Ore



Ores are uncommon rock-type blocks used to obtain specific resources.

Usage
Ores are primarily collected for crafting purposes, such as for tools and armor. Redstone is obtained from redstone ore, which can be used to create redstone circuits. Ore can also be combined to create a block of the material's type.

Obtaining resources from ores is as simple as mining them (this is not the case for iron, ancient debris, and gold ores, which must be smelted). Coal, diamond, emerald, and nether quartz ores drop 1 unit corresponding raw materials. Redstone ore drops 4–5 redstone dust, and lapis lazuli ore drops 4–9 lapis lazuli. Note this can be increased greatly with Fortune. All ore blocks except iron, copper, gold, and ancient debris require a Silk Touch pickaxe to drop themselves.

As a smelting ingredient
Ores can be smelted faster using a blast furnace.

Note: Smelting ores that still drop their resources when directly mined is not as efficient, since smelting gives less experience and only 1 piece of the resource, especially the ones that drop multiple pieces when mined.

Further uses
All mineral blocks except quartz and copper are crafted by putting 9 of the raw material items in a square. Quartz blocks are irreversibly crafted with 4 nether quartz and thus can be crafted in the inventory. Copper blocks are also crafted from 4 copper ingots, but you can craft them back into 4 copper ingots if the block didn't start to oxidize.

All raw materials except quartz can be crafted from their mineral blocks.

Iron and Gold ingots can be converted into nuggets and vice-versa.

Lapis Lazuli can be crafted into a dye, or even used as one in Bedrock Edition.

Netherite scraps, obtained by smelting ancient debris, is used alongside gold ingots to create netherite ingots. This is the only mineral used alongside another mineral to create an alloy. Netherite tools and armor also require you to first have diamond tools and armor.

Netherite ingots can be used on a smithing table to upgrade diamond items to netherite items. Data such as durability, enchantments, and custom names are preserved.

Availability
The following is the distribution of ores according to the altitude (layers are number of blocks above the lowest layer of bedrock) in the Overworld and the Nether. The highest layers that gold, redstone, diamond, and lapis lazuli ore can be found on are two layers lower.

History
{{History||February 17, 2021|link={{https://twitter.com/henrikkniberg/status/1362095363314876418}} Grimstone variants of overworld ore is shown off. {{History|||snap=21w07a|    The texture of Gold Ore, Iron Ore, Coal Ore, Redstone Ore and Diamond Ore has been changed.}}

{{History|pocket alpha}} {{History||v0.1.0|     Added coal, iron, lapis lazuli, gold, redstone and diamond ores.}} {{History||v0.3.0|Coal ore now drops coal.}} {{History||v0.3.2|Diamond ore now drops a diamond. {{History||v0.4.0|Lapis lazuli ore now drops lapis lazuli .}} {{History||v0.8.0|snap=build 2|Redstone ore now drops redstone dust.}} {{History||v0.9.0|snap=build 1| Added emerald ore.}} {{History||v0.12.1|snap=build 1| Added nether quartz ore. {{History|bedrock}} {{History||1.10.0|snap=beta 1.10.0.3|       The textures of all ores have been changed.}} {{History||1.11.0|snap=beta 1.11.0.5| The texture of diamond ore has been changed.}} {{History||1.16.0|snap=beta 1.16.0.51| Added ancient debris.}} {{History|||snap=beta 1.16.0.57| Added nether gold ore.}} {{History|upcoming bedrock}} {{History||1.16.210|snap=beta 1.16.210.57|{{animate|Copper_Ore_JE1_BE1.png; Copper_Ore_(D)_BE1.png; Copper_Ore_(W)_BE1.png; Copper_Ore_(U)_BE1.png|32px}} Added copper ore. It also can be randomly rotated. Bedrock Edition exclusive.}}
 * Iron and gold ores are now smeltable into ingots.}}
 * Mining ores now gives experience.}}

{{History|console}} {{History||xbox=TU1|xbone=CU1|ps=1.00|wiiu=Patch 1|switch=1.0.1|     Added coal, iron, lapis lazuli, gold, redstone, and diamond ores.}} {{History||xbox=TU7|All ores except iron and gold (which give experience when smelted) now drops experience points when mined.}} {{History||xbox=TU14|ps=1.04| Added emerald and nether quartz ores.}} {{History|Ps4}} {{History||1.90|       The textures of all ores have been changed.}}

{{History|New 3DS}} {{History||0.1.0|       Added coal, iron, lapis lazuli, gold, redstone, diamond, emerald and nether quartz ores.}} {{History|foot}}

Trivia

 * Ancient debris has two ways to generate, similar to gold ore.
 * Since it is exclusive to only one Overworld biome, Emerald ore is actually rarer than ancient debris per chunk.