Minecraft Ore Distribution Guide: How and Where to Find Every Ore

Precious items like diamonds and redstone dust play an important role in Minecraft gameplay, which is why you should know where to find their ore blocks in your world. Luckily, we’ve prepared this guide for you that will walk you through the ore distribution in Minecraft where you’ll learn what altitude or Y level is appropriate for each ore type. That said, let’s learn about all Minecraft ores right away!

Where Do Ores Generate in Minecraft?

We’ll be covering each ore in their own separate sections below, but in case you want a clear overview of all ores and their generation, you can check out the image below which indicates the rarity, amount and general layout of ores of Minecraft 1.18 and later updates.

Note: The “Y” in the following descriptions refers to the world height, and each unit indicates one in-game block.

Overworld Ores

1. Coal Ore Generation

• Required tool for breaking: Any pickaxe
• Most common at Y=136

One of the best fuel sources in Minecraft is coal and it generates in the form of ores, which you may find between Y=0 and Y=256 world height. They generate in large quantities at Y=96, but you’ll find most coal at Y=136, as the two ranges overlap here. Interestingly enough, the stony peaks biome is quite important for the generation of coal ores, as they are very common here and also exposed to air, so you can see them easily.

You can find deepslate coal ores too, but they are rather rare at the lowest possible levels.

2. Iron Ore Generation

• Required tool for breaking: Stone, iron, diamond or netherite pickaxe
• Most common at Y=232

Whether you are a veteran player or a beginner, you can’t progress in Minecraft without iron. This common and important ore generates at almost all Y levels, but it skips a tiny portion of the world height between Y=72 and Y=80. Large quantities of iron ores generate below sea level at the highest rate at Y=16.

Though, the altitude you’ll find an absolute abundance of iron is Y=232, which is well above sea level and into the high mountain ranges. Though, finding this kind of terrain isn’t easy, so that’s why you should stick with the Y=16 for finding iron. However, you may also encounter huge iron ore veins below Y=-8, which can supply you with loads of raw iron quickly.

Similarly to coal ores, iron ores generate quite a lot in stony peaks biomes and are easily locatable. Iron ores that generate below Y=0 are deepslate variants instead, which take a bit longer to break.

3. Diamond Ore Generation

• Required tool for breaking: Iron, diamond or netherite pickaxe
• Most common at Y=-59

Putting an end to your anticipation, let’s go over where to find diamonds in Minecraft. To make it extra challenging to get your diamond tools, weapons and gear in Minecraft, Mojang made it so diamond ore distribution appears only in the lowest parts of the world below Y=16. Also, the deeper you go, the more diamond ores you’ll encounter.

With that logic, the lowest possible height that player can access easily without interference of bedrock blocks is Y=-59, which is where you’ll find most diamond ores. Lava lakes exist at this level, but you should be able to work around at least some of them. Though, to ensure you get diamonds and stay safe, use the branch mining method, bring lots of food and torches, as well as potions of fire resistance.

Since most diamond ores generate in the deepslate levels, then the deepslate variant is far more common than the regular stone one.

4. Redstone Ore Generation

• Required tool for breaking: Iron, diamond or netherite pickaxe
• Most common at Y=-59

Redstone ore generates between Y=15 and Y=-64. Though, this rate starts to increase at Y=-32 and you’ll find more redstone ores the deeper you go. So, similarly to diamond ores, you’ll find most redstone ores at Y=-59. You’ll mostly find deepslate redstone ores, but the regular stone ones generate from Y=15 to Y=0.

5. Gold Ore Generation

• Required tool for breaking: Iron, diamond or netherite pickaxe
• Most common at Y=-16

The shiny gold ore generates between levels Y=-64 and Y=32. The highest amount of gold ore is found at the Y=-16. Also, you may find decent amount of gold ores below Y=-48. However, the place you’ll find most gold is the badlands biome. It has a bonus gold ore generation range from Y=32 to Y=256.

Here you’ll find a lot more gold ores than at Y=-16, so if you’re in need of gold, locate this biome and get to mining. Moreover, you may also make a Nether portal and go to the Nether to find gold, which we covered in the section about Nether gold ore. Gold ores that generate below Y=0 are deepslate variants and others are regular stone ores.

6. Lapis Lazuli Ore Generation

• Required tool for breaking: Stone, iron, diamond or netherite pickaxe
• Most common at Y=0

If you want to use enchanting table in Minecraft, you have to get lapis lazuli. But unfortunately, it is one of the rarest ores in all of the biomes. Luckily, these ores do drop a lot of the raw items when you break them with the adequate pickaxe. Lapis ore generation range lies between Y=-64 and Y= 64, but is fairly modest. However, at Y=0 you can encounter most lapis lazuli ores. Ores below this point are the deepslate type and the ones above are stone type.

7. Copper Ore Generation

• Required tool for breaking: Stone, iron, diamond or netherite pickaxe
• Most common at Y=48

Even though it’s not the most useful resource, you can still use copper to make all sorts of copper blocks. So, if you want to experience it firsthand, you can find it below Y=112 and above Y=-16 world height. Its spawn rate is maximum at Y=48 world height. Moreover, you’ll encounter a lot more copper ores in the dripstone caves biomes.

So, you can use our best dripstone caves seeds to collect loads of copper within minutes of spawning. Not only that, but the huge copper veins are also a thing and you may find them between Y=0 and Y=48 approximately. Deepslate copper ores exist in the deepslate layers, but are extremely rare.

8. Emerald Ore Generation

• Required tool for breaking: Iron, diamond of netherite pickaxe
• Most common at Y=224

If you wish to trade with any type of villager in Minecraft, you need emeralds to get a good deal. In a way, it’s the currency of the game, and you can find it between Y=-16 and Y=256. Unlike most Minecraft ores though, emerald ore distribution occurs only in the mountain biomes (grove, cherry grove, meadow, jagged peaks, frozen peaks, stony peaks and others) and in the windswept hills biomes.

Most emerald ores generate at a world height of Y=224. Though, the easiest emerald ores are located in the stony peaks biome, as they could be exposed to air. The deepslate emerald ore is the rarest ore in the game and can be rarely found from Y=0 to Y=-16 in the mountainous biomes.

However beside mining emerald ores, you can also use the best villager trades to get tons of emeralds without too much work.

Nether Ores

9. Nether Quartz Ore Generation

• Required tool for breaking: Any pickaxe

The Nether quartz ore is the most common ore in the Nether dimension and you may easily find it just about anywhere. In fact, this ore generates from Y=10 to Y=117 in all five biomes. It is frequently exposed to air and easy to see, as it stands out from the netherrack blocks. This ore doesn’t generate in a specific way, so simply explore this fiery dimension and you’ll find quartz ore easily.

10. Nether Gold Ore Generation

• Required tool for breaking: Any pickaxe

Similarly to the Nether quartz ore, the Nether gold ore is also fairly common and generates between Y=10 and Y=117 in all biomes. This ore doesn’t drop the raw gold as its Overworld counterpart, but instead it drops gold nuggets.

However, if you smelt this ore, you’ll get a whole gold ingot back, which is far more efficient. For this you’ll need a silk touch enchanted pickaxe. Finally, make sure there are no piglins around when you mine this ore, as they will get angry with you.

11. Ancient Debris Generation

• Required tool for breaking: Diamond or netherite pickaxe
• Most common at Y=16

Ancient debris is the most valuable ore in Minecraft, as it can be smelted into netherite scraps, which are used to craft netherite ingots. It is a Nether ore and has very unique generation rules, as it can generate from Y=8 to Y=24 and it’s most common at Y=16. Furthermore, it may also generate rarely from Y=8 to Y=119. Though, most ancient debris lay deep in the Nether terrain. For more details on how to find Netherite in Minecraft, check out our linked guide.

After you craft netherite ingots, you can visit a nearby Treasure Room Bastion to find the netherite upgrade smithing template. Then, you’ll be able to make netherite armor, tools, and a netherite sword that’s going to help you beat any of the mobs in Minecraft. Though, you won’t have to worry about netherite until after you have discovered all the other ores in the game.

With the knowledge of Minecraft ore distribution, you are ready to find all the ores you need in the game. The only thing you need now is a great world seed to get you started. Luckily, our guide on best Minecraft 1.21 seeds will be perfect for you. Having said that, don’t forget to share another ore finding tip that you discovered in the comments section.