How to Make a Map in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Surround a compass with 8 paper to craft an empty locator map, then use it to record the terrain around you. A cartography table lets you zoom it out (up to 4 times), clone it, and lock it with a glass pane.

What you need

8 paper
1 compass (4 iron + 1 redstone)
Cartography table (for zoom, clones and locks)

Step by step

Craft paper from sugar cane - you need 8, so a cane farm pays off fast.
Craft a compass from 4 iron ingots around 1 redstone dust.
Place the compass in the center of the crafting table and surround it with 8 paper: one empty locator map.
Hold the map and press use to activate it - it records terrain in a 128-block radius (level 0/4).
Zoom out at a cartography table: map + paper enlarges the covered area, up to 4 times, ending at 2048x2048 blocks per map.
Clone maps with map + empty map at the cartography table - perfect for sharing with teammates.
Lock a finished map with map + glass pane so it never records again - and mark locations in Java by using the map on a placed banner.
Build a map wall: item frames with adjacent zoomed maps form a giant live map of your world.

Java vs Bedrock

Map crafting is identical in Java and Bedrock: compass + 8 paper for a locator map with a player marker. Zooming, cloning and glass-pane locking at the cartography table work in both; banner markers are Java-only.

Versions: Maps were added in Beta 1.6 (2011), gained the compass-centered locator recipe in 1.4.2-era updates, and the cartography table arrived in 1.14 (Village and Pillage) with cheap zooming, cloning and locking.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my map not show where I am?

A map only shows a white player marker if it is a locator map (crafted with a compass) and you are inside its recorded area. Zoomed-out maps show you as a smaller marker, and off the edge you only appear as a dot on the border.

Map or coordinates?

Coordinates (F3 in Java, world setting in Bedrock) are precise but ugly; maps are shareable, wall-mountable and mark banners and other players. Explorers carry both.

How do I make a map wall?

Zoom several maps to the same level covering adjacent areas, place item frames on a wall in the same arrangement, and insert each map. The wall updates live as you explore with a copy in hand.