Easily one of the most useful items in Minecraft is the compass. Crafting one will point to your world spawn point, helping out if you find yourself lost during your adventures in the survival game.
However, compasses become obsolete if your base isn't anywhere near the world spawn point. Sure, you can use Minecraft console commands to change the spawn point if you're the Minecraft server owner, or have admin permissions, but if that does not apply to you, you'll want to learn about how lodestones can alter the direction a compass points. That's where we come in.
A lodestone in the overworld
Lodestones alter the place that your compass points to. It can also be used in the Nether, the End, and the overworld, whereas compasses only usually work in the overworld. Lodestones in the real world are naturally-occurring magnets, and rare to find.
You can find lodestones in chests in bastion remnants, but you can also craft them. To create your own, place one iron ingot in the center of your crafting table, surrounded by chiseled stone bricks. It used to be more expensive to craft a lodestone, as instead of one iron ingot, a netherite ingot was required.
Once you have your lodestone block, place it on the ground where you want the compass to point towards, take out your compass, and use it on the block. The compass will get the same sheen as enchanted armor gets, so you'll know whether it's worked or not.
If the lodestone is broken or in a different dimension than the compass, the compass will randomly spin. If the lodestone is destroyed while its paired compass is in a chest or storage item, then the compass will not register that the lodestone is destroyed until it is retrieved. Placing a lodestone back in the exact place as the original lodestone will prevent unpairing in this situation.
For more tips and hints, visit our Minecraft guides hub.
Source
However, compasses become obsolete if your base isn't anywhere near the world spawn point. Sure, you can use Minecraft console commands to change the spawn point if you're the Minecraft server owner, or have admin permissions, but if that does not apply to you, you'll want to learn about how lodestones can alter the direction a compass points. That's where we come in.
A lodestone in the overworld
Lodestones alter the place that your compass points to. It can also be used in the Nether, the End, and the overworld, whereas compasses only usually work in the overworld. Lodestones in the real world are naturally-occurring magnets, and rare to find.
How to find a lodestone
You can find lodestones in chests in bastion remnants, but you can also craft them. To create your own, place one iron ingot in the center of your crafting table, surrounded by chiseled stone bricks. It used to be more expensive to craft a lodestone, as instead of one iron ingot, a netherite ingot was required.
How to use a lodestone
Once you have your lodestone block, place it on the ground where you want the compass to point towards, take out your compass, and use it on the block. The compass will get the same sheen as enchanted armor gets, so you'll know whether it's worked or not.
If the lodestone is broken or in a different dimension than the compass, the compass will randomly spin. If the lodestone is destroyed while its paired compass is in a chest or storage item, then the compass will not register that the lodestone is destroyed until it is retrieved. Placing a lodestone back in the exact place as the original lodestone will prevent unpairing in this situation.
For more tips and hints, visit our Minecraft guides hub.
Source