Crafting Recipe
7 sticks (left+right columns + bottom center) = 3 ladders. Place on block sides to climb, infinite vertical extension. Minecraft's oldest vertical movement method. Leave 1-block space for a climbing shaft — doesn't block walking space.
Function & Yield
Ladders allow vertical climbing and craft 3 at a time from 7 sticks. Unlike stairs they occupy a single block width, making them ideal for mineshafts, wells and vertical shafts.
Practical Tips
Ladders placed in a water column create a fast water elevator. Endermen and small mobs cannot climb them, so they double as defence. Fall damage on ladders is unchanged, so cushion landings with water or hay bales.
Building & Redstone Uses
Ladders occupy no walking space, so they hide inside walls as secret passages; combined with trapdoors they create routes only you know. In redstone, ladders block water but can be pushed by pistons, and often slow falling mobs in grinder chutes. Scaffolding is the upgrade: it extends sideways and dismantles faster.