This comes up often enough in Minecraft that it deserves a straight answer rather than a thread to scroll through.

Short answer

In most cases the straightforward approach works. The exceptions are specific and listed below.

Testing this yourself takes a few minutes and settles it definitively. Edge cases are genuinely rare, which is why the simple answer is usually the correct one. Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep.

When the usual advice fails

The accepted community answer is broadly right and wrong in a specific way that matters here. Most of the disagreement online comes from people describing different versions of Minecraft. The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice. The mechanic behind it is simpler than the discussion around it suggests.

It is worth separating what the game does from what players have concluded it does. Patch notes move numbers around constantly; the shape of the answer holds even when a specific value shifts. Nothing here depends on a setting you are unlikely to have.

What to do instead

Everything below is framed around the current state of Minecraft rather than a launch-week impression. It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different. If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over.

  • Revisit after a major patch if the behaviour changes.
  • Check which version any conflicting advice was written for.
  • Give a method one honest attempt before deciding it does not work.
  • Test it yourself where testing is cheap.

Why it works this way

Half the pages on this topic were written for a build that no longer exists, which is why they stop matching what you see. Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work. Treat anything stated without a version number as provisional. There is usually a fast way and a reliable way, and it is worth knowing which one you are choosing.

Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. Minecraft is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later.

The practical answer

Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over. None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of. What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it.

The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time. Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds.

Worth knowing alongside this

The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why. The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first. There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you.

Where people go wrong

  • Assuming a guide from an older season still describes the current version.
  • Rushing the last step, which is usually the one with the actual requirement in it.
  • Trusting a video thumbnail that promises a result the video never actually shows.
  • Grinding a method that was patched months ago because a thread still ranks well.

Minecraft FAQ

What is the short answer?

It is the paragraph near the top. Everything after it exists for the cases where that paragraph does not quite fit.

How long does this take?

Minutes if it goes cleanly, an evening if you hit the edge case in the caveats list. Neither is unusual.

Is this still accurate after the latest Minecraft update?

The method is; individual numbers may not be. If a value on your screen differs, trust the screen and keep the sequence.

Why do people disagree about this?

Mostly because they are describing different versions. Version drift explains the majority of contradictory advice about Minecraft.

That is the whole of it — if something here stops matching Minecraft, the game changed, not the method.