Coal
Material Stack: 64 Since Indev 0.31 (January 28, 2010)
Quick answer: Mine coal ore or deepslate coal ore with any pickaxe - 1 coal per ore, up to 4 with Fortune III.
How to get it
- Mine coal ore or deepslate coal ore with any pickaxe - 1 coal per ore, up to 4 with Fortune III
- Ore generates in two batches: one peaking at Y=96 between Y=0 and Y=192, another spread evenly from Y=136 to Y=320, so mountains are coal country
- Smelt... nothing - but make charcoal instead by smelting logs: it is a perfect coal clone
- Loot chests in mineshafts, dungeons, villages, shipwrecks and strongholds; wither skeletons can drop it too
Uses
- Craft torches (coal + stick = 4), campfires and fire charges
- Fuel: one coal smelts 8 items (80 seconds) - over 5 times more efficient than planks
- Craft blocks of coal: 9 coal into a block that smelts 80 items - 10x a single piece
- Trade to fisherman, armorer, toolsmith and weaponsmith villagers for emeralds
Renewability
Technically renewable: wither skeletons drop coal, and charcoal (smelted logs) is an infinite substitute from tree farms.
Java vs Bedrock
Identical in both editions, with one Bedrock bonus: coal ore gets an extra generation batch in mountain biomes (Y=128 to 256), so Bedrock mountains are even richer.
Related: Iron IngotDiamond