How to Craft and Use the Explorer's Compass

Crafting the Compass

The Explorer's Compass is crafted from a regular compass surrounded by materials that tie it to exploration. The exact recipe is shown in JEI/REI once you have the mod installed — open your recipe viewer and search "Explorer's Compass" to see the current layout. In general you will need a vanilla compass plus items associated with travel or mapping, so gather those before you sit at a crafting table.

Using It to Find a Structure

Hold the Explorer's Compass and right-click (or use your configured keybind) to open its structure selection screen. A list of structures appears — things like villages, temples, strongholds, ocean monuments, and modded structures are all selectable if they exist in your world's structure registry. Pick the one you want, confirm, and the compass needle will begin spinning and then lock onto the nearest instance of that structure.

While held, the compass points toward the target and displays the distance in blocks. Follow the needle; the number counts down as you approach. When you arrive, the compass will indicate you have reached the structure. If you want to change targets, reopen the selection screen and choose a different structure — the compass will re-aim without needing to be recrafted.