How to Make a Map in Minecraft

This article explains how to make a Map in Minecraft and how to expand it with a Cartography Table. The instructions apply to Minecraft for all platforms.

How to Make a Map in Minecraft

Here's how to make a Map in Minecraft from scratch:

1. Make a Crafting Table. Use 4 Wood Planks of any type (Oak Wood Planks, Crimson Wood Planks, etc.).
   

   

2. Mine 9 Sugar Cane. Look for stalks near water in swamp or desert biomes and use any tool to cut them down.

   

3. Put your Crafting Table on the ground and interact with it to open the 3X3 crafting grid.

   

4. Make 9 Paper. Placing 3 Sugar Cane in the middle row of the crafting grid will make 3 Paper.
   

   

5. Make a Compass. Put 1 Redstone Dust in the center of the 3X3 grid and 4 Iron Ignots in the adjacent boxes.

   Redstone Dust can be mined from Redstone Ore using an Iron Pickaxe (or something stronger). To make Iron Ingots, craft a Furnace and smelt Iron Ores.

   

6. Place your Compass in the middle of the crafting grid, then put 8 Paper in all of the remaining blocks.

   In the Bedrock Edition of Minecraft, you can make an Empty Map using 9 Paper. To add a location marker, you'll need to combine it with a Compass on a Cartography Table.

   

7. You now have an Empty Locator Map you can add to your inventory. Equip and use the Map, and then walk around to fill it out.

   

Other Ways to Get a Map in Minecraft

Maps can be purchased from a Cartographer for 8 Emeralds or found in sunken ships, stronghold libraries, and Cartographer's chests. To make a Cartographer, put a Cartography Table in front of a villager who doesn't have an occupation.

In the Bedrock Edition, there's an easier way to make Maps using a Cartography Table. Place 1 Paper on the Cartography Table to produce an Empty Map. For an Empty Locator Map, Combine a 1 Paper and a Compass.

In the Bedrock Edition of Minecraft, enable Starting Map under World Preferences when you create a world, to begin with a Map already in your inventory.

How Do You Make a Map on a Cartography Table in Minecraft?

To craft a Cartography Table, open a Crafting Table, put 2 Paper in the top row, then put 4 Wood Planks (any type) in the blocks below. You can also find Cartography Tables in villages inside your Cartographer's house.

How Do You Make a Big Map in Minecraft?

Each Map contains only a small portion of your Minecraft world, so you'll want to expand it as much as possible. One way to do this is to put your Map in the middle of the Crafting Table and then put 8 Paper in the remaining boxes.

You can also use a Cartography Table to make your Maps bigger. Combine your Map with 1 Paper to create a new, zoomed-out Map. Repeat either of these methods four times to increase the Map to its maximum size.

How to Set a Map Marker in Minecraft

You can mark locations on your Map with Banners. In a Crafting Table, place 6 Wool of the same color in the top rows, then place 1 Stick in the middle of the bottom row.

Use an Anvil to give the Banner a name, place the Banner on the ground, then use the Map on the Banner. A dot with the name and color of the banner will appear on your Map.

How Do You Make a 3X3 Map Wall in Minecraft?

You can place your Maps on Item Frames to make one big continuous map. Here's how to make a 3X3 wall map:

1. Make 9 Empty Locator Maps. Follow the instructions in the first section of this article.

   

2. Make 9 Item Frames. Put 1 Leather in the middle of the Crafting Table and 8 Sticks in the other boxes to make 1 Item Frame.
   

   

3. Go to where you want the center of your Map to be. Then, lay 9 solid blocks of any type on top of each other in a 3X3 square.
   

   Technically, you can make your map wall any size so long as you have enough materials.
   

   

4. Use the Item Frames on the blocks to mount them.

   

5. Equip and use an Empty Locator Map to fill it out, then use the Map on the center Item Frame.
   

   

6. Look at the Map in your hands (it will still be in your inventory). You'll see a green dot marking the location of your wall and a white arrow representing your location.
   

   

7. Go south to the very edge of the Map, then equip and use another Empty Locator Map and fill it out,

   

8. Go back to the wall and place the new Map on the bottom-center block.

   

9. Repeat steps 7-8 for the southeast, southwest, east, west, north, northeast, and northwest to complete your map wall.