Sticks are a core ingredient for tools, torches, rails, signs, and more. They’re renewable, stack to 64, and you can craft them on any platform. For background on their role in-game, see the official feature post on sticks at Minecraft.net.

This guide shows the two crafting recipes first, then the quickest alternate ways to stock up and practical tips for early and late game.

Method 1: Craft sticks from wooden planks

Step 1: Open any crafting grid.

Use your personal 2×2 crafting grid or a crafting table’s 3×3 grid. Both work identically for this recipe.

Step 2: Place two wooden planks vertically.

Put one plank in a slot and a second plank directly below or above it. Any plank type works (oak, spruce, birch, jungle, acacia, dark oak, mangrove, cherry, bamboo planks, crimson, warped, etc.). This crafts 4 sticks.

Step 3: Move the sticks to your inventory.

Repeat as needed. Rule of thumb: 1 log → 4 planks → 8 sticks.

Method 2: Craft sticks directly from bamboo

Step 1: Gather bamboo.

Bamboo grows naturally in jungles and bamboo jungles and is farmable with simple planting and bone meal.

Step 2: Place two bamboo vertically in the crafting grid.

Two bamboo in a vertical column crafts 1 stick. This is the most bamboo‑efficient route; crafting bamboo into planks first is slower on resources.

Step 3: Avoid the bamboo‑planks route when bulk‑crafting.

Turning bamboo into planks (then into sticks) consumes roughly 2.25 bamboo per stick, which is less efficient than the direct 2 bamboo → 1 stick recipe.

Other reliable ways to obtain sticks

Step 1: Break dead bushes in dry biomes.

Dead bushes drop 0–2 sticks when destroyed, providing quick early‑game supplies in deserts and similar biomes.

Step 2: Collect leaf drops while clearing trees.

Any leaf type has a small chance (about 2%) to drop 1–2 sticks when broken or decaying. Fortune on your tool slightly increases that chance (Fortune I/II/III ≈ 2.2%/2.5%/3.3%).

Step 3: Loot starting and structure chests.

“Bonus Chest” at world creation often contains sticks (roughly two‑thirds of the time in Java; always in Bedrock). Sticks can also appear in village chests (cartographer, fletcher, toolsmith), trial chamber entrance chests, and in suspicious sand from desert wells.

Step 4: Fish up junk loot.

While fishing, sticks can appear as junk items. It’s not the fastest route, but it produces free byproducts alongside fish and other finds.

Step 5: Farm witches if you have a mob setup.

Witches can drop sticks on death, with Looting increasing the potential amount. A swamp‑hut farm is a scalable late‑game source if you’re already farming witch drops.

Step 6: Niche: break boats by fall damage.

Boats (with or without chests) can drop 2 sticks if they’re broken by falling from specific heights. This is a curiosity rather than a practical farm method.

Turn sticks into value (trading and fuel)

Step 1: Trade stacks of sticks to a fletcher.

Novice‑level fletchers can buy 32 sticks for 1 emerald. In Java Edition this offer appears about two‑thirds of the time; in Bedrock Edition it always appears. It’s an efficient wood‑to‑emerald conversion once your villager is set up.

Step 2: Use sticks for small furnace jobs.

A single stick smelts 0.5 items. Use them to top off smelts when you’re short a fraction of a fuel item, or when you don’t want to commit coal/charcoal.

Tips to keep sticks stocked

  • Carry a small stack of planks; they convert to sticks anywhere via your 2×2 grid.
  • Bulk‑convert logs near storage: 1 log → 8 sticks makes math simple for planning crafts.
  • Farm bamboo early; direct bamboo→stick crafting is fast and tidy for adventure runs.
  • When clearing trees, let leaves decay while you work to collect incidental stick drops.

Optional: give command for testing or creative

Step 1: Use the in‑game command to spawn sticks (operator required).

Java Edition 1.13+ example:

/give @p stick 64

Adjust the number for the stack size you want. For older versions or other editions, use their specific /give syntax.

Crafting sticks from planks is fastest on day one; bamboo and incidental drops keep you topped up later. With villager trading, surplus sticks also become a steady emerald source.