How to Make Packed Mud in Minecraft

Guide Java Bedrock

Quick answer: Craft packed mud by combining 1 mud block and 1 wheat anywhere in the crafting grid. Four packed mud then craft into 4 mud bricks, the base of the mud brick building set.

What you need

1 mud (water bottle + dirt, or mined in mangrove swamps)
1 wheat (grown or looted from villages)
Crafting table (optional, the 2x2 grid works)

Step by step

Get mud: use a water bottle on a dirt block (coarse dirt and rooted dirt work too) to convert it, or dig it up in a mangrove swamp.
Get wheat: grow it from seeds on farmland, or loot it from village farms and chests.
Open your inventory crafting grid or a crafting table.
Place 1 mud and 1 wheat anywhere in the grid; the recipe is shapeless.
Take the packed mud. It drops itself even when broken by hand, though a pickaxe is faster.
To build with it, craft 4 packed mud into 4 mud bricks, then make mud brick stairs, slabs and walls.
You can also find ready-made packed mud generating naturally in trail ruins.

Java vs Bedrock

The packed mud recipe is identical in Java and Bedrock and was added in 1.19 alongside mangrove swamps. In both editions it also generates as part of trail ruins, so archaeology players usually have some lying around. Wheat is the only organic binder that works; hay bales or other crops cannot substitute it.

Versions: javabedrock

Frequently asked questions

What is packed mud used for?

Mainly to craft mud bricks: 4 packed mud make 4 mud bricks, which then become stairs, slabs and walls. It is also a nice textured building block on its own.

How do I get mud without finding a mangrove swamp?

Point a water bottle at any dirt, coarse dirt or rooted dirt block and use it: the block turns into mud and you get the empty glass bottle back. Works in any biome, any dimension.

Is the packed mud recipe shapeless?

Yes. The mud and the wheat can sit anywhere in the crafting grid, so you can craft it in your 2x2 inventory grid without a crafting table.