Highlights

• Workstations in Minecraft are essential for both players and villagers, determining their professions and allowing them to perform various tasks.
• Certain workstations, such as the barrel and blast furnace, have become favorites among players for efficient item storage and quick ore smelting.
• Each workstation has specific functions and uses, from brewing potions with the brewing stand to creating Netherite armor with the smithing table.

Workstations play an important role in Minecraft. For villagers, these blocks determine their profession and each one will need a workstation of their own. When a villager interacts with their workstation, they will also restock their inventories with more trade items.

RELATED: Minecraft: Underrated Items You Can Use For Exploring

For players, certain workstations are also vital as they allow you to perform different tasks, including crafting, brewing, and smelting. Here's how each workstation block functions both for players and villagers.

Updated July 21, 2023, By Branden Lziardi: The release of the 1.20 Trails and Tales update adds in a few new features to the ever-expansive mining and crafting sandbox. One such feature is the introduction of Smithing Templates. These randomly generated items will allow you to create trims for your armor pieces, introducing a new level of fashion to the cube-based world. It's also the new way to create Netherite Armor, replacing the old method. With this in mind, we've updated this list to include such information.

13 Barrel - Used By Fishermen

The barrel is a versatile storage system, given that it doesn't need an empty space above it to be opened. It doesn't have any other use than that. It's simply an extra storage space that corresponds to the size and space of a single chest but can be stacked side by side.

Considering how compact the barrel is, it has quickly become a favorite among many players as a primary way to store their items efficiently. It's also fairly cheap to make, costing six planks and two slabs.

12 Blast Furnace - Used By Armorer

The blast furnace's function is to quickly smelt ore. This is basically a variant of the classic furnace, but you can only put in ores that can be smelted. This includes iron, gold, or ancient debris.

The rate at which this furnace smelts ores is significantly faster than a regular furnace, so it's a staple for any household. The blast furnace speeds up a tedious process for those that truly enjoy mining their resources.

11 Brewing Stand - Used By Clerics

Brewing stands can be found in some villages with a cobblestone tower or in the basement of igloos. End Ships will also have a brewing stand, and you can break them with any pickaxe to retrieve them. They are a staple for anyone who wants to use potions.

Related: Minecraft: Guide To Using Treasure Maps

In order to make potions, you'll need Blaze Powder, as well as Nether Wart, both of which can be found inside Nether Fortresses.

10 Cartography Table - Used By Cartographers

If you're looking to map out your Minecraft world, a cartography table is an easy way to help you out in the process once you've crafted a map. This table can alter maps in several different ways by either zooming them out, expanding them, copying them, or locking them.

To expand a map, you need to combine a drawn map and a piece of paper. To copy a map, combine a drawn map and an empty map together. To lock a map and make sure it can't be expanded any further, combine a drawn map with a glass pane.

9 Cauldron - Used By Leatherworker

Cauldrons are another older block in the game that has been around for some time. They can also be found in villages, igloo basements, and witch's huts in swamp biomes. Their sole purpose is to hold water, lava, or powdered snow.

While cauldrons are great for holding water for brewing potions, the water source actually depletes when bottles are filled, making them less useful than you'd think. However, they are excellent at collecting powdered snow or dripping lava, since they fill up over time, and you can then retrieve the contents with a bucket.

8 Composter - Used By Farmers

Farmers will know how important bone meal is for growing crops fast. However, finding bones by either finding bone blocks in the Nether or killing skeletons isn't always an option. Luckily, the composter changes things drastically. Placing any plant, seed, or food in the composter will gradually fill it up.

When the composter is full, it will have white particles at the top, which can be harvested for bone meal. It's great for getting rid of useless items like lily pads, extra seeds, flowers, or ferns. Add a couple of chests and hoppers and you can simply throw your unwanted vegetation in one chest and claim the bonemeal from the other.

7 Fletching Table - Used By Fletchers

The only workstation block that has no use at all for players is the fletching table. It's a bit of a shame that there's no functionality for it, as it could be a way for you to make special arrows or alter bows and crossbows.

For now, however, it's more of a decoration block and utility block for villagers to pick their profession.

6 Grindstone - Used By Weaponsmith

Gone are the days when you would have to roll the dice with enchantments and then simply deal with the fact that you hated what you received from the enchantment table. Thanks to the grindstone, enchantments can now be removed and some of the experience points will actually be returned.

Related: Minecraft: How To Find End Cities Quickly

Moreover, the grindstone also repairs gear for free at the same time, although any enchantments will be removed in the process, and some experience points will be returned. It's a nice budget version to the anvil and makes repairing gear early on a bit more doable.

5 Lectern - Used By Librarian

Lecterns are another block that doesn't really have an interesting function. They're more useful for decoration and immersion. The only purpose they have is to hold a book and quill, which other players can interact with by reading and editing it.

The book can also be taken or placed back down on the pedestal. In adventure mode maps, lecterns might play a better role since they serve as a way to hold books that might explain some lore.

4 Loom - Used By Shepherd

Banners are a great way to set up markers on maps and decorate areas or buildings. The loom block was introduced in order to make the process much easier, complete with a brand-new interface. The interface allows you to choose specific patterns and preview the banner before crafting it.

RELATED: Ways To Make Survival Minecraft More Challenging

Put in a banner of any color, plus a dye of your choice, and the interface will showcase all available options. It's fantastic for making flags as well.

3 Smithing Table - Used By Toolsmith

Smithing tables have essentially become a staple for anyone looking to make Netherite armor. Since Netherite armor isn't crafted like diamond gear but rather used as a coating, you'll need to already have a piece of diamond gear to upgrade it to Netherite.

You can add trims to your armor with an item called a Smithing Template. This let's you combine the colors of certain materials overtop of your favorite armor and weapons. This is also how you upgrade Diamond Armor into Netherite. This expanded sense of fashion and late-game functionality make it one of the more desirable tables.

2 Smoker - Used By Butchers

The classic furnace is a great item in the sense that it can both smelt ores and cook food. However, it does take quite a while to wait for the furnace to finish. This is why every good home should also have a smoker in order to cook food items faster.

The smoker is a dedicated furnace for food only, but its fast cooking rate makes it worth using. Any food item that can be consumed after cooking can be cooked within a smoker.

1 Stonecutter - Used By Mason

Builders were frustrated for a long time by how each variant of a block needed to be separately crafted on the crafting table, but the introduction of the stonecutter changed building and landscaping.

This tool is fantastic for any builder who wants to create a more precise amount of different block variants. It works for every stone block, from cobble to sandstone, and is an easy way to make cracked stone bricks and other rare variants.

NEXT: Minecraft: How To Efficiently Mine For Netherite