How to Make a Barrel in Minecraft and How It Beats a Chest
Six planks and 2 wooden slabs make a barrel that holds 27 stacks, like a chest. How to make a barrel in Minecraft, why it opens under blocks, and its job.
A barrel takes 6 planks and 2 wooden slabs. Put planks down the left and right columns of a crafting table, one slab in the top middle and one in the bottom middle, and leave the center empty. You get one barrel, which stores 27 stacks, the same as a single chest.
Materials for a barrel
- 6 planks. Any wood. One log gives 4 planks, so two logs cover it.
- 2 wooden slabs. Craft 3 planks in a row to get 6 slabs. Any wood works here too, and you can mix types with the planks.
So from scratch, a barrel costs about 2 and a half logs. That’s slightly more than a chest, which is 8 planks (2 logs).
Barrel or chest?
They hold the same amount, but they behave differently.
Barrels are better when:
- you want a block on top. A chest won’t open with a solid block above it; a barrel always opens.
- you want to stack storage in a tight wall. Barrels can face up, down or sideways, and a wall of them looks tidy.
- you’re building in a cramped space like a boat or a mine.
Chests are better when:
- you want more space in one spot. Two chests side by side make a 54-slot double chest; barrels never combine.
- you need a trapped variant for redstone.
For most bases, a mix works: double chests for bulk storage, barrels where space is tight.
Hoppers and sorting
Hoppers push items into barrels and pull them out exactly as they do with chests. Comparators read how full a barrel is, too. Because a barrel opens regardless of what’s above it, it’s handy at the bottom of a hopper chain where a chest would be blocked.
Barrels and villagers
A barrel is the workstation for the fisherman. Place one near an unemployed villager and it takes the job. Fishermen buy fish and string for emeralds and sell enchanted fishing rods, which is useful if you’re getting into fishing. If you place barrels as storage inside a village, villagers may claim them, so keep your storage out of their reach. The villager jobs guide lists every workstation.
Finding barrels
You’ll also find barrels in villages (fisherman cottages), and some contain loot. Breaking a barrel drops its contents and the barrel itself, so you can pick one up and move it anywhere.
Common questions
Is a barrel better than a chest?
For walls of storage, often yes. A barrel holds the same 27 stacks, opens even with a block directly above it, and can face any direction. It cannot combine into a double barrel, though, so a large chest still holds more in one spot.
Do the planks and slabs have to match?
No. Any wooden planks and any wooden slabs work, and you can mix types. The barrel looks the same whichever wood you use.
Can hoppers feed into a barrel?
Yes. Hoppers fill and empty barrels the same way they do chests, so barrels work in sorting systems.
Sources & verification
Facts on this page are checked against these references and in-game behavior for the stated edition(s). how we verify.
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