Cotton is a plant resource in Hytale that players can grow on farms. While the item exists in the game's early access version, its practical applications remain narrow compared to other crops. Cotton was originally intended for crafting items like beds, rugs, and clothing, but most of those recipes are not yet implemented.
Quick answer: Cotton currently serves as a crafting ingredient for the Harvest Trophy, which requires 100 Cotton among many other farming materials. No other vanilla crafting recipes use Cotton in early access.
How to Obtain Cotton
You acquire Cotton by planting and harvesting mature Cotton crops. Cotton seeds can be planted on farmland, and the plant will grow through several stages before reaching maturity. Once fully grown, harvest the crop to collect Cotton items.
Cotton does not spawn naturally in the wild, so you must establish a farm to produce it. The crop follows standard farming mechanics: prepare soil, plant seeds, wait for growth, and harvest when ready. No special tools or conditions are required beyond basic farming infrastructure.
Cotton Uses in Early Access
The Harvest Trophy is the only vanilla crafting recipe that requires Cotton. This trophy demands 100 units of Cotton alongside 100 units of every other farmable resource, including Wild Berries, Wheat, Lettuce, Carrot, Corn, Cauliflower, Turnip, Aubergine, Pumpkin, Tomato, Chilli, Rice, Onion, Potato, Apple, Egg, Wool Scraps, any Fish, any Moss, any Tree Log, Poop, White Feathers, Tree Sap, Plant Fiber, any Milk Bucket, and any Mosshorn Milk Bucket. The trophy also requires 100 Greater Essence of Life.
Community discussions confirm that Cotton cannot be crafted into Cotton Bolts or Cloth Blocks using the Furniture Workbench in vanilla early access. Some players initially believed Cotton could be converted to wool-based materials, but those recipes only accept Wool Scraps, not Cotton.
Mod workaround: A community mod called Simple Cotton to Cloth adds recipes to craft Cotton into Cotton Bolts and Cotton Bolts into Cloth Blocks at the Furniture Workbench. The mod creator notes this functionality will likely become obsolete once the official loom crafting station is fully implemented.
Future Crafting Potential
Hytale's design documentation indicates Cotton was planned for use in crafting beds, rugs, clothing, and other textile items. These recipes are not active in the current early access build. The game's item identifier for Cotton is Plant_Crop_Cotton_Item, and it is classified as a Common quality ingredient under the Raw Material category.
The loom crafting station appears in game files but is not fully functional in early access. Once implemented, the loom will likely enable Cotton-to-cloth conversion and textile crafting recipes, making Cotton a more versatile resource for players focused on farming and crafting.
Verification and Storage
You can confirm you have Cotton by checking your inventory for the item icon, which shows white fluffy plant material. Cotton stacks like other farmable resources and can be stored in chests or other containers. The item drops on death, so store excess Cotton in a secure location if you are collecting large quantities for the Harvest Trophy.
If you are farming Cotton specifically for the Harvest Trophy, track your progress by opening the crafting interface and reviewing the trophy's material requirements. The trophy recipe will display how many units of each resource you currently possess versus the 100 required for each ingredient.
