There are many resources in Minecraft, with some more helpful than others. While playing, you may come across a lot of blocks, but chances are, you aren't going to utilize everything to the fullest. One such item like this is kelp. It's possible to go a long time without using kelp at least once.

We're here to change that though! Here, you can learn some of the best uses for kelp. Overall, it won't become a super important item, but you can still work it into your game seamlessly. Before diving in, it's important to note that kelp is found in the ocean. Simply head to this biome, go underwater, and you will see kelp growing straight from the bottom.

Updated March 16, 2024 by Jacqueline Zalace: Kelp is often overlooked in Minecraft, but we want to bring it back into the limelight. We've updated this guide with refreshed formatting, as well as some more information on how to use this little green leaf.

7 Kelp Fuel

Kelp is considered one of the best biofuels, and this is reflected in Minecraft. When smelted, it turns into dried kelp. Putting nine dried kelp into a crafting table will create a dried kelp block.

Dried kelp blocks help easily compactly store large amounts of dried kelp, but they then can be used as a fuel source. This dense block can smelt 20 items, making it a bit better (2.5 times better, in fact) than one coal. If you are near an ocean with tons of kelp, try using this as a fuel source!

6 Trading With Kelp

Kelp can also be traded with villagers, which helps you earn some emeralds. If you happen to have ten blocks of dried kelp, you can trade this with an Expert Butcher for one emerald.

This isn't the best exchange rate, but it's better than nothing, especially if you have an excess of kelp. If you have enough resources to smelt a lot of kelp to dry it out, this is a great money-maker.

5 Kelp Bubbles

Bubble elevators are a great way to move entities (including you) upwards and downwards, to any place you want. For example, you can put one in a house to get from the bottom floor to the top floor quickly. They are relatively simple to make but can be quite time-consuming.

Kelp helps reduce the time it takes to build as it turns any water block into a source block. This means you don't have to repeatedly place a new water source block all the way up. Placing kelp all the way up the elevator and then breaking the bottom kelp block creates source blocks going up to the top. With that, just place soul sand or a manga block to manage the elevator direction.

4 Kelp XP Farm

Experience points (XP) are gained through different actions such as mining, smelting, fishing, and killing mobs or players. XP can be useful when enchanting items like armor and weapons, so it's great to have at least 30 levels built up.

Kelp gives 0.1 experience per kelp when smelted. Due to it being a renewable source, it's a good contender for an XP farm. To do this efficiently, you can create an auto-smelter, but it's also totally fine to just manually smelt your kelp.

3 Eating Kelp

Dried kelp can be used as a food source. However, it doesn't add much to your hunger bar, only restoring one hunger point. Although it fills barely any of your hunger bar, it can be eaten twice as fast as any other food. This makes it a good food source for a quick refill on the go.

An achievement for the Bedrock version of the game involves eating kelp. To complete the Castaway achievement, you will need to eat nothing but kelp for three in-game days. This rewards you with 20 achievement points and a Shredded Shirt Top.

2 Kelp Composter

Composting is an efficient way of getting bonemeal rather than facing off with a bunch of ruthless skeletons. It requires seven layers of plant material to be able to collect bonemeal. Putting certain food and plants into the composter has a certain percentage of chance that it could add a layer to the compost.

Dried kelp has a 30 percent chance of becoming a layer in the composter. Dried kelp can sometimes fill up a lot of space when you make too many, so composting is a good way to get rid of your unwanted kelp, whilst also reaping a reward.

1 Underwater Building

Minecraft builders don't limit themselves to building on land and create amazing builds underwater. However, building underwater can be difficult when you're in the ocean and don't want to build straight onto the seafloor. Kelp can help you with that.

Normal plants can't be fully utilized underwater, such as flowers, saplings, and berry bushes. If you do manage to get an air pocket for this greenery, they will look quite small. With kelp, you can add some dimension and greenery to a build at the same time, while keeping the ocean vibe alive.