If there’s something more precious than Diamonds in Minecraft, it’s Netherite. It doesn’t matter whether you have Ancient Debris, Ingots, or Scraps – if it’s Netherite, it’s good.
Netherite is a very rare material in Minecraft that you can primarily use to upgrade your Diamond tools to their Netherite variants – the best possible tools you can have. Netherite, however, can be quite hard to collect efficiently.
Additionally, it can only be obtained in the Nether as it does not spawn in other dimensions. The resource does not naturally spawn, you’ll first have to mine Ancient Debris blocks, which can then be converted to Netherite. These blocks are usually found deep underground in the Nether.
To help you search for the fabled Netherite, we’ve compiled the five best methods for getting your hands on the precious stuff below!
1. TNT Mining in the Nether
TNT Mining on Y Level 15 of the Nether is the fastest method of obtaining Netherite in Minecraft 1.20.
The explosion from a TNT destroys all blocks in a radius, exposing non-flammable Ancient Debris blocks in the surroundings. Mining these remnant blocks will produce Netherite.
Mining with TNT is nothing new, and it has always been exceptionally useful whenever you’re trying to find resources – regardless of the ore you’re looking for.
Due to their generational patterns, Ancient Debris blocks are most commonly found on Y Level 15 – which is the most optimal location for employing this strategy.
Ancient Debris can’t be blown up with TNT, so, with this method, all surrounding blocks will be removed – leaving behind only the blocks of the Ancient Debris.
This is particularly useful as you can scavenge a specific area without having to switch back and forth between different tools. Once you’ve found a decent number of blocks, you can switch to your Pickaxe and mine all of them in one go to eventually get a ton of Netherite – that’s pretty convenient!
Some also recommend using End Crystals to cause explosions in the search for Netherite – but this is highly inefficient and not recommended. Also, be careful not to blow yourself up or go too overboard since TNT can be expensive to craft.
2. Looting Bastion Remnants for Netherite
Bastion Remnants are castle-like structures you can come across while exploring the Nether. They generate in 4 different variants, each featuring a unique set of loot. Looting chests within these structures is one of the easiest methods of obtaining Netherite.
Ancient Debris and Netherite Ingots can be found within Generic, Treasure, and Hoglin Stable Chests within these structures. Although their drop rates aren’t guaranteed, these chests are still very useful in obtaining Netherite.
Additionally, in Minecraft version 1.20 Trails and Tales, Bastion Remnants contain a unique room called a ‘Hoglin Stable’. These rooms contain the Hoglin Stable Chest, which has a 5.7% and 9.1% chance of containing Ancient Debris and Netherite Scraps, respectively.
Bastion Remnants also have a chance to feature multiple ‘Treasure Rooms’ inside them. These rooms, as can be expected, contain several ordinary and Generic treasure chests.
The Treasure Chests here have a 12.7% chance of having Ancient Debris and a 24.4% chance of containing Netherite Scraps. On the other hand, Generic Chests have a 13.5% and 4.5% chance of containing Ancient Debris and Netherite Scraps, respectively.
You can also find Diamond tools in these, so that’s a bonus!
3. Branch & Strip Mining in the Nether
Both Branch and Strip mining have been around for a very long time. Both are very effective techniques for finding all types of ores in their respective areas and were previously used particularly in finding Diamonds.
Regardless, both techniques are equally applicable and effective in the case of finding Netherite.
Branch Mining for Netherite
To Branch Mine, make a long tunnel in the area you’re exploring. At the end of this tunnel, branch off to the sides and proceed to make smaller tunnels.
If you make these tunnels two blocks apart from one another, you’ll be able to view all blocks in the area and search for Netherite without spending extra time mining every block. Doing so will help you save both time, and effort.
Strip Mining for Netherite
This will be less useful than Branch Mining, but it’s still a viable option. It also requires you to put in less effort so you can keep doing it for an extended period of time. Strip mining refers to stripping an area of all its blocks to get as many resources as possible.
In the case of Netherite, you should go down to Y level 15 and strip mine in any direction. This means you should just start mining blocks in a straight line in a 2×2 or 4×4 area.
We’d recommend going for the 4×4 as it’ll increase your chances of finding Ancient Debris/Netherite with slightly more effort on your end.
Also read: 20 Minecraft Quiz Questions for Ultimate Fans
4. Mining Netherite with Chunk Borders
Chunk Border mining is the fastest non-explosive method of obtaining Ancient Debris and Netherite in Minecraft 1.20 Trails and Tales.
This involves using the Chunk Borders debug command to view block positions. You can then mine between their middle layers to quickly find blocks of Ancient Debris.
To use this technique effectively, head down to Y level 15 in the Nether. Once you’re there, you’ll have to activate the Chunk Borders command to make them visible. You can do this by holding down the F3 key and then hitting the “G” key on your keyboard.
Once you do this, you’ll see a visible outline of the blocks around you, as shown in the picture above. If you can’t see this right away, mine a few blocks, and it’ll show up. Now, go ahead and start mining blocks between the middle of this outline that’s been created.
Repeat this process till you’re satisfied with the quantity of Ancient Debris you find. This method is especially useful because Netherite tends to generate around these Border Chunks.
Thus, you can utilize this command to increase your chances of finding the resource while mining!
Read more: Why the Netherite Sword is the Most Powerful Weapon in Minecraft 1.19
5. Bed Mining in the Nether
This method is somewhat similar to the TNT mining one; however – it is much more cost-efficient.
If you’re unaware, if you put down a Bed in the Nether and try to sleep, it immediately explodes, causing you to take massive damage. Although this is mostly used to play silly pranks on unwary players, you can effectively use this technique to quickly get tons of Netherite.
The procedure is the same as TNT mining, but with this one, you’ll be substituting the TNT with Beds. This is especially useful since Beds are incredibly easy to craft and much less resource-intensive than TNT blocks.
To use the Bed mining technique in the Nether, find a suitable area to explore on the Y level 15. Once found, take as many Beds with you as you can and place these in appropriate positions wherever you’re trying to mine.
Now, move a few blocks away and make a cover by mining two blocks underneath yourself and placing one non-flammable block so you’re standing on it.
This will protect you from the explosion and also save you from burning. Keep in mind that you can’t move too far away from the Bed as you’ll have to right-click it for it to explode.
The resulting explosion from this technique is similar to the one from a TNT block, and thus, you should take all necessary precautions to ensure that you don’t get caught in the blast. If done correctly, your surrounding blocks will be destroyed, and you’ll come out unscathed – for the most part!
With this method, you can scavenge Netherite exceptionally fast while remaining economical.
Read more:
Summary
The following table summarizes the requirements and mining methods of all the mentioned techniques. (All mining is to be done on Y Level 15)
| Method | Requirements | Mining Method |
|---|---|---|
| TNT Mining in the Nether | TNT & Pickaxe | Explosion |
| Looting Bastion Remnants | Looting Chests | N/A |
| Strip & Branch Mining | Pickaxe (Diamond Recommended) | Traditional |
| Chunk Borders | Pickaxe (Diamond Recommended) | Traditional |
| Bed Mining | Beds & Pickaxe | Explosion |
Read more: Minecraft 1.20 Speculation and Teasers (New Biomes, Mobs & More!)