You’re wandering through a birch forest, the sun is setting, and you realize you forgot the most basic decoration for your base. Or maybe you're trying to automate a massive iron farm and need that specific carved face to bring a Golem to life. Whatever the reason, figuring out how to make a pumpkin in minecraft isn't actually about "crafting" in the traditional sense. You don't just throw orange dye and a block of dirt into a 3x3 grid.
It's about finding them. Or growing them.
Honestly, most players get frustrated because they treat pumpkins like bread or torches. It doesn't work that way. In the current 1.21 and 1.22 updates, the mechanics have stayed relatively stable, but the locations where these orange gourds spawn can be a bit finicky if you aren't looking in the right spot. You’ve probably walked past a dozen of them without even realizing they were tucked behind a spruce tree.
Where to Find Your First Pumpkin
The game doesn't just hand these to you. You have to hunt.
Pumpkins spawn in almost any biome that has grass. It’s a bit random. You’ll find them in Plains, Extreme Hills, and even the eerie Roofed Forests where the shadows make everything look like a Creeper. But here is the kicker: they spawn in clusters. If you find one, you usually find five. They don’t care about the light level when they spawn initially, so you might even stumble across them in a dark, overgrown valley.
Taiga biomes are a gold mine for this. Something about the podzol and the ferns seems to make the RNG gods happy. Also, keep an eye out for Pillager Outposts. Those guys are weirdly obsessed with gardening. You can often find pumpkins piled up in their outdoor tents or inside chests. It's much easier to steal one from a bunch of angry Illagers than it is to wander the wilderness for three days.
Actually, check the villages too. Farmers love their crops. If you find a village with a dedicated farmer, there’s a high chance they have a pumpkin patch already growing. Just break the block. They won't even get mad, unlike when you try to open their chests.
Turning a Seed Into a Harvest
Finding a pumpkin is a one-time win. Growing them is a lifestyle.
If you want a steady supply for Pie or Jack o'Lanterns, you need seeds. You can get these by placing a single pumpkin block into your crafting interface. One block equals four seeds. Simple. But planting them is where people mess up.
Listen: pumpkin stems need an empty space next to them.
If you plant a seed on hydrated farmland and surround it with other crops, nothing will ever grow. The stem will reach full maturity—it looks like a little yellowish-orange squiggle—and then it just sits there. It's waiting for an adjacent grass, dirt, or farmland block to "spawn" the actual pumpkin. Most experienced players use a "lane" system. You plant a row of seeds, leave a row of dirt, then plant another row of seeds.
- Hydration matters: Farmland within four blocks of water keeps the stem growing fast.
- Light levels: Pumpkins need a light level of 9 or higher to grow. If your farm is underground, slap some torches down.
- Bone Meal: You can use bone meal to instantly grow the stem, but it won't instantly pop out the pumpkin. You still have to wait for the random tick to trigger the fruit production.
How to Make a Pumpkin in Minecraft Look Spooky
Once you have the block, it’s just a solid orange cube. It’s boring. To get that classic "Minecraft" look, you need Shears.
This is the part that changed a few years ago and still trips up veteran players returning from a long break. You used to just craft a Jack o'Lantern. Now, you have to "carve" the pumpkin while it's placed on the ground.
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Put the pumpkin down. Equip your Shears. Right-click (or use your secondary action button).
Pop.
The face appears, and four pumpkin seeds drop onto the ground as "scraps." Now you have a Carved Pumpkin. This is the version you can wear on your head to avoid making eye contact with Endermen. It’s also the version you need for Golems. If you take that Carved Pumpkin to a crafting table and add a Torch underneath it, you get a Jack o’Lantern. These are actually better than Torches because they work underwater.
The Snow Golem and Iron Golem Secret
You aren't just doing this for the aesthetic. You're doing it for the utility.
To make a Snow Golem, stack two Snow Blocks and top them with your Carved Pumpkin. Do not use a regular pumpkin. It won't work. For an Iron Golem, build a T-shape out of four Iron Blocks and place the Carved Pumpkin in the middle of the top.
Interestingly, the order matters. The pumpkin must be the last block you place. If you build the whole thing and then try to push a pumpkin onto it with a piston, or if the pumpkin was already there and you placed the iron underneath, nothing happens. It has to be that final "crowning" moment.
Trading and Efficiency
If you’re deep into the "Villager Trading" meta, pumpkins are basically emeralds.
Apprentice-level Farmers have a 40% chance of offering a trade where they give you an Emerald for six pumpkins. If you have a massive automated farm using Observers and Pistons, you can generate stacks of these things while you're AFK.
Wait, let's talk about that for a second. Why use Observers?
Because an Observer can "see" when a pumpkin grows. When the block appears, it updates the space. The Observer sends a redstone signal to a Piston, which smashes the pumpkin. The item drops into a hopper-minecart running underneath the dirt. It’s the peak of Minecraft efficiency. You never have to swing an axe again.
Common Misconceptions and Mistakes
I’ve seen people try to "craft" a pumpkin using orange wool and seeds. That’s a mod thing, not a vanilla thing. Don't waste your time.
Another big one: people think they can grow pumpkins on Sand. You can't. They need a "tilled" block for the seed and a solid "organic" block (dirt, grass, podzol, moss) for the fruit.
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Also, don't forget that Endermen can actually pick up pumpkins. If you’re wondering why your perfectly symmetrical pumpkin patch looks like a mess, a wandering Enderman probably stole one of your gourds at 3:00 AM. It happens to the best of us.
Beyond the Basics: Practical Next Steps
Now that you know the flow—find it in the wild, seed it, grow it with space to breathe, and shear it for the face—you’re ready to actually use them.
First, get your Shears ready. Iron isn't hard to find, and you only need two ingots. Head to a Taiga or Plains biome. If you’re struggling to find one, look for a shipwreck in the ocean. The "supply" chests in shipworks often carry a few pumpkins or at least some seeds to get you started.
Once you have your first harvest, don't eat it. You can't actually eat a raw pumpkin. Turn them into Pumpkin Pie using Sugar and an Egg. It's one of the better food sources in the game because the saturation is decent and the ingredients are all renewable.
Go out and find a village. Set up a 10x10 plot. Remember: Seed, gap, Seed, gap. In three or four in-game days, you’ll have more pumpkins than you know what to do with. Use them to light up the ocean floor or build a defensive line of Snow Golems around your house.
The most important thing is that empty space next to the stem. Give the pumpkin room to exist, and it will show up.
Your To-Do List for a Perfect Pumpkin Farm:
- Locate: Check Taiga biomes or Pillager Outposts first.
- Harvest: Use any tool (axes are fastest) to break the block.
- Seed: Put one pumpkin in your inventory crafting grid to get 4 seeds.
- Plant: Use a Hoe on grass near water. Leave the adjacent block as plain Dirt.
- Wait: Ensure the light level is at least 9.
- Carve: Use Shears on the placed block to unlock its Golem-making potential.