How To Make Black Dye In Minecraft? The Complete Guide In 2023

Black Dye In Minecraft

The color scheme of any Minecraft map is quite monotonous. However, you can add some color to it by using some dyes. Black dye is the most versatile dye in the game, as you can use it for so many different purposes. But do you know how to make black dye in Minecraft?

You can make black dye by placing an ink sac or a wither rose on your crafting table. Besides, you can also craft black dye by collecting ink sacs by killing a squid. If there is a wandering trader on your map, you can also trade black dye for emeralds.

Besides, you can also get black dye from chests and loots. However, these are not all the ways to get black dye in Minecraft. But, before we dive into the recipes, let’s understand the actual usage of black dye in Minecraft first.

Where Do You Get Black Dye In Minecraft?

Once you know about all the uses of black dye, you should now concentrate on getting it. And there are three ways to try if you don’t know how to get black dye in Minecraft, which are as follows.

By Trading 

Get Black Dye By Trading

If you want to know how to get black dye in Minecraft without squids, you can easily trade with villagers to get one. You can simply trace any wandering trader and trade black dye for emeralds. However, it is not easy to find a trader having black dye.

You can spot a wandering trader with black dye near your library or outpost. Besides, you can also trade your ink sacks for black dyes with librarians.

From Wither Roses

Get Black dye From Wither Roses

If you can’t easily find any wandering trader, or if your librarian doesn’t have any black dye to trade, you can then craft a black dye using wither roses. You can find these roses on almost every map in the forest, jungle, or garden biomes.

Once you spot any wither rose, you can simply collect it by right-clicking on it. And then, you should place the rose on your crafting table in the correct order to get the black dye.

From Squids

Get Black Dye From Squids

Like in the real world, squids in Minecraft also eject black dye when they feel threatened. And you can collect it directly. However, you need to first identify a deep waterbody on your map to get started. You need to then kill a swimming squid to get the ink sac from it.

Get Black Dye From Ink sac

You can then simply place the ink sac in your crafting table in the proper order to make black dye. Besides, you can also collect black dye from various structures in Minecraft, such as temples, huts, and forests.

How to Get Ink Sacs In Minecraft?

You must have already understood how to make black dye in Minecraft using an ink sac. However, ink sacs are not easy to get in this game, and you can only get them as a drop by killing a squid. Each squid you hunt in the water will give you up to 3 ink sacs at once.

Get Ink Sacs In Minecraft By killing squid

If you don’t have any squid in your water biomes, you can then also trade ink sacs for emeralds with wandering traders on your map. Each of these traders will take one emerald and will give you three ink sacs in return. However, there is very little chance that any trader will agree to trade with you.

Alternatively, you can also get ink sacs while fishing. If you are lucky enough, you can get up to 10 ink sacs at once, although there is just a 0.1% chance of that. Besides, there is a 40% chance that you’ll get up to 3 ink sacs from any chest kept in strongholds.

How to Get Wither Roses In Minecraft?

Besides ink sacs, you can also craft black dye using wither roses. However, these roses are difficult to get and lesser in number than general roses. You need to take a harder route to collect these roses from your map. But using a wither rose will yield 1 black dye on your crafting table.

Wither Roses In Minecraft

A wither rose will only appear if any wither kills a mob on your map. So, you need first to summon a wither to get these roses. But beware, withers can really create havoc on your map. Besides, you can only collect the items necessary to summon a wither from the Nether world, which is quite a dangerous place.

How To Make Black Dye In Minecraft?

Once you have an ink sac or a wither rose in your inventory, it is now time to how to make black dye. However, you can easily craft black dye using your crafting table. And the exact process is as follows.

  • Step 1 – Open Your Crafting Table: You need to first open your crafting table that has a 3×3 grid on it. However, your crafting table must have at least level-1 to enable the crafting process of black dye.
Open the Crafting Table wooden trapdoor
  • Step 2 – Add Items To Your Crafting Table: Once you open your crafting table, you need to place either an ink sac or a wither rose in the first box of the first row. If you place the item in the exact order, a black dye will appear in the right-side box.
Get Black Dye From Ink sac
  • Step 3 – Move The Black Dye To Your Inventory: You can simply click on the black dye to collect it and move it to your inventory for future uses.
Move The Black Dye To Your Inventory

You must place the ink sac or the wither rose in the exact box we have discussed above. Altering the arrangement of these items in your crafting table will yield different items but not black dye.

How To Get Black Dye Using Commands In Minecraft?

You must have already understood that neither ink sac nor wither rose is easy to get in Minecraft, although they are absolutely needed to craft black dye in the game. And the chance of getting black dye directly while fishing or from a chest is extremely low.

Get Black Dye Using Commands In Minecraft

However, you can bypass the traditional route to get black dye easily while using command lines. But first, you need to enable the “Cheat Mode”; otherwise, the command lines will not work. And once you have enabled it, you can simply enter the “/give @p black_dye 1” command to get it. However, you shouldn’t use this trick while playing online.

How To Make A Black Dye Farm In Minecraft?

Sometimes, you may need large quantities of black dye in the game, mainly to color any structure. However, it is extremely difficult to find individual squids and then kill them to collect the ink sac. But now, you can make a Minecraft black dye farm to ensure a steady supply of ink sacs.

Ingredients

You need to craft, collect, or find six items in exact quantities to make a black dye farm. And the ingredients are as follows.

Black Dye Farm Making Ingredients
  • Building Blocks: 64 pieces
  • Iron Buckets: 2 pieces
  • Chest: 6 pieces
  • Hoppers: 12 pieces
  • Flint and Steel: 1 Piece
  • Obsidian Blocks

You also need a couple of sponges to remove excess water from the area where you want to set up your black farm.

Procedure

  • Step 1 – Locate A River Biome: You can only make a black dye farm in deep water, such as a river biome. However, you must allocate at least a 21×5 block area in the river.
Locate A River Biome
  • Step 2 – Build A Boundary: Once you allocate an area in the river biome, you need to make a boundary using 64 building blocks. You must also clear all the excess water inside the boundary by using sponges.
  • Step 3 – Make A Portal: You should now make a portal to let squids enter your farm. And to do that, you need to just make a hole and start building a portal from that spot. You can fill the gaps between the portals while using glass blocks. And once completed, you must fill up the portal with water using buckets.
Make A Portal in river biome
  • Step 4 – Build A Tunnel: Once you have successfully made the portal, you should also make a tunnel to enter your automated black dye farm. And when squids start to enter your farm, let them grow without any disturbance.
Build a Tunnel for Black Dye Farm
  • Step 5 – Collect Ink Sac: You must keep an eye on your automated black dye farm to know if the squids have reached their full size. If they reach adulthood, you can then kill any squid from your farm to collect ink sacs.
Collect Ink Sac from black dye farm

Besides a black dye farm, you can also set up a lava pool to have an infinite lava supply. But, if you don’t know how to build one, follow our step-by-step guide about making infinite lava in Minecraft, both Java and Bedrock editions.

Minecraft Squid Farm | 6000+ Inc Sac per Hour | 1.18 - 1.19+

What Are The Usages Of Black Dye In Minecraft?

It is not all to know how to make black dye in Minecraft, as you must know about its uses. Otherwise, it will remain idle in your inventory even after having it. There are several uses of black dye in Minecraft, some of which are as follows.

  • If you apply black dye to sheep, you can shear 1 to 3 blocks of black wool from each one of them.You can color wool, leather armor, terracotta, glass, and even beds with black dye.You can apply it to tamed cats and wolves by dyeing their collars in black color.A black dye can be combined with gunpowder to make a firework star.

    Besides, you can combine the firework star with black dye again to create a color fading effect.You can mix the black dye with gravel and sand to make concrete.You can dye water kept in a cauldron using black dye (it only works in the Bedrock and Education editions).A black dye can be used to draw patterns on any banner placed on your map.

Besides black dye, you must also know about the right techniques to make a campfire. But, if you don’t know how to do it correctly, follow our comprehensive guide on how to make a campfire in Minecraft in both Java and Bedrock editions.

FAQs

What gives black dye in Minecraft?

Nothing will give you black dye directly in Minecraft. Instead, you need to collect either ink sacs or wither roses to craft black dye using your crafting table. Ink sacs can be collected by killing a squid or by trading with a wandering trader. And you can collect a wither rose every time a wither kills a mob on your map.

Why can’t I make black dye in Minecraft?

If you are unable to craft black dye while having ink sacs or whither roses, the problem should lie in the arrangement on your crafting table. You must place an ink sac or a wither rose in the first box of the first row and first column on your crafting table. Otherwise, you will not get the black dye.

How do you get ink sacs in Minecraft?

You can get ink sacs by killing squids in any water biome in Minecraft. If you kill a squad with a normal weapon, it will drop between 1 and 3 ink sacs at once. And if you kill it with a weapon having looting enchantment, a single squid can drop up to 6 ink sacs. Besides, you can also trade three ink sacs for an emerald from any wandering traders.

How do you get ink sacs in Minecraft without squid?

You can trade ink sacs with any wandering villagers on your map. Besides, you can also get it from chests kept in strongholds, although the chances are significantly less. Moreover, you can also get up to 10 ink sacs at once as junk while fishing, but the chances are extremely steep.

Conclusion

It is quite challenging to make black dye in the survival mode, as the ingredients are extremely difficult to find. So, whenever it is possible, collect as many wither roses and ink sacs as possible to make black dye in ample quantity. Besides, you should always trade with wandering traders whenever there is a chance to stop your inventory.

So, that’s all that you need to know about how to make black dye in Minecraft. But, if you think we have missed any method, or if you know about any alternative method to make black dye, don’t forget to drop your suggestions and feedback in the comment box below.