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What is Concrete in Minecraft?

Concrete is a solid building block added in Minecraft 1.12 (Java Edition). It’s stronger than wool, looks cleaner, and is available in a variety of colors. However, you can’t find it naturally in the world – you have to craft it manually.

There are two main steps to making concrete:

1. Craft concrete powder
2. Turn the powder into solid concrete using water

Materials Needed to Make Concrete Powder

Before you can get concrete, you need to craft concrete powder. Here’s what you need:

• 4 Sand blocks
• 4 Gravel blocks
• 1 Dye of your chosen color

You can craft this on a Crafting Table (3×3 crafting grid).

Crafting Recipe:

Place the items in any order in the crafting grid:

• 4 Sand
• 4 Gravel
• 1 Dye

This will give you 8 concrete powder blocks.

📝 Tip: You can use any dye color like red, blue, green, yellow, etc., depending on the color of concrete you want.

How to Get Dye in Minecraft

To make colored concrete, you’ll need dye. Here’s how to get some common dyes:

• Red Dye – Craft from poppy, beetroot, or rose bush
• Blue Dye – Craft from lapis lazuli or cornflower
• Green Dye – Smelt cactus in a furnace
• Yellow Dye – Craft from dandelion or sunflower
• Black Dye – From ink sacs (squid) or wither roses
• White Dye – Craft from bone meal or lily of the valley

How to Turn Concrete Powder into Concrete

Concrete powder isn’t the final product—it’s still fragile like sand or gravel. To make it harden into concrete, it needs to touch water.

There are two main ways to do this:

✅ Method 1: Place and Pour Water (Easy in Survival Mode)

1. Place your concrete powder block on the ground.
2. Pour water next to it (with a water bucket) or place it near a river/ocean.
3. When water touches the powder block (even from the side), it instantly turns into solid concrete.
4. Break it with a pickaxe (any type) to collect it.

🛑 Important: If you break it with your hand, it won’t drop the block.

✅ Method 2: Drop It Into Water

1. Simply drop the powder block directly into a water stream or pond.
2. It will turn into concrete immediately upon touching water.
3. Dive in and collect it with a pickaxe.

Tools Needed to Mine Concrete

To mine hardened concrete blocks, use a pickaxe:

• Wooden, Stone, Iron, Diamond, or Netherite pickaxes work fine.
• Do not use your hand or shovel—it will not drop the block.

Available Concrete Colors

Minecraft offers 16 different colors of concrete, matching the standard dye colors:

• Red
• Orange
• Yellow
• Green
• Blue
• Light Blue
• Cyan
• Lime
• Pink
• Purple
• Magenta
• Black
• White
• Gray
• Light Gray
• Brown

Use contrasting colors in your builds to make them pop!

Tips for Using Concrete in Your Builds

• Use concrete for modern-looking buildings because of its clean and smooth texture.
• Combine concrete with glass and quartz for futuristic themes.
• Use concrete powder as decorative sand-like terrain in custom maps.
• In Creative Mode, use the /give command to get any concrete color instantly.

Bonus: Concrete Powder and Gravity

Unlike solid concrete blocks, concrete powder is affected by gravity, just like sand and gravel. That means:

• It will fall if you place it without a block underneath.
• Use this to create cool designs like waterfalls or timed traps.

Summary: How to Make Concrete in Minecraft

Step	Description
1️⃣	Collect 4 sand, 4 gravel, and 1 dye
2️⃣	Craft concrete powder in the crafting table
3️⃣	Place powder near water or pour water on it
4️⃣	It becomes solid concrete
5️⃣	Use a pickaxe to mine and collect it