If you’ve ever found yourself roaming a random Minecraft biome desperate to make your first map, craft a book for an enchanting table, or stack up on fireworks for elytra flights, you’ve probably wondered how to get paper in Minecraft without wasting hours of gameplay. It’s one of the most versatile mid-game items, and far easier to source than many new players assume, even if you spawn in a dry biome with no sugar cane in sight. I’ve had multiple playthroughs where I spawned in a tundra biome with no sugar cane for thousands of blocks, so I know how frustrating it can be to hunt for this seemingly common item early on. This guide breaks down every reliable method, plus pro tips to farm it faster and make the most of every sheet you collect.
Core Method: How to Get Paper in Minecraft From Sugar Cane
The most consistent way to get paper is by crafting it from sugar cane, a common plant that spawns next to water blocks across almost all overworld biomes. You can find it growing along riverbanks, ocean shores, swamp edges, and even small ponds in desert and savanna biomes. To craft paper, simply place three pieces of sugar cane in a horizontal row on any 3x3 crafting grid, and you’ll get three sheets of paper in return.
Plant sugar cane on sand or dirt adjacent to water blocks to set up a basic farm, and only harvest the top two blocks of each plant when it grows to full height. Leaving the bottom block intact means the plant will regrow without you having to replant it every time, cutting down on farm maintenance significantly. Build an automatic sugar cane farm if you need bulk paper, as designs using observers, pistons, and hoppers will harvest and collect sugar cane for you while you’re off mining, exploring the nether, or building your base. A basic 8x8 automatic farm can produce over two stacks of sugar cane per hour, which translates to two stacks of paper for all your crafting needs.
That said, this method won’t work for players who spawn in dry, water-scarce biomes like tundra, badlands, or desert with no nearby water sources. If that’s your situation, skip to the alternative methods below to get your first few sheets of paper without waiting for sugar cane to spawn.
Alternative Ways to Get Paper Without Farming Sugar Cane
You don’t have to grow sugar cane to get paper, especially if you only need a few sheets for an early game map or book. There are multiple ways to find or earn paper in generated structures and from mob drops, many of which are faster than farming if you’re still in the first few days of a survival playthrough. Some of the most reliable sources include:
- Shipwreck supply and map chests: 70% and 45% spawn rate for 1-10 and 1-12 paper respectively, making shipwrecks the best early game source of paper
- Stronghold library chests: 89% chance to contain 2-7 paper per chest, perfect if you’re already hunting for the end portal to beat the ender dragon
- Apprentice-level cartographer villagers: their work chests often have 3-15 paper stashed inside, and you can trade emeralds for extra paper if you have extra to spare
- Witch drops: 12% chance to drop 0-6 paper when killed, a nice bonus if you already have a witch farm set up for potion ingredients and redstone items
Shipwreck supply chests have a 70% chance to contain 1-10 paper, so if you spot one along the shore or in shallow water early in your playthrough, prioritize looting it first. I’ve gotten enough paper for four full maps from a single shipwreck before, which saved me hours of hunting for sugar cane in a dry savanna spawn. Don’t break cartographer workstations in villages before looting their chests, most new players miss these hidden paper stashes entirely and leave free paper on the table.
Creative mode players can skip all farming and looting entirely, as paper is available directly in the creative inventory under the “items” tab. This is perfect if you’re building a decorative library, map room, or firework display and don’t want to waste time gathering resources.
Pro Tips for Farming Paper Fast in Bulk
If you need large quantities of paper for end game projects like 15 bookshelves for a max level enchanting table, a full set of map wall displays, or stacks of fireworks for elytra travel, you’ll want to optimize your farm to produce as much paper as possible with minimal effort. The first upgrade you should make to a basic sugar cane farm is adding an automatic collection system with hoppers leading to a chest, so you don’t have to run around collecting dropped sugar cane every time you visit your farm.
For players on multiplayer servers, you can add an auto-crafter to your farm to convert sugar cane straight into paper as it’s collected, so you never have to spend time manually crafting stacks of sugar cane into paper again. If you play on a server with limited farm space, a vertical sugar cane farm stacked 5 layers high will produce the same amount of sugar cane as a 5 times larger horizontal farm, saving you valuable space near your base.
If you already have a witch farm for glowstone dust, redstone, and potion ingredients, add a hopper filter to pull paper out of your collection chests automatically. You can easily get a stack of paper per hour from a well-built witch farm, which is a great way to get extra paper without dedicating space to a separate sugar cane farm. Just keep in mind that witch farms require more resources to build than basic sugar cane farms, so they’re better for mid to late game players.
Practical Uses for Paper in Minecraft
Paper is far more useful than many new players realize, and it’s a core ingredient for some of the most helpful items in the game. The most common use for paper is crafting maps, which let you track your exploration progress, mark important locations like your base, nether portal, or diamond veins, and build decorative map walls for your base. You can also use paper on a cartography table to expand, clone, or lock maps so they don’t update as you explore new areas.
Paper is also a key ingredient for crafting books, which require 3 pieces of paper and 1 piece of leather each. You’ll need 45 books to make 15 bookshelves for a max level enchanting table, which translates to 135 pieces of paper total, so you’ll want a steady supply of paper if you plan on enchanting your tools and armor. Paper is also used to craft firework rockets, which require 1 paper, 1 gunpowder, and optional dye or custom effects. Stacks of fireworks are essential for long distance elytra travel in the end and overworld, so many late game players keep a large paper farm running just for firework crafting.
You can also use paper to craft custom banner patterns, or trade it to cartographer villagers for emeralds, explorer maps to woodland mansions and ocean monuments, or even rare banner patterns. On multiplayer servers, paper is a highly tradable item, as many players don’t want to take the time to build their own sugar cane farms, so you can easily trade stacks of paper for diamonds, netherite scraps, enchanted books, or other rare resources.
At the end of the day, figuring out how to get paper in Minecraft doesn't have to be a frustrating chore, even if you spawn in a biome with no obvious sugar cane nearby. Start with looting nearby structures if you only need a few sheets for your first map, then build a small automatic sugar cane farm once you're ready to scale up for bookshelves or fireworks. You can even combine looting and farming to get paper faster if you’re in a hurry to build an enchanting table or start exploring with elytra. You'll never find yourself short of this versatile item again once you pick the method that fits your play style and current game stage.