How to Get Apples in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Break or let decay oak and dark oak leaves - each leaf block has a 0.5% chance to drop an apple, and Fortune III on your tool raises it to 0.83%. Or buy 4 apples for 1 emerald from an apprentice farmer villager.

What you need

Oak or dark oak leaves (any tool, Fortune III helps)
Optional: 1 emerald per 4 apples from a farmer villager
Optional: 8 gold ingots per golden apple you plan to craft

Step by step

Chop oak or dark oak trees, then break the leaves by hand - each leaf has a 1-in-200 (0.5%) chance of an apple.
Use a Fortune III hoe or axe on leaves to raise the odds to 1-in-120 (0.83%).
Farm dark oak: its 2x2 canopy drops hundreds of leaves per tree, making it the best apple wood.
Buy them instead: apprentice farmer villagers sell 4 apples for 1 emerald.
Loot chests: apples appear in village, stronghold, mineshaft and bonus chests.
Save 8 for golden apples - each one needs 1 apple plus 8 gold ingots, and golden apples are the core of zombie villager curing.

Java vs Bedrock

Identical drop rates and trades in Java and Bedrock: 0.5% base leaf drop, 0.83% with Fortune III, and 4 apples per emerald from apprentice farmers. Each apple restores 4 hunger and 2.4 saturation - decent emergency food, but its real value is golden apples.

Versions: Apples are one of the oldest items in Minecraft, added at the end of December 2009. They became renewable in 1.1 when oak leaves started dropping them, and dark oak leaves joined in 1.7.2. The farmer trade settled at 4 apples per emerald in 1.14.

Frequently asked questions

What is the fastest way to farm apples?

Dark oak trees: one 2x2 tree rains hundreds of leaves, and breaking them with a Fortune III hoe gets you several apples per tree. A farmer villager trade (4 per emerald) is the zero-effort alternative.

Which leaves drop apples?

Only oak and dark oak. Spruce, birch, jungle, acacia, mangrove, cherry and pale oak leaves never drop apples.

What are apples used for?

Eating (4 hunger, 2.4 saturation) and crafting golden apples with 8 gold ingots - which are the food for curing zombie villagers and one of the best emergency heals in the game.