Ultimate Guide to Carving Pumpkins in Minecraft

As Halloween draws near, Minecraft enthusiasts are adding festive touches to their landscapes and carving pumpkins to embrace the seasonal spirit. To keep the frightening elements at bay, you can craft your own Jack-o’-lantern in the game and display them around your base or in various locations. The process of carving pumpkins in Minecraft is straightforward and requires minimal resources.

This guide will walk you through the steps to carve a pumpkin in line with the festive vibe.

Steps to Carve Pumpkins in Minecraft

Carving pumpkins in Minecraft is a simple task. These aesthetically pleasing carved pumpkins can enhance your surroundings or contribute a spooky element for the Halloween festivities. Here’s what you’ll need:

1 Pumpkin
1 Pair of Shears

Crafting Shears using iron ingots (Image via Mojang Studios)

If you don’t have Shears at hand, you can easily create them using two Iron ingots. Simply take them to a crafting table and arrange them according to the provided layout to make your Shears. With that, you’re all set to carve your pumpkin!

To carve a pumpkin, follow these steps:

Finding pumpkins in Minecraft — Finding pumpkins in the wild (Image via Mojang Studios)

Locate a pumpkin plant in your world. Pumpkins typically thrive in flat and jungle biomes like Plains, Windswept Hills, and Forests. Their distinctive orange color makes them easy to spot.

Using shears on a pumpkin — Using shears to carve the pumpkin (Image via Mojang Studios)

Once you’ve found a pumpkin, equip your Shears from the quick access bar. Aim at the center of the pumpkin and use your action button to carve it. PC players can right-click the mouse, while Xbox and PlayStation users can press LT and L2, respectively, if they use the default control settings.

Pumpkin seeds dropped after carving — Four seeds will drop when you carve the pumpkin (Image via Mojang Studios)

After carving, four pumpkin seeds will be released. Keep these seeds as they can be used to cultivate new pumpkin crops, saving you from the effort of searching for more pumpkins.

Carved pumpkin ready for collection — Collecting the carved pumpkin (Image via Mojang Studios)

Now, hold the attack button on the carved pumpkin and let it shatter, leaving a small floating pumpkin that you can collect. You can position this carved pumpkin anywhere you like, enhancing your Minecraft world with a Halloween-themed ambiance.

Uses of Carved Pumpkins in Minecraft

Functional Applications

Carved pumpkins protect against endermen (Image via Mojang Studios)

When worn, a carved pumpkin acts as a unique helmet that adds to your character’s spooky look. Although it doesn’t provide any armor or defense stats, wearing it can prevent endermen from becoming hostile toward you, as well as protect against the new creaking mobs introduced in the latest game update.

Additionally, carved pumpkins are essential for creating snow golems and iron golems, which are helpful neutral mobs that can defend your village from hostile creatures.

You can also add carved pumpkins to a composter, where they have a chance of increasing the compost level by up to 65%.

Decorative Uses

Carved pumpkins can serve as eerie decorations throughout your world or can be further transformed into glowing Jack-o’-lanterns. Here’s what you need for that:

Carved Pumpkin
Torch

Crafting a torch for the Jack-o'-lantern — Crafting a torch for the Jack-o’-lantern (Image via Mojang Studios)

If you don’t have a torch, you can craft one by combining coal and a stick in the right pattern. With these two materials ready, you can move on to create a Jack-o’-lantern:

Arranging materials to make a Jack-o'-lantern — Arranging materials to make a Jack-o’-lantern (Image via Mojang Studios)

Go to the crafting table and arrange the carved pumpkin along with the torch as shown to create your Jack-o’-lantern. Once you’ve crafted it, add it to your inventory and place it wherever you like.

Jack-o-lanterns light up the night — Jack-o-lanterns illuminating the night (Image via Mojang Studios)

Jack-o’-lanterns and carved pumpkins make fantastic decorations as Halloween approaches, enhancing the festivities and setting the mood for the eerie Pale Garden.

Frequently Asked Questions about Carved Pumpkins in Minecraft

Can you find carved pumpkins in the wild?

Carved pumpkins are not found in the wild (Image via Mojang Studios)

Unfortunately, carved pumpkins do not exist in the wild. The only method to obtain them is by carving pumpkins using Shears. However, Jack-o’-lanterns can occasionally be discovered in the wild.

Can the carved pumpkin be used as a helmet?

Using carved pumpkins functionally as helmets — Using carved pumpkins as helmets (Image via Mojang Studios)

Yes, carved pumpkins can be worn as helmets to keep endermen from getting angry or to prevent encounters with the new creaking mob. However, they do not offer any armor benefits.