You have certainly come across bookshelves around the Minecraft world. They spawn in villages and libraries and you can craft them yourself for decoration in your base.
Regular bookshelves are also used in enchanting to get stronger enchantments from your enchanting table.
Though chiseled bookshelves are a bit different. In this article we will show you how to craft and use your chiseled bookshelves.
Minecraft Chiseled Bookshelf Recipe
- 6 wooden blocks (any)
- 3 wooden slabs (any)
The main difference between regular bookshelves and chiseled bookshelves is the fact that you do not need to use a book to craft it.
Regular bookshelves have books as part of their recipe. When placed, they will also have books already “inside” them, which is not the case with chiseled bookshelves. Instead, the chiseled version is just an empty shelf block.
This recipe will be enough for a single block. To see how the arrange the items look at the image below.
The types of wood you use when building a chiseled bookshelf doesn’t determine or change the way the block will look once placed in the world.
Using Chiseled Bookshelves
Like we have mentioned, regular bookshelves already have books placed in them. They are used purely for decoration.
Chiseled bookshelves, instead, act like storage blocks.
When you first place them down they will appear like empty shelves and they won’t look all that special. In each slot you see you can place a book, eventually filling the shelf up. You can even leave slots empty if you prefer it to look half empty.
The items which you can place in chiseled bookshelves are:
- books
- books and quills
- written books
- enchanted books
Each chiseled bookshelf has a total of 6 slots and each filled slot you will be able to see before you even interact with a block. Unlike chests these do not have their own hud when opening.
Instead you place the book items into them like you would into an armor stand.
When broken the bookshelf will drop all of its contents down as items. The bookshelf, however, will never drop as itself unless it’s broken with the silk touch enchantment.
Chiseled Bookshelves and Redstone
Chiseled bookshelves are compatible with redstone.
If you place a redstone comparator the bookshelf will send out a redstone signal anytime you place a book down into it.
The overall strength of the signal will depend on how many books are placed in the bookshelf. This is a great way to incorporate a decorative looking block into your redstone.
Hoppers and minecarts with hoppers are also able to place books into the bookshelves for you, allowing you to play around with some interested automatic redstone systems.
Building With Chiseled Bookshelves
We have covered how to build a library in Minecraft as a build. Chiseled bookshelves are an amazing way of bringing builds like these to life.
Not only can you store away and organize your written books in one place, but you won’t be needing to rely on a lectern to share your books with other players.
The block’s compatibility with redstone will allow you to build a new type of secret automatic doors that activate when a book is placed as well. There are almost countless possibilities to be used with this block.
