how to make a big map wall in minecraft

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How to Make a Map in Minecraft

Customize your maps with cartography tables, banners, and item frames.

Minecraft worlds are massive, so knowing how to make a Map in Minecraft can be very helpful. To expand your Map, you'll also need a Cartography Table.

Instructions in this article apply to Minecraft for all platforms including Windows, PS4, and Nintendo Switch.

Here's how to make a Map in Minecraft from scratch:

Make a Crafting Table . Use 4 Wood Planks of any type (Oak Wood Planks, Crimson Wood Planks, etc.).

Mine 9 Sugar Cane . Look for stalks near water in swamp or desert biomes and use any tool to cut them down.

Put your Crafting Table on the ground and interact with it to open the 3X3 crafting grid.

Make 9 Paper . Placing 3 Sugar Cane in the middle row of the crafting grid will make 3 Paper.

Make a Compass . Put 1 Redstone Dust in the center of the 3X3 grid and 4 Iron Ignots in the adjacent boxes.

Redstone Dust can be mined from Redstone Ore using an Iron Pickaxe (or something stronger). To make Iron Ingots, craft a Furnace and smelt Iron Ores.

Place your Compass in the middle of the crafting grid, then put 8 Paper in all of the remaining blocks.

In the Bedrock Edition of Minecraft, you can make an Empty Map using 9 Paper . To add a location marker, you'll need to combine it with a Compass on a Cartography Table.

You now have an Empty Locator Map you can add to your inventory. Equip and use the Map, and then walk around to fill it out.

Other Ways to Get a Map in Minecraft

Maps can be purchased from a Cartographer for 8 Emeralds or found in sunken ships, stronghold libraries, and Cartographer's chests. To make a Cartographer, put a Cartography Table in front of a villager who doesn't have an occupation.

In the Bedrock Edition, there's an easier way to make Maps using a Cartography Table. Place 1 Paper on the Cartography Table to produce an Empty Map. For an Empty Locator Map , Combine a 1 Paper and a Compass .

In the Bedrock Edition of Minecraft, enable Starting Map under World Preferences when you create a world, to begin with a Map already in your inventory.

How Do You Make a Map on a Cartography Table in Minecraft?

To craft a Cartography Table, open a Crafting Table, put 2 Paper in the top row, then put 4 Wood Planks (any type) in the blocks below. You can also find Cartography Tables in villages inside your Cartographer's house.

How Do You Make a Big Map in Minecraft?

Each Map contains only a small portion of your Minecraft world, so you'll want to expand it as much as possible. One way to do this is to put your Map in the middle of the Crafting Table and then put 8 Paper in the remaining boxes.

You can also use a Cartography Table to make your Maps bigger. Combine your Map with 1 Paper to create a new, zoomed-out Map. Repeat either of these methods four times to increase the Map to its maximum size.

To make a copy of a Map, combine it with an Empty Map on your Cartography Table. If you want to lock the Map so it can't be altered, combine it with a Glass Pane to make a Locked Map.

How to Set a Map Marker in Minecraft

You can mark locations on your Map with Banners. In a Crafting Table, place 6 Wool of the same color in the top rows, then place 1 Stick in the middle of the bottom row.

Use an Anvil to give the Banner a name, place the Banner on the ground, then use the Map on the Banner. A dot with the name and color of the banner will appear on your Map.

How Do You Make a 3X3 Map Wall in Minecraft?

You can place your Maps on Item Frames to make one big continuous map. Here's how to make a 3X3 wall map:

Make 9 Empty Locator Maps . Follow the instructions in the first section of this article.

Make 9 Item Frames . Put 1 Leather in the middle of the Crafting Table and 8 Sticks in the other boxes to make 1 Item Frame.

Go to where you want the center of your Map to be. Then, lay 9 solid blocks of any type on top of each other in a 3X3 square.

Technically, you can make your map wall any size so long as you have enough materials.

Use the Item Frames on the blocks to mount them.

Equip and use an Empty Locator Map to fill it out, then use the Map on the center Item Frame.

Look at the Map in your hands (it will still be in your inventory). You'll see a green dot marking the location of your wall and a white arrow representing your location.

Go south to the very edge of the Map, then equip and use another Empty Locator Map and fill it out,

Go back to the wall and place the new Map on the bottom-center block.

Repeat steps 7-8 for the southeast, southwest, east, west, north, northeast, and northwest to complete your map wall.

The lowest-level map you can create in Minecraft covers 128 x 128 blocks. You can quadruple its size each time you upgrade it (by placing it on the Crafting Table with eight sheets of paper). After four upgrades, your map will cover 2,048 x 2,048 blocks.

Several sites will let you download maps to use for your Minecraft world. Some examples are Minecraft Maps , Planet Minecraft , and MinecraftSix . Once you've grabbed the files, drag them into your Minecraft Saves folder. The new map will appear as an option when you start up the game.

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How to Make A Map in Minecraft

Here's everything you need to make a map in Minecraft.

If you want to keep track of where you have been or the surrounding area near your base in Minecraft, then you must make a map . Using a map will allow you to travel across large distances while keeping track of where your base is. However, before making a map in Minecraft, you must gather a few materials and make a few items. That said, here is how to make a map so that you can know where you are going and where you have been while adventuring:

How to Craft a Map in Minecraft (all steps)

Creating maps in Minecraft is a bit more resource intensive than you might think. While getting the paper for them is relatively easy, you also need a Compass , which is a little tricky to make when first starting in Minecraft. Luckily it's not complicated to make a compass, so here's how to make a compass and gather all of the materials for it below.

How to make a compass in Minecraft (step one)

The first item you will need for a map is a Compass. You will need one Redstone and four Iron Ingots to craft a Compass in Minecraft. You can get Redstone by heading into your nearest Mine and mining Redstone and Iron ore blocks. Iron ore will spawn relatively high, so you won't need to go far inside a cave to find it. However, for the Redstone ore, you must head towards the bottom of a cave (you can also find Diamonds near Redstone) .

Related: How to Make a Bed in Minecraft (2022)

Where to find Sugar Cane in Minecraft (step two)

After making a Compass, you need to move to the next step: find Sugar Cane. You can find Sugar cane naturally growing near water sources . Another way to get Sugar Canes is to buy some from Wandering Traders for one Emerald each . Either method will work and we recommend starting a small cane farm with any extra you find. But If you decide to make a cane farm, place it next to water as it will only grow when near water. We recommend finding a nearby lake/river to plant it or digging up some terrain, filling it with water, and planting next to it.

How to craft paper in Minecraft (step three)

The next step after finding Sugar Cane is to make the Sugar Cane into paper. This step is the easiest, as you can make paper using Sugar Cane with the following crafting pattern shown below. Place at least three Sugar Cane in a row similar to below, and you will make Paper in Minecraft. We recommend making a total of nine Paper using nine Sugar Canes.

How to craft a Blank Map in Minecraft (step four)

After making paper, you will need to place one Compass and at least nine Paper in the crafting pattern shown below. Placing all materials in the order below will craft a Blank Map in Minecraft.

How to set map location in Minecraft (step five)

Once you craft the Blank map, you need to hit your Use Item/Place block key to set the map to your current location. After pressing the use key, you should see an image depicting your surrounding area similar to the image below:

Related: Minecraft 1.19 Woodland Mansion Seeds (November 2022)

How to use a Cartography Table in Minecraft

Depending on your version of Minecraft, you may need to craft a Cartography Table before making a map. Luckily it's not hard to make a Cartography Table , and you can do it using four Wood Planks and Two Papers. Place all materials in the order shown below, and you will make a Cartography Table.

Once you get the Cartography Table setup, just put a single piece of paper into the bottom slot. Placing the paper into the bottom slot will craft a blank map you can use the same as in other Minecraft versions. Other Maps and items that you can craft via this table include the following:

How to craft a Map Wall in Minecraft

One awesome item you can make using a map is a Map wall in Minecraft. To make a Map wall in Minecraft, you will need at least eight sticks and one piece of leather to make an item frame Place the sticks and leather in the order shown below, and you will make one Item Frame:

These Item Frames will be used to hold the map on a wall to make a Map wall in Minecraft. Once you make a few, place them in the order shown below to make a Map wall in Minecraft: After placing your item frames, you can place maps inside them to turn them into a Map wall. We recommend using your newly created Map wall to keep track of areas you previously explored in the game.

But to make a huge map wall, you must explore and create maps that cover a small area of a larger biome. The best way to do this is to start in one spot and slowly work your way up north, west, east, and south until you can get enough maps to make a wall like the image above.

How to fully map out a biome in Minecraft

To fully map out a biome, we recommend using the small white arrow that indicates a player's location. Use the white arrow to tell when your character leaves an area in Minecraft. You can tell when you just left one area when the white arrow turns into a solid dot. When the white arrow turns into a solid dot, you are in a new area and must explore and create a new map using a blank. Repeat these steps until you fill out a large biome like the image below.

For more on Minecraft, we at Pro Game Guides have you covered with guides like Minecraft 1.19 Pillager Outpost Seeds – Best Outpost Seeds for Bedrock and Java! (November 2022) and Best Minecraft 1.19 Jungle Seeds for Java and Bedrock (November 2022) .

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This was really helpful! Thank you for teaching me how to make a wall map! 😊👍

Do you have any solutions to the arrow not changing into a dot. What I can see if I google, is that everyone has the arrow into dot version, while it doesn’t happen anymore. I walked way off the map and it stayed an arrow the whole time. So how will you make your map seemless?

Are you playing on Java or Bedrock Edition?

Hello thank you for your kindness to teach us on how to do this in minecraft and thank you very muchfor all😊😇

Another way to make a map is to craft a cartography table and then place a piece of paper in the first slot, on the second slot you just don’t put anything, and then on the third slot outcomes the map.

Thanks, added!

How do you place maps on walls?

I’ve seen my friend do it and it looks cool. How do you place them on walls in PE to make a big map?

You put them in Itemframes

More specifically, put an item frame on the wall, and then put the map in the item frame. Unlike most items, when a map is placed in a frame, it will "stretch" the frame to fill the whole space of the block.

Craft an item frame and place it on the wall. When you place a map in the item frame it expands to fill the entire frame. Maps created in different areas join seamlessly with their adjacent neighbors.

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How to connect maps in Minecraft

Players can connect multiple maps together as a decoration and in-game guide (Image via Caleb/StackExchange)

Maps in Minecraft are considerably useful items, and can be expanded further with the help of a cartography table. However, it's also possible to place them on walls as decoration and navigation guides, with the possibility of connecting these maps together to create one massive map.

Connecting maps and placing them on a wall can be slightly tricky, as players have to be aware of which maps must be connected. Additionally, completing maps to connect them together will require exploration of a sizable amount of the game's world, depending on how large Minecraft players want to make their connected wall map.

While the process of putting connected maps on walls can be a little confusing at first, it's not as difficult as it appears and once players learn how to do so, they can use it well into the future.

Connecting maps together on a wall in Minecraft

A connected wall map dating back to Minecraft version 1.7.2 (Image via jDantastic/YouTube)

Creating a basic wall map in Minecraft will take some effort and a fair amount of resources, but the final result can be quite pleasing. Players can create a connected map with as few as two item frames , but the possibilities for expansion exist if players create additional maps and item frames. Ensuring that the maps are connected is the hardest part, as being poorly-positioned can lead to a player creating seams in their connected maps, which certainly isn't ideal.

Creating a connected wall map in Minecraft

With larger map walls that contain multiple item frames, Minecraft players may want to organize their maps in their inventories to avoid any confusion. For example, placing specific maps in certain slots and surrounding them with other maps that players wish to connect ensures that the maps don't get mixed up before they're placed onto the walls .

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Tutorials/Mapping

The map page explains how to craft maps and how they automatically draw themselves as you move through the world. That page also explains maps' limitations and pitfalls. For example, crafting a batch of maps all at once (using shift-click) is generally not helpful because they'll all be duplicates of one another.

3 zoom levels of maps shown side-by-side: levels 0, 1, and 2.

When crafting sets of maps, there are two approaches. The first is to travel well outside the current map's edge before crafting a new map, which will conserve map-crafting resources and keep confusingly redundant map space to a minimum. The other method is to deliberately ensure an overlap so that it's easier to find the same landmarks on multiple maps.

The zoom-levels introduced in the Pretty Scary Update make the 'overlap' technique of little benefit on any map at zoom level 0 (none) through 3, because an overview map at the next zoom level 'stitches' the maps together.

Regardless of which technique is used, it's helpful to be systematic in the order you craft the maps. For example, you might make Map #0 (prior to the Pretty Scary Update this was designated "map_0") at the center of the area you want to cover. When maps are crafted (eight paper surrounding a compass) they are initially "Empty Maps" (data value 395). Holding an empty map and right clicking with it will activate it (data value 358) and draw the current terrain to a radius of 100-120 blocks. The map will be centered on a block that is a multiple of 128 on the x & z axis and will cover an area of 128×128 blocks. Thus, if you are at or near the center block, a zoom-level 0 map is nearly complete when crafted from an empty map.

If you want to keep that map, you should duplicate it at that point by placing it and an "Empty Map" on your crafting area or table. If one of those is then placed in the center of a crafting table and surrounded by eight paper, a zoom-level 1 map is crafted. This map will cover an area 256×256 blocks and would be labeled "Map #1" (assuming no other maps were created in the meantime).

This "zoom-out" step can be repeated three more times with each resultant map, yielding Map #2 (512×512), Map #3 (1024×1024), and Map #4 (2048×2048).

Mapping step-by-step

(The numbering below assumes that you create only the maps discussed here and that no one else is creating maps.)

To start, move to a spot within 64 blocks of 0,0 (x and z coordinates should each be between -64 and 64) and activate an Empty Map (Map #0). Duplicate it and use the duplicate to craft a zoom-level 1 (Map #1). Use Map #1 to create a zoom-level 2 map (Map #2), and use that to craft a zoom-level 3 map (Map #3). Duplicate Map #3 and use one to craft a zoom-level 4 map (Map #4) which will provide you with an overview map. This zoom-level 4 map will provide you with a good general orientation—there is a lot of territory to explore within a 2048×2048-block area.

To create a set of zoom-level 3 maps which will better show structures you should then move north to a spot approximately (within 64 blocks) of 0,y,1024. Here, craft a new zoom-level 0 map (Map #5) from an Empty Map. Zoom it out to a zoom-level 3 map (Map #8) which will be retained. Then travel east to a spot within 64 blocks of 1024,y,1024. Craft a zoom-level 0 map (Map #9) and zoom out to a zoom-level 3 map (Map #12) which will be retained. Continuing clockwise, you would proceed south repeat the craft-and-zoom process at:

You will now have nine zoom-level 3 maps which cover completely the territory shown by the zoom-level 4 overview map. The set of 9 zoom-level 3 maps actually cover 512 blocks beyond the zoom-level 4 map. Each will be centered on the border of the zoom-level 4 map (and four of which will be centered on the corners of the level-4 map). You can, of course, retain any of the intermediate maps by duplicating them before you zoom them. If you don't duplicate before zooming, you won't be able to obtain them again without using server commands (e.g., "/give <player> 358 1 <map#>", where "358" is the data value for a map and 1 is the number of maps to give) or inventory editors.

Track maps' relative positions

It's helpful to keep track of the relative positions of the maps. A useful method of displaying the map set is to craft 10 Item Frames and place them on a wall in a 3-by-3 square with the tenth atop or beside the square. Place the zoom-level 4 overview in the tenth item frame. Place the nine maps in their appropriate positions in the 3×3 square. A sign can be added which identifies the origin and perhaps the corner coordinates. You could also duplicate any of these which you wish to carry with you while fully exploring an area. Information added to one copy will be automatically updated to all other copies. (Note that crafting a second map of the same area—not duplicating, but crafting anew—will create a map that is NOT linked to the original version, and it will thus NOT be updated even though it covers exactly the same area.)

Set of maps in item frames before 1.8

In the illustration, the sign provides the map # of each of the maps shown. Map #127 is the center map. Map #185 is the map to the north, #189 to the right of that, and the numbering continues clockwise.

As another option, use a chest, and store the maps in slots in the chest that correspond with their in-world positions. If you use this trick, be careful to put them back in the right place once done with them.

You could also craft a Book & Quill (data value 386) in which you can write descriptions of what the map-set covers. This is a useful place to make notes of interesting spots found on those maps. That Book & Quill can be placed in an item frame next to the map set.

Another trick is to name maps on an anvil. You can name a map for its center or its position relative to other maps, i.e. (0,0) at the origin of your mapping, (0,1) one map east of the origin.

Avoiding overlaps

This section applies to pre-1.8 games. See the following section on the bountiful update for versions 1.8 and above.

Following the Pretty Scary Update, zoom-level 0 maps will not overlap—they are created with each center 128 blocks from each other center. Since the center-most map has an origin of 0,y,0, each zoom-level 0 map has an x-coordinate and z-coordinate which are each a multiple of 128. All maps created within 64 blocks of a particular pre-defined center will be identical.

Overlapping zoom-level 1 maps

Higher zoom-level maps can overlap one another because they can be crafted from zoom-level 0 maps that are centered only 128 blocks from each other. A zoom-level 1 map, for example, covers 256×256 blocks. So if you create a zoom-level 1 map from a zoom-level 0 map centered on (128,y,128)--which would cover a square bounded by the points (64,y,64)-(192,y,64)-(192,y,192)-(64,y,192)--the zoom-level 1 map will cover a square bounded by the points (0,y,0)-(256,y,0)-(256,y,256)-(0,y,256). The zoom-level 0 map adjacent (to the east) would be centered at (256,y,128) and described by the four points (192,y,64)-(320,y,64)-(320,y,192)-(192,y,192). A zoom-level 1 map crafted from this second zoom-level 0 map would be described by the points (128,y,0)-(384,y,0)-(384,y,256)-(128,y,256). The left half of this second zoom-level 1 map will overlap the right half of the first zoom-level 1 map. The illustration on the right may help.

To keep zoom-level 1 maps from overlapping, ensure that each is built from a zoom-level zero with x- and z-coordinates that are multiples of 256. To keep zoom-level 2 maps from overlapping, build them from zoom-level 0 maps with x/z coordinates that are multiples of 512. Zoom-level 3 maps should only be crafted from zoom-level 0 maps centered on x/z coordinates that are multiples of 1024; and zoom-level 4 maps should be crafted from zoom-level 0 maps with x/z coordinates that are multiples of 2048.

Tip: Mark the center of maps by placing a sign labeled it with the map number, and light it up or mark it in some way so that it's easier to find again. Additionally, craft a duplicate map and place it in a frame at that spot. The map (or its duplicate) will display with a green pointer shown at the location of the item frame.

Tip: Surface lava pools make good landmarks as they show up as red dots on zoomed-out maps. The higher the zoom-level, however, the larger the pool must be before it shows up. You can, of course, make your own lava pool, just be sure it is open to the sky. To be safe, you can cover the lava pools with glass to keep players, mobs, and drops from falling in.

Tip: While attempting to create a new map adjacent to an existing map, make sure to move 10-15 blocks beyond what appears to be the border of the existing map before creating the new map. There a band where the player marker seems off the map, but it's still technically inside the mapped area. Creating a new map just after crossing the "border" of the current map frequently results in the same map.

Tip: The Time-Saving Tips page has some extra suggestions for making mapping quicker and safer.

Changes in Bountiful Update

As of Minecraft 1.8 the mapping system changed considerably. Overlapping maps are no longer possible to create at all. Each zoom level of maps has a grid that all maps now align to. The top left corner of each map now aligns to the (x,z) coordinate (-64, -64) +- (m,n)*size. Where m and n are any integer numbers and size is the map size (128 for zoom level 0, up to 2048 for zoom level 4). The most notable change is that maps no longer zoom out from the center as in version 1.7 but snap to the grid.

Assuming one wants to make maps which cover the origin (0,0) and surrounding area, 4 maps are required. Follow these steps:

This will create 4 perfectly aligned maps covering the origin with the least amount of traveling. The map numbers will cover the area clockwise from "top left" (i.e. NW-NE-SE-SW).

IMAGES

20 hours of tedious map creation and placement, 102 maps, 17x6 map wall stretching 2176 blocks
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COMMENTS

How To Make A Map Wall in Minecraft
How can you make a map wall in Minecraft to start seeing an overview of your entire world all in-game? Well, in this video
Tip: How to Make a Map Wall in Minecraft
Host: Chad "OMGchad" JohnsonIt's time to talk about maps. How to make them, how to put them up on a wall, and how to seamlessly connect them
How to MAKE a MAP WALL in Minecraft 100% Guide (New Method!)
Do you want to know how to make your first 3 x 3 map wall that you can replicate to larger and bigger map walls!? The basics of making a map
How to Make a Map in Minecraft
How Do You Make a 3X3 Map Wall in Minecraft? · Make 9 Empty Locator Maps. · Make 9 Item Frames. · Go to where you want the center of your Map to be
How to Make A Map in Minecraft
But to make a huge map wall, you must explore and create maps that cover a small area of a larger biome. The best way to do this is to start
How to Make a Seamless Map Wall in Minecraft
Jan 28, 2022 - I show how to make a seamless map wall in Minecraft. Laying out how to properly zoom and generate the maps in the correct locations.
How to make large wall maps? : r/Minecraft
If you want to get the map on the right side of the center map, take your map and go east until you become a dot on the edge of the map, then
How do you place maps on walls? : r/Minecraft
Craft an item frame and place it on the wall. When you place a map in the item frame it expands to fill the entire frame. Maps created in
How to connect maps in Minecraft
Connecting maps together on a wall in Minecraft · Create at least two item frames. · Create at least two maps that you want to connect. · Once one
Tutorials/Mapping
It's helpful to keep track of the relative positions of the maps. A useful method of displaying the map set is to craft 10 Item Frames and place them on a wall