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File:2011-08-25 16.31.07.png

All the current ores, as of version Beta 1.2.

Ore is a block type in Minecraft. Ores are primarily collected for crafting purposes, such as tools, armor, and more. Redstone ore is used as a type of "wiring", which can be used to create redstone circuits, compasses, clocks and more. Ore can also be combined to create a block of the material's type for iron, gold, diamond, and lapis lazuli. Blocks are hard to make, requiring nine pieces of each material to create.

Availability

PercentOfOreByHeight

This graph shows the actual amount of ore found in a relatively small but untapped world.

Extracted Ores

Ores extracted down to bedrock

File:Ore Veins.png

Exposed Ore veins.

In Minecraft Beta, the following is the distribution of ores according to the altitude. [citation needed] (Layers are number of blocks above the lowest layer of bedrock.) Since the beta 1.8 patch, the highest layers that Gold, Redstone, Diamond and Lapis can be found on are now two layers lower.[1] The graph on the right shows the ore distribution in 1.0.0.

Ore type Commonly found up to... Most found on** Rare between... None above... Pickaxe needed for drop
Coal Layer 128 Layer 29 Layer 129-131* Layer 132* Any pickaxe
Iron Layer 64 Layer 35 Layer 65-67 Layer 68 Stone, Iron or Diamond
Lapis Lazuli Layer 23 Layer 14 Layer 31-33 Layer 33 Stone, Iron or Diamond
Gold Layer 29 Layer 20 Layer 31-33 Layer 34 Iron or Diamond
Diamond Layer 12 Layer 10 Layer 13-15 Layer 16 Iron or Diamond
Redstone Layer 15 Layer 8 Layer 16 Layer 17 Iron or Diamond

*These points are above the maximum map height, and were extrapolated based on the pattern of (2^n, [2^n]+1 to [2^n]+3, [2^n]+4).

**Based on the graph on the right.

Redstone has the same layer and line-size statistics as Diamond, but is generated 8 times per chunk as opposed to 1.

Ore is created by picking two points a certain distance apart, drawing a line between the points, and filling in any Stone blocks within a certain distance of the line with the ore being done in that round. Source (Section 3.11)

In chunks generated prior to Beta 1.6, ore also varies depending on the section of the map it is generated in, due to a bug (fixed in 1.6) in the spawning algorithm. In the quadrant south-west of the point (0,0), ore spawns approximately 50% more than in the quadrant north-east of the point (0,0). The quadrants north-west and south-east of the point (0,0) split the difference between the extremes. (See image below) Any chunks generated after Beta 1.6 do not show this disparity as the spawning algorithm has been fixed. The bug fix did not modify any already existing chunks.

File:Ores-By-Quadrant.png

Ore density by quadrant before Beta 1.6

Ore Varieties

Craftable Blocks

Minecraft Classic

In Minecraft Classic, you could only find exposed Coal, Gold and Iron in large amounts, from roughly 10 to 30 in a vein. Lapis Lazuli, Diamond & Redstone are not found because they were added in later updates. Because of the reduced functions of classic, these can only be mined for fun and will not yield and material. Due to this, you are recommended to purchase Minecraft alpha or beta.

Trivia

  • Iron and Gold are the only ores that drop the actual ore block when mined without the Silk Touch Enchantment. All the other ores drop the usable item when mined.
  • Since 1.0.0 Coal, Diamond, Redstone and Lapis Lazuli can now also drop as ore blocks with Silk Touch.
  • Ore veins don't pass through chunk borders.

References

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