Shelf — minecraft

A shelf is a decorative block added in The Copper Age. It can hold and display up to three stacks of items, similar to item frames.

Obtaining

Breaking

Shelves can be broken by hand, but using any axe can break them faster.

Block	Shelf
Hardness	?
Tool
Breaking time^[A]
Default	?
Wooden	?
Stone	?
Copper	?
Iron	?
Diamond	?
Netherite	?
Golden

↑ Times are for unenchanted tools as wielded by players with no status effects, measured in seconds. For more information, see Breaking § Speed.

Crafting

Name	Ingredients	Crafting recipe
Shelf	Matching Stripped Log or Block of Stripped Bamboo or Matching Stripped Stem	6

Usage

Holding and display items

Shelves can hold and display up to 3 item stacks, similar to the item frame.

Interacting by Redstone

Shelves can be powered by redstone, in which an item can be swapped in the player's main hand.

Interacting with a single powered shelf causes the first 3 rightmost slots on the hotbar to be swapped.
Interacting with two connected powered shelves causes the 6 rightmost slots on the hotbar to be swapped.
Interacting with three connected powered shelves causes all 9 slots on the hotbar to be swapped.

As a fuel

Like any wood-related blocks (with the exception of nether wood), shelves can be used as a fuel in the furnace.

A single shelf is able to smelt 1½ items. This means a full stack (64) of shelf can smelt 96 items.

History

Java Edition
1.21.9	25w31a	Added shelves.
	25w31a	Shelved items now sit in the middle.
	25w32a	Shelved items and/or blocks now sit nearer.
	25w33a	Now sits in the middle again, with adjustments to sizes to fit in a shelf.
Bedrock Edition
1.21.110	beta 1.21.110.20	Added shelves.
	beta 1.21.110.22	Hoppers and droppers now add or remove items to and from shelves.
		Are now waterloggable.
		Powered shelves now connects each other even they are using different wood.
	beta 1.21.110.23	Decreased the size of shelved items.
	beta 1.21.110.23	Shelved items and/or blocks now sit nearer.
	beta 1.21.110.24	Changed the shelf block model to match with Java Edition.
	beta 1.21.110.25	Now produces stripped log particles when breaking them.
	beta 1.21.110.25	Shelved items will now render in the middle.
1.21.120	beta 1.21.120.20	Now emits vibration when adding or removing redstone power to and from shelves.

Issues

Issues relating to "Shelf" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia

Shelves are first appeared in A Minecraft Movie as part of "Steve's Secret Stash!".
The breaking/placing and stepping sounds for cherry, bamboo, and nether wood shelves uses wood sound type.^[1]
- It was later replaced with a chiseled bookshelf sound type.

Gallery

Renders

Oak Shelf

Oak Shelf
Spruce Shelf

Spruce Shelf
Birch Shelf

Birch Shelf
Jungle Shelf

Jungle Shelf
Acacia Shelf

Acacia Shelf
Dark Oak Shelf

Dark Oak Shelf
Mangrove Shelf

Mangrove Shelf
Cherry Shelf

Cherry Shelf
Pale Oak Shelf

Pale Oak Shelf
Bamboo Shelf

Bamboo Shelf
Warped Shelf

Warped Shelf
Crimson Shelf

Crimson Shelf

Screenshots

A ghastling, a creaking, a warden and a snifflet at a bar. Note that the items displayed on the shelves were reverted after Snapshot 25w32a.

In other media

Five shelves (2 warped and acacia shelves and a pale oak shelf) containing various items.
A white casket built out of pale oak shelves and pale oak trapdoor.
Ditto, but with a villager lying in a bed and half of a coffin is open. This references to a traditional funeral wake of a deceased person.
Six copper golem statues (all of which are in star pose) carrying a coffin containing a dried ghast, which references to a coffin dance. Notice the coffin is built out of spruce shelves and spruce trapdoor.
From left to right: Oak Shelf, Spruce Shelf, Birch Shelf, Jungle Shelf, Acacia Shelf, Dark Oak Shelf, Mangrove Shelf, Pale Oak Shelf, Cherry Shelf, Bamboo Shelf, Crimson Shelf, Warped Shelf

Notes

References

↑ MCPE-225253

Blocks

Natural
Soil	Clay Dirt Coarse Rooted Dirt Path Grass Block Gravel Suspicious Mud Mycelium Nylium Podzol Sand Red Suspicious Soul Sand Soul Soil
Stone	Andesite Basalt Bedrock Blackstone Calcite Deepslate Diorite Pointed Dripstone Block End Stone Glowstone Granite Infested Block Magma Block Netherrack Obsidian Crying Sandstone Red Stone Terracotta Tuff
Ore/Mineral	Amethyst Bud Cluster Ancient Debris Budding Amethyst Coal Ore Deepslate Copper Ore Deepslate Diamond Ore Deepslate Emerald Ore Deepslate Gilded Blackstone Gold Ore Deepslate Nether Iron Ore Deepslate Lapis Lazuli Ore Deepslate Nether Quartz Ore Redstone Ore Deepslate
Liquid/Related	Bubble Column Ice Blue Packed Lava Flowing Snow Powder Block Water Flowing
Non-physical	Air Cave‌^{[JE only]} Void‌^{[JE only]} Fire Soul

Biota
Wood/Hypha	Logs Stripped Wood Stripped Stems Stripped Hyphae Stripped
Plant	Azalea Flowering Bamboo Shoot Block Stripped Beetroots Big Dripleaf Small Stem Cactus Carrots Cave Vines Plant Chorus Plant Flower Cocoa Dead Bush Fern Large Flowers Firefly Bush Tall Torchflower Crop Grass Tall Hanging Roots Leaves Lily Pad Mangrove Roots Muddy Melon Attached Stem Stem Moss Block Carpet Pink Petals Pitcher Plant Crop Potatoes Pumpkin Attached Stem Carved Stem Saplings Seagrass Tall Spore Blossom Sugar Cane Sweet Berry Bush Vines Wheat Hay Bale
Fungus	Fungi Glow Lichen Mushrooms Blocks Stem Nether Sprouts Nether Wart Nether Wart Block Warped Roots Shroomlight Twisting Vines Plant Weeping Vines Plant
Algae	Kelp Dried Block Plant
Fauna	Coral Dead Coral Blocks Dead Coral Fans Dead Sea Pickle
Fauna/Related	Bee Nest Bone Block Cobweb Dragon Egg Frogspawn Sniffer Egg Turtle Egg
Sculk	Sculk Sculk Catalyst Sculk Sensor Calibrated Sculk Shrieker Sculk Vein

Building
Lighting	Candle End Rod Froglight Jack o'Lantern Lantern Soul Sea Lantern Torch Soul
Ornamental	Bamboo Mosaic Bookshelf Carpets Chain Copper Grate Decorated Pot Fences Iron Bars Glass Pane Tinted Stained Glass Pane Glazed Terracotta Honeycomb Block Slabs Stairs Walls Wool
Mineral Block	Block of Amethyst Block of Coal Block of Copper Cut Raw Block of Diamond Block of Emerald Block of Gold Raw Block of Iron Raw Block of Resin Block of Lapis Lazuli Block of Netherite Block of Quartz Bricks Chiseled Pillar Smooth Block of Redstone
Structural	Bricks Chiseled Copper Chiseled Tuff Cobblestone Mossy Deepslate Concrete Powder Cut Sandstone Chiseled Smooth Cut Red Sandstone Chiseled Smooth Deepslate Bricks Cracked Deepslate Tiles Cracked End Stone Bricks Nether Bricks Chiseled Cracked Red Packed Mud Mud Bricks Planks Polished Andesite Polished Basalt Smooth Basalt Polished Blackstone Chiseled Polished Blackstone Bricks Cracked Polished Diorite Polished Granite Polished Deepslate Chiseled Polished Tuff Prismarine Bricks Dark Purpur Block Pillar Reinforced Deepslate Resin Bricks Chiseled Smooth Stone Stone Bricks Chiseled Cracked Mossy Tuff Bricks Chiseled
BE & edu only	Elements Hardened Glass Pane Hardened Stained Glass Pane

Utility
Interactable	Anvil Chipped Damaged Barrel Beacon Brewing Stand Cartography Table Chest Ender Chiseled Bookshelf Crafting Table Enchanting Table Fletching Table Furnace Blast Smoker Grindstone Lectern Loom Shulker Box Sign Hanging Smithing Table Stonecutter
Utilizable	Banners Beehive Beds Bell Cake with Candle Campfire Soul Cauldron Lava Powder Snow Water Composter Conduit End Gateway End Portal End Portal Frame Farmland Flower Pot Frosted Ice Heads Heavy Core Item Frame Glow Jukebox Ladder Lodestone Monster Spawner Nether Portal Respawn Anchor Scaffolding Sponge Wet TNT Trial Spawner Ominous Vault Ominous
Redstone/Mechanical	Button Copper Bulb Crafter Daylight Detector Dispenser Dropper Doors Trapdoors Fence Gates Honey Block Hopper Lever Lightning Rod Note Block Observer Piston Sticky Head Moving Pressure Plates Rail Activator Detector Powered Redstone Wire Comparator Repeater Lamp Torch Slime Block Target Trapped Chest Tripwire Hook Tripwire
Education Edition only	Border Chalkboard
BE & edu only	Allow Compound Creator Colored Torches Deny Element Constructor Heat Block Lab Table Material Reducer Underwater TNT Underwater Torch

Creative only
All editions	Monster Spawner Player Head
Java Edition only	Barrier Command Block Chain Repeating Jigsaw Block Light Structure Block Void
BE & edu only	Allow Compound Creator Deny Element Constructor Lab Table Material Reducer
Minecraft Education only	Border Chalkboard

Commands only
All editions	Petrified Oak Slab Unstable TNT
Java Edition only	Custom Player Head
BE & edu only	Barrier Broken Anvil Chiseled Purpur Command Block Chain Repeating Fern Fern Jigsaw Block Light Block Structure Block Air Void Smooth Stone Bricks tile.purpur_block.smooth.name Unknown
China Edition only	mod_ore

Unimplemented
All editions	Branches Copper Button Colored Wood Planks Coral Slab Dirt Slab Empty Barrel Fish Barrel Furniture Paeonia Sculk Jaw Spike Block Wax Block

Unused
Bedrock Edition only	Bell Stand tile.client_request_placeholder_block.name Glowing Obsidian Invisible Bedrock Nether Reactor Core Smokeless Campfire info_update info_update2 reserved6 Stonecutter (old)

Joke features
Java Edition only	An Ant Block of Coal Box of Infinite Books Torch (Burnt-out) Cheese Copper Sink Copper Spleaves Cursor Etho Slab Funky Portal How did we get here? Leftover Other Portal Packed Air Pickaxe Block Place Block Swaggiest stairs ever Tinted Glass USB Charger Block

Removed

Java Edition only

Bedrock Edition only

MinecraftEdu only

Legacy Console Edition only

Ring Block

Extreme metadata variants
All editions	Seamless Stone Slab Six-sided Hay Bale Weird Piston
Java Edition only	Faceless Jack o'Lantern Overripe Melon Stem Attached Overripe Pumpkin Stem Attached Overgrown Cocoa Overeaten Cake Potted non-flower block Green Shrub Potted
Bedrock Edition only	Diorite Bell Granite Bell Polished Six-sided Bone Block grass_carried leaves_carried Six-sided Purpur Pillar Six-sided Quartz Pillar

Contents