How to Craft Paper in Minecraft

Paper is crafted from sugar cane and used to make maps, books, banner patterns and firework rockets.

Overview

Paper is crafted from sugar cane and used to make maps, books, banner patterns and firework rockets. Paper uses a shaped recipe, meaning the ingredients must sit in the exact pattern shown in the grid above; placing them in the wrong cells will not produce the item. A Crafting Table gives you the full 3x3 grid, which you need for any recipe larger than 2x2. You can craft one from four planks, and most bases keep one near the furnaces.

The recipe was added in Minecraft Alpha and still works the same way in version 1.21. Each craft yields 3 Paper, so factor that multiplier in when you are batching the recipe for a project.

The materials come together from a few sources: you will be working with sugar cane (harvest sugar cane near water). If any of those are not already in your stores, gather them first, because the craft itself takes only a moment once everything is in the grid. With the ingredients on hand and a Crafting Table placed, Paper is one of the quicker things to add to your inventory.

Crafting Recipe

Crafting Table

Paperx3

Materials Needed

Item	Amount	Where to Find
Sugar Cane	3	Harvest sugar cane near water

To make Paper you will gather 3x Sugar Cane (harvest sugar cane near water). Lining these up before you open the Crafting Table saves a trip back to storage, especially if you plan to craft several at once.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Open your Crafting Table to access the 3x3 crafting grid.
Arrange the ingredients in the crafting grid following the pattern shown above.
Place Sugar Cane in: row 1, column 1; row 1, column 2; row 1, column 3.
Collect your Paper (x3) from the output slot.

Tips & Notes

If the output slot stays empty, double-check the pattern against the grid above; a shaped recipe fails silently when even one ingredient is in the wrong cell.
Since one craft produces 3 Paper, divide the quantity you need by 3 to work out how many times to repeat the recipe.

Uses for Paper

Crafting maps, books, banners and firework rockets

How Paper Fits Your World

Building blocks are the backbone of construction, and the variant you choose changes both the look and the behaviour of a build. Stairs and slabs let you shape rooflines and half-steps, glass and stained glass let light through, and decorative stone and concrete give you a consistent palette for large projects. Many of these blocks are also craftable in bulk, which matters when a single build can swallow thousands of them. For Paper specifically, that means it is most valuable for crafting maps, books, banners and firework rockets.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

What do I need to craft Paper?

You need 3 Sugar Cane, made at a Crafting Table. Gather all of the materials first, then arrange them in the exact grid pattern shown above to produce 3 Paper.

How many Paper does the recipe produce?

Each craft produces 3 Paper at once, so to make a specific amount, divide the total you need by 3 to find how many times to repeat the recipe.

What is Paper used for?

Paper is used for crafting maps, books, banners and firework rockets.

What version of Minecraft added Paper?

Paper was added in Minecraft Alpha and works the same way in the current 1.21 release. Recipes for it are identical across Java and Bedrock Edition unless noted otherwise.

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