Exploration · Optics · 1.21
How to Make a Spyglass
A spyglass turns a faint speck on the horizon into something you can actually read. Three items make one, and it never wears out. Tap the view below to look through it.
The recipe
One amethyst shard, stacked on two copper ingots in a column.
SpyglassGetting the parts
Amethyst Shard
Find an amethyst geode deep underground and mine a fully grown amethyst cluster with any pickaxe. Each cluster drops shards.
2 Copper Ingots
Copper ore is everywhere underground. Mine it for raw copper and smelt that in a furnace into copper ingots.
How to use it
Hold the spyglass and press and hold use (right-click on PC) to raise it to your eye. The view zooms in about ten times inside a round scope frame, so distant mobs, signs and landmarks snap into focus. Moving or letting go lowers it again. It costs nothing to use and never breaks.
What it is good for
Spot mobs earlyScout new terrainRead distant signsLine up big builds
Quick answers
How do you make a spyglass?
Stack one amethyst shard on top of two copper ingots in a single vertical column in the crafting grid.
What does a spyglass do?
Hold use to raise it to your eye and it zooms in about ten times, with a round scope frame, so you can see far-off things clearly.
Where do amethyst shards come from?
From amethyst clusters inside amethyst geodes underground. Break a fully grown cluster with any pickaxe to drop shards.
Does Fortune work on amethyst clusters?
Yes. Fortune raises the shard drop, averaging about 5.3 shards with Fortune I, 7 with Fortune II and 8.8 with Fortune III, up to 16 at once. Silk Touch instead lets you collect the cluster block itself rather than the shards.
Does a spyglass break?
No. It has no durability and never wears out, so one spyglass lasts your whole world.
How do I zoom in with it?
Press and hold the use button to look through it. Moving or releasing lowers it back to the normal view.
How deep do I dig to find an amethyst geode?
Geodes form between Y -64 and Y 30 in the overworld, most often around Y -40 to Y 0. Look for the smooth basalt outer shell, then the calcite layer, then the amethyst block interior. They can also be exposed inside ocean and underground caves.
What blocks are inside a geode?
From outside in: smooth basalt, calcite, then a hollow lined with amethyst blocks and budding amethyst. Budding amethyst grows the clusters. Do not mine budding amethyst since it drops nothing and cannot be moved even with Silk Touch.
Can I use the spyglass while underwater or in third person?
Yes underwater, the zoom still works. In third person the model raises but the screen does not zoom, so use first person for the actual scope view. The narrow field of view also shows up in screenshots and on maps you are lining up.
Do I need a specific pickaxe to mine amethyst?
Any pickaxe works, wood through netherite, and the cluster drops 4 amethyst shards when fully grown. Mining it by hand or with another tool drops only 2 shards, so always use a pickaxe.
Farming shards and common mistakes
A few details save a lot of wasted trips back to the geode.
- One spyglass needs 1 amethyst shard and 2 copper ingots, so one fully grown cluster (4 shards) covers four spyglasses. Copper is the part you carry, not amethyst.
- Clusters regrow on budding amethyst over time, so a single geode is an endless shard farm. Light it up and clear mobs, then come back later instead of stripping it bare.
- Do not break the budding amethyst blocks. They look like the source of growth and they are, but they drop nothing and Silk Touch will not pick them up. Only mine the clusters that stick out.
- Smelt raw copper into ingots before crafting. Raw copper, copper ore, and copper blocks will not go in the grid. The recipe needs 2 finished ingots stacked under the shard.
- Order in the column matters: shard on top, two copper directly below it. Spread across rows or columns it will not craft. It can sit anywhere in a 3x3 grid as long as that vertical shape holds.
- The spyglass does not stack in inventory and has no enchantments or repairs, so do not waste an anvil or grindstone on it. One per player is plenty.
Budding Amethyst
Amethyst Block
Copper Block