How to make a Recovery Compass in Minecraft

The 1.19 Wild Update in Minecraft came with several additions, like Ancient Cities, the Warden, frogs, and many tweaks. But one item from the update stands out: the recovery compass. Here’s how to make a recovery compass in Minecraft

What Does a Recovery Compass Do?

With the recovery compass, you can navigate back to the spot you died. Gone are the days when you’ll have to screenshot your coordinates before being killed by a swarm of skeletons.

But using the recovery compass in Minecraft isn’t that simple. For starters, to find where you died with it, you’ll need to be in the same dimension. 

Imagine how surprised I was when I lost all my netherite and Wither skulls in the Nether, only to spawn in the Overworld and see the recovery compass spin randomly. But, thankfully, once you visit the dimension you died in, it’ll lead you straight to your items.

Also, the recovery compass will only navigate you toward the X and Z coordinates. Simply put, you’ll need to dig down or climb up to find your items. You’ll know you’re in the right place when the compass needle spins around while you make the slightest movement.

What Materials Do You Need to Make a Recovery Compass in Minecraft?

Recovery Compass Recipe

Even though crafting a recovery compass in Minecraft is easy, gathering the materials for it can be challenging. You’ll need the following:

  • 8 Echo Shards
  • 1 Compass

And for reference, to make a compass, you’ll need the following:

  • 4 Iron Ingots
  • 1 Redstone Dust

Compass Recipe

The only way to find Echo Shards is by looting an Ancient City. If you’re lucky, you’ll also find a compass inside one of the chests. You might even get a Swift Sneak enchanted book, which will help you escape the Warden.

After you’ve acquired the required Echo Shards, if you didn’t obtain a compass, you’ll need to mine iron ore and smelt it to get ingots, as well as redstone ore. The latter can only be found under Y=15.

Conclusion

Now that you know how to make a recovery compass in Minecraft, you can be riskier with your mining and exploration. How far away from your spawn point will you go? I’d love to see your far-from-spawn builds on the Minecraft Forum.