Left image is a ladder being crafted with 7 sticks and the right image is a ladder on the side of a wooden wall.

How to Make a Ladder in Minecraft


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Reyadh is a writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction who loves to play video games full of monsters and magic. When he's not scribing unique and unrelenting speculative fiction or slaying demons in virtual worlds, he is writing strategy guides to help others reach their gaming goals.

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You can make a Ladder in Minecraft by only using a single type of basic resource. This means that Ladders are always a cheap and easy way to vertically travel to and from your destination.

Table Of Contents

    What You Need to Make a Ladder

    Using 7 sticks to make a ladder.

    To make a Ladder, you’ll need to place 7 Sticks onto a Crafting Table. Fill every slot with Sticks except the top-middle slot and the bottom-middle slot. If done correctly, this crafting recipe of Sticks should look like the letter “H”. By using this crafting recipe, you can turn 7 Sticks into 3 Ladders. Due to the relatively generous crafting ratio, you can make many Ladders for very little cost.

    How to Get Sticks

    There are a ton of ways for you to get Sticks in Minecraft. Firstly, you can craft them from either Wood Planks or Bamboo shoots. Another way to get a lot of Sticks is to break Leaf blocks. You can even find Sticks as loot in the Chests of various naturally-generated structures, in trades with Villagers, and more. If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, you can even try to farm Sticks from Witches, as these mobs can potentially drop some when defeated.

    How to Get Ladders Without Crafting Them

    While exploring, you can come across many structures that naturally possess Ladders. These locations are usually those with mobs that use them, however, there are plenty of exceptions. When collecting Ladders, be sure to work backward so that you don’t accidentally strand yourself. Here’s a list of the different kinds of structures that can have Ladder spawn in them:

    • Igloos (leading down into the basement)
    • End Ships (leading up to the crow’s nest)
    • Strongholds (in library rooms)
    • Villages (in houses and churches)
    • Woodland Mansions (in the rail rooms)

    What You Need to Know About Using Ladders

    A ladder on the side of a wooden wall. There is a flowering azalea leaf block next to it.

    It’s only possible for you to place Ladders on walls and other vertical surfaces. However, doing so will allow you to climb almost any vertical surface with ease. As such, Ladders can be great for reaching higher or lower areas safely and quickly.

    To climb a Ladder, you will need to walk up to one and move in its direction continuously. This continuous movement will cause you to move up the Ladder you are facing. If you stop moving toward the Ladder (climbing it), you will begin to slowly descend. At any time, if you look away from the Ladder you are climbing and move, you can jump off of a Ladder.

    To descend a Ladder from above, you will need to walk off of the block that you are standing on while facing the direction of the Ladder. This can be a bit tricky at first, so take your time as to not fall. Though, if you do, there’s a nice safety feature to Ladders that you can take advantage of to avoid getting hurt.

    Using Ladders to Prevent Fall Damage

    In addition to being able to climb up and down Ladders, you can also grab onto them mid-fall. For example, if you fall off of your base’s roof, you can potentially grab onto a Ladder as you are falling to avoid the fall damage. Although, you can still take fall damage from landing on top of a placed Ladder, as it has a hitbox like every other block. To use a Ladder to prevent fall damage, you need to grab onto it from the side.

    If you are already on a Ladder, you can sneak (crouch) to stay still on it without any fear of falling off. This is useful for when you want to stay in the same position on a Ladder to look around or to mine a block nearby. Though, keep in mind that it takes longer to mine blocks while on a Ladder, just as it does to mine blocks while you are underwater.

    Can Mobs Climb Ladders?

    Yes, mobs can climb Ladders. The ones that do so the most are Villagers, as you can see from them possibly climbing the Ladders in their Village houses. Though, these are the only mobs that are programmed to seek out a Ladder to navigate their environment.

    You may be alarmed to learn this, but Zombies, Creepers, and other hostile mobs can also climb Ladders. This is because a Ladder basically acts as a vertical floor that anything can traverse. Thankfully, no mobs other than Villagers will actively see out Ladders to get somewhere. The only time that a Zombie or another hostile mob can climb a Ladder is when they just so happen to be walking toward it. Their continuous movement in the direction of a Ladder will cause them to ascend it like how you would. As such, if you’re at the top of a Ladder and some hostile mobs see you from the base of the Ladder, they can potentially climb up to get you.