Minecraft Barrel vs Chest: Which Is the Best?

Minecraft is a building and survival game. This means that to be able to build – you’ll need items. To be able to survive – you’ll need items. You will need items overall, meaning storage is crucial.

That is why in this article we will be discussing the Minecraft barrel and the chest. Stay tuned to find out which one is better.

The Minecraft chest has been with us since day 1. All the veteran Minecraft players will tell you that it was the best storage tool ever. But then the barrel came about and things changed.

The Barrel came to Minecraft with the 1.14 patch which was released in April 2019. A day when the biggest Minecraft debate started – which is the new best storage in Minecraft?

Both of them offer something unique to the table but there can only be one! Let’s see the battle between the Minecraft barrel vs. the chest and find out which is the best.

Which is the best – Minecraft Barrel or Minecraft Chest?

The Minecraft Barrel is much better when it comes to storage in Minecraft. 

That is it! That is the answer that you are seeking for. There are many factors as to why the barrel is better and now with this list, I will explain why it is that you should use the Minecraft barrel over the Minecraft chest.

Crafting recipe – Minecraft Chest

For crafting a Minecraft chest you will need a total of:

• 8 wooden planks. 

You will need a Crafting Table to be able to craft a chest. You place the 8 wooden planks around in a square. When it comes to crafting a lot of Minecraft chests you will need a whole plethora of chests.

To be able to craft a total of 12 Minecraft chests you will need a total of 100 wooden planks. The wooden planks aren’t hard to come by in Minecraft. You will just need tree logs. And 1 log = 4 planks.

Crafting Recipe – Minecraft Barrel

For crafting a Minecraft barrel you will need a total of:

• 2 wooden slabs
• 6 sticks / 6 wooden planks(Java)

You will need a crafting table to be able to craft a Minecraft barrel. You place the 2 wooden slabs on the top and on the bottom square in the middle. 

Then you place the 6 sticks on the 3 sides together on the left and on the right.

To be able to craft the 2 wooden slabs you will need a total of 3 wooden planks, but when crafting you will get a total of 6 wooden slabs. 

This means that for 3 wooden planks you will a total of 3 Minecraft Barrels.

For crafting Sticks you will need 2 wooden planks. For crafting 6 sticks you will need 4 wooden planks. 

This means that when it comes to crafting for every Minecraft chest you will be able to get 3 or 2 in Java, Minecraft Barrels. Minecraft Barrels win the Crafting race!

Storage – Minecraft Chest

The Minecraft Chest will offer a whole total of 27 storage slots in which you are able to place whatever it is that you want. 

Crafting a double chest, however, will offer you the storage of 54 slots.

These double chests will offer way more storage than what the simple barrel can offer, but they will take up 2 slots next to each other.

Other than that, you will want to leave the roof of the chest open so you can use it.

Storage – Minecraft Barrel

A Minecraft barrel will offer a whole total of 27 storage slots. Here you will be able to place literally anything that you want that is in the game.

Crafting a double barrel is not a feature and it isn’t possible in Minecraft. You are only able to craft 1 barrel and you can place it next to another barrel, it will still remain one.

The Minecraft barrel only takes up one slot when placed wherever. 

This means that you are able to place barrels right next to each other and get the same storage space as the Double Minecraft chest.

You will be able to place barrels right on top of each other and stack up or literally throw them around anywhere. Placing something on top of a barrel doesn’t change anything too.

To sum it up, it means that the Minecraft barrel will offer the same amount of storage but with more freedom. The Minecraft barrel wins the Storage race too!

Mobility – Minecraft Chest

Mobility is something that is important in Minecraft. It is the way of traveling around the world and how simple would it be whether with a chest or a barrel.

If you want to travel with a Minecraft Chest it would be much easier. You are able to actually attach the Chest to a Donkey, Horse, or the Llama. You cannot place it on the cow.

These animals will then carry all the inventory space that the Chest is able to provide. You will move around with the mount and be able to transfer a whole lot more inventory space than usual.

Mobility – Minecraft Barrel

The Minecraft barrel isn’t available to be attached to any kind of animal that can carry it in their poaches and from one place to another.

This means that you will actually need to break the barrel to be able to pick up all the items and actually move them around your inventory and from household to household.

When it comes to mobility the Minecraft Chest wins the race. 

But according to a lot of players, you wouldn’t actually be using these methods of transferring items, especially if you have a Shulker Chest. So that is why I can say that in this aspect they are even.

Performance of the game – Minecraft Chest vs Barrel

It has been tested by a lot of Minecraft players that the chest is actually an entity that exists in the game. This means that it will drain a whole lot of memory of the world.

When you have placed a lot of chests around a place you might not get a world lagging behind, something that affects the spawn and item rate, but also lower fps and lower ping too.

The Minecraft barrel on the other hand is a simple type of block and it counted as one in the game. That means that you can place a 100 blocks in an area and they will stay this way.

So the Minecraft barrel wins the performance race too! Having a better and smoother fps and ping is something that every Minecraft server owner is looking after.

Speaking of performance, make sure to also read the previous article telling you what to do if Minecraft is running slow / laggy on your PC.

What is the Perfect Middle?

Combining the Minecraft Chest and the barrel is something that is the perfect middle of these 2 storage items. This is the best solution to storing tons of diamonds!

This way you can have the storage that is provided by the Chest and can be placed on top of the Barrels. 

If you have a layer of 2 barrels and a layer of a double chest you will have a total of 108 storage slots to place a lot of items inside!

Not only is it functional and can save you a lot of time, but also it is something that is practical and looks very good too!

Conclusion

As you can clearly see the Minecraft Barrel is much better than the Minecraft chest. Although it is better that doesn’t mean that you should ditch the Minecraft chest altogether.

It is an item that plays a highly valuable role in the game. It looks good too! You will want to stick with the Barrel more though if you’re looking for better performance, storage, and a cheaper recipe.

What is your opinion about my calculation and opinion about these two storage items in Minecraft and what is your favorite Minecraft storage item? Happy storing!