How to Use a Lodestone

Quick answer

• Craft a Lodestone from 8 chiseled stone bricks and 1 iron ingot.
• Use a Compass on it. The compass now points to that lodestone.
• It works in the Nether and the End, where normal compasses spin.

A normal compass only points to world spawn, and it spins uselessly in the Nether. A lodestone compass points wherever you want.

Waypoint ManagerSave Minecraft waypoints across your worlds→

Making a lodestone

The recipe is 8 chiseled stone bricks around 1 iron ingot. It used to need a netherite ingot, but newer versions made it cheaper (Java 1.21.5 and Bedrock 1.21.60).

You can also find lodestones in bastion remnant and ruined portal chests.

Linking a compass

1. Place the lodestone at your base, portal or anywhere you want to find again.
2. Use a compass on it. The compass gets an enchanted shine.
3. The compass now points to the lodestone, as long as you're in the same dimension.

When it stops working

• If the lodestone is broken, the compass spins randomly.
• If you're in a different dimension from the lodestone, it spins too.

Cheat sheet

• Lodestone: 8 chiseled stone bricks + 1 iron ingot
• Use a compass on it to link
• Works in the Nether and the End
• Breaking the lodestone breaks the link

Nether Portal CalculatorConvert Minecraft Overworld coordinates to Nether coordinates and back, so your portals link to the right place every time→