Top Rare Materials in Minecraft: How to Find and Use Them in 2026
Minecraft’s rare materials aren’t just hard to get they can ease up your entire game. Items like ancient debris, heavy core, and enchanted golden apples give you big benefits if you know how to use them right. Grinding heavy cores in trial chambers to craft a one hit weapon “Mace” or crafting netherite gear that survives lava are just a few examples. This guide covers the types of rare materials, where to find them, and how experienced players use them in game.
What Makes a Material Rare?
A material becomes rare in Minecraft APK when it’s hard to get, limited to one source, or risky to collect. The Dragon Egg is a good example there’s only one in the world, and if you lose it, you can’t get another. Enchanted Golden Apples can’t be crafted and only spawn in natural structures. Heavy Core required to craft Mace can only be found in trial chambers, requires fighting waves of mobs, and it can’t be farmed.
Rare Materials That You Can Mine
Diamond
Diamonds spawn below Y-level 16, but Y -59 is where you find most diamonds. Strip mining works, but using TNT at the deepslate level can clear space faster. Always bring a Fortune 3 pickaxe, as it will increase diamond drop rates. Don’t waste diamonds on everything focus on your armour, sword, pickaxe, axe, and enchantment table first.
Emeralds
Emeralds are only found in mountain biomes, and you’ll usually find just one at a time. They’re super rare if you try mining for them. It’s much easier to trade with villagers. Sell paper to librarians and sticks to fletchers to get emeralds early in the game. Then use those emeralds to stack yourself by buying useful stuff from villagers like Bottle o’ Enchantings, Diamond armour, Ender Pearls, and Golden Carrots.
Redstone
Redstone is found from Y -64 to Y 16, but the best level is around Y -59. It’s necessary for traps, item sorters, and automated farms. As a beginner, you can start with hidden doors or light lamps in your village, which automatically turn on when it is nighttime with the help of day-night sensors. I remember the first time I built with redstone, it was a hidden automated door of my secret base that opens when it is daytime and closes at the nighttime.
Lapis Lazuli
Lapis ores spawn from Y -64 to Y 64, with most of them found near Y 0. It’s needed to enchant your gear from the enchantment table, so always keep a stack at your base. Fortune enchantments on your pickaxe help you collect more, and one good vein can give you loads of lazulis. Don’t leave it behind thinking it’s useless—it’s not.
Gold
Gold spawns in both the Overworld and the Nether, but in the Nether, you find it in bulk and relatively fast. Bring a Silk Touch pickaxe and wear at least one gold armour piece to avoid Piglin attacks while mining. Smelt Nether Gold Ore to gold ingots and make golden apples, or trade gold ingots with piglins for rare loot like Soul Speed enchantments and Ender Pearls.
Iron
Iron can be found almost anywhere underground, but you get the most around Y 16. It’s used to make tools, armor, buckets, anvils, and many other items. Mining for iron is a very slow method, especially if you require iron in large amounts. I prefer making an iron golem farm–it’s pretty basic to make and gives you a lot of iron per hour.
Copper
Copper is found from Y -16 to Y 112, but the biggest veins are around Y 43 to Y 48. It’s mostly used for building, but lightning rods made from copper can protect your wooden house from thunder strikes. Use honeycomb on copper blocks to stop them from oxidizing and turning green.
Coal
One of the first and most useful materials you’ll find in your world. Coal is found above Y 0 and is easy to find in caves, hills, and on cliffs. You’ll find the most coal between Y 45 and Y 96. It’s used for smelting, cooking, and making torches, which are all key to surviving your first few nights. Coal is simple to collect and a very decent fuel source overall.
Rare Drops From the Nether and the End
Blaze Rods
Blaze rods come from Blazes in Nether Fortresses and are needed for brewing potions and crafting Eyes of Ender, which leads to the End. Since you need Blaze Powder to brew potions that are crafted from Blaze rods, your first trip will be without any fire resistance potion. Bring a shield, good armor, and carry some buckets of powder snow it puts out the fire that blazes shoot and can save you in emergencies, since water doesn’t work in the Nether.
Nether Wart
Nether Wart is used to make Awkward Potion, which is the base for most useful potions like Regeneration, Strength, Fire Resistance, and Night Vision. It only grows on soul sand, needs darkness to grow, and is found in Nether Fortresses (usually near staircases) or sometimes in Bastions. When you find it, take some soul sand too, so you can farm it back at your base.
Ghast Tears
Ghast tears drop when you kill a Ghast, but only if you land the final hit yourself. Using a bow is the safest option, or you can hit its fireballs back with good timing. They spawn mostly in soul sand valleys, so that’s the best place to hunt them. Ghast tears are used to brew Regeneration potions and for crafting End Crystals, so don’t waste them—they’re really useful.
Ender Pearls
You get Ender Pearls from Endermen, but they don’t always drop one every time. The best place to farm them is in the Warped Forest biome in the Nether, where Endermen spawn more often. Look slightly down while fighting so you don’t attract more than one. You’ll need pearls to craft Eyes of Ender (for finding strongholds), and you can also throw them to teleport—just watch out for the fall damage.
Shulker Shells
Shulker Shells drop from Shulkers found in End Cities. Combine two shells with a chest to make a Shulker Box—it works like a portable chest that keeps your items even when broken. Shields help to block Shulker’s levitation shots, and crouching stops you from floating too high.
Chorus Fruit
Chorus fruit grows on chorus plants found all over the End Islands. Eating it teleports you randomly nearby, which can help you escape traps, especially in Lifesteal SMPs. If you ever wondered how to make purpur blocks? They are made from popped chorus that you get by cooking chorus fruit in a furnace.
Special Loot And Rare Drops
Heavy Core
The heavy core only drops from ominous vaults in trial chambers, and even then, it’s not guaranteed that you get one. You’ll need to complete multiple trials just to get one, and each trial gets harder the longer you stay inside. Make sure you bring potions, backup armor, and a clean escape route before starting. The heavy core is used to craft the mace, the most powerful weapon in the game.
Trident
Tridents only drop from Drowned that are holding one, with just an 11.5% chance using Looting III. The best way to farm them is near warm ocean ruins or river biomes where Drowned spawn naturally, and for faster results, build a trident farm. Use a Looting sword with Mending, so it doesn’t break while grinding. Fun fact, you can enchant it based on how you play Loyalty and Channeling if you want it to return like Thor’s hammer and summon lightning during storms, and Riptide for fast movement in water or rain.
Music Discs
Music discs are collectible items you can play in a jukebox to hear different tracks. They’re mostly for collection and decoration. To get one, you need a skeleton to kill a creeper with its arrow. The rare discs, like “5” and “Relic,” aren’t dropped by mobs. Disc 5 is crafted from nine fragments found in Ancient City chests, while Relic is found by brushing suspicious gravel or sand inside Trail Ruins.
Name Tag
Name Tags can’t be crafted, so you’ll have to find them in dungeon chests, mineshafts, bastions, or by fishing. They’re great for naming pets, and they also stop mobs from despawning. In Iron Golem farms, players have to name a zombie to keep it around and scare villagers nonstop. To name a mob, rename the name tag using an anvil.
Heart of the Sea
You find a Heart of the Sea in buried treasure using the buried treasure map from a Shipwreck. Combine it with 8 nautilus shells to craft a conduit, which gives you water breathing, night vision, and faster mining underwater. It’s really useful for exploring Ocean Monuments or building underwater bases. If you’re having trouble locating the treasure, try digging around the X mark on the map it’s usually buried just a few blocks under the sand.
The Most Valuable Rare Materials in Minecraft
Dragon Egg
The Dragon Egg is the rarest item in the game because it’s only one in the world, and it spawns once after you defeat the Ender Dragon. It teleports if touched; you have to use a piston or the torch trick to collect it. It doesn’t do anything in survival—it’s just proof that you beat the game. Save it in a careful vault, or your Ender Chest can also work.
Enchanted Golden Apple
Enchanted Golden Apples are also called “God Apples” because they can’t be crafted and are only found in rare structures’ loot chests like ancient cities, bastions, and desert temples. A god apple gives Resistance I, Absorption IV, and more, so don’t waste them on normal fights. Keep them in your Ender Chest for truly life-or-death situations.
Elytra
Elytras are found in End Ships, which float near almost every End City. Bring blocks or use ender pearls to reach the ship safely slow falling potions are helpful if you missed your pearl or fall during making a bridge. Once equipped, you can glide, and fireworks let you fly long distances. Personally, I liked to enchant it with Unbreaking 3 and Mending to avoid repairs because it breaks really fast, and most of the time, you don’t even realize it.
Totem of Undying
Evokers give the Totem of Undying when they’re killed during village raids. Totem gives you an extra life and saves you from dying once. Start a raid near iron golems and flatten the area around the village to make the waves easier to manage. You must hold the totem in your hand to get an extra life. Keep extra totems in your Ender Chest before fighting the Wither or on your journey to find the Nether Fortress.
Netherite (Ancient Debris)
Ancient debris spawns between Y-levels 13 and 15 in the Nether. It’s blast-resistant, so I always blow TNTs and Bed around the chunk borders to find the maximum debris, because they spawn mostly at the chunk borders. Fire resistance is a must because lava can erupt from anywhere. Smelt debris into netherite scraps and combine them with gold ingots to make netherite ingots and upgrade your diamond gear to netherite in the smiting table.
Where to Find Each Rare Material?
Ores & Minerals
Diamond – Best mined at Y–59 using strip mining or TNT in deep slate.
Ancient Debris (Netherite) – Spawns between Y-levels 13–15 in the Nether. Use beds or TNT to clear space.
Emerald – Generates in mountain biomes between Y 16–256. Trading with villagers is faster.
Redstone – Found below Y–15. Often near lava, so bring blocks and water.
Lapis Lazuli – Found between Y-levels 1–30 in large clumps.
Gold – Spawns in the Overworld and more commonly in the Nether.
Iron – Best mined around Y–16 or farmed using golems and villagers.
Copper – Found around Y–47 to Y–48 in large veins.
Coal – Spawns above Y–0, especially in mountain caves.
Mob Drops & Structure Loot
Totem of Undying – Dropped by Evokers during raids. Start a raid by killing a Pillager captain.
Trident – Rare drop from Drowned holding tridents, found near ocean ruins or in Drowned farms.
Enchanted Golden Apple – Found in chests inside ancient cities, bastions, desert temples, and dungeons.
Music Discs – Dropped when a skeleton kills a creeper, or found in ancient city loot.
Name Tag – Found in dungeon, bastion, or mineshaft chests; sometimes from fishing.
Heart of the Sea – Found in buried treasure. Use a map from a shipwreck and dig at chunk coords 9, 9.
Nether & End Locations
Elytra – Found inside End Ships, which spawn in End Cities after beating the Ender Dragon.
Dragon Egg – Appears on top of the End portal after defeating the Ender Dragon.
Nether Star – Drops from the Wither boss, which is summoned with 3 wither skulls and soul sand.
Shulker Shells – Dropped by Shulkers in End Cities.
Blaze Rods – Dropped by Blazes in Nether Fortresses.
Nether Wart – Grows in Nether Fortresses and Bastion Remnants on soul sand.
Ghast Tears – Rare drop from Ghasts in the Nether; shoot them down or deflect their fireballs.
Ender Pearls – Dropped by Endermen, most easily farmed in the End or warped forests.
Chorus Fruit – Grows on chorus plants in the End. It can be farmed and replanted.
Best Farming Tricks for Rare Drops
You can’t rely on luck for rare items; use farms and smart setups instead.
Totem of Undying – Build a raid farm near a village with iron golems to get totems fast.
Trident – Build a Drowned farm above the lukewarm ocean and grind with a looting 3 sword.
Iron – Build an iron golem farm with villagers, beds, and zombie scare setups.
Blaze Rods – Trap a blaze spawner and use slabs + fire resistance to build a blaze farm.
Ender Pearls – Build an Enderman XP farm in the End; one hit gives tons of pearls.
Ghast Tears – Make a platform over lava in the Soul Sand Valleys for safer ghast hunting.
Shulker Shells – Use a looting sword and shield; craft shulker boxes on the spot to save inventory space.
Gold – Build a Nether gold farm with magma platforms and turtle eggs
How to Store and Sort Rare Materials Efficiently
Shulker Boxes
Shulker Boxes are like backpacks that keep items inside when broken. I use them to carry loot after exploration, mining trips, or simply to sort everything back at base. You can also dye and rename them. I keep mine labeled as “Ores,” “Tools,” and “Food,” and save them in my Ender Chest.
Ender Chest
An Ender Chest lets you access your items from anywhere even if it’s a different chest in a far-off location. I use mine to store backup gear, extra food, and anything I don’t want to lose. Your items stay safe, even if you die. Just make sure you use a Silk Touch pickaxe when breaking it if you don’t, you’ll lose the chest.
Item Frames
Item Frames make sorting easy, so you don’t need to open 20 chests to find the item you’re seeking. Just place an item frame on the front of the chest, put the item it holds, and you’ll never have to guess what’s inside. After big trips or farming sessions, it’s the best way to keep everything where it belongs.
Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
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Carrying all your rare loot at once
Never bring everything with you. If you fall into lava or the void, it’s all gone. Use an Ender Chest and keep valuables safe at your base.
Mining valuable ores without Fortune
Always use a Fortune III pickaxe for diamonds, lapis, redstone, and emeralds. Otherwise, you’re losing a lot of extra drops that you could get.
Breaking Ender Chests without Silk Touch
Ender Chests vanish if broken the wrong way. Use a Silk Touch pickaxe or you’ll lose it and everything inside stays unreachable.
Not bringing Fire Resistance to the Nether
Lava is everywhere in the Nether, and you won’t always see it coming. A simple Fire Resistance potion can save your gear and your life.
Fighting with low-durability gear
Always check your armor and tools before heading into raids or boss fights. Mending and Unbreaking 3 are fantastic enchantments, but keeping backups is a smart choice.
Falling into the void in the End
Build with caution, crouch near edges, and bring Ender Pearls for clutch saves. One wrong movement can erase everything.
Forgetting to label and sort chests
A messy storage room wastes time when you’re in a hurry. Use item frames or name your Shulker Boxes so you know where everything is.
Starting raids in unprepared villages
Flat land, iron golems, and escape routes help a lot. Don’t start a raid in a random village—set it up first.
Farming mobs without Looting
Rare drops like tridents or Shulker Shells are way harder to get without Looting III. Always use it when grinding.
Conclusion
You’ve seen where to get every rare item from Ancient Debris deep in the Nether to Totems, Tridents, and Enchanted Golden Apples. I also showed you how to store them smartly and avoid the usual mistakes players make when they’re not careful. These materials are hard to get, but if you use them well, they’ll make your survival world a lot easier to manage. Don’t just let them store in a chest put them to work.
