How To Get Gunpowder In Minecraft

Gunpowder is an item that is used for explosion-related recipes.

1 Obtaining
- 1.1 Mob loot
  - 1.1.1 Creepers
  - 1.1.2 Ghasts
  - 1.1.3 Witches
- 1.2 Trading
- 1.3 Chest loot
2 Usage
- 2.1 Crafting ingredient
- 2.2 Brewing ingredient
3 Data values
- 3.1 ID
4 History
5 Issues
6 References

Obtaining [ ]

Mob loot [ ]

Creepers [ ]

Creepers can drop 0-2 pieces of gunpowder upon death. Looting can increase this by one per level, with a maximum of 5 gunpowder.

Ghasts [ ]

Ghasts can drop 0-2 pieces of gunpowder upon death. Looting can increase this by one per level, with a maximum of 5 gunpowder.

Witches [ ]

Witches can drop 0-6 pieces of gunpowder upon death. Looting can increase this by three per level, with a maximum of 15 gunpowder.

Trading [ ]

Wandering traders have ¹⁄₆ chance to sell gunpowder for an emerald.

Chest loot [ ]

Item	Structure	Container	Quantity	Chance
Java Edition
Gunpowder	Dungeon	Chest	1–8	57.8%
	Desert temple	Chest	1–8	59%
	Shipwreck	Supply chest	1–5	20.8%
	Woodland mansion	Chest	1–8	57.8%
Bedrock Edition
Gunpowder	Dungeon	Chest	1–8	57.8%
	Desert temple	Chest	1–8	59%
	Shipwreck	Supply chest	1–5	20.8%
	Woodland mansion	Chest	1–8	57.8%

Usage [ ]

Crafting ingredient [ ]

Name	Ingredients	Crafting recipe	Description
Fire Charge	Blaze Powder + Coal or Charcoal + Gunpowder	3
Firework Rocket	Any Firework Star + Paper + Gunpowder	3	Adding more gunpowder increases the duration of the rocket. Up to three gunpowder can be used. Up to five firework stars can also be used with three gunpowder. Up to seven firework stars can be used by using firework stars instead of additional gunpowder. All firework stars explode almost simultaneously when the rocket detonates.
Firework Rocket	Paper + Gunpowder	3	When crafted this way (without a firework star), the rocket does not have explosion effects. The value of gunpowder affects the flight duration.
Firework Star	Gunpowder + Matching Dye + Extra ingredients (optional)		Up to eight dyes can be added. One head, gold nugget, feather, or fire charge can be added. Both the diamond and the glowstone dust can be added with any of the other ingredients.
TNT	Gunpowder + Sand or Red Sand
White Firework Star or Blue Firework Star or Brown Firework Star or Black Firework Star	Gunpowder + Bone Meal or Lapis Lazuli or Cocoa Beans or Ink Sac + Head or Gold Nugget or Feather or Fire Charge + Glowstone Dust + Diamond		‌^{[ Bedrock and Education editions only ]} Up to eight dyes can be added. One head, gold nugget, feather, or fire charge can be added. Both the diamond and the glowstone dust can be added with any of the other ingredients.

Brewing ingredient [ ]

Name	Ingredients	Brewing recipe
Splash Potion	Gunpowder + Any Potion

Data values [ ]

ID [ ]

Java Edition:

Name	Resource location	Form	Translation key
Gunpowder	`gunpowder`	Item	`item.minecraft.gunpowder`

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Resource location	Numeric ID	Form	Translation key
Gunpowder	`gunpowder`	`289`	Item	`item.gunpowder.name`

History [ ]

Java Edition Indev
0.31		20100130			Added gunpowder.
					Gunpowder is a crafting ingredient for TNT.
					Gunpowder can be dropped by any mob.
20100219					Gunpowder now drops only from creepers.
Java Edition Infdev
20100625-2					Gunpowder can now be found in the new dungeon chests.
Java Edition Alpha
v1.2.0		preview			Added ghasts, which drop gunpowder upon death.^{[ needs testing ]}
Java Edition Beta
1.0					The item now has a display name: Sulphur.
1.3					Sulphur has been renamed to Gunpowder.
Java Edition
1.0.0		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4			Gunpowder is now usable in brewing to create splash potions.
1.2.1		12w04a			Fire charges are now crafted with gunpowder.
1.4.2		12w38b			Witches may now drop gunpowder.
1.4.6		12w49a			Gunpowder can now be used to craft a firework star and a firework rocket.
1.9		15w44a			Gunpowder now generates in desert temple chests.
1.9		15w44a			The average yield of gunpowder in dungeon chests has now doubled.
1.11		16w39a			Gunpowder can now found in the new woodland mansion chests.
1.13		17w47a			Prior to The Flattening, this item's numeral ID was 289.
1.13		18w11a			Gunpowder can now generate in the chests of shipwrecks.
1.14		18w43a			The texture of gunpowder has been changed.
1.14		19w05a			Added wandering traders, which sell gunpowder.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.2.0					Added gunpowder. It is currently unobtainable.
v0.3.3					Gunpowder now drops from creepers. It is still unobtainable due to creepers not yet spawning naturally.
v0.4.0					Creepers now spawn naturally, making gunpowder obtainable in Survival mode.
v0.4.0					Gunpowder can now be used to craft TNT.
v0.12.1		build 1			Added gunpowder to the creative inventory.
v0.12.1		build 1			Gunpowder is now usable in brewing to create splash potions.
v0.13.0		build 1			Gunpowder can now be found inside desert temple chests.
v0.14.0		build 1			Gunpowder can now dropped by witches.
v0.15.0		build 1			Gunpowder can now used to craft fire charges.
Pocket Edition
1.1.0		alpha 1.1.0.0			Gunpowder now generates inside woodland mansion chests.
Bedrock Edition
1.2.0		beta 1.2.0.2			Gunpowder can now be used to craft firework rockets and firework stars.
1.4.0		beta 1.2.14.2			Gunpowder now generates inside shipwreck chests.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			The texture of gunpowder has been changed.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.0	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added gunpowder.
		1.90			The texture of gunpowder has been changed.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					Added gunpowder.