An empty map in Minecraft needs 8 sheets of paper and 1 compass, crafted together on a crafting table or at a cartography table. Since the compass is one of the map's own ingredients, making one comes first, not as an optional extra. Craft the compass, use it to make the map, then keep combining paper with the map afterward to zoom it out and add markers.
How to make a compass in Minecraft
A compass takes 4 iron ingots and 1 redstone dust. Smelt iron ore into ingots at a furnace, mine or trade for redstone dust, then open a crafting table.
- 1.Place one iron ingot in the top-center square of the crafting grid.
- 2.Place one iron ingot in the left-center and right-center squares.
- 3.Place one iron ingot in the bottom-center square.
- 4.Place the redstone dust in the very center square.
- 5.Take the finished compass from the result slot.
The compass needle always points toward the Overworld's original spawn point, not toward you or any other player. Using a compass on a placed lodestone turns it into a lodestone compass that points at that lodestone instead, which is the only way to retarget one; there is no separate crafting recipe for it.
How to make a map in Minecraft
With a compass in hand, making an empty map is one more crafting step. On Java Edition, 8 paper surrounding 1 compass in the crafting grid produces a single empty map that already tracks your position once you are holding it. On Bedrock Edition, 8 paper alone makes a plain empty map with no position marker; combining that map with a compass afterward, at a crafting table, an anvil, or a cartography table, turns it into a locator map that shows where you are.
- 1.Gather sugar cane and craft it into paper; 3 sugar cane makes 3 paper.
- 2.Open a crafting table and place the compass in the center square.
- 3.Fill the remaining 8 squares with paper.
- 4.Take the empty map from the result slot.
Zooming a map out to see more of the world
A freshly made map covers a 128 by 128 block area at its starting zoom level, 0 out of 4. Combining the map with paper again expands it. A cartography table needs just 1 map and 1 paper per zoom level, while doing the same at a plain crafting table needs 1 map surrounded by 8 paper each time. Each step doubles the area the map covers.
- Level 0: 128 by 128 blocks, the size a map starts at.
- Level 1: 256 by 256 blocks.
- Level 2: 512 by 512 blocks.
- Level 3: 1024 by 1024 blocks.
- Level 4: 2048 by 2048 blocks, the maximum zoom, at 1:16 scale.
Level 4 is a hard ceiling. Once a map reaches it, no amount of extra paper zooms it out further, so a very long journey or a huge build still needs more than one map to cover fully. Combining a finished map with a glass pane at a cartography table locks it, which stops it from being edited or zoomed any further, useful for handing out a fixed copy to other players.
Marking locations and Bedrock locator maps
On Java Edition, using a map while facing a placed banner stamps a colored marker onto the map at that spot, in whatever color the banner's base is. It is a simple, permanent way to flag a base, a portal, or a village without any commands, and the feature does not exist on Bedrock Edition.
Bedrock Edition uses the term locator map for any map that shows your current position as a moving marker. A plain map made from paper alone has no marker; combining it with a compass at any point turns it into a locator map, so the compass step can happen before or after the map itself exists.
Vanilla maps are static once printed on paper, so following your own position means checking the item in your hand each time. Mods like Xaero's Minimap or its companion Xaero's World Map track your position automatically on an always-on overlay instead, without needing a compass or paper at all.
Crafting a compass and an empty map
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a compass to make a map?
On Java Edition, yes. The only empty map recipe uses 8 paper and 1 compass together, and the resulting map already tracks your position. On Bedrock Edition, 8 paper alone makes a plain map with no position marker, and adding a compass afterward is what turns it into a locator map.
Why does my compass spin randomly in the Nether or the End?
A normal compass points toward the Overworld's spawn point, and neither the Nether nor the End shares that reference point, so the needle spins with no fixed direction. A lodestone compass has the same problem if its target lodestone sits in a different dimension than the compass itself.
What is a lodestone compass?
It is a regular compass used on a placed lodestone block, which retargets the needle to point at that lodestone instead of the Overworld spawn point. There is no separate crafting recipe. Using a fresh compass on the same lodestone again works the same way, so more than one compass can share a target.
How do I zoom a map out to see more of the world?
Combine the map with paper again. A cartography table takes 1 map and 1 paper per zoom level; a plain crafting table takes 1 map surrounded by 8 paper for the same result. Each step doubles the area covered, up to a maximum of level 4 at 2048 by 2048 blocks.
Can a compass help me find a stronghold?
No. A compass only ever points toward the Overworld spawn point or a lodestone, and neither of those is where a stronghold sits. Locating a stronghold uses Eyes of Ender, which are thrown into the air and fly briefly toward the nearest stronghold, giving a direction to follow instead.
