As updates continue to pass by, it can be easy to overlook useful blocks that aren’t required but provide benefits over time. One such example is the composter, which excels at bringing a peaceful farm or homestead to life. So, today, we explore the surprising benefits of the composter in our Minecraft composter guide.

Composter Overview

A composter can be crafted on a crafting table using a total of seven wooden slabs. Three are placed down the left and right sides of the crafting grid, while the seventh and final slab is placed in the middle of the bottom row. The end result on a crafting table should look like a capital “U.” Once crafted and placed down, a composter can then be filled with biological material until seven successful layers of compost have been created. It is important to note that adding a compatible item does guarantee that a compost layer will appear unless it is the first layer, cake, or pumpkin pie. Interacting with a full composter provides one bonemeal and resets the process. Additionally, full composters produce a redstone signal, and hoppers can be placed directly beneath composters to automatically pull bonemeal from within them. Composters also serve as one of the best ways to get bonemeal when playing in peaceful mode.

Composter Compost Values

All items compatible with the composter have a chance of creating a compost layer when placed inside. Below, we have listed these compatible items alphabetically and grouped them by their percent chance of increasing the compost layer. As mentioned previously, the first layer in a composter is always 100 percent, regardless of the item.

30% Chance

• Beetroot Seeds
• Bush
• Cactus Flower
• Dried Kelp
• Firefly Bush
• Glow Berries
• Grass Block
• 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
• Saplings (All)
• Seagrass
• Short Grass
• Short Dry Grass
• Small Dripleaf
• Sweet Berries
• Tall Dry Grass
• Torchflower Seeds
• Wheat Seeds

50% Chance

• Cactus
• Dried Kelp Block
• Flowering Azalea Leaves
• Glow Lichen
• Melon Slice
• Nether Sprouts
• Sugar Cane
• Tall Grass
• Twisting Vines
• Vines
• Weeping Vines

65% Chance

• Apple
• Azalea
• Beetroot
• Big Dripleaf
• Carrot
• Cocoa Beans
• Fern
• Flowers
• Fungi
• Large Fern
• Lily Pad
• Melon
• Moss Block
• Mushrooms
• Mushroom Stem
• Nether Wart
• Pale Moss Block
• Potato
• Pumpkin
• Crimson Roots
• Warped Roots
• Sea Pickle
• Shroomlight
• Spore Blossom
• Wheat
• Wither Rose

85% Chance

• Baked Potato
• Bread
• Cookie
• Flowering Azalea
• Hay Bale
• Mushroom Block
• Nether Wart Block
• Pitcher Plant
• Torchflower
• Warped Wart Block

100% Chance

• Cake
• Pumpkin Pie

Composter Guide: Villager Interactions

In addition to all the features listed in our Minecraft composter guide above, composter blocks also serve as job blocks for farming villagers. This means that if a composter block is placed near a jobless villager, they will attempt to claim it, transforming them into a farmer. Only one villager can claim a job block, so multiple are needed for multiple farmers. Once claimed, a farmer villager will care for a farm if one is nearby, placing any excess seeds into the composter, passively producing bonemeal over time.