Decorated Pots in Minecraft are new cartable pots that you can use to bring your Minecraft world to life. Often the best Minecraft builds have small details that show that spaces are actually being used, and adding these decorated pots from archaeology is one of the best ways to do this!
While some modpacks have naturally introduced urns to the game, these decorated pots are not found naturally in the game. Instead, players must craft them using bricks or the new pottery sherds, each with a unique pattern and story. After all, that’s what the Trails and Tales update is all about.
Minecraft Decorated Pottery Sherds
As mentioned above, pottery sherds craft decorated pots in Minecraft. You’ll need four sherds to complete a pot and create a unique pattern. Use 4 of the same sherds to create a uniform pattern, or use 4 different ones to create a pot with different ornamental sides.
And yes, we checked, it’s sherds not shards. The term sherd is specifically used in archaeology to refer to a broken piece of pottery.
There are technically two ways to get pottery sherds in your game:
- By brushing suspicious sand and gravel.
- By breaking an existing decorated pot into its 4 sherds.
Brushing
Pottery sherds can be obtained by brushing suspicious sand or gravel found in ruins, desert pyramids, and wells. The chance of a sherd dropping ranges from 14% to 42.8%, with the likelihood of a sherd dropping being the most at a desert well. If you think about it, this makes sense, considering that these ancient civilizations probably stored water in these pots – adding to your world’s Minecraft lore.
Breaking Decorated Pots
Breaking decorated pots with your bare hands or using Silk Touch will cause the pot to drop as a block. However, if you use any tool to break the pot, it will drop into four sherds. These sherds can then be rearranged to create a different pattern. However, you’ll need sherds to create decorated pots, so you’ll have to go brushing regardless.
Minecraft Decorated Pots Crafting Recipe
For the Minecraft decorated pots recipe, you’ll need the following items and blocks:
- A brush to obtain your sherds
- 4 pottery sherds OR 4 clay bricks
- A crafting table
Go Exploring
The first step is to go exploring to find pottery sherds or clay blocks. Go ahead and locate one of the following generated structures:
- Ocean Ruins
- Trail Ruins
- Desert Temple
- Desert Well
Then, equip your brush and start clearing some suspicious gravel or sand. Soon enough, you’ll have collected 4 pottery sherds.
Alternatively, you can find clay blocks in river biomes or lush caves and bake them in a furnace to create bricks. These steps will give you the base items to craft your decorated pots.
Set Up Your Crafting Table
Next, head to your crafting table and follow the recipe below to craft your decorated pot:
Empty – Sherd – Empty
Sherd – Empty – Sherd
Empty – Sherd – Empty
Placing the sherds in different slots will create the arrangement of symbols on your pot. That’s why breaking the pot into its sherds is essential – it allows you to rearrange the symbols to create new stories.
All Minecraft Decorated Pot Patterns
There are 20 unique sherds, each with a drop chance and location. We’ve compiled a table displaying all this info to make things easier. This way, you can hunt for specific sherds to complete your desired patterns.
Java Edition
| Sherd Name | Symbol | Location | Drop Chance (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angler | Fishing Rod | Warm Ocean Ruins | 6.7% |
| Archer | Bow and Arrow | Desert Temple | 12.5% |
| Arms Up | Person with Hands in the Air | Desert Well | 25% |
| Blade | Sword | Cold Ocean Ruins | 6.7% |
| Brewer | Potion | Desert Well | 25% |
| Burn | Fire | Trail Ruins | 8.3% |
| Danger | Creeper | Trail Ruins | 8.3% |
| Explorer | Map | Cold Ocean Ruins | 6.7% |
| Friend | Villager | Trail Ruins | 8.3% |
| Heart | Heart | Trail Ruins | 8.3% |
| Heartbreak | Broken Heart | Trail Ruins | 8.3% |
| Howl | Wolf | Trail Ruins | 8.3% |
| Miner | Pickaxe | Desert Temple | 12.5% |
| Mourner | Warden | Cold Ocean Ruins | 6.7% |
| Plenty | Treasure Chest | Cold Ocean Ruins | 6.7% |
| Prize | Diamond | Desert Temple | 12.5% |
| Sheaf | Wheat | Trail Ruins | 8.3% |
| Shelter | Tree | Warm Ocean Ruins | 6.7% |
| Skull | Skeleton Skull | Desert Temple | 12.5% |
| Snort | Sniffer | Warm Ocean Ruins | 6.7% |
If you haven’t heard of the Sniffer yet – the latest mob added to the Trails and Tales update – Check out our article here to learn more!
Bedrock Edition
| Sherd Name | Symbol | Location | Drop Chance (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angler | Fishing Rod | Warm Ocean Ruins | 7.1% |
| Archer | Bow and Arrow | Desert Temple | 12.5% |
| Arms Up | Person with Hands in the Air | Desert Well | 25% |
| Blade | Sword | Cold Ocean Ruins | 6.7% |
| Brewer | Potion | Desert Well | 25% |
| Burn | Fire | Trail Ruins | 8.3% |
| Danger | Creeper | Trail Ruins | 8.3% |
| Explorer | Map | Cold Ocean Ruins | 6.7% |
| Friend | Villager | Trail Ruins | 8.3% |
| Heart | Heart | Trail Ruins | 8.3% |
| Heartbreak | Broken Heart | Trail Ruins | 8.3% |
| Howl | Wolf | Trail Ruins | 8.3% |
| Miner | Pickaxe | Desert Temple | 12.5% |
| Mourner | Warden | Cold Ocean Ruins | 6.7% |
| Plenty | Treasure Chest | Cold Ocean Ruins | 12.5% |
| Prize | Diamond | Desert Temple | 6.7% |
| Sheaf | Wheat | Trail Ruins | 8.3% |
| Shelter | Tree | Warm Ocean Ruins | 7.1% |
| Skull | Skeleton Skull | Desert Temple | 12.5% |
| Snort | Sniffer | Warm Ocean Ruins | 7.1% |
Final Thoughts
Since the Trails and Tales update is all about players capturing their unique stories, adding decorated pots to Minecraft feels natural. With 20 unique patterns, players can tell their stories through four symbols displayed on a pot. Whether defeating a horde of skeletons with your enchanted crossbow or finding treasure while mining, it’s a perfect way to capture your tales in stone (or clay).
