Q&A for How to Get Charcoal Instead of Coal in Minecraft

In the top slot of a furnace, put any sort of wood, so long as it's not a plank. Then, for the fuel, place a bucket of lava, coal, wooden planks, or anything else that'll help smelt it.

You can use it as fuel, but not in place of the wood.

Get raw wood from trees, then put the wood in the upper slot of a furnace. Add fuel to the furnace's lower part and charcoal will be made.

The wood you are not using. For example, if you are using oak wood but not birch or spruce, then you can use either of the two to make charcoal.

Use an iron ingot and flint in a diagonal line across your crafting table (one of each).

Any wood that has not been converted to wooden planks can be used to get charcoal.

Put the wood on the top slot, then put anything that will work for fuel in the bottom.

A lava bucket smelts 100 blocks. I prefer 64 coal blocks, though, as they are way better. Each block is 80, so it would smelt 5,120 blocks. Lava is also good.

The only main difference between charcoal and coal is the way they are obtained. Coal is obtained by mining coal ore blocks, and sometimes dropped from mobs, while charcoal is obtained by smelting a wooden log in a furnace. They are both used in the same ways, torches or other recipes that use coal won't be different if you use charcoal instead. The only exception is coal blocks, which can only be crafted using coal, not charcoal.