Soul BE & Edu only Colored Torches Elements Hardened Glass Pane Hardened Stained Glass Pane
Natural Sediment/Soil Clay Dirt Coarse Path Grass Block Mycelium Podzol Rooted Gravel Mud Nylium Crimson Warped Sand Red Soul Sand Soil Misc. rock Bedrock Magma Block Obsidian Calcite Sulfur Spike Potent Sulfur Pointed Dripstone Block Ore/Mineral Amethyst Bud Cluster Budding Amethyst Ancient Debris Coal Ore Deepslate Copper Ore Deepslate Raw Block Diamond Ore Deepslate Emerald Ore Deepslate Gold Ore Deepslate Nether Raw Block Iron Ore Deepslate Raw Block Lapis Lazuli Ore Deepslate Nether Quartz Ore Redstone Ore Deepslate Plant Azalea Flowering Bamboo Shoot Big Dripleaf Small Bush Cactus Creaking Heart Dead Bush Fern Large Firefly Bush Hanging Roots Leaf Litter Leaves Mangrove Propagule Mangrove Roots Muddy Moss Block Carpet Pale Moss Block Carpet Hanging Red Shrub​[upcoming: Third Drop 2026] Resin Clump Block Saplings Short Dry Grass Tall Short Grass Tall Vines Flower Allium Azure Bluet Blue Orchid Cactus Flower Cornflower Dandelion Golden Eyeblossom Closed Open Lilac Lily of the Valley Oxeye Daisy Peony Pink Petals Pitcher Plant Crop Poppy Rose Bush Spore Blossom Sunflower Torchflower Crop Tulips Wildflowers Wither Rose Crops & related Beetroots Carrots Cave Vines Chorus Plant Flower Cocoa Melon Stem Potatoes Pumpkin Carved Stem Sugar Cane Sweet Berry Bush Wheat Crops Hay Bale Fungus & related Brown Mushroom Red Mushroom Shelf Mushroom​[upcoming: Third Drop 2026] Mushroom Blocks Glow Lichen Crimson Fungus Warped Fungus Nether Wart Nether Sprouts Crimson Roots Warped Roots Nether Wart Block Warped Wart Block Shroomlight Twisting Vines Weeping Vines Fauna & Related Bee Nest Honeycomb Block Bone Block Cobweb Dragon Egg Dried Ghast Infested Blocks Sniffer Egg Turtle Egg Aquatic Coral Dead Coral Blocks Dead Coral Fans Dead Frogspawn Kelp Dried Block Lily Pad Sea Pickle Seagrass Tall Sculk Sculk Sculk Catalyst Sculk Sensor Calibrated Sculk Shrieker Sculk Vein Fluid & Related Lava Water Bubble Column Ice Blue Packed Snow Powder Block Non-physical Air Cave‌[JE only] Void‌[JE only] Invisible Bedrock‌[BE & edu only] Fire Soul
Utility Interactable Anvil Chipped Damaged Barrel Beacon Brewing Stand Cartography Table Chest Ender Copper Crafting Table Enchanting Table Furnace Blast Smoker Grindstone Lectern Loom Shulker Box Dyed Sign Hanging Smithing Table Stonecutter Utilizable Banners Ominous Beehive Beds Straw​[upcoming: Third Drop 2026] Bell Bookshelf Cake with Candle Campfire Soul Cauldron Chiseled Bookshelf Composter Conduit Copper Golem Statue Decorated Pot End Gateway End Portal End Portal Frame Farmland Fletching Table Flower Pot Frosted Ice Heads Skeleton Wither Skeleton Zombie Creeper Piglin Dragon Heavy Core Jukebox Ladder Lodestone Monster Spawner Nether Portal Respawn Anchor Scaffolding Shelf Sponge Wet Suspicious Gravel Suspicious Sand TNT Trial Spawner Ominous Vault Ominous Redstone/ Mechanical Buttons Wooden Stone Polished Blackstone Copper Bulb Crafter Daylight Detector Dispenser Dropper Doors Copper Iron Wooden Honey Block Hopper Lever Lightning Rod Note Block Observer Piston Sticky Pressure Plates Wooden Stone Polished Blackstone Heavy Weighted Light Weighted Rail Activator Detector Powered Redstone Lamp Redstone Wire Comparator Repeater Torch Slime Block Target Trapped Chest Trapdoors Copper Iron Wooden Fence Gates Tripwire Hook Tripwire BE & Edu only Allow Border Chalkboards Compound Creator Deny Element Constructor Heat Block Item Frame Glow Lab Table Material Reducer Underwater TNT Underwater Torch
Creative or commands only All editions Barrier Command Block Chain Repeating Jigsaw Block Light Petrified Oak Slab Player Head Structure Block Void Java Edition only Test Block Test Instance Block China Edition only micro_block
Removed Java Edition only Cloth Dead Coral Block Gear Infinite Lava Source Infinite Water Source Locked chest Rose Potted Shrub Bedrock Edition only Blue Rose Duplicate Black Wool grass_carried leaves_carried Fern Fern Smooth Stone Bricks Structure Air mysterious_frame_slot China Edition only mod_ore MinecraftEdu only Big Sign Border block Build allow block Build disallow block Foundation block Home Block Information block Information Sign Number Block Spawn Block Steppe dirt Steppe sand Teleport Block Quiz Block Minecraft 4k only ID 9 Dirt XOR Block
Unused BE & Edu only Camera Block Chiseled Purpur tile.client_request_placeholder_block.name Deprecated Anvil tile.deprecated_purpur_block_2.name Glowing Obsidian tile.info_update.name tile.info_update2.name Nether Reactor Core tile.reserved6.name Stonecutter (old) Unknown
Unimplemented All editions Branches Copper Button Colored Planks Coral Slab Dead Dirt Slab Empty Barrel Fish Barrel Furniture Paeonia Sculk Jaw Spike Block Wax Block
Joke April Fools 2013 Block of Coal Etho Slab Tinted Glass Torch (Burnt-out) April Fools 2016 USB Charger Block April Fools 2020 An Ant Box of Infinite Books Cursor Funky Portal Leftover Swaggiest stairs ever April Fools 2022 How did we get here? April Fools 2023 Cheese Copper Sink Filled Copper Spleaves Golden Chest Other Portal Packed Air Pickaxe Block Place Block April Fools 2024 Baked Potato Bricks Expired Charred Big Brain Block of Amber Block of Potato Peels Corrupted Floatater Floatato Frying Table Gravtater Pedestal Peelgrass Block Corrupted Poison Farmland Poison Path Poisonous Mashed Potato Poisonous Potato Block Compressed Double Compressed Triple Compressed Quadruple Compressed Poisonous Potato Cutter Poisonous Potato Head Block Poisonous Potato Headpiece Poisonous Potato Ore Deepslate Potato Battery Potato Bud Potato flower Potato Fruit Potato Leaves Potato Pedicule Potato Portal Potato Refinery Potato Sprouts Potato Stem Planks Slab Stairs Door Trapdoor Button Pressure Plate Sign Hanging Sign Fence Fence Gate Potone Copper Ore Diamond Ore Gold Ore Iron Ore Lapis Lazuli Ore Redstone Ore Resin Ore Powerful Potato Strong Roots Taterstone Terre de Pomme Vicious Potato Weak Roots April Fools 2025 Dimension Control Mine Travelling Block Mine Revisitor Mine Crafter Mob Trophy Shimmering Door Sky Trophy April Fools 2026 Copper Trap Iron Trap
Extreme metadata variants All editions Directionless Hopper Seamless Stone Slab Six-sided Hay Bale Six-sided Piston Java Edition only Faceless Furnace Faceless Jack o'Lantern Green Shrub Potted Invisible stairs Misaligned torch Redstone Nether portal post Overripe Melon Stem Attached Overripe Pumpkin Stem Attached Overgrown Cocoa Overeaten Cake Overgrown Wheat Crops Potted non-flower block Snowy Dirt Coarse Strange buttons Invisible random ladders Others Bedrock Edition only Bell Stand Diorite Bell Granite Bell Polished Six-sided Bone Block Six-sided Purpur Pillar Six-sided Quartz Pillar Smokeless Campfire