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How to Craft Bookshelf in Minecraft

Bookshelf in Minecraft, drawn from the game's own block model. Boosting enchanting table level.

You need 6 Planks and 3 Books, plus a Crafting Table to assemble them on. The pattern to copy is six Planks in the top and bottom rows and three Books filling the middle row. A single craft gives you 1 Bookshelf. Short on coal? 300 ticks each means 43 Bookshelves smelt 64 items.

Bookshelf Item ID and Give Command

The item ID for Bookshelf is minecraft:bookshelf. In commands the namespace may be left off, so bookshelf works too. Checked against Minecraft Java 26.2.

Give yourself one
/give @p bookshelf
Give a full stack of 64
/give @p bookshelf 64
Give it to a named player
/give Steve bookshelf 1

Cheats have to be on for Bookshelf to appear this way, and the same command works on Bedrock Edition, where the name is written the same.

Overview

Bookshelves boost nearby enchanting tables. Place 15 bookshelves around an enchanting table for maximum level 30 enchantments. Bookshelf uses a shaped recipe: the ingredients only work in the pattern shown.

The bookshelf was already in the game in Minecraft Beta 1.0, the oldest release with an English language file to read, so this recipe is at least that old.

The materials come together from a few sources: you will be working with planks (craft from logs) and book (craft from paper and leather).

The Yield Per Stack

64 planks is 10 crafts here, or 10 bookshelfs once the grid stops. The recipe wants 30 books beside it. Left over: just 4 planks.

Materials Needed

ItemAmountWhere to Find
Planks6xCraft from logs
BookBookBook3xCraft from paper and leather

A Crafting Table and 6x Planks (craft from logs) and 3x Book (craft from paper and leather): that is everything Bookshelf asks for.

The Full Chain

Paper, then Book, then the Bookshelf. All in: 6 Planks, 3 Leather and 9 Sugar Cane.

  1. 1
    Sugar CaneSugar Cane9PaperPaper9Paperrepeat 3x
  2. 2
    PaperPaper9LeatherLeather3BookBook3Bookrepeat 3x
  3. 3
    Bookshelfthis page

Gather this first

6PlanksLeatherLeather3LeatherSugar CaneSugar Cane9Sugar Cane

Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. 1

    6x Planks

  2. 2

    BookBook3x Book

  3. 3

    Bookshelf

Minecraft crafting recipe for Bookshelf: 6 x Planks, 3 x Book in a crafting table, making 1 Bookshelf.

Tips & Notes

  • Shopping list: 6x Planks and 3x Book. Plan the Planks first: craft from logs.

Uses for Bookshelf

  • Boosting enchanting table level
  • Library decoration

What Bookshelf Goes Into

One other recipe on this site lists Bookshelf as an ingredient.

LecternCrafting Table

View detailed item stats, durability and properties for Bookshelf on the Astroworld Items Database.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do I need to craft a Bookshelf in Minecraft?
Bring 6 Planks and 3 Books to a Crafting Table and you can make a Bookshelf. The pattern above is exact, so match it square by square, and one craft produces one Bookshelf.
What can you make with Bookshelf?
Bookshelf is an ingredient in 1 other recipe on this site, including Lectern. The section above links to each of them.
Where do you find the materials for a Bookshelf?
The parts of a Bookshelf do not all come from one place. Planks: craft from logs. Book: craft from paper and leather.
How many Bookshelves do you get from one craft?
The Bookshelf recipe makes one Bookshelf per craft.
What is the item ID for Bookshelf in Minecraft?
The Bookshelf item ID is minecraft:bookshelf, and in a command you can drop the namespace and write bookshelf on its own. Checked against Java 26.2.
Can you farm everything you need for a Bookshelf?
Bookshelf needs nothing you have to go find: planks from trees you can replant and book from paper. Set those up once and you can keep making bookshelf.
What is the give command for Bookshelf?
The command for Bookshelf is /give @p bookshelf. Add a number for more than one, so /give @p bookshelf 64 hands you a full stack, and it only runs with cheats enabled.
Is the Bookshelf recipe the same in Java and Bedrock Edition?
Yes, the Bookshelf recipe is the same in both editions. Java and Bedrock both build a Bookshelf from 6 Planks and 3 Books at a Crafting Table, in the same layout, one at a time.
How many crafting steps does a Bookshelf take?
A Bookshelf takes 3 crafts once you count the parts: Paper and Book, and then the Bookshelf. The chain section above walks through them in order.
What version of Minecraft added the Bookshelf?
The bookshelf was in Minecraft Beta 1.0 already, the earliest language file that exists to check, and no release we can read is without it. Nothing about it has changed since: the pattern above is today's.

Sources

Grid, ingredients and yield
6 Planks and 3 Books in, 1 Bookshelf out, Crafting Table. Java 26.2, .
That Bedrock agrees
Bedrock 1.26.40.05, same 2 ingredients.
How far back it goes
Present in Minecraft Java Beta 1.0, the oldest release that exists to check. From all 163 released Java clients, rd-132211 to 26.2.
That the ingredients come back
What drops, what villagers trade and what farms regrow in Minecraft Java, followed through the recipes to see what those ingredients can be turned into.
Stack size, burn time
The Astroworld Items Database, built from the same jar.
The recipe book unlock
What unlocks it in the recipe book. Java 26.2.
The stack sum
Counted, not played: 1 Bookshelf per craft against the stack size.

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