In Minecraft, the needle (red line) of the compass points to your spawn point. If you create a bed in your fortress and sleep in it, the bed will be your new spawn point. When you go exploring take a compass with you and you will be back to find your way back to your Minecraft house and bed.
Making a compass requires four iron ingots and one redstone dust. Each iron ingot takes one iron ore.
Redstone dust is smelted from red stone ore. You will need to dig deep to find redstone ore as it is located near bedrock and up to level 16 of the overworld.
Once you have the required iron ore and red stone ore, smelt them into ingots and dust in a furnace with fuel.
Making a Compass
- Insert one redstone dust into the center of the crafting table surrounded by four iron ingots as shown below.
To use a compass equip it in your hand. The direction of the needle on the compass is the direction of your spawn point.