Coal ore is a mineral block that drops coal when mined.
Deepslate coal ore is a variant of coal ore that rarely generates at the top of the deepslate layer.
Obtaining[]
Natural generation[]
Coal ore can generate in the Overworld in the form of ore blobs. It generates in two batches per chunk. The first batch attempts to generate 30 times per chunk in blobs of 0-37, evenly from levels 136 to 320. The second batch attempts to generate 20 times per chunk in blobs of 0-37, from levels 0 to 192, being most common at Y=96, and being less common as towards either end of the range. Coal ore in this second batch is also less likely to be exposed to air: 50% of ore blocks that would generate exposed do not generate. In Bedrock Edition, coal ore also has the third batches, which attempts to generate 20 times per chunk in blobs of size 0-37, evenly from levels 128 to 256, within any type of mountains biomes.
Coal ore can replace stone, andesite, diorite, granite, tuff[JE only], and deepslate. Deepslate coal ore generates when replacing tuff or deepslate, which is a rare occurrence due to the rarity of coal blobs below Y=8 where deepslate generates.
Coal ore is also found in small amounts alongside underground fossils.
Breaking[]
Coal ore itself can be obtained by mining it with any pickaxe enchanted with Silk Touch. When mined without Silk Touch, it drops one coal. It is affected by the Fortune enchantment, dropping 1–2, 1–3, or 1–4 coal respectively with Fortune I, II, and III. It also drops 0–2 when mined without Fortune.
| Block | Coal Ore | Deepslate Coal Ore | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardness | 3 | 4.5 | |
| Tool | |||
| Breaking time[A] | |||
| Default | 15 | 22.5 | |
| Wooden | 2.25 | 3.4 | |
| Stone | 1.15 | 1.7 | |
| Iron | 0.75 | 1.15 | |
| Diamond | 0.6 | 0.85 | |
| Netherite | 0.5 | 0.75 | |
| Golden | 0.4 | 0.6 | |
- ↑ Times are for unenchanted tools as wielded by players with no status effects, measured in seconds. For more information, see Breaking § Speed.
Usage[]
Smelting ingredient[]
| Name | Ingredients | Smelting recipe |
|---|---|---|
| Coal | Coal Ore + Any fuel |
Note Blocks[]
Coal ore can be placed underneath note blocks to make a "bass drum" sound.
Sounds[]
Coal ore[]
| Sound | Subtitles | Source | Description | Resource location | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Block broken | Blocks | Once the block has broken | block | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8 | 16 | |
| Block placed | Blocks | When the block is placed | block | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8 | 16 | |
| Block breaking | Blocks | While the block is in the process of being broken | block | subtitles | 0.25 | 0.5 | 16 | |
| None[sound 1] | Entity-Dependent | Falling on the block with fall damage | block | None[sound 1] | 0.5 | 0.75 | 16 | |
| Footsteps | Entity-Dependent | Walking on the block | block | subtitles | 0.15 | 1.0 | 16 |
| Sound | Source | Description | Resource location | Volume | Pitch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blocks | Once the block has broken | dig | 1.0 | 0.8-1.0 | |
| Blocks | When the block is placed | dig | 1.0 | 0.8-1.0 | |
| Blocks | While the block is in the process of being broken | hit | 0.37 | 0.5 | |
| Players | Falling on the block with fall damage | fall | 0.4 | 1.0 | |
| Players | Walking on the block | step | 0.3 | 1.0 | |
| Players | Jumping from the block | jump | 0.12 | 1.0 | |
| Players | Falling on the block without fall damage | land | 0.22 | 1.0 |
Deepslate coal ore[]
| Sound | Subtitles | Source | Description | Resource location | Translation key | Volume | Pitch | Attenuation distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Block broken | Blocks | Once the block has broken | block | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8 | 16 | |
| Block placed | Blocks | When the block is placed | block | subtitles | 1.0 | 0.8 | 16 | |
| Block breaking | Blocks | While the block is in the process of being broken | block | subtitles | 0.25 | 0.5 | 16 | |
| None[sound 1] | Entity-Dependent | Falling on the block with fall damage | block | None[sound 1] | 0.5 | 0.75 | 16 | |
| Footsteps | Entity-Dependent | Walking on the block | block | subtitles | 0.15 | 1.0 | 16 |
| Sound | Source | Description | Resource location | Volume | Pitch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blocks | Once the block has broken | dig | 1.0 | 0.8-1.0 | |
| Blocks | When the block is placed | place | 1.0 | 0.8-1.0 | |
| Blocks | While the block is in the process of being broken | hit | 0.3 | 0.5 | |
| Players | Falling on the block with fall damage | fall | 0.4 | 1.0 | |
| Players | Walking on the block | step | 0.3 | 1.0 | |
| Players | Jumping from the block | jump | 0.12 | 1.0 | |
| Players | Falling on the block without fall damage | land | 0.22 | 1.0 |
Data values[]
ID[]
| Name | Identifier | Form | Block tags | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coal Ore | coal_ore | Block & Item | coal_ores mineable/pickaxe | block.minecraft.coal_ore |
| Deepslate Coal Ore | deepslate_coal_ore | Block & Item | coal_ores mineable/pickaxe | block.minecraft.deepslate_coal_ore |
| Name | Identifier | Numeric ID | Form | Item ID[i 1] | Translation key |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coal Ore | coal_ore | 16 | Block & Giveable Item[i 2] | Identical[i 3] | tile.coal_ore.name |
| Deepslate Coal Ore | deepslate_coal_ore | 661 | Block & Giveable Item[i 2] | Identical[i 3] | tile.deepslate_coal_ore.name |
History[]
| Java Edition Classic | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 23, 2009 | Notch says he accomplished adding coal blobs in stone. | ||||
| 0.0.14a |  Added coal ore.
| ||||
| Mining coal ore currently drops the ore block. | |||||
| 0.26 SURVIVAL TEST | Mining an ore block now drops stone slabs. | ||||
| 0.28 | Coal ore can be obtained in the creative inventory. | ||||
| Java Edition Indev | |||||
| 0.31 | 20100128 | When destroyed by hand or with any tool, coal ore drops 1-3 pieces of coal. | |||
| 20100201-2 | Coal ore now drops 1 piece of coal when mined with a pickaxe and nothing otherwise. | ||||
| Java Edition Infdev | |||||
| 20100227-1 | Coal ore no longer generates. | ||||
| 20100320 | Coal ore blobs now generate, but differently. | ||||
| 20100325 | Ore blobs now appear more like they do today. | ||||
| 20100327 | Coal ore now regenerates after the world is reloaded, assuming that the positions of the ore blocks were replaced by stone. | ||||
| 20100330 | Coal ore no longer regenerates. | ||||
| Java Edition | |||||
| 1.0.0 | Beta 1.9 Prerelease 4 | Coal ore can now be smelted to obtain coal. | |||
| 1.3.1 | 12w22a | Coal ore now drops experience when mined. | |||
| 1.10 | 16w20a | Coal ore can now be found in small amounts near fossils. | |||
| Texture Update | November 9, 2017 |  A new texture for coal ore has been proposed. | |||
| 1.14 | 18w43a |  The texture of coal ore has been changed. | |||
| 1.17 | 21w06a | The height limit was expanded down to Y=-64. Coal ores are temporary generating from Y=-64 instead of Y=0. | |||
| 21w07a |  The texture of coal ore has been changed.
| ||||
| Coal ore now attempts to generate twice: once, evenly between an altitude of Y=136 and Y=256; and as a triangle spread, peaking at an altitude of Y=96 and generating between an altitude of Y=0 and Y=192. | |||||
| 21w08a |  The texture of coal ore has been changed, again. | ||||
| 21w10a |  Added deepslate variant of coal ore.
| ||||
 Tweaked the coal ore texture. | |||||
| Reduced air exposure for coal ore. | |||||
| Coal ore can no longer generate in fossils below Y=0. | |||||
| 21w15a | All the changes to coal ore generation in the previous 1.17 snapshots have been reverted, but they can be re-enabled with the Caves & Cliffs Prototype Data Pack. | ||||
| 21w17a | Deepslate coal ore variant now generates naturally. | ||||
| Coal ore can now replace tuff and deepslate upon generating. | |||||
| 1.18 | Experimental Snapshot 1 | Coal ore once again generates the way it did in the 1.17 snapshots without the use of a data pack. | |||
| Deepslate coal ore no longer generates naturally. | |||||
| 21w44a | Deepslate coal ore can now generate naturally, again. | ||||
| Release Candidate 4 | Fixed an issue where coal ore at lower heights (Y=0 to Y=192) is not distributed as intended since 1.18-pre1. | ||||
| Pocket Edition Alpha | |||||
| v0.1.0 | Added coal ore. | ||||
| v0.3.0 | Coal ore now drops coal when mined. | ||||
| v0.3.2 | Coal ore is now available in the creative inventory. | ||||
| v0.12.1 | build 1 | Mining coal ore now drops experience orbs. | |||
| Coal ore can now be collected with Silk Touch, dropping the block itself. | |||||
| Coal ore now drops extra coals with the Fortune enchantment. | |||||
| Bedrock Edition | |||||
| 1.10.0 | beta 1.10.0.3 | The texture of coal ore has been changed. | |||
| 1.16.220 | beta 1.16.220.50 | The texture of coal ore has been changed.
| |||
| In the Caves and Cliffs experimental gameplay, 20 additional blobs of coal ore now attempt to generate in new mountain biomes between Y=128 and Y=256. | |||||
| 1.17.0 | beta 1.16.230.52 |  Added deepslate variant of coal ore behind the Caves and Cliffs experimental gameplay. It generates instead of coal in deepslate blobs. | |||
| beta 1.16.230.54 | Coal ore texture was updated. | ||||
| beta 1.16.230.56 | In the Caves and Cliffs experimental gameplay, coal ore generation has been changed. Coal ore blob now generates as a triangle spread generating between Y=1 and Y=191 and peaking at Y=96. Larger coal ore blobs now sometimes form. Additional blobs in mountains that was introduced in beta 1.16.220.50 still form. | ||||
| beta 1.17.0.50 | Deepslate coal ore texture was changed match to Java Edition. | ||||
| beta 1.17.0.52 | Now deepslate coal ore generates without the Caves and Cliffs experimental gameplay. | ||||
| 1.18.0 | beta 1.18.0.20 | Removed “Caves and Cliffs” experimental toggle. New coal ore generation are now available through normal gameplay. | |||
| Coal ore generation has now been tweaked to be in parity with Java Edition. | |||||
| Deepslate coal ore no longer generates. | |||||
| beta 1.18.0.22 | Coal ore generation height has now been tweaked to be in parity with Java Edition. | ||||
| beta 1.18.0.24 | Coal ore generation has now been tweaked again to be in parity with Java Edition. | ||||
| Deepslate coal ore variant once again generates naturally. | |||||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU1 | CU1 | 1.0 | Patch 1 | 1.0.1 | Added coal ore. |
| 1.90 | The texture of coal ore has been changed. | ||||
| New Nintendo 3DS Edition | |||||
| 0.1.0 | Added coal ore. | ||||
Data history[]
| Java Edition | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.13 | 17w47a | Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 16. | |||
Issues[]
Issues relating to "Coal Ore" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Trivia[]
- The Minecraft mechanic that diamond ore replaces coal ore that generate in deepslate layers, is in accordance with the common misconception in real life that diamonds form from highly compressed coal.
- In fact, diamonds mostly form from carbon that comes from carbonate rocks,[1] and are completely unrelated to coal which form from dead plants.
Gallery[]
A blob of coal ore found in a giant tree taiga cliff.
A blob of coal with surrounding blocks excavated.
A blob of coal naturally occurring in a desert.
A block of coal ore found underwater. The glowstone is placed by the player.
A coal blob in a mushroom biome hillside.
A 20-block blob of coal ore found in a ravine.
A coal ore blob found in a mountains biome.
One coal ore blob that generated close to the surface in a cave opening.
A blob of coal ore above a lake of lava.
A blob of coal ore found in Pocket Edition.
Coal ore generated in snowy biome.
Ravine with multiple ores, water and lava falls, and stronghold bridge over it.
Coal ore exposed on the surface of a windswept hills biome.
A blob of deepslate Coal Ore.
References[]
- ↑ How do diamonds form? They don't form from coal! – Geology.com in 2012
External Links[]
- Block of the Week: Coal Ore – Minecraft.net on December 8, 2017