To make terracotta in Minecraft, follow these steps:
- Collect Clay : Find clay blocks underwater in shallow waters like rivers or lakes. Clay blocks appear as light-gray blocks. You can mine them with any tool or by hand to get clay balls (4 clay balls per clay block) or use a Silk Touch tool to collect the whole clay block directly
- Form Clay Blocks (if needed) : If you only have clay balls, craft them into clay blocks by placing 4 clay balls in a 2x2 square in the crafting grid
- Smelt Clay Blocks : Place the clay block into a furnace and add any fuel source (coal, wood, charcoal, etc.). Smelting the clay block will produce plain (uncolored) terracotta blocks
- Optional - Dye Terracotta : To make colored terracotta, surround one dye with eight plain terracotta blocks in the crafting table. This will dye the terracotta without loss of blocks
- Optional - Make Glazed Terracotta : To create glazed terracotta with unique patterns, smelt the colored terracotta blocks in a furnace. Note that only colored terracotta can be glazed, not plain terracotta
Additionally, with Minecraft 1.19 and later, you can create clay blocks from dirt and water using pointed dripstone, allowing renewable terracotta production without needing a mesa biome
Summary:
- Mine clay blocks or clay balls.
- Craft clay balls into blocks if needed.
- Smelt clay blocks in a furnace to get terracotta.
- Dye terracotta with dye and 8 terracotta blocks for color.
- Smelt colored terracotta to get glazed terracotta.
This method lets you obtain terracotta anywhere, not just in mesa biomes
