How to Make a Minecart in Minecraft

Crafting a Minecart

Find and mine Iron Ore. You'll need to either create or find five Iron Ingots in order to make the Minecart. You can find Iron Ingots in fortresses and dungeons, but it may be easier to just mine some Iron Ore and smelt the Ingots yourself. Iron Ore can be found in layers 1 - 63, and will occur in veins of between 4 - 10 blocks. You are more likely to find it at lower layers. You'll need a Stone Pickaxe or better in order to mine Iron Ore.

Craft a Furnace. In order to smelt the Iron Ore into Ingots. You can craft a Furnace by placing eight Cobblestone blocks around the edge of the Crafting grid.

Find some fuel. The furnace needs fuel in order to smelt the Iron Ore into Ingots. Fuel comes in a variety of forms, and more efficient fuel means you'll be able to smelt more Ore per piece of fuel. You can use any wooden object as fuel, but the most efficient fuels are Lava Buckets, Coal, and Charcoal.

Use the Furnace to smelt the Iron Ore into Ingots. Place the fuel in the bottom box of the Furnace window, and place a block of Iron Ore in the box above it. After a few moments, an Iron Ingot will be created. Repeat this until you have five Ingots.

Open the Crafting window to create a Minecart. Now that you have enough Ingots, you can use the Crafting Table to open your Crafting window and create a Minecart.

Place three Ingots along the bottom row of the Crafting grid.

Place two Ingots in the second row, on the left and right sides.

Take the Minecart from the Results box and drag it into your inventory.

Create specialized Minecarts. There are four special Minecarts that you can create that can help with working deep in your mine. With the following crafting recipes, place a Minecart in the bottom-center box, and the special ingredient directly above it in the center. TNT Minecart - Minecart + TNT. Use this to safely excavate from a distance. Furnace Minecart - Minecart + Furnace. Use this to smelt ores while you're excavating. Hopper Minecart - Minecraft + Hopper. Use this to collect mined materials. The Minecart with hopper is great for automated mining. Chest Minecart - Minecart + Chest. Use this to store materials and essential items while you're working in the mine.

Laying Down Track

Craft more Iron Ingots. In order to use Minecarts, you'll need create Rails. These are the only objects that Minecarts can be placed on. To create a batch of 16 Rails, you'll need six Iron Ingots and a single Stick. See the first section for information on crafting Ingots.

Craft a batch of rails. Open the Crafting window and place three Ingots in both the left and right columns. Place a Stick in the center. Drag the batch of 16 Rails from the Results box into your inventory.

Hold the Rails to place them on the ground. Look at the block you want to place it on and click to place it.

Create a path with your Rails. Pieces of Rail will automatically connect when placed next to each other. You can create corners by placing a piece of Rail to the left or right of the end of a track. The bend will happen automatically. You can create T-intersections and four-way intersections, but the tracks will not appear connected.

Understand how Minecart momentum works. You can push your Minecart forward on a flat surface. Minecarts will pick up speed as they go downhill, and will lose speed when making turns or going up hills. Minecarts will also gradually lose speed on flat planes. Taking advantage of momentum can help you create a useful and fun Minecart track network. A large drop will allow you to go up and over small inclines, or take a few turns. With a system of multiple drops, you can create a track that can take your Minecart a long distance without any extra help.

Create a sloped track. You can have your track slope down or up by carving out single-block "steps". When you place a piece of Rail on a step down, the track will automatically slope downwards. You can continue laying sloped track if there are more steps.

Create a diagonal track. You can simulate a diagonal track by making a zig-zag of single clock turns. The diagonal will look rough, but the Minecart will move smoothly through it in a straight line. Diagonals will slow the cart down as if it was making each turn.

Using the Minecart

Place the Minecart on the track. Grab it from your inventory and place it on the track to use it.

Look at the Minecart and press the Use button. You will enter the Minecart so that you can start controlling it.

Press the Forward button to begin moving the Minecart. The Minecart will begin moving in the direction you are facing (track permitting). You can move forward on a flat plane by using the Forward button, but you won't pick up a lot of speed. Going down a slope can increase your speed to up to 8 blocks per second.

Exit a Minecart by pressing the Crouch/Sneak button. If there is only a block of headroom above you when you try to exit, you'll take a half heart of damage.

Retrieve a Minecraft by attacking it. After several attacks with your fist, or a single attack from a sword, the Minecart will be destroyed and you can pick it up and add it back to your inventory.

Getting More out of Minecarts

Learn to take advantage of Powered Rails. Powered Rails are special Rails that can propel a Minecart, and are essential for large track networks or other complex track creations. With Powered Rails, you can create a launcher that blasts the Minecart off at high speed, you can build tracks that automatically take you back to the surface, and much more. Powered Rails require six Gold Ingots, a Stick, and a Redstone. Place the Gold Ingots in the left and right columns like the Iron Ingots for a regular batch of Rails. Place the Stick in the center, and then place the Redstone in the bottom-middle box. This will produce a stack of six Powered Rails. Powered Rails need to be activated by either a Redstone Torch or a Lever.

Use Minecarts to speed up your mining activities. The main function of a Minecart is to get you and your supplies to different areas of your mine quickly. If you're actively mining or building in an area, a network of Minecart tracks can help you move between the different areas much more quickly.

Build a launcher and keep your Minecarts moving. One Powered Rail can propel a Minecart for 80 tiles on a flat plane. Placing a solid block behind the powered rail will create a launcher that can propel your Minecart forward away from the block. Stack a few Powered Rails at the start of the launcher to give your cart a big boost. Placing a Powered Rail every 38th piece of track will keep your Minecart moving at nearly top speed indefinitely. You may need to play around with the spacing of your Powered Rails depending on your inclines and speed needs.

Build a rollercoaster using a combination of slopes and Powered Rails. A popular use of Minecarts is creating rollercoasters. YouTube is filled with videos of Minecraft rollercoasters, and there's a lot you can do to make yours exciting and unique. When a Minecart leaves the tracks, you won't take any fall damage if it lands back on tracks. Use this to your advantage to create crazy jumps and drops.