Minecraft is mostly a game about survival, sure, but once you’ve got a roof over your head and a decent farm going, the silence starts to get a little... eerie. You know the feeling. That lonely wind blowing through the taiga or the repetitive clink-clink of your pickaxe against stone. You need tunes. You need a vibe. Honestly, figuring out how to make a jukebox in minecraft is basically the unofficial rite of passage that turns a "base" into a "home."
It’s not just a block. It’s a status symbol.
Back in the early days of Alpha, C418’s music was the only thing keeping us company. But the jukebox changed the game by letting players control the soundtrack. It’s one of the few items in the game that requires a diamond not for utility—like a pickaxe or a sword—but for pure, unadulterated aesthetic. It’s expensive. It’s loud. It’s perfect.
The Raw Materials: What You Actually Need
To get this done, you aren’t going to need a massive list of ingredients, but the ones you do need are specific. Forget about iron or gold. This is high-end gear.
First, you need eight wooden planks. Any wood works. Oak, spruce, warped wood from the Nether—it literally doesn't matter. The game doesn't care if you use dark oak for a "vintage" look; the jukebox always comes out looking like that classic brown wooden player with the brass-colored top.
The kicker? The diamond.
You need exactly one. In the current 1.21 and 1.22 versions of Minecraft, finding diamonds has changed a lot compared to the old "strip mine at Y-level 11" days. Now, you’re diving deep into the Deep Dark or searching through massive tuff-filled caves down at Y-59. If you’re playing on a server, spending a diamond on a jukebox is a total power move. It says, "I have so many diamonds that I’m using them to play 'Pigstep' while I sort my chests."
Crafting the Thing
Open your crafting table. Put the diamond right in the center slot. Surround it entirely with those wooden planks. That’s it.
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You’ve now traded a piece of the hardest substance in the digital world for a music box. If you’re on the Bedrock Edition or Java, the recipe remains identical. There’s no secret variation or "netherite jukebox" (though that would be cool).
Finding the Music Discs (The Real Challenge)
A jukebox without a disc is just a heavy, expensive decoration.
Music discs are where the real hunt begins. You can't craft them. You have to find them, and some are much rarer than others. The classic way to get them—and honestly the most frustrating—is the Creeper-Skeleton trick. You have to weaken a Creeper and then position yourself so a Skeleton’s arrow delivers the killing blow. If the Skeleton kills the Creeper, a random music disc drops.
It sounds easy. It isn't. You’ll probably blow up half your yard trying to get the timing right.
If you aren't into monster-manipulation, you have to go exploring.
- Dungeons and Mineshafts: You’ll often find "13" or "cat" in these chests. They are common.
- Ancient Cities: This is where you find "Otherside" or the terrifying "5," which you actually have to craft from fragments found in the Wardens' territory.
- Bastions: If you want "Pigstep" (the absolute best track, don't @ me), you have to brave a Piglin Bastion in the Nether. It’s a rare loot drop in the chests there.
- Trial Chambers: The newer "Precipice" disc can be found in Vaults.
Redstone and Jukeboxes: It's More Complex Than You Think
A lot of players just click the jukebox with a disc and call it a day. But if you want a real sound system, you have to look at how it interacts with Redstone.
Ever since the 1.19.4 and 1.20 updates, jukeboxes have become much more "functional" for builders. For one, you can now use a Hopper to automate the music. If you put a hopper on top of a jukebox, it will feed a disc into it. If you put a hopper underneath, it will pull the disc out once the song is finished.
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This is huge.
You can literally build a multi-disc CD changer. Think about that for a second. You could have a whole library of discs in a chest that rotate through the player automatically.
Comparator Signals
If you place a Redstone Comparator next to a jukebox, it actually outputs a signal strength based on which disc is playing. Each disc has a unique numerical value. For example:
- "13" outputs a strength of 1.
- "Cat" outputs a strength of 2.
- "Pigstep" outputs a strength of 13.
- "Otherside" outputs a strength of 14.
Redstone engineers use this to create "secret doors" that only open when a specific song is played. It’s some James Bond-level stuff. You play "Mellohi," the signal hits a specific length, triggers a piston, and your wall slides open.
Common Mistakes People Make
Don't be the person who loses their jukebox.
One thing people forget is that jukeboxes are not Note Blocks. Note blocks are cheap; they use redstone dust and planks. They play a single note when hit. Jukeboxes play full, multi-minute long compositions by C418 or Lena Raine.
Also, breaking a jukebox is risky if you don't use the right tool. Use an axe. If you use your fist, it takes forever. If you use a pickaxe, it’s slower than an axe but works. Just don't let a Creeper explode near it—while the jukebox itself might survive a distant blast, your rare "Otherside" disc might get deleted in the chaos.
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Another weird quirk? Allays love jukeboxes. If you have an Allay nearby and a jukebox is playing, the Allay will literally dance. If you’re trying to breed Allays (which involves giving them an Amethyst Shard while they dance), a jukebox isn't just a luxury—it's a mechanical necessity.
The Cultural Impact of the Jukebox
Why do we care so much about this one block?
Minecraft is a lonely game. Even on multiplayer servers, there’s a lot of downtime. The jukebox provides a sense of "place." When you walk into a base and "Wait" starts playing, it feels lived-in. It feels like someone owns this patch of land.
The music discs themselves have become lore items. Disc 11 and Disc 13 are famously creepy, containing sounds of someone running and coughing. It sparked a decade of creepypastas and YouTube theories. By making a jukebox, you're interacting with that history.
Getting Started with Your Sound System
If you’re ready to stop living in silence, here is the immediate path forward.
First, secure that diamond. Don't waste it on a shovel.
Once you have your jukebox, don't settle for "cat." Go find a Skeleton and a Creeper. Trap the Creeper in a 1x1 hole. Stand behind it and let the Skeleton do the dirty work. It might take five or ten tries, but eventually, you’ll get a disc that isn't a broken mess.
Place your jukebox in the corner of your main room, but leave the block above it empty so the "note" particles can rise. It just looks better that way. If you’re feeling fancy, put a trapdoor on the wall behind it to act as a "shelf" for your other discs.
Build the jukebox. Find the music. Actually listen to the work Lena Raine and C418 put into these tracks. It changes the entire atmosphere of your world from a survival grind to an actual experience.