Minecraft – What Does the Recovery Compass Do? How to Make and Use It

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The Minecraft 1.19: The Wild Update is already out for a while, and it adds many features as well as a new structure called the ancient city.

You can find several new blocks and the strongest boss of the game, the Warden.

Recommended Read: How Long Is the Day & Night Cycle in Minecraft?

Within the update, there is one item that attracts the attention of many Minecrafters, the Recovery Compass!

Unlike a normal compass, which points to the world spawn, a recovery compass point to the player’s latest death location. Now you don’t need to worry about your items after dying in a dark cave far away!


Table of contents


What Does the Recovery Compass Do?

There are two conditions for the recovery compass to work. Otherwise, the clock in the compass will spin randomly.

  1. The player holds it must die before. Or at least has a previous death location.
  2. The current dimension of the player must be the same as the dimension the player died in. For example, if you die in the Nether and use the recovery compass in the Overworld, it will spin crazily! Unless you enter the Nether again.
Minecraft Recovery Compass in Desert

To use a recovery compass, simply place it in your hot bar and choose the correct slot. If you see the main character holds it in his hand, you’re doing things right! Now you just need to take a look at the cyan pointer in the compass and follow it.

Minecraft Recovery Compass dropped

Remember that the recovery compass will be dropped from the player’s inventory if you die, just like other items. This makes using it will be a little bit hard, since you have to store additional compasses in your respawn point.


How to Make a Recovery Compass in Minecraft?

  1. Obtain a Compass

A normal compass can be crafted by using 4 iron ingots and 1 Redstone dust. Both can be mined underground quite easily. When you’ve found some iron and Redstone ores, mine them with your pickaxe to get raw iron and Redstone dust. You can then smelt the raw iron in the furnace to get iron ingots.

Minecraft Compass Recipe

Then you will need a crafting table, put the Redstone dust in the middle grid, and place 4 iron ingots following the recipe above.

  1. Obtain 8 Echo Shards
Minecraft Echo Shard in nether chest

Echo Shard is a new item in Minecraft 1.19 update and can only be found in chests spawn in the ancient city structure.

Each chest in the city has a 29.8% chance of containing 1-3 echo shards. So good luck finding all 8!

  1. Make a Recovery Compass
Minecraft Recovery Compass Recipe

When you have 1 compass and 8 echo shards, right-click a crafting table and put the compass in the center grid.

Then fill the rest using echo shards to craft 1 Recovery Compass.


Frequently Asked Questions

How do you use the recovery compass?

You don’t need to right-click the recovery compass or anything to actually use it. Instead, place it in your hot bar and choose it. Then follow the cyan pointer. Simple, right?

How does the new compass work in Minecraft?

The new recovery compass works exactly like a normal compass in Minecraft. But instead of pointing to the world spawn, the new compass point to your last death location.

Does the recovery compass drop on death?

Yes, the recovery compass will drop on death. Unless you turn on the KeepInventory game rule.


That’s everything you need to know about the Recovery Compass in Minecraft!

Have any input or suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.

Binh Tran

As a game writer, my goal is to craft engaging, informative, and concise articles. Whether it's diving into the latest gaming trends or writing game guides, I'm always excited to share my insights with others.

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