A chain in Minecraft is a decorative block that can be placed to add some amazing detail to different builds.
This block adds a level of detail to builds other blocks, like string, vines, or other, cannot. It gives a sense of realism and life to any build it is added on. It can be used to hold hanging lanterns and lights, just as well as it can give the illusion of a working mechanism.
How to make a chain in Minecraft is relatively easy as well and in this article we will show you how to do so, as well as give you ideas on how to use your chains in your builds.
Minecraft Chain Recipe
- 2 Iron nuggets
- 1 Iron ingot
The recipe is very simple to follow and the material easy to get once you have gotten far enough into the game to have iron.
A single iron ingot will give you 9 iron nuggets, which can then be used to craft chains among other things. The recipe you can see here is enough to produce a single chain.
Finding Chains in Minecraft
Chains can also be found naturally generating in a few places in the world of vanilla Minecraft.
They can be found in the Nether and around bastions, as well as in Mineshafts. Usually in a mineshaft they will generate in an air corridor near the bridges.
There they can be harvested using a pickaxe.
Placing Chains in Minecraft
To place a chain in Minecraft you have to hold it and right click where you wish to place it.
A chain can be placed either vertically or horizontally and it can hang while not being adjacent to any block, leaving it floating in the air.
When placed vertically you can place any block on top of it, and below it you can place any of the hanging blocks, such as a lantern. Because of the way they connect to lanterns and soul lanterns it seems like they are the main block they connect to.
They can also connect to each other, but not nearly as efficiently as rails do. This means a horizontal chain will not connect to a vertical one.
Though, they can connect in long lines, allowing for some great decoration.
Additionally, you can also walk on horizontally placed chains. If you have the accuracy and precision to do so, you can even use the chains as bridges – even though it’ll feel more like walking a tight rope than a typical bridge.
They may also be moved by pistons without breaking.
Using Chains in Building
We have already said how lanterns are one of the best items to use chains with, because of the top part of each lantern (when hanging) connects perfectly to chains. However, there are many other uses for chains.
If you get your hands on a spawner you can seamlessly hang it using a chain.
Though, if you get creative you can build various things using chains.
Other than lanterns you can use it to create lovely hanging plants or even banners. On bigger builds they add lovely details to bridges and cranes.
In the image above you can see how I built my crane to make it seem like the chains would actually move on the mechanism. Get creative and add them where you can.
