Renewable resource

A renewable resource is a resource that can be recreated indefinitely (as opposed to a nonrenewable resource). While running out of resources isn't likely to be a factor due to practically infinite (and still quite vast in theory) map generation, this is a list of resources that can be produced over and over without having to explore for more. However, running out of resources can be a bigger issue on Superflat worlds, where resources are less plentiful.

The listed fully renewable products are items which can be crafted or smelted using only renewable resources. Note that TNT and arrows are crafted from a combination of renewable and non-renewable resources (sand and flint).

[edit] Fully renewable resources

These resources do not require any nonrenewable items in order to be collected.

Resource	Fully renewable products	Method
Arrows	—	Dropped by killed skeletons.
Beef		Dropped by killed cows.
Blaze Rods [note 1]		Dropped by killed blazes.
Bones		Dropped by killed skeletons.
Bows	—	Rarely dropped by killed skeletons. Can also be crafted by sticks and string.
Cactus [note 2]		Will grow to 3 blocks high and can be trimmed or replanted. Must first be found in the world. Will continue to grow even if the sand block is used again.
Chicken Eggs		Dropped roughly every 5-10 minutes by living chickens. Can be thrown to make more chickens.
Cobblestone and Stone [note 3]		Created by letting lava flow over or against Water.
Crops [note 4]		Harvesting crops may produce seeds, which can be used to produce more crops. Seeds can also be harvested from Tall Grass.
Ender Pearls		Dropped by killed endermen.
Experience Orb	—[note 5]	Dropped by any mob killed by the player except for villagers, all golems, and baby animals. Also dropped by other players on SMP, if they have collected any orbs, who respawn upon death.
Feathers		Dropped by killed chickens
Fish		Obtained by fishing using a Fishing Rod.
Flowers [note 4]		Can occasionally spawn when Bone Meal is used to generate patches of Tall Grass. Roses are sometimes dropped by killed Iron Golems.
Ghast Tears [note 1]	—	Dropped by killed ghasts.
Gold Nuggets and Gold Ingots [note 1][note 6]		Dropped by killed Zombie Pigmen, ingots as a rare drop of Zombie Pigmen. In very rare instances, Zombie Pigmen can spawn in the overworld.
Gold Swords and Gold Helmets [note 6]	—	Rare drop of killed Zombie Pigmen.
Gunpowder		Dropped by killed creepers and ghasts.
Ink Sacs		Dropped by killed squid.
Iron Ingots		Dropped by killed Iron Golems and rarely dropped by killed zombies.
Iron Helmets, Iron Swords and Iron Shovels	—	Rare drop by killed zombies.
Leather		Dropped by killed cows.
Magma Cream [note 1]	—	Dropped by killed magma cubes.
Melon Seeds [note 4]		Melon Seeds are only found in Abandoned Mine Shafts. They can be renewed once grown by breaking a melon stem, or crafting them from melon slices.
Milk		Obtained by milking cows or mooshrooms with a bucket.
Mushrooms		Using Bone Meal on normal mushrooms will grow them into Huge Mushrooms, if there is enough space, which can then be broken to get more of the normal mushroom. Normal mushrooms also spread slowly on their own. Also, mooshrooms can be sheared for red mushrooms or milked for Mushroom Stew, which can also be crafted with a bowl and both mushrooms.
Music Discs	—	Get a skeleton to kill a creeper with its arrows.
Nether Wart [note 1][note 7]	—	Harvested from fully grown nether wart.
Pork		Dropped by killed pigs.
Pumpkin Seeds [note 4]		Pumpkin Seeds are found in Abandoned Mine Shafts. You can also get seeds from putting a pumpkin in a crafting table or by breaking Pumpkin Stems.
Raw Chicken		Dropped by killed chickens.
Rotten Flesh	—	Dropped by killed zombies and Zombie Pigmen.
Saplings and Trees [note 4][note 8]		Trees can be grown from saplings placed on lit dirt; breaking a leaves block has a 5% chance of giving a sapling. See tree farming. Charcoal can be produced by smelting any kind of log. Leaves can be obtained by harvesting with shears.
Slimeballs		Dropped by killed slimes.
Snowballs		Snow is replaced whenever it snows, and is also produced by Snow Golems.
Spider Eye		Dropped by killed spiders.
String		Dropped by killed spiders.
Sugar Canes [note 4]		Will grow to 3 blocks high and can be trimmed or replanted. Must first be found in the world.
Tall Grass [note 4]		Bonemeal being used on grass blocks plants tall grass on the ground. To harvest tall grass, one must also use shears made from iron.
Vines [note 4]	—	Found on swamp trees, jungle trees, and on terrain and caves in jungles. When attached (hanging), they grow naturally if there is open space below. To harvest vines, one must also use shears made from iron.
Water		Two water spring blocks in the appropriate pattern produce a third; see water for details.
Wool		Obtained by killing sheep (or shearing and regrowing as of 1.1.0), crafting 4 strings dropped by spiders, by breeding two sheep which will result in a child with the same color of wool as the parents, or by using shears on sheep. Six of the shown colors (white, light gray, gray, black, brown and pink) occur naturally in sheep; green, lime, red, orange and yellow wool require renewable dyes to produce.

[edit] Renewable, but require nonrenewable resources

These resources can be made infinitely, but require one use of a nonrenewable items/resources.

Resource	Fully renewable products	Method
Huge Mushroom [note 4]	—	Using Bone Meal on normal mushrooms will grow them into Huge Mushrooms (if there is enough space), which can then be broken to get more of the normal mushroom. With the Silk Touch enchantment though, the Huge Mushroom blocks themselves can be collected. However, Silk Touch enchantment requires a single craft of non-renewable Enchantment Table.
Water Bottle [note 1]		Potions that don't have Redstone Dust or Glowstone Dust as an ingredient are renewable. See: Brewing. However, in order to craft the bottles, you will need to smelt nonrenewable sand to get glass.
Wool - Blue, Light Blue, Cyan, Purple, and Magenta		Baby sheep will maintain the color of one of their parents (the one with the lowest internal ID). Killing a colored sheep will drop one block of colored wool, however since 1.1.0, use of regrowth is also renewable. However, one use of the respective dye, containing non-renewable Lapis Lazuli (Dye), is required to color the parent sheep.

[edit] Renewable, but exhaust nonrenewable resources

These resources can be made infinitely, but to collect require nonrenewable items with limited durability.

Resource	Fully renewable products	Method
Obsidian	—	Entering a Nether Portal for which there is no matching exit will generate 14 free blocks of obsidian (and 4 more "ledge" blocks if the portal is formed in mid-air). Only mining the corners (and "ledges") will keep the portal active. Another way to generate obsidian is by using a bucket to "form" build a portal and mining the counterpart as listed. Each time entering an End Portal will generate a 5x5 platform of obsidian at the same position. In other words, the obsidian will be "refilled" if mined. However, to harvest obsidian, one would require a pickaxe made from diamond.

[edit] Planned Renewable Resources

These Resources are found ingame, however, aren't completely Renewable until a Future update implements a way to make them renewable. These updates may be discussed in developer tweets/blogs/etc. or in prereleases.

Resource	Fully Renewable Products	Method
Bottle o' Enchanting	—	Obtained by trading Emeralds to Villager priests.
Chainmail Armor	—	Obtained by trading Emeralds to Villager blacksmiths.
Cocoa Beans		Found in Dungeon Chests, however, they aren't replantable and are only a 1-use item. In 12w18a, Cocoa Beans could drop from decayed or destroyed Jungle leaves at about the rate of apples from oak, and in 12w19a, Cocoa Plants can be found, planted, and farmed on jungle logs, making Cocoa Beans a renewable resource and therefore likely that they will become a renewable resource in the next official release.
Diamond Armor	—	Obtained by trading Emeralds to Villager blacksmiths.
Diamond Tools	—	Obtained by trading Emeralds to Villager blacksmiths.
Emerald	—	Obtained by trading renewable items to Villagers, such as raw chicken. These can be used to buy other things from villagers, such as leather tunics, by using 4 currency items.
Flint and Steel	—	Obtained by trading Emeralds to Villager farmers.
Glass		Obtained by trading Emeralds to Villager librarians.
Glowstone Dust		Obtained by trading Emeralds to Villager priests.
Ice		Water source blocks in a tundra or taiga will turn into ice over time. However, Silk Touch enchantment requires a single craft of non-renewable Enchantment Table.
Redstone Dust		Obtained by trading Emeralds to Villager priests.
Saddles	—	Obtained by trading Emeralds to Villager butchers.

[edit] Notes

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Obtaining some resources requires visiting the Nether, which in turn requires making a portal out of non-renewable Obsidian. Obsidian usually additionally requires the use of non-renewable Diamonds to obtain, although this can be avoided by locating Obsidian as an item in Blacksmith chests in villages. A portal, once built, can be re-used an unlimited amount of times.
2. ↑ Growing cactus requires at least one block of nonrenewable sand, but it can be used an unlimited amount of times without using nonrenewable items/resources with finite durability
3. ↑ Making cobblestone and stone requires one block of nonrenewable lava, and an unlimited quantity of renewable pickaxes.
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Growing plants requires at least one block nonrenewable dirt, but it can be used an unlimited amount of times without using nonrenewable items/resources with finite durability
5. ↑ Experience orbs can be used to enchant tools, but this requires the one-time use of non-renewable Obsidian and Diamonds to craft an Enchantment Table. Once crafted, an Enchantment Table may be used an unlimited amount of times.
6. ↑ ^{a b} Zombie Pigmen can sometimes spawn in the overworld when a pig is struck by lightning. This is so rare though that full renewability of gold without the use of Nether Portals is impractical and negligible.
7. ↑ Growing Nether Wart requires one block of nonrenewable Soul Sand, but it can then be harvested and replanted without consuming the soul sand, similar to growing plants on dirt.
8. ↑ Because saplings have a 1/20 chance to fall from a leaf block, there is a chance that a tree will not drop any saplings. However, the number of generated trees is virtually infinite, making the chance to not get any saplings from destroying all trees negligible.