To craft an anvil in Minecraft, open a crafting table, place three iron blocks across the top row, one iron ingot in the center, and three iron ingots across the bottom row, then take the anvil from the output slot. Leave the middle-left and middle-right slots empty. You need three iron blocks and four iron ingots, equivalent to 31 iron ingots if you make the blocks yourself.
The recipe works in current vanilla Minecraft Java Edition and Bedrock Edition, including Bedrock on Windows, consoles, and mobile. Use a crafting table because your inventory’s 2×2 crafting grid is too small.
The short version
- Materials: Gather three iron blocks and four iron ingots for one anvil.
- Placement: Fill the top row with iron blocks, put an ingot in the center, and fill the bottom row with ingots.
- Recipe book: Search for anvil at a crafting table to populate the grid when the recipe is visible.
- Other options: You can obtain an anvil through Creative inventory, commands, another player, or a trail ruin containing one.
| Method | What you need | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Manual crafting | Crafting table, three iron blocks, four ingots | A newly crafted anvil |
| Recipe book | Crafting table, ingredients, visible recipe | Automatic ingredient placement for crafting |
| Crafter | Crafter, ingredients, redstone pulse | An ejected anvil |
| Creative inventory | Creative mode | An anvil without crafting |
/give command | Commands enabled and sufficient permissions | One undamaged anvil in your inventory |
| Command access or operator help | Java single-player settings or an authorized multiplayer operator | Access to command delivery |
/setblock command | Bedrock cheats and Game Directors permission | An anvil placed at chosen coordinates |
| Trail ruins | A ruin containing a damaged anvil | An existing damaged anvil |
| Another player | A player willing to drop an anvil | An anvil you can collect and place |
Gather the iron and open a crafting table
Start with three iron blocks and four separate iron ingots in your inventory. If you are starting with ingots alone, set aside 31 in total. Keep four loose ingots for the recipe after making the three blocks.
Open a crafting table to reach its 3×3 crafting grid. If you see only four crafting slots, you are using the inventory grid. Switch to the crafting table before arranging the ingredients.
Arrange the anvil recipe
Place one iron block in each of the three slots across the top row. In the middle row, put one iron ingot in the center slot and leave the slots on either side empty. Finish by placing one iron ingot in each slot across the bottom row, then take the anvil from the output slot.
If the output does not show an anvil, check the arrangement against those three rows. The top row needs iron blocks, while the center and bottom row need individual iron ingots. Check that both outer slots in the middle row are empty.
Use the recipe book for automatic placement
With three iron blocks and four iron ingots in your inventory, open a crafting table and then its recipe book. Search for anvil, select Anvil to populate the crafting grid, and take the resulting anvil. This uses the same ingredients as arranging the recipe yourself.
Recipe visibility depends on recipe unlocks and your world’s rules. If the anvil recipe is missing from the book, use the manual arrangement above, unless the world’s limited-crafting game rule is on. That rule lets you craft only recipes you have already unlocked. Stay in the crafting-table interface because the recipe still requires a 3×3 grid.
Make anvils with a Crafter
You can also craft anvils with a Crafter in Java and Bedrock editions from the 1.21 Tricky Trials releases onward. Place and open a Crafter, then arrange three iron blocks across the top, one iron ingot in the center, and three iron ingots across the bottom. Leave the middle-left and middle-right slots empty.
If you are feeding ingredients into the Crafter automatically, disable those two empty slots. Supply a redstone pulse with a button or another redstone source, then collect the ejected anvil. For batch production, supply more ingredients and repeat the pulses.
Get an anvil from Creative inventory or another player
In a Creative-mode world, open your inventory and use its search control to search for anvil. Select Anvil, move it to your hotbar, then select that slot and place the anvil. This option requires no iron or crafting.
In Java or Bedrock multiplayer, another player can give you an existing anvil by selecting it in their hotbar and dropping it. With default keyboard controls, that player presses Q to drop the held item. Walk over the dropped anvil to collect it, then select it and place it.
Give yourself an anvil with a command
With commands enabled and sufficient permissions, you can give yourself one undamaged anvil without consuming ingredients in Java or Bedrock Edition. Open chat, using T on a keyboard, and enter this command.
/give @s minecraft:anvil 1Press Enter on a keyboard to submit it. You receive one anvil in your inventory, ready to select and place.
Fix command access or ask an operator
In current Java single-player, open World Options and enable Allow Commands if you need command access. Then run /give @s minecraft:anvil 1 in chat. In multiplayer, the server or Realm controls your permissions.
If you lack command permission in Java or Bedrock multiplayer, ask an authorized operator to supply the anvil. The operator enters this command, replacing PlayerName with your player name.
/give PlayerName minecraft:anvil 1Place an anvil directly in Bedrock
In Bedrock Edition, you can place an anvil directly with /setblock when cheats are enabled and you have Game Directors command permission. Enabling cheats permanently disables achievements for that world. To keep achievements enabled, use the crafting-table recipe without turning on cheats.
Choose an empty location over solid ground, and show coordinates in Minecraft to identify the position. Enter this command in chat, replacing X Y Z with that location’s coordinates.
/setblock X Y Z minecraft:anvilThe result is a placed anvil at the chosen location. Use /give instead when you want an inventory item that you can place yourself.
Look for an existing anvil in trail ruins
Explore and excavate trail ruins in current Java or Bedrock Edition to look for a damaged anvil. If you find one, you can use it without crafting a new anvil. Generation is not guaranteed in every ruin.
If the ruin you explore lacks one, use the crafting-table recipe with three iron blocks and four iron ingots. Crafting gives you a new anvil without depending on what generated in that location.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do some old anvil recipes use six iron blocks?
The original anvil recipe used six iron blocks and one iron ingot. Mojang replaced it with three iron blocks and four iron ingots, so use the current arrangement in vanilla Java and Bedrock editions.
Should you use Open to LAN to enable your commands in Java single-player?
For your own command access in current Java single-player, open World Options and enable Allow Commands. Whether joining players can use commands is a separate setting, under World Options > Multiplayer > Command Access.
When were damaged anvils added to Bedrock trail ruins?
Bedrock added matching damaged-anvil generation in version 1.21.20. If you play an earlier Bedrock version, use the crafting recipe instead of relying on that trail-ruin addition.
Can you run Minecraft commands somewhere other than chat?
You can also execute commands through server consoles and command blocks. Data packs provide another route in Java Edition, while behavior packs apply to Bedrock Edition.