How to lock a map in minecraft

Minecraft worlds are massive, so knowing how to make a Map in Minecraft can be very helpful. To expand your Map, you'll also need a Cartography Table.

Instructions in this article apply to Minecraft for all platforms including Windows, PS4, and Nintendo Switch.

Here's how to make a Map in Minecraft from scratch:

1. Make a Crafting Table. Use 4 Wood Planks of any type (Oak Wood Planks, Crimson Wood Planks, etc.).
   

2. Mine 9 Sugar Cane. Look for stalks near water in swamp or desert biomes and use any tool to cut them down.

3. Put your Crafting Table on the ground and interact with it to open the 3X3 crafting grid.

4. Make 9 Paper. Placing 3 Sugar Cane in the middle row of the crafting grid will make 3 Paper.
   

5. Make a Compass. Put 1 Redstone Dust in the center of the 3X3 grid and 4 Iron Ignots in the adjacent boxes.

   Redstone Dust can be mined from Redstone Ore using an Iron Pickaxe (or something stronger). To make Iron Ingots, craft a Furnace and smelt Iron Ores.

6. Place your Compass in the middle of the crafting grid, then put 8 Paper in all of the remaining blocks.

   In the Bedrock Edition of Minecraft, you can make an Empty Map using 9 Paper. To add a location marker, you'll need to combine it with a Compass on a Cartography Table.

7. You now have an Empty Locator Map you can add to your inventory. Equip and use the Map, and then walk around to fill it out.

Maps can be purchased from a Cartographer for 8 Emeralds or found in sunken ships, stronghold libraries, and Cartographer's chests. To make a Cartographer, put a Cartography Table in front of a villager who doesn't have an occupation.

In the Bedrock Edition, there's an easier way to make Maps using a Cartography Table. Place 1 Paper on the Cartography Table to produce an Empty Map. For an Empty Locator Map, Combine a 1 Paper and a Compass.

In the Bedrock Edition of Minecraft, enable Starting Map under World Preferences when you create a world, to begin with a Map already in your inventory.

To craft a Cartography Table, open a Crafting Table, put 2 Paper in the top row, then put 4 Wood Planks (any type) in the blocks below. You can also find Cartography Tables in villages inside your Cartographer's house.

Each Map contains only a small portion of your Minecraft world, so you'll want to expand it as much as possible. One way to do this is to put your Map in the middle of the Crafting Table and then put 8 Paper in the remaining boxes.

You can also use a Cartography Table to make your Maps bigger. Combine your Map with 1 Paper to create a new, zoomed-out Map. Repeat either of these methods four times to increase the Map to its maximum size.

To make a copy of a Map, combine it with an Empty Map on your Cartography Table. If you want to lock the Map so it can't be altered, combine it with a Glass Pane to make a Locked Map.

You can mark locations on your Map with Banners. In a Crafting Table, place 6 Wool of the same color in the top rows, then place 1 Stick in the middle of the bottom row.

Use an Anvil to give the Banner a name, place the Banner on the ground, then use the Map on the Banner. A dot with the name and color of the banner will appear on your Map.

You can place your Maps on Item Frames to make one big continuous map. Here's how to make a 3X3 wall map:

1. Make 9 Empty Locator Maps. Follow the instructions in the first section of this article.

2. Make 9 Item Frames. Put 1 Leather in the middle of the Crafting Table and 8 Sticks in the other boxes to make 1 Item Frame.
   

3. Go to where you want the center of your Map to be. Then, lay 9 solid blocks of any type on top of each other in a 3X3 square.
   

   Technically, you can make your map wall any size so long as you have enough materials.
   

4. Use the Item Frames on the blocks to mount them.

5. Equip and use an Empty Locator Map to fill it out, then use the Map on the center Item Frame.
   

6. Look at the Map in your hands (it will still be in your inventory). You'll see a green dot marking the location of your wall and a white arrow representing your location.
   

7. Go south to the very edge of the Map, then equip and use another Empty Locator Map and fill it out,

8. Go back to the wall and place the new Map on the bottom-center block.

9. Repeat steps 7-8 for the southeast, southwest, east, west, north, northeast, and northwest to complete your map wall.

FAQ

• How big is a Minecraft map?

  The lowest-level map you can create in Minecraft covers 128 x 128 blocks. You can quadruple its size each time you upgrade it (by placing it on the Crafting Table with eight sheets of paper). After four upgrades, your map will cover 2,048 x 2,048 blocks.

• How do I download a Minecraft map?

  Several sites will let you download maps to use for your Minecraft world. Some examples are Minecraft Maps, Planet Minecraft, and MinecraftSix. Once you've grabbed the files, drag them into your Minecraft Saves folder. The new map will appear as an option when you start up the game.

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