A new mystery is slowly brewing inside the world of Minecraft, and it’s going to take us back in time. Yeah, we are talking about the much-awaited archaeology update finally making its way into Minecraft 1.20. And with this update, some sand blocks are changing their form to turn into something far eerier. But, what is this new variant of the sand block and how do you discover it? In this article, let’s uncover the mystery behind these questions and learn how to find suspicious sand in Minecraft.
What Is Suspicious Sand in Minecraft
Suspicious sand is a new variant of the sand blocks that spawn inside some structures in the desert biome in Minecraft’s overworld and in the warm ocean ruins. It is part of the new archeology mechanics coming to the game with the new Minecraft 1.20 update. While both sand and suspicious sand look nearly identical, the latter’s texture is much grainier than regular sand. It might take some time, but you can carefully distinguish between the two just by looking at them.
When it comes to properties, both types of sand blocks are gravity-affected blocks and need another block beneath them. Furthermore, the suspicious sand is more fragile than regular sand blocks as it breaks on fall while the sand blocks just assume a new position. Unlike your regular building blocks, suspicious sand is a container that reveals unique loot. You have to use a brush to uncover the dust from the block and obtain the loot item. Though, doing so will destroy the main block itself.
Where to Find Suspicious Sand in Minecraft
You can find suspicious sand in the following two locations in Minecraft:
- Inside Desert Temples/Pyramids
- Inside Desert Wells
- Inside or around Warm Ocean Ruins
Now, let’s determine the exact spots where you can find the suspicious sand blocks.
Desert Temples
Desert Temples are one of the many amazing structures that spawn around the overworld of Minecraft. They are amazing to grab some rare chest loot and even for building a base. But, we are not here to loot the structure. Instead, you need to look at the sand blocks inside the Desert Temple, start digging them out until you discover a suspicious sand block. Often, these suspicious sand blocks spawn in the backrooms of the temple structures.
But keep in mind that due to the lower volume of blocks, it can be a bit difficult to identify these ancient blocks. Still, with enough patience, you can carefully locate a couple of suspicious sand blocks within each desert temple. However, there is no fixed spawn rate or precise location for the same.
Desert Wells
If you want a reliable way to find suspicious sand in Minecraft, the desert wells are going to be your best friend. They are small structures that randomly spawn around the desert biome and offer no particular loot other than water. However, the mysterious new reward you’re seeking sits beneath the water.
More often than not, the base of desert wells, underneath the water, has 2 suspicious sand blocks. So, you just need to dry the water with the help of a sponge or by simply placing and breaking blocks on top of the water. Then, all that’s left for you to do is dust the suspicious sand and get your reward.
How to Find Pottery Shards in Minecraft
Now that you know how to find suspicious sand blocks in Minecraft, it’s time to put them to use. But, before you do that, you need to make a brush in Minecraft. It requires quite basic ingredients, and you can get one in no time with the help of our linked guide. Once your brush is ready, you have to equip it and use it by right-clicking on the suspicious sand block.
Then slowly, the dust will scrape off and make way for the item to appear. When the process completes, the suspicious sand block will turn into a regular sand block, leaving you with a useful item or pottery shards. Once you have collected four pottery shards, you can combine them into a pot on the crafting table.
What All Can You Find Inside Suspicious Sand
Depending upon the structure, you can find a variety of items inside a suspicious sand block. Not just pottery sherds in Minecraft 1.20. All these items can be found in suspicious sand and gravel blocks are:
Desert Pyramid’s Suspicious Sand:
- Archer Pottery Shard
- Prize Pottery Shard
- Skull Pottery Shard
- Miner Potter Shard
- Gunpowder
- TNT
- Diamond
- Emerald
Desert Well’s Suspicious Sand:
- Arms Up Pottery Shard
- Brewer Potter Shard
- Brick
- Stick
- Suspicious Stew
- Emerald
Warm Ocean Ruins’ Suspicious Sand:
- Sniffer Egg
- Angler Pottery Sherd
- Shelter Pottery Sherd
- Snort Pottery Sherd
- Coal
- Emerald
- Wheat
- Wooden Hoe
- Gold Nugget
- Iron Axe
Interestingly, in the case of the suspicious sand blocks which spawn inside the desert temple, all lootable items have an equal chance of spawning. However, with the desert well, you will end up with Pottery Shards around half of the time.
The dust has settled and the mystery is uncovered. Now, it’s time to go around the world of Minecraft and use all your archaeology skills to discover everything that’s hiding out there. While you are at it, don’t forget to bring your reliable Allay to collect all the amazing items you find. You can also get the new Sniffer to join you for some additional digging. Though, the new mob Sniffer is more interested in collecting ancient seeds than shards. Nevertheless, what other “ancient” features are you looking forward to? Tell us in the comments below!
