A carved pumpkin is the pumpkin with a face, and it is far more useful than it looks. You can wear it to walk past endermen safely, use it to build golems, and craft it into a jack o’lantern. Making one takes just a pumpkin and shears. This guide covers how to carve it and everything you can do with it.
Everything here is confirmed in the current 2026 version of Minecraft (26.2).
Quick answer: place a pumpkin on the ground, then use shears on its side to carve a face. You get a carved pumpkin (break it to collect it) plus 4 pumpkin seeds.
Carved Pumpkin at a Glance
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Tool | Shears (2 iron ingots) |
| How | Use shears on a placed pumpkin’s side |
| Bonus | Drops 4 pumpkin seeds |
| Top uses | Wear vs endermen, golems, jack o’lantern |
How to Carve a Pumpkin
The whole process takes seconds:
- Get a pumpkin. Find them growing in patches (often near villages) or grow your own from pumpkin seeds.
- Place it on the ground.
- Use shears on the side. Craft shears from 2 iron ingots, then use (right-click) the front or side of the placed pumpkin. It carves a face and pops out pumpkin seeds.
- Break it to pick up the carved pumpkin.
One thing to know: you can only carve the side of a pumpkin, not the top or bottom, and the face goes on whichever side you shear.
Wear It to Block Endermen
This is the trick most players want: put a carved pumpkin in your helmet slot and you can look directly at endermen without angering them. Normally, staring at an enderman makes it hostile, but the pumpkin completely neutralizes that. The catch is that it gives no armor and adds a pumpkin overlay that limits your view, so it is a tool for enderman farms and the End, not everyday wear.
Build Golems
Carved pumpkins are the “head” for building golems, place the blocks and drop a carved pumpkin on top:
- Snow golem: two snow blocks stacked, with the carved pumpkin on top.
- Iron golem: three iron blocks in a row, one iron block below the center, and the carved pumpkin on top (a T shape, four iron blocks in total).
- Copper golem: a single copper block with the carved pumpkin on top.
The carved pumpkin must always be placed last, or the golem will not spawn. Its orientation does not matter.
Make a Jack o’Lantern
Combine a carved pumpkin with a torch in the crafting grid to make a jack o’lantern, a bright light source that glows in the dark and works underwater. Carved pumpkins themselves are also a popular decoration for Halloween builds and farm fences.
Frequently Asked Questions
Place a pumpkin on the ground and use shears on its side. It carves a face, drops 4 pumpkin seeds, and leaves a carved pumpkin you can break and collect.
Shears, crafted from 2 iron ingots. You use them on a placed (uncarved) pumpkin. You cannot carve a pumpkin while it is in your inventory.
Put a carved pumpkin in your helmet slot. It lets you look at endermen without them attacking, but it gives no armor and blocks part of your view.
Yes. Both snow golems and iron golems need a carved pumpkin placed on top as the final block to spawn them.
No. The pumpkin has to be placed on the ground first, then sheared on the side. You cannot carve it in your inventory.
A pumpkin is the plain block; a carved pumpkin has a face cut into it with shears. Only the carved version can be worn, used for golems, or made into a jack o’lantern.
A carved pumpkin is one of the most useful decorative blocks in the game: shear a pumpkin, then wear it to farm endermen, top a golem with it, or turn it into a glowing jack o’lantern. Keep a few shears handy and a pumpkin patch nearby.
