Canteen Tiers and Progression

Tier Order

Canteens come in six tiers: Leather, Copper, Iron, Gold, Diamond, and Netherite. Each tier has four states: Empty, Water, Dirty Water, and Purified Water. Examples: Empty Leather Canteen, Leather Water Canteen, Leather Dirty Water Canteen, Leather Purified Water Canteen. The same pattern applies to Copper, Iron, Gold, Diamond, and Netherite.

Crafting Up

Start with Empty Leather Canteen, then move up through Empty Copper Canteen, Empty Iron Canteen, Empty Gold Canteen, Empty Diamond Canteen, and Empty Netherite Canteen. Higher tiers are made by upgrading the previous tier. Netherite upgrades use smithing_transform recipes, so a smithing table is required for the top tier.

Filling and Purifying

Fill any Empty canteen at a water source to get its Water Canteen form. If the source is unclean, you get the Dirty Water Canteen form; run it through a Water Purifier to reach the Purified Water Canteen form. Purified Water Canteen tiers are the safe drinking state.

Which Tier to Carry

1. Early game: Empty Leather Canteen and Leather Water Canteen.

2. Mid game: Empty Iron Canteen or Empty Gold Canteen for durability of use.

3. Late game: Empty Diamond Canteen and Empty Netherite Canteen.

Keep one filled Purified Water Canteen of your best tier on the hotbar and a spare Empty canteen for refills.