How to Make a Chest in Minecraft and a 54-Slot Double Chest

A chest is 8 planks around the edge of a crafting table with the center left empty. Any wood works. One chest holds 27 stacks. Place a second chest right next to it and the two join into a large chest (also called a double chest) with 54 slots. That’s the only way to make one; there’s no separate recipe.

Two logs give you 8 planks, so a chest is one of the cheapest things you can build on day one, right after your crafting table.

Making a large chest

1. Craft two chests.
2. Place the first one.
3. Place the second directly beside it, on the left or right, facing the same direction.

The two lids merge into one wide chest with 6 rows of 9 slots. Breaking either half turns it back into a single chest; nothing inside is lost, the items from the broken half drop on the ground.

Some placement rules:

• They must face the same way. Two chests placed side by side but facing different directions stay separate.
• Only two join. You can’t make a triple chest. Place a third chest next to a large chest and it stays single (on Java you can now put it right beside one).
• Keeping them apart on purpose. On Java, sneak while placing the second chest and it won’t connect. On Bedrock, turn it to face a different way.
• Trapped chests only join trapped chests.

A wall of large chests is the backbone of most storage rooms. Leave a space above each one, or read the next section first.

Why a chest won’t open

A chest’s lid needs room. It won’t open when:

• a solid block is directly on top of it
• a cat is sitting on it (cats love doing this)

On Java, transparent blocks like glass and ice, and bottom slabs or stairs, don’t block the lid, so you can put those above a chest. On Bedrock, a bottom slab does block it. Another chest on top doesn’t block anything, so stacked chests all still open.

If you need storage with something directly on top, use a barrel. It holds the same 27 stacks, opens no matter what’s above it, but can’t form a double.

Trapped chests

A trapped chest is a chest plus a tripwire hook, crafted together. It looks almost the same (a red tint around the latch) and gives out a redstone signal while it’s open, stronger the more players have it open. Use it to set off traps, open secret doors or light a lamp. How to use a tripwire hook covers the hook itself. Two trapped chests form a large trapped chest; they won’t join a normal one.

Chests and hoppers

Hoppers move items into and out of chests and large chests, which is how storage sorting systems and farm collection work. A hopper is itself crafted from a chest and 5 iron ingots. A comparator reads how full a chest is.

Other chest items

• Boat with chest: a chest and a boat crafted together.
• Minecart with chest: a chest on a minecart, for moving loot along rails.
• Copper chest: added in 1.21.9, crafted from a chest and copper ingots. It stores items like a normal chest, and copper golems take items out of it and sort them into nearby chests.
• Ender chest: obsidian and an eye of ender. Its contents are private to you and shared between every ender chest you place.
• Shulker box: two shulker shells around a chest. Keeps its contents when broken, so you can carry a full box in one slot.