Terraria: How to Make a Chest

February 12, 2022 - 4 min read

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Chests can save you from the trouble of losing items and coins in Terraria. In a world where enemies lurk day and night, it’s never been more important to have storage at hand.

Chest Functions in Terraria

A player sorting the items in a Chest in Terraria.

A Chest is a stationary type of Storage furniture that holds up to 40 items. You can’t move it unless it’s empty. You can move an empty Chest using a Pickaxe or Drill. Below is a list of Chest functions that can be useful in your journey:

Loot All: Moves all items from the Chest to your inventory.
Deposit All: Moves all items from your inventory to the Chest.
Quick Stack: Detects similar items between your inventory and the Chest and stacks it all in the Chest.
Restock: Detects similar items between your inventory and the Chest and stacks it all in your inventory.
Sort Items: Sorts items in the Chest by rarity alphabetically.
Renaming: Allows you to make a New Name of up to 20 characters for the chest. However, in consoles, you have to go offline to rename a chest.

The Different Types of Chests in Terraria

The Different Types of Chest in Terraria: Craftable, Natural, Trapped, Dead Man's Chest, and Mimics.

Craftable Chest

A type of chest that can be crafted. Each can be sold for 1 Silver Coin. The Dynasty Chest, Honey Chest, and Steampunk Chest, however, can be sold for 64 Copper Coin. Almost all Craftable Chests require 8 types of Block and 2 Iron Bar, except the Crystal Chest which requires 20 Crystal Block and 2 Iron Bar.

Here’s a complete list of each craftable Chest type, its recipe, and the required crafting station.

Chest Type	Ingredients	Crafting Station
Bamboo Chest	Bamboo: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Work Bench
Blue Dungeon Chest	Blue Brick: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Work Bench
Boreal Wood Chest	Boreal Wood: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Work Bench
Cactus Chest	Cactus: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Work Bench
Chest	Wood: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Work Bench
Crystal Chest	Crystal Block: 20 Any Iron Bar: 2	Work Bench
Dynasty Chest	Dynasty Wood: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Work Bench
Ebonwood Chest	Ebonwood: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Work Bench
Granite Chest	Smooth Granite Block: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Work Bench
Green Dungeon Chest	Green Brick: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Work Bench
Marble Chest	Smooth Marble Block: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Work Bench
Martian Chest	Martian Conduit Plating: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Work Bench
Meteorite Chest	Meteorite Brick: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Work Bench
Mushroom Chest	Glowing Mushroom: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Work Bench
Obsidian Chest	Obsidian: 6 Hellstone: 2 Any Iron Bar: 2	Work Bench
Palm Wood Chest	Palm Wood: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Work Bench
Pearlwood Chest	Pearlwood: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Work Bench
Pink Dungeon Chest	Pink Brick: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Work Bench
Pumpkin Chest	Pumpkin: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Work Bench
Rich Mahogany Chest	Rich Mahogany: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Work Bench
Sandstone Chest	Smooth Sandstone: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Work Bench
Shadewood Chest	Shadewood: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Work Bench
Spider Chest	Spider Nest Block: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Work Bench
Spooky Chest	Spooky Wood: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Work Bench
Nebula Chest	Nebula Brick: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Ancient Manipulator
Solar Chest	Solar Brick: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Ancient Manipulator
Stardust Chest	Stardust Brick: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Ancient Manipulator
Vortex Chest	Vortex Brick: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Ancient Manipulator
Bone Chest	Bone: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Bone Welder
Lesion Chest	Lesion Block: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Decay Chamber
Flesh Chest	Flesh Block: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Flesh Cloning Vat
Glass Chest	Glass: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Glass Kiln
Honey Chest	Honey Block: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Honey Dispenser
Frozen Chest	Ice Block: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Ice Machine
Lihzahrd Chest	Lihzahrd Brick: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Lihzahrd Furnace
Living Wood Chest	Wood: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Living Loom
Skyware Chest	Sunplate Block: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Sky Mill
Slime Chest	Slime Block: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Solidifier
Steampunk Chest	Cog: 8 Any Iron Bar: 2	Steampunk Boiler

Natural Chest

A type of Chest that can’t be crafted. A number of them are generated and placed in random places, such as Caves, Biomes, and Underground layers. Each naturally-occurring Chest contains a single ‘primary’ item that is rare, and also comes with various random common items.

Surface Loot: Weapons, Furniture, and Consumables (Okay Potions, Ammos, Bars, Coins, etc.)
Underground Loot: Unlocked Gold Chests, Accessories, Weapons, and Consumables (Good Potions, Bombs, Bars, etc.)
Cavern Loot: Unlocked Gold Chests, Accessories, Weapons, and Consumables (Great Potions, Ammos, Dynamites, Bars, etc.)
Dungeon Loot: Locked Gold Chests, Unique Weapons and Accessories, and Shadow Key
Pyramid Loot: Gold Chests and Unique Pharaoh items

Trapped Chest

A type of chest that has been converted into a Mechanism. It no longer stores anything but serves as a trigger to activate a trap, a sensor to open light sources and doors, or a signal to inform the player who made it.

You can convert any desired chest into a Trapped Chest with the following:

Ingredients: 1 Chest and 10 Wire, which can be purchased for 5 Silver from the Mechanic or obtained from naturally-occurring mechanisms in certain places, such as Underground, Dungeon, and Jungle Temple.
Crafting Station: Heavy Work Bench

Dead Man’s Chest

A naturally-generated Golden Trapped Chest that cannot be found in Underground Cabins. It contains Gold Chest loot but is rigged with traps that kill you when you open it.

To safely open a Dead Man’s Chest, you’ll have to find and break a pressure plate or a dart trap. Dig for all the explosives below the chest and leave none of it. Stand under the chest when opening it.

Mimics

A rare type of Hardmode enemy that appears to be a Chest. You can produce them by using the Chest Statue in pre-Hardmode worlds but they’ll only drop the Mimic Banner, no coins or items.

Crafting Your First Chest

Each chest in Terraria has their own crafting recipe. The easiest one to make is the Standard Chest, which only requires:

Ingredients: 8 Wood and 2 Iron Bar made from Iron or Lead.
Crafting Stations: Work Bench and Furnace

This example will show you how to craft your first Chest in Terraria.

Gather Wood

A player cutting down a tree using an axe in Terraria.

Select any Axe you have from the Hotbar. Find a tree, stand close to it, and chop it down. Continue until you get 8 Wood.

Gather Ore

A player found a bunch of Iron Ores in Terraria.

Depending on the world you’re in, you will either find an Iron Ore or Lead Ore. Don’t worry though, any of the two will do to make an Iron Bar. Similar to the Stone Block, you can find these Ores on the surface, Underground, and Cavern layers. It’s recommended to find it Underground and during the Day.

Unlike the Stone Block with its overall medium grey texture, an Iron Ore has a lighter shade of grey mixed with brown, while a Lead Ore has a darker shade of grey mixed with blue. They can be tricky to find and it can be dangerous to gather them at night, so bring along at least 15 Torch and plant them as you go along the path and get ready to fight some monsters lurking Underground.

When you find these Ores, use a Pickaxe to get 6 Iron/Lead Ore because it takes 3 Iron/Lead Ores to make 1 Iron Bar. Remember, you will need 2 Iron Bar to make a Chest.

Smelt Ore into Iron Bars

A player smelting Iron Ore to Iron Bar using a Furnace in Terraria.

Now that you have some Iron/Lead Ore in hand, you will need a Furnace to smelt it into an Iron Bar. Stand near the Furnace, open the Inventory, and find the Iron Bar icon in the Crafting Menu. Double-tap/click it to make one. Repeat until you have 2 Iron Bar.

Crafting Your First Chest in Terraria

Check if you have all the following ingredients: 8 Wood and 2 Iron Bar. Stand near your Work Bench, open the Inventory, and find the Chest icon in the Crafting Menu. Double-tap/click it to make a Chest.

Congratulations on your first chest!