How to use a clock in Minecraft

When in Minecraft, especially Survival Mode, keeping an eye on the sun and the time of day can be the difference between safety and a long night of battle with hostile mobs. Fortunately, clocks can easily account for this.

Although expert-level librarian villagers are capable of selling clocks, it's much simpler to craft a clock. The crafting recipe calls for four gold ingots and one piece of redstone dust. Once it has been made, players can simply hang on to the item and let it work automatically.

Clocks in Minecraft keep track of time and the position of the sun and the moon, but players will need to know how to read the clock's facing.

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Minecraft: What a clock's symbols mean

A player-created grandfather clock using a crafted clock (Image via Mojang)

As time within a Minecraft world progresses, clocks will slowly rotate in step with the passing of time. Clocks keep track of both the sun and the moon, and based on their position, the sun and moon symbols mean different times of day.

A breakdown of these times can be found below:

• If the sun is peeking up from the left of the clock and the moon is across it on the right, it is dawn.
• When the sun symbol is directly in the center of the clock's field, it is noon.
• When the sun symbol is completely to the right of the clock and the moon is rising on the left, it is currently dusk.
• When the moon is placed in the dead center of the clock, it is midnight.

That's all there is to it, the clock works automatically and as long as Minecraft players can read it, they don't need to take any other actions. Keep in mind, however, that the clock only operates correctly in the Overworld and will fluctuate wildly in the Nether and the End.

Clocks have other uses in Minecraft as well. Specifically, they are attractive to piglins within the Nether. Since piglins love gold and golden objects, they will approach any clock thrown on the ground. After examining it for a few seconds, the piglins will place the object in their inventory and carry on their business.

Other than these uses, clocks are also nice decorative pieces when used in cohesion with item frames. Toss in a daylight detector block and a bell, and Minecraft players can even create a working clock that rings its bell based on the change of day and nighttime.