An important item is coal to make torches in night. The problem is that coal is sometimes hard to find at the beginning, so you want an easy alternative, follow the simple steps below

Start your first day like normal, find trees, and chop away. The difference is that this time you will need a whole lot more.

Make your workbench. Make some planks. Be sure to keep some wood.

Mine 8 cobblestone and make a furnace. Put the furnace down.

Put one wooden plank on the bottom and one regular log on the top of the furnace.

You will get charcoal, this works exactly like coal but can’t be stacked with it

Note

You could never need coal if you keep a tree farm up, always a good thing to have when there is a lack of coal.