Flint is a pretty unassuming item in Minecraft. Players are likely to come by it at some point during their adventure, either by discovering it while mining or by finding it in random loot. However, for new players, it might be unclear what the purpose of this deceptively coal-looking item is.
Flint is actually one of the most important items in the game. Without it, many of the game's central features, such as accessing the Nether and having a bow and arrow for the Ender Dragon fight simply wouldn't be possible. That's why it's good to know where to find it and what to do with it.
Crafting With Flint
Flint is involved in three different crafting recipes. Two of these recipes are absolutely vital necessities for any Minecraft player, while the third one is a utility only Minecraft villagers will be able to use.
The Fletching Table is something few players will ever need to craft. Created with two flints on top of four planks of any types, it's an item that resembles the regular crafting table. If an unassigned villager steps into its vicinity, they'll adopt the fletcher job and frequently use the table to restock. As such, the Fletching Table is great for players making a villager farm and want to control what kind of jobs each villager has.
Arrows are an immensely important recipe for players to know. Vertically from top to bottom combine one flint, one stick and one feather to make four arrows. The bow and arrow is a staple weapon for any Minecraft player since it allows for sniping dangerous enemies from afar.
Those planning on defeating the Ender Dragon should definitely come back to this recipe and make use of it. It's one great reason to save any flint acquired during mining.
Finally, an even more important recipe is the combination of flint and steel. This is what's used to make fire in the game, so be careful when holding this item in your hand. Combine an iron ingot and flint in the crafting grid to make this simple tool.
Flint and steel becomes important when heading into the nether, since it allows the player to activate the Nether portal. Make sure to always have one on hand when entering the Nether, in case a Ghast's fire charge hits the portal and deactivates it.
Trading Flint
Flint isn't just used in crafting. If there's a good supply of it, it might be a good idea to find a fletcher in a nearby village and trade with them. Flint is fairly easy to come by, so it's generally a nice trade to make when wanting to get emeralds.
Leatherworkers, toolsmiths and weaponsmiths will also have trades with flint involved. These trades range from 26 flint to 30 flint for a single emerald.
Obtain Flint From Gravel
To actually get flint in the first place, the fastest and easiest way is to find some gravel. Gravel can be found in a variety of caves, but perhaps the easiest spot is to find water, like an ocean or river. These spots tend to always have at least a bit of gravel around. Lucky players might even come across gravel-coated mountain biomes as well.
If the player already has a Nether portal, the Nether is also a decent place for finding gravel in large chunks. The best spots are between Y=63 and Y=65, where it tends to be in abundance. Having a Fortune enchanted shovel ups the yield even more when mining gravel. At Fortune III for instance, each gravel block is 100% guaranteed to drop flint.
Find Flint From Villages
Large villages or villages that spawn with a fletcher have a high chance of having a bit of flint as loot inside. Head over to the closest village, which tend to be easiest to find in plains biomes or desert biomes.
Fletchers usually have a chest in their shops. Inside, there's roughly a 55% chance of finding up to three pieces of flint.
Find Flint Next To Ruined Portals
With the 1.16 Nether update, flint can also appear as loot in the chest located by a ruined portal. Since ruined portals can spawn pretty much anywhere, even in the Nether itself, they shouldn't be too hard to come across in most Minecraft worlds.
The chest by the portal has roughly a 46% chance of having up to four pieces of flint inside.