How to Get Netherite in Minecraft

What Is Netherite?

Netherite is the strongest material tier in Minecraft, surpassing diamond in durability, mining speed and knockback resistance. Netherite tools and armor also float in lava and are immune to fire damage, making them far more durable in dangerous situations. Upgrading from diamond to netherite is a multi-step process that starts with finding ancient debris in the Nether.

Understanding the Upgrade Path

The path from raw material to netherite gear involves several steps:

• Mine ancient debris in the Nether.
• Smelt ancient debris in a furnace or blast furnace to get netherite scraps.
• Combine 4 netherite scraps + 4 gold ingots on a crafting table to create 1 netherite ingot.
• Use a smithing table with a netherite upgrade smithing template, a diamond tool/armor piece, and a netherite ingot to upgrade the item.

Since 1.20, you also need a netherite upgrade smithing template to perform the upgrade. These are found in bastion remnants. You can duplicate the template using 7 diamonds and a block of netherrack on a crafting table, so you only need to find one.

Where to Find Ancient Debris

Ancient debris spawns exclusively in the Nether between Y-level 8 and Y-level 119. However, the distribution is heavily concentrated around Y-level 15, which is the optimal mining height.

• Ancient debris generates in veins of 1-3 blocks. The game places up to 2 veins per chunk.
• It never generates exposed to air, there is always at least one block of netherrack or other material around it.
• It has the same blast resistance as obsidian, so explosions destroy surrounding netherrack but leave ancient debris intact. This is the basis for bed and TNT mining.

Bed Mining

Bed mining is the most popular method because beds are cheap to craft and cause large explosions in the Nether:

• Gather a large supply of beds (at least 20-30 for a decent mining session). Each bed requires 3 wool and 3 planks.
• Enter the Nether and dig down to Y = 15. Use coordinates to verify your level.
• Dig a tunnel 1 block wide and 2 blocks tall in any direction.
• Every 6 blocks, dig a small alcove: go forward 1 block, then place a bed.
• Stand back and right-click the bed. It explodes immediately because beds cannot be used in the Nether.
• The explosion clears a roughly 5-block radius, revealing any ancient debris in the area.
• Wear blast protection armor. The explosion deals heavy damage. A shield does not block bed explosions fully, so armor is essential.
• Carry fire resistance potions or enchant your armor with Fire Protection. Lava pockets are common and the explosions frequently open them.

Each bed explosion has a reasonable chance of exposing ancient debris. On average, expect to find 1 ancient debris per 15-20 bed explosions, though luck varies.

TNT Mining

If you have access to a creeper farm, TNT mining is faster and safer than bed mining:

• Dig a tunnel at Y = 15, same as with bed mining.
• Place TNT every 4-5 blocks along the tunnel.
• Light the first TNT and back away. The chain reaction blasts open a long strip of netherrack.
• TNT deals less damage to the player than beds and is easier to control.
• The downside is that TNT requires gunpowder and sand, which means you need farms set up first.

Strip Mining by Hand

If you do not have enough beds or TNT, you can strip mine for ancient debris with a pickaxe:

• Use an Efficiency V diamond or netherite pickaxe with Unbreaking III. Netherrack breaks almost instantly with high efficiency.
• Dig a 1x2 tunnel at Y = 15 and mine in a straight line for hundreds of blocks.
• This method is slower but costs nothing beyond pickaxe durability.
• You will also find large quantities of nether gold ore and nether quartz ore along the way.

How Much Ancient Debris Do You Need?

Each netherite ingot requires 4 ancient debris (smelted into 4 netherite scraps) plus 4 gold ingots. Here is the total for a full set:

• Helmet: 1 netherite ingot (4 ancient debris)
• Chestplate: 1 netherite ingot (4 ancient debris)
• Leggings: 1 netherite ingot (4 ancient debris)
• Boots: 1 netherite ingot (4 ancient debris)
• Sword: 1 netherite ingot (4 ancient debris)
• Pickaxe: 1 netherite ingot (4 ancient debris)

A full armor set plus sword and pickaxe requires 24 ancient debris and 24 gold ingots. If you add a shovel, axe and hoe, that total climbs to 36 ancient debris.

Smelting and Crafting

Once you have your ancient debris:

• Smelt each ancient debris block in a furnace or blast furnace. Each one produces 1 netherite scrap and grants 2 XP. A blast furnace is twice as fast.
• Combine 4 netherite scraps and 4 gold ingots in any arrangement on the crafting table to produce 1 netherite ingot.
• Place a smithing table (crafted from 2 iron ingots and 4 planks).
• Put the netherite upgrade template in the left slot, the diamond item in the center, and the netherite ingot on the right.
• The diamond item upgrades to netherite, keeping all enchantments, durability loss and custom names.

Tips and Warnings

• Always carry a fire resistance potion when bed or TNT mining. One accidental lava pool can end a run.
• Ancient debris is immune to lava and fire, so if a piece falls into a lava pool after an explosion, it will not burn. Quench the lava with water (if in the overworld) or blocks to retrieve it.
• Do not bring your best gear on early netherite mining runs. Death in a lava lake means losing everything. Use expendable diamond tools until you have enough netherite for your main set.
• Gold ingots from nether gold ore (mined with Fortune III for maximum nuggets) can supply the gold you need without ever leaving the Nether.

If you want to skip the setup hassle, join Astroworld MC, IP play.astroworldmc.com. Java + Bedrock, no install required.