How to Craft and Upgrade Maps in Minecraft: Complete Guide

Maps are your best friend if you're planning to stick around in any Minecraft world for the long haul. They help you chart out areas and make sure you never get lost on your adventures. Crafting them is a breeze, but if you don't do it right, things might not work as expected. No worries—this guide has got you covered on how to craft and upgrade maps like a pro.

How to Craft a Map

To get started, you'll need a few basic materials:

• One compass
• Eight pieces of paper

 

 

Once you've gathered these, head over to your Crafting Table, and you’ll see the option to make your very own map. Easy, right?

Alternative Method: The Empty Map

There’s also another way to make a map, but with a twist. All you need is nine pieces of paper—no compass required! Pop those into the Crafting Table, and you’ll end up with an Empty Map. This map won’t have a player tracker, so it’ll only show you the general area. If you accidentally make this version, don't panic—you can fix it!

Fixing an Empty Map

To add a player tracker to your Empty Map, just craft a compass and combine it with your map at a Crafting Table. Boom—problem solved!

 

 

How to Upgrade Your Map

When you first craft a map, you'll probably notice it feels a bit... tiny. But don't worry, you can expand it up to four times with a little help from a Cartography Table!

 

Also Read: How to Make Candles in Minecraft: A Comprehensive Guide

 

Step-by-Step Map Upgrade

• Place your map in the top left slot of the Cartography Table.
• Add a piece of paper to the bottom left slot.
• Grab your newly expanded map from the middle right slot.
• Repeat this process to max out your map size and cover more ground!

Pro Tip: Name Your Map

While you're at the Cartography Table, you can even give your map a name! It won’t affect gameplay, but it's a fun way to personalize your world.

Now you're all set to explore your Minecraft world with confidence, knowing exactly where everything is.