Stick

Overview

Sticks are in almost every recipe that has a handle: every tool and sword, torches, ladders, fences, signs, item frames, armour stands, bows, fishing rods, arrows, rails and paintings. Two planks make four sticks, which means one log makes eight, so the material is effectively free from the first tree you punch — and yet running out mid-craft is one of the most common small frustrations in the game. Bamboo is the alternative source: two bamboo make one stick, and since bamboo grows on its own to 16 blocks tall and can be farmed automatically with a piston and an observer, a bamboo farm is the standard way to keep a base supplied indefinitely without cutting trees. Bamboo farms are also the usual fuel supply for smelting, since bamboo burns and grows faster than any tree. Fletcher villagers buy sticks for emeralds at novice level, which makes a bamboo farm an early trading income as well. Keep a stack in the crafting chest and the problem never comes up. It is the least interesting item in Minecraft and the one you will craft more of than anything else.

The handle in every tool, weapon, torch, ladder, fence, sign and rail recipe in the game — the most-used crafting component there is. Nothing is crafted more often than this.

Stick is a crafting material item in Minecraft Java Edition 1.21.4. Sixty-four fit in one inventory slot. You get it by killing Witch.

It also turns up in chests in Desert Well. You make it with Oak Planks. 97 recipes call for it, including Acacia Fence, Acacia Fence Gate, Acacia Sign and 94 more.

How to get it

Craft 4 from 2 planks of any wood, or 1 from 2 bamboo. A bamboo farm regrows continuously and can be fully automated with a piston and an observer, which makes sticks endlessly renewable.

Tips

Keep a full stack in the crafting chest; running out mid-build is the most avoidable interruption in the game.
Two bamboo makes a stick, and a bamboo farm produces thousands an hour with no replanting.
Novice fletchers buy 32 sticks for an emerald, which is the easiest early trade to unlock.
One log becomes four planks and eight sticks, so a single tree covers a full starter tool set.

Properties

In a furnace it burns for 5 seconds, which smelts 0.5 items. One inventory slot holds 64, so a double chest holds 3,456.

Stack size: 64
Fuel value: 5 s
Renewable: Yes
Category: Materials

Crafting recipe

Crafting Table

Stick ×4

Any plank — Oak Planks, Spruce Planks, Birch Planks, Jungle Planks, Acacia Planks, Dark Oak Planks, Pale Oak Planks, Crimson Planks, Warped Planks, Mangrove Planks, Bamboo Planks, Cherry Planks

Crafting Table

Stick

Dropped by

1 mobs drop Stick: Witch. Looting raises the maximum on most of them.

Witch

Found in

Stick is in the loot tables of Desert Well.

Desert Well — A small sandstone well with a water source at its centre, historically a purely decorative curiosity.

Dropped by blocks

Mining Dead Bush drops Stick.

Dead Bush

Used to craft

Stick is an ingredient in 97 recipes, producing Acacia Fence, Acacia Fence Gate, Acacia Sign, Activator Rail, Armor Stand, Arrow, Bamboo Fence, Bamboo Fence Gate, Bamboo Sign, Birch Fence, Birch Fence Gate, Birch Sign, Black Banner, Blue Banner, Bow, Brown Banner and 81 more.