Iron ingots are versatile metal crafting ingredients. They are most commonly obtained by smelting iron ore.
Obtaining
Mining
Mining a Nether Reactor core (Pocket Edition exclusive) will drop 6 iron ingots.
Crafting
| Ingredients | Crafting recipe |
|---|---|
| Block of Iron |
Smelting
| Ingredients | Smelting recipe |
|---|---|
| Iron Ore + Any fuel |
Natural generation
| Item | Structure | Container | Quantity | Chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Java Edition | ||||
| Iron Ingot | Dungeon | Chest | 1–4 | 18.5% |
| Mineshaft | Chest | 1–5 | 27.3% | |
| Bastion remnant | Bridge chest | 4–9 | 11.2% | |
| Treasure chest | 3–9 | 33.7% | ||
| Generic chest | 1–6 | 19% | ||
| Buried treasure | Chest | 1–4 | 99.4% | |
| Desert temple | Chest | 1–5 | 18% | |
| End city | Chest | 4–8 | 38.4% | |
| Jungle temple | Chest | 1–5 | 37.4% | |
| Nether fortress | Chest | 1–5 | 19% | |
| Pillager Outpost | Chest | 1–3 | 30.5% | |
| Shipwreck | Treasure chest | 1–5 | 97.4% | |
| Stronghold | Storeroom chest | 1–5 | 34.3% | |
| Altar chest | 1–5 | 23% | ||
| Village | Armorer's chest | 1–3 | 54.2% | |
| Weaponsmith's chest | 1–5 | 45.1% | ||
| Toolsmith's chest | 1–5 | 41.2% | ||
| Woodland mansion | Chest | 1–4 | 18.5% | |
| Bedrock Edition | ||||
| Iron Ingot | Dungeon | Chest | 1–4 | 18.5% |
| Mineshaft | Chest | 1–5 | 27.3% | |
| Bastion remnant | Bridge chest | 4–9 | 11.2% | |
| Treasure chest | 3–9 | 33.7% | ||
| Generic chest | 1–6 | 19% | ||
| Buried treasure | Chest | 3–5 | 57.2% | |
| Desert temple | Chest | 1–5 | 18% | |
| End city | Chest | 4–8 | 38.4% | |
| Jungle temple | Chest | 1–5 | 37.3% | |
| Nether fortress | Chest | 1–5 | 19% | |
| Pillager Outpost | Chest | 1–3 | 30.5% | |
| Shipwreck | Treasure chest | 1–5 | 97.4% | |
| Stronghold | Altar chest | 1–5 | 22.4% | |
| Storeroom chest | 1–5 | 28.5% | ||
| Village | Weaponsmith's chest | 1–5 | 45.1% | |
| Toolsmith's chest | 1–5 | 41.2% | ||
| Armorer's chest | 1–3 | 54.2% | ||
| Woodland mansion | Chest | 1–4 | 18.5% | |
Iron golems
Iron golems drop 3-5 iron ingots upon death, regardless of the way they die. The looting enchantment does not increase the amount of iron ingots dropped.
Zombies
Zombies have a 8.5% chance of dropping 1 iron ingot, 9.5% with Looting I, 10.5% with Looting II, and 11.5% with Looting III.
Usage
Crafting ingredient
| Name | Ingredients | Crafting recipe | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Activator Rail | Iron Ingot + Stick + Redstone Torch |
||
| Anvil | Block of Iron + Iron Ingot |
||
| Blast Furnace | Iron Ingot + Furnace + Smooth Stone |
||
| Block of Iron | Iron Ingot | ||
| Bucket | Iron Ingot | ||
| Cauldron | Iron Ingot | ||
| Chain | Iron Nugget + Iron Ingot |
||
| Compass | Iron Ingot + Redstone Dust |
||
| Crossbow | Stick + Iron Ingot + String + Tripwire Hook |
||
| Detector Rail | Iron Ingot + Stone Pressure Plate + Redstone Dust |
||
| Flint and Steel | Iron Ingot + Flint |
||
| Heavy Weighted Pressure Plate | Iron Ingot | ||
| Hopper | Iron Ingot + Chest |
||
| Iron Trapdoor | Iron Ingot | ||
| Iron Axe | Iron Ingot + Stick |
||
| Iron Bars | Iron Ingot | ||
| Iron Boots | Iron Ingot | ||
| Iron Chestplate | Iron Ingot | ||
| Iron Door | Iron Ingot | ||
| Iron Helmet | Iron Ingot | ||
| Iron Hoe | Iron Ingot + Stick |
||
| Iron Leggings | Iron Ingot | ||
| Iron Nugget | Iron Ingot | ||
| Iron Pickaxe | Iron Ingot + Stick |
||
| Iron Shovel | Iron Ingot + Stick |
||
| Iron Sword | Iron Ingot + Stick |
||
| Minecart | Iron Ingot | ||
| Piston | Any Planks + Cobblestone + Iron Ingot + Redstone Dust |
||
| Rail | Iron Ingot + Stick |
||
| Shears | Iron Ingot | ||
| Shield | Any Planks + Iron Ingot |
||
| Smithing Table | Iron Ingot + Any Planks |
||
| Stonecutter | Iron Ingot + Stone |
Can use stone only, no variants.[Java Edition only] | |
| Stonecutter | Iron Ingot + Any Stone |
Can use stone and its three other variants interchangeably.[Bedrock Edition only] | |
| Tripwire Hook | Iron Ingot + Stick + Any Planks |
Trading
Villager armorers, tool smiths, and weapon smiths buy 7-9 iron ingots for one emerald as their second tier trades.
Achievements
| Icon | Achievement | In-game description | Actual requirements (if different) | Gamerscore earned | Trophy type (PS4) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PS4 | Other | |||||
| Acquire Hardware | Smelt an iron ingot | Pick up an iron ingot from a furnace output. | 15G | Bronze | ||
History
| indev | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.31 | January 29, 2010 | Added iron ingots. | |||
| release | |||||
| 1.2.1 | 12w06a | Zombies now rarely drop iron ingots, making it a renewable resource. | |||
| 12w08a | Iron golems now drop 3-5 iron ingots. | ||||
| 1.3.1 | 12w21a | Added desert temples, with a hidden chest room and loot containing iron ingots. | |||
| 12w22a | Added Jungle temples, which contain loot chests with iron ingots. | ||||
| 1.4.2 | 12w32a | Iron ingots can be used to activate a beacon. | |||
| 12w41a | Iron ingots are used to craft an anvil. | ||||
| 1.5 | 13w01a | Weighted Pressure Plates can be crafted using gold ingots or iron ingots. | |||
| 1.8 | 14w07a | Added iron trapdoors, which can be crafted using iron ingots. | |||
| pocketa | |||||
| 0.3.2 | Iron ingots were added. | ||||
| 0.12.1 | No longer used to craft nether reactor cores and are instead dropped by it. | ||||
| Legacy Console Edition | |||||
| TU1 | Added iron ingots. | ||||
Issues
Issues relating to "Iron Ingot" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.
Trivia
- Iron Ingots are the most versatile item in the game, being used in 27 crafting recipes (28 as of 15w33c). The second most versatile item is Wood Planks with 23 recipes.