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For other uses, see Chest (disambiguation).

A chest is a block used to store items.

A large chest is the combination of two normal chests, and can store twice as many items.

Obtaining[]

Breaking[]

A chest can be broken using anything, but an axe is the fastest. Chests always drop themselves when mined. If the chest contains items, the items are also dropped when the chest is broken. If one half of a large chest is destroyed, the corresponding items from the destroyed chest are dropped and the remaining half continues to function as a small chest.

Block Chest
Hardness 2.5
Tool
Breaking time[A]
Default 3.75
Wooden 1.9
Stone 0.95
Iron 0.65
Diamond 0.5
Netherite 0.45
Golden 0.35
  1. Times are for unenchanted tools as wielded by players with no status effects, measured in seconds. For more information, see Breaking § Speed.

Natural generation[]

See also: Chest loot

Chests generate naturally in all three dimensions. They generate in monster rooms, strongholds, villages, jungle temples, desert temples, nether fortresses, end cities, igloos, woodland mansions, shipwrecks, ocean ruins, buried treasure, pillager outposts, bastion remnants, ruined portals, and ancient cities.

Large chests can occasionally generate in monster rooms by one single chest generating next to the other. They can also generate in certain types of bastion remnants.

Bonus chest[]

Main article: Bonus chest

The bonus chest is a chest that appears near the player's spawn if the "Bonus chest" option is toggled on the main menu. It generates with a semi-random collection of basic items to help the player survive early on and gather necessary resources, including wood, tools, blocks, and food.

Crafting[]

Ingredients Crafting recipe
Any Planks

Usage[]

Chests can be used as containers and as crafting ingredients.

To place a chest, use the Place Block control on the face of a block adjacent to the space the chest should occupy.

A chest placed adjacent to another chest joins to create a large chest. A player can prevent this, and place two small chests side by side, by sneaking while placing the second chest‌[JE only], pushing a chest into place with a piston[BE only], or placing the second chest facing a different direction from the first chest. Alternatively, trapped chests do not combine with normal chests.

Chests can be moved by pistons,‌[BE only] and water and lava flow around chests without affecting them. Lava can create fire in air blocks next to chests as if the chests were flammable, but the chests do not actually catch fire and cannot be burned.

Container[]

Chest GUI

The GUI of a chest.

Large Chest GUI

The GUI of a large chest.

A small chest has 27 slots of inventory space, and a large chest has twice that amount, at 54 slots. In the Java Edition interface, the top three rows for a large chest correspond to the left half of the chest when facing it, and the bottom three rows correspond to the right half. In Bedrock Edition, the top three rows correspond to whichever half was placed first and the bottom three to the other half.

Chests open when used. To move items between the chest inventory and the player inventory or hotbar while the chest GUI is open, drag or shift-click the items. Holding ⇧ Shift and double-clicking while holding an item moves all items of the type clicked on in or out of the chest, to the extent that space is available for them.‌[Java Edition only] To exit the chest GUI, use the Esc control.

A chest cannot be opened if there is an opaque block above it (in Bedrock Edition, bottom-half slabs prevent chests from being opened). Solid faces do not prevent chests from opening, so the lid of the chest can phase through blocks such as bottom-half slabs, stairs, and transparent full cubes such as glass and ice. Ocelots and cats sitting on chests prevent them from opening. Because chests themselves are functionally transparent, two chests can be stacked on top of one another while still allowing the lower chest to be opened. Players can open chests when players are being hurt (effect of instant damage, poison, wither, fatal poison or on fire) or hurt by anyone (players, zombies, skeletons, etc.).

By default, the GUI of a chest is labeled "Chest" and the GUI of a large chest is labeled "Large Chest". A chest's GUI label can be changed by naming the chest in an anvil before placing it, or by using the /data command‌[Java Edition only] (for example, to label a chest at (0,64,0) as "Bonus Chest!", use /data merge block 0 64 0 {CustomName:'"Bonus Chest!"'}). If half of a large chest is renamed, that name is used to label the GUI of the entire large chest, but if the named half is destroyed the other half reverts to the default label. If both halves of a large chest have different names, the GUI uses the name of the northernmost or westernmost half.

In Java Edition, a chest can be "locked" by setting its  Lock tag using the /data command. If a chest's  Lock tag is not blank, the chest cannot be opened unless the player is holding an item with the same name as the Lock tag's text. For example, to lock a chest at (0,64,0) so that the chest cannot be opened unless the player is holding an item named "Chest Key", use /data merge block 0 64 0 {Lock:"Chest Key"}.

The capacity of a chest varies greatly, depending on its size, whether the items inside it are stackable, and whether shulker boxes are used. The minimum capacity is obtained when storing only non-stackable items while the maximum capacity can be achieved when storing items that stack to 64. Filled shulker boxes are not stackable, but each can hold 27 stacks of up to 64 items (excluding other shulker boxes), so filling a chest with them increases the maximum by a factor of 27.

Chest Size Slots Maximum Number of Items
Without shulker boxes With shulker boxes
Small 27 1,728 46,656
Large 54 3,456 93,312

Donkey, mule, or llama pack[]

A chest can be added to a donkey, a mule, or a llama by pressing use on the respective animal.

A chest attached to a donkey or mule has only 15 slots. A chest attached to a llama has anywhere from 3 to 15 slots depending upon its "Strength" value (see Llama § Data values). The chest cannot be removed except by killing the carrier. The chest can be opened by holding sneak and pressing use, or by riding the carrier and pressing inventory.

If shulker boxes are again used, each donkey, mule or strength value 5 llamas with a chest attached to it can carry up to 405 stacks of items (up to 25920 items), and with strength value 5 llamas, each caravan of 10 llamas with inventories full of shulker boxes can carry up to 4050 stacks of items (up to 259200 items).

Piglins[]

Piglins become hostile toward players who open or mine chests.

Crafting ingredient[]

Name Ingredients Crafting recipe
Boat with Chest Chest +
Matching Boat


Hopper Iron Ingot +
Chest

Minecart with Chest Chest +
Minecart


Shulker Box Shulker Shell +
Chest

Trapped Chest Tripwire Hook +
Chest


Fuel[]

Chests can be used as fuel in furnaces, smelting 1.5 items per chest.

Note blocks[]

Chests can be placed under note blocks to produce the "bass" sound.

Christmas chest[]

Information icon
This feature is exclusive to Java Edition. 

On December 24–26, chests, large chests, and their trapped chest counterparts have their textures changed to "Christmas chests" that look like wrapped Christmas presents. Since the game uses the date stored on the player's computer, players can access the Christmas chest textures at any time by changing the date on their computers to December 24-26.

Sounds[]

Generic[]

Java Edition:

SoundSubtitlesSourceDescriptionResource locationTranslation keyVolumePitchAttenuation
distance
Block brokenBlocksOnce the block has brokenblock.wood.breaksubtitles.block.generic.break1.00.816
Block placedBlocksWhen the block is placedblock.wood.placesubtitles.block.generic.place1.00.816
Block breakingBlocksWhile the block is in the process of being brokenblock.wood.hitsubtitles.block.generic.hit0.250.516
None[sound 1]Entity-DependentFalling on the block with fall damageblock.wood.fallNone[sound 1]0.50.7516
FootstepsEntity-DependentWalking on the blockblock.wood.stepsubtitles.block.generic.footsteps0.151.016
  1. a b MC-177082

Bedrock Edition:

SoundSourceDescriptionResource locationVolumePitch
BlocksOnce the block has brokendig.wood1.00.8-1.0
BlocksWhen the block is placeddig.wood1.00.8
BlocksWhile the block is in the process of being brokenhit.wood0.230.5
PlayersFalling on the block with fall damagefall.wood0.41.0
PlayersWalking on the blockstep.wood0.31.0
PlayersJumping from the blockjump.wood0.121.0
PlayersFalling on the block without fall damageland.wood0.181.0

Unique[]

Java Edition:

SoundSubtitlesSourceDescriptionResource locationTranslation keyVolumePitchAttenuation
distance
Chest closesBlocksWhen a chest closesblock.chest.closesubtitles.block.chest.close0.50.9-1.016
Chest opensBlocksWhen a chest opensblock.chest.opensubtitles.block.chest.open0.50.9-1.016
Chest lockedBlocksWhen a player attempts to open a chest locked using the  Lock tagblock.chest.lockedsubtitles.block.chest.locked1.01.016

Bedrock Edition:

SoundSourceDescriptionResource locationVolumePitch
BlocksWhen a chest closesrandom.chestclosed0.50.9-1.0
BlocksWhen a chest opensrandom.chestopen0.50.9-1.0

Data values[]

ID[]

Java Edition:

NameIdentifierFormBlock tagsTranslation key
ChestchestBlock & Itemguarded_by_piglinsblock.minecraft.chest
NameIdentifier
Block entitychest

Bedrock Edition:

NameIdentifierNumeric ID FormItem ID[i 1]Translation key
Chestchest54Block & Giveable Item[i 2]Identical[i 3]tile.chest.name
  1. ID of block's direct item form, which is used in savegame files and addons.
  2. Available with /give command.
  3. The block's direct item form has the same id as the block.
NameSavegame ID
Block entityChest

Block states[]

See also: Block states

Java Edition:

Name Default value Allowed values Description
facingnortheast
north
south
west
The direction the chest's latch is on.
The opposite from the direction the player faces when placing a chest.
typesingleleft
right
single
The direction the chest has a connection with.
waterloggedfalsefalse
true
Whether or not there's water in the same place as this chest.

Bedrock Edition:

NameMetadata Bits Default value Allowed valuesValues for
Metadata Bits
Description
facing_direction
(Hidden‌[upcoming: BE 1.20.40])
0x1
0x2
0x4
22
3
4
5
2
3
4
5
The direction the chest's latch is on.
  • 2: Chest facing north
  • 3: Chest facing south
  • 4: Chest facing west
  • 5: Chest facing east
0
1
0
1
Unused
minecraft:cardinal_direction‌[upcoming: BE 1.20.40]Not Supportednortheast
north
south
west
UnsupportedThe direction the chest's latch is on.
The opposite from the direction the player faces when placing a chest.

Block data[]

A chest has a block entity associated with it that holds additional data about the block.

Java Edition:

  • Block entity data
    • Tags common to all block entities
    •  CustomName: Optional. The name of this container in JSON text component, which appears in its GUI where the default name ordinarily appears.
    •  Items: List of items in this container.
      • : An item, including the slot tag. Chest slots are numbered 0-26, 0 starts in the top left corner.
        • Tags common to all items
    •  Lock: Optional. When not blank, prevents the container from being opened unless the opener is holding an item whose name matches this string.
    •  LootTable: Optional. Loot table to be used to fill the chest when it is next opened, or the items are otherwise interacted with.[note 1]
    •  LootTableSeed: Optional. Seed for generating the loot table. 0 or omitted use a random seed.[note 1]
    •  gold: Exists only in the april fools snapshot 23w13a_or_b. Optional. When set to anything but 0, turns the chest into a golden chest.
  1. a b Both loot table tags are removed once the items have been generated.

Bedrock Edition:

See Bedrock Edition level format/Block entity format.

Achievements[]

Icon Achievement In-game description Actual requirements (if different) Gamerscore earned Trophy type (PS4)
PS4 Other
Chestful of CobblestoneMine 1,728 Cobblestone and place it in a chest.A player must mine 1,728 cobblestone and place 1,728 cobblestone, or 27 stacks, in a chest. The cobblestone placed in the chest does not have to be the same cobblestone that was mined.20GBronze
Freight StationUse a Hopper to move an item from a Chest Minecart to a Chest.15GBronze
Smelt Everything!Connect 3 Chests to a single Furnace using 3 Hoppers.Be within the range of three chests connected to a Furnace with 3 Hoppers.15GBronze

Advancements[]

Icon Advancement In-game description Parent Actual requirements (if different) Resource location
Advancement-plain-rawWar Pigs
Loot a Chest in a Bastion Remnant Those Were the DaysOpen a naturally generated, never-before opened chest in a bastion remnant.nether/loot_bastion

History[]

For a more in-depth breakdown of changes to textures and models, including a set of renders for each state combination, see /Asset history

Java Edition Indev
0.3120100124Chest (S) JE1 Large Chest JE1 Added chests and large chests.
Chests are considered a solid block.
The front of the chest (with the latch) faces away from any adjacent solid blocks, or faces west if placed independent of other blocks.
If a chest is placed next to a large chest, it attempts to "connect" with the large one, changing its texture to that of half a large chest. However, this is purely visual; they still act like two separate chests. Additionally, if the player attempts to open a chest connected on all four sides, the game freezes and the client crashes.
20100130Chests can now be crafted.
Java Edition Infdev
20100625-2Chests now generate in the newly added dungeons.
Java Edition Alpha
v1.0.14Chests are now used to craft chest minecarts.
Java Edition Beta
1.1_02The placement of chests has been partially fixed. It is still possible to create triple chests, if the chest was not placed horizontally adjacent to a large chest or if placed in the location of a fluid.
The game no longer freezes, but instead displays a graphically glitched, fully functional chest screen.
1.5Chests can no longer be placed to create a triple chest; however, any chest previously created in this way still functions in that manner.
⇧ Shift + clicking on an item or a stack while the chest is opened moves it between the chest and the inventory.
1.8Pre-releaseChest Large Chest The chest's model has been redone. Rather than a usual cube, it uses an entity model, which allows for an opening and closing animation, and is also smaller.
This conversion to an entity model resulted in anomalies with the chest's item form. When held (in both first person and in third person/by other players) Chest (first person, right hand) b1.8-pre1 Chest (third person, right hand) b1.8-pre1, it is shown at a different angle from other blocks, and when dropped on the ground Chest (dropped) b1.8-pre1, it rotates around one of its corners rather than its center, with its shadow also centered on this corner.
Chests now use textures in the "item" folder; "chest.png" is used for single chests and "chestlarge.png" is used for large chests.
The particles for chests (when sprinted on, broken, or later when walked on by an iron golem) still use the texture in terrain.png that was used for the sides[verify] of chests before this version.
Chests now change the direction they face based on the viewpoint of the player that places them, rather than adjusting by themselves based on adjacent blocks.
Chests no longer show the block breaking animation.
Chests can now be found in mineshafts, as well as the libraries and storerooms of strongholds.
Java Edition
1.0.0Beta 1.9 PrereleaseThe opening and closing sound effects of the chest have been removed (it used the same sounds as the door).
Beta 1.9 Prerelease 3Chests now generate in the corridor altars of strongholds.
Beta 1.9 Prerelease 6Chests do not prevent other chests underneath from opening.
RC1The opening and closing sounds of chests have been changed.
1.112w01aChests can now be found in blacksmiths in villages.
1.2.4releaseCats now try to sit on chests, making them unopenable.
Spruce planks, birch planks, and jungle planks can now be used to craft chests.
1.3.112w16aThe 'bonus chest' option has now added to the Options menu.
12w21aThe textures which the chest used prior to their model update in Beta 1.8 have been removed from terrain.png, being replaced with the placeholder block texture Placeholder Texture JE1 BE1.
The old chest top texture was still used for the block particles up until this version, even after the model change. As the texture has been removed in this version, the oak planks texture is now used for the chest's particles.[1]
Chests can now be found in desert temples.
12w22aThe chest item is now aligned more like other item forms of blocks, resulting in a more natural first-person holding position as well as the item form appearing properly aligned in third person as well as when dropped.
Chests can now be found in jungle temples.
12w24aLarge chest inventory titles have changed from "Large chest" to "Large Chest".
1.4.41.4.3Chests now have a smaller hitbox. Previously, the hitbox was that of a full cube; it now fits the newer size and shape of the chest.
1.4.612w50aXmas Chest Xmas Large Chest Added alternate chest textures into the game files. They are for a future "Christmas chest" easter egg.
12w50bThe server/client desync of chests has been fixed.
1.513w01aChests can now be used to craft hoppers and trapped chests.
Chests can now be used in conjunction with hoppers.
13w02aChests no longer generate naturally in mineshafts, and chest minecarts are generated instead.
1.6.113w18aChests are now found in nether fortresses.
13w19aChests can now be put on donkeys and mules.
1.7.21.7.1Acacia planks and dark oak planks can now be used to craft chests.
1.814w02aChests can now have an NBT tag added enabling a locked chest. They can be opened only if the player is holding the item the chest is set for.
14w29aChests now display the cracking animation.
1.915w31aChests now naturally generate in end cities.
Chests now have their item model rotated, to have the front face in view of the player.
15w43aA chest now generates within igloo basements.
Loot tables have been added; chests can now use loot tables.
All chests generated with the world now make use of loot tables.
The chests opening and closing sounds has been changed.
15w44aBonus chest loot has been changed.
Raw salmon is now possible to find in bonus chests.
The average supply of sticks and planks have been nearly doubled in bonus chests.
The average supply of wood have been decreased, and that of stone tools have been nearly halved in bonus chests.
1.9.1pre1A hopper can now push into and pull items from a blocked chest.
1.1116w39aChests now generate in woodland mansions.
Chests are now used to craft shulker boxes.
1.1317w47aChests and trapped chests can now be put directly next to their large variants, instead of requiring one block between them.
Crouching while placing the chest now makes it try to connect to the clicked block.
Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 54.
18w09aChests now generate in underwater ruins.
18w10aChests now generate as buried treasure structures.
18w10cWater can now be placed on the same block as chests.
18w11aChests can now be found in shipwrecks.
1.1418w47aChests can now be found in pillager outposts.
18w48aChests now generate in many houses in the updated plains villages.
18w49aChests now generate in many houses in the updated savanna villages and the new snowy villages.
18w50aChests now generate in many houses in the updated desert and taiga villages.
1.1519w39aThe chest texture layout has been changed. The layout has been changed from Chest texture layout old to Chest texture layout.
Before this point, chests with one-half blockstate would be completely invisible, whereas the other half displayed the whole chest. From this point on, each blockstate correctly displays the associated half, although still, only one displays an opening/closing animation.[is this the correct version?]
1.1620w06aCrimson planks and warped planks can now be used to craft chests.
20w07aAdded piglins, which turn hostile to players opening and breaking chests.
20w15aChests placed in a dispenser can now be put on tamed llamas, donkeys and mules.
20w16aChests now generate as part of bastion remnants and ruined portals.
1.19Deep Dark Experimental Snapshot 1Chests now generate as part of ancient cities.
22w11aMangrove planks can now be used to craft chests.
22w12aChests can now be used to craft boats with chests.
22w13aChests no longer drop when breaking a minecart with chest.
1.20
(Experimental)
22w42aChests can now be used to craft a bamboo raft with chest.
1.2023w14aChanged texture for large chest.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.3.2Chest (S) BE1 Added chests. They were currently unobtainable.
Only single chests have been added.
Chests are considered a non-full-solid block.
v0.4.0Chests are now available in both Survival and Creative mode.
Chests are now functional in Survival mode.
v0.7.3Large Chest Added large chests.
Chest The texture and model of single chests has been changed to match Java Edition.
An animation and sound have been added for chests.
Chests can now be placed adjacent to large chests or other chests facing in a different direction.
However, chests still use old texture and model inside the inventory and side texture for particles.
v0.7.4Large chests can be created vertically.
v0.7.5Large chests can no longer be created vertically.
v0.9.0build 1Chests now naturally generate in mineshafts, villages, strongholds and dungeons.
Smooth lighting has been added to chests.
v0.10.0build 1Chests now have a selection overlay.
v0.12.1build 1Cats now try to sit on chests, making them unopenable.
Chests now naturally generate in nether fortresses.
v0.13.0build 1Chests are now used to craft trapped chests.
Chests now naturally generate in desert temples.
v0.14.0build 1Chests are now used to craft hoppers and chest minecarts.
v0.15.0build 1Chests can now be put on donkeys and mules.
Pistons and sticky pistons can now move chests.
Chests now naturally generate in jungle temples.
v0.16.0build 1Custom names in chests no longer appear in GUI.
v0.16.2A chest containing farming loot can now naturally generate in large houses in villages.
Pocket Edition
1.0.0alpha 0.17.0.1Chests can now generate in end cities and igloos.
1.1.0alpha 1.1.0.0Chests now generate in woodland mansions.
Chests are now used to craft shulker boxes.
Bedrock Edition
1.2.0beta 1.2.0.2The 'bonus chest' option has been added, which can be toggled in World Options.
1.4.0beta 1.2.14.2Chests can now naturally generate in shipwrecks.
Chests now generate as buried treasure structures.
beta 1.2.20.1Chests now naturally generate in underwater ruins.
1.10.0beta 1.10.0.3Chests are now found in pillager outposts.
1.16.0beta 1.16.0.51Added piglins, which turn hostile to players opening and breaking chests.
beta 1.16.0.57Chests now generate as part of bastion remnants and ruined portals.
1.20.0
(Experimental)
beta 1.19.50.21Chests can now be used to craft a bamboo raft with chest.
Upcoming Bedrock Edition
1.20.40beta 1.20.40.20Chests now use the minecraft:cardinal_direction block state instead of facing_direction.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1CU1 1.0 Patch 1Chest JE1 Large Chest JE1 Added chests.
TU5Chest Large Chest The model of chests has been changed to have a 3D lock, along with opening and closing animations.
TU12Cats now try to sit on chests, making them unopenable.
TU14 1.04 The 'bonus chest' option has been added to the Options menu.
Chest particles are no longer based on terrain.png and for the locked chest texture.
Chests can now be found in desert temples.
Chests can now be found in jungle temples.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0Chest Large Chest Added chests and large chests.

Issues[]

Issues relating to "Chest" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia[]

  • In Bedrock Edition, Chests render as a full block when in the inventory, but not when placed.[2]
  • The chest recipe is not unlocked by any specific item, but rather, having enough slots in the inventory occupied by any item.
  • In Pocket Edition, a player who leaves the game while standing on a chest rejoins the game with legs inside the chest.

Gallery[]

See also[]

  • Locked chest (The 2011 April Fools' joke that is no longer in the game)

References[]

External Links[]

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