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How to Craft Purple Dye in Minecraft

Purple Dye in Minecraft, drawn from the game's own item texture. Dyeing wool, leather armor, glass, concrete, terracotta and more. Minecraft has used the name Purple Dye since Beta 1.2.

Bring 1 Blue Dye and 1 Red Dye to a Crafting Table and you have Purple Dyes. One go makes 2 Purple Dyes.

Purple Dye Item ID and Give Command

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

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

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

Overview

Purple Dye is used to color a wide variety of blocks and items. Purple Dye uses a shapeless recipe, so the ingredients can go in any cells of the grid as long as all of them are present.

Minecraft has used the name Purple Dye since Beta 1.2, the oldest release whose language file lists it. The recipe itself last changed in Minecraft 1.14. Guides written before that release show a different set of ingredients for the purple dye, so check the grid above rather than the video.

The materials come together from a few sources: you will be working with blue dye (craft from lapis lazuli or a cornflower) and red dye (craft from a poppy, rose bush or beetroot).

The Stack Arithmetic

1 blue dye for 2 purple dye scales to 128 out of a 64 stack. Bring 64 red dye along for the ride. Down to the last blue dye, nothing spare.

Materials Needed

ItemAmountWhere to Find
Blue DyeBlue DyeBlue Dye1xCraft from lapis lazuli or a cornflower
Red DyeRed DyeRed Dye1xCraft from a poppy, rose bush or beetroot

To make Purple Dye you will gather Blue Dye (craft from lapis lazuli or a cornflower) and Red Dye (craft from a poppy, rose bush or beetroot), and craft them at a Crafting Table.

The Full Chain

Red Dye, then Blue Dye, then the Purple Dye. All in: 1 Lapis lazuli or cornflower and 1 Poppy or red tulip.

  1. 1
    Poppy or red tulipPoppy or red tulipRed DyeRed DyeRed Dye
  2. 2
    Lapis lazuli or cornflowerLapis lazuli or cornflowerBlue DyeBlue DyeBlue Dye
  3. 3
    Purple DyePurple DyePurple Dyethis page

Gather this first

Lapis lazuli or cornflowerLapis lazuli or cornflowerLapis lazuli or cornflowerPoppy or red tulipPoppy or red tulipPoppy or red tulip

Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. 1

    Blue DyeBlue DyeBlue DyeRed DyeRed DyeRed Dye

  2. 2

    2x Purple Dye

Minecraft crafting recipe for Purple Dye: 1 x Blue Dye, 1 x Red Dye in a crafting table, making 2 Purple Dye.

Tips & Notes

  • Because this one is shapeless, Blue Dye and Red Dye can go in any cells you like. The grid only checks that they are all present.
  • Shopping list: 1x Blue Dye and 1x Red Dye. Plan the Blue Dye first: craft from lapis lazuli or a cornflower.
  • You get 2 Purple Dye per craft, so divide whatever you need by 2 to know how many times to repeat it.

Uses for Purple Dye

  • Dyeing wool, leather armor, glass, concrete, terracotta and more

What Purple Dye Goes Into

2 other recipes list Purple Dye as an ingredient.

Purple Concrete PowderCrafting TablePurple Stained GlassCrafting Table

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

Frequently Asked Questions

What do I need to craft a Purple Dye in Minecraft?
To craft a Purple Dye you need 1 Blue Dye and 1 Red Dye at a Crafting Table. Any arrangement works as long as all of them are in the grid, and one craft produces 2 Purple Dyes.
What can you make with Purple Dye?
Purple Dye is an ingredient in 2 other recipes on this site, including Purple Concrete Powder and Purple Stained Glass. The section above links to each of them.
Where do you find the materials for a Purple Dye?
A Purple Dye draws its parts from several different places. Blue Dye: craft from lapis lazuli or a cornflower. Red Dye: craft from a poppy, rose bush or beetroot.
How many Purple Dyes do you get from one craft?
The Purple Dye recipe makes 2 Purple Dyes in a single craft.
What is the item ID for Purple Dye in Minecraft?
The Purple Dye item ID is minecraft:purple_dye, and in a command you can drop the namespace and write purple_dye on its own. Checked against Java 26.2.
What is the give command for Purple Dye?
Use /give @p purple_dye to put a Purple Dye in your own inventory, or /give @p purple_dye 64 for a full stack of 64. Cheats have to be on.
How many crafting steps does a Purple Dye take?
A Purple Dye takes 3 crafts once you count the parts: Red Dye and Blue Dye, and then the Purple Dye. The chain section above walks through them in order.
What version of Minecraft added the Purple Dye?
Minecraft Beta 1.2 is the oldest release that calls the purple dye by that name. The recipe file cannot narrow that down, because recipes only became separate files in 1.12. What you see in the grid above is how it works in the current release.

Sources

Grid, ingredients and yield
1 Blue Dye and 1 Red Dye in, 2 Purple Dyes out, Crafting Table. Java 26.2, .
That Bedrock agrees
Bedrock 1.26.40.05, same 2 ingredients.
How far back it goes
Minecraft Java Beta 1.2 uses this name and the release before it does not. From all 163 released Java clients, rd-132211 to 26.2.
When the recipe last changed
Walked forward through 50 Java releases from 1.13 onwards; 1.14 is the last one that altered it.
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
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: 2 Purple Dyes per craft against the stack size.

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