Ore (feature)

An ore^[1]^[2]^[3] is a feature consisting of a natural deposit of ores or other blocks in the ground.

Generation[]

The ore feature has two types: ore blobs and scatter ores.

An ore blob is an ellipsoidal cluster of blocks. In the overworld, underground deposits of dirt and gravel are generated in this form, followed by the more precious ores, like coal, copper, iron, gold, redstone, diamond, emerald (in mountains biomes) and lapis lazuli. They can form only in stone, deepslate, andesite, diorite, granite and tuff‌^{[JE only]}. Two or more ores can form next to each other and appear as an ore made of more than one material.

Each ore blob has a spawn size. The maximum number of generated blocks in a blob each spawn size corresponds to is shown in the table below^[4]:

Spawn size	Max number of blocks
0	0
1	0
2	0
3	4
4	5
5	8
6	9
7	10
8	10
9	13
10	16
11	17
12	23
13	24
14	24
15	29
16	32
17	37
18	46
19	52
20	52
21	60
22	68
23	68
24	74
25	82
26	94
27	104
28	106
29	120
30	128
31	135
32	149
33	160
34	180
35	190
36	204
37	212
38	228
39	246
40	262
41	276
42	292
43	308
44	324
45	344
46	360
47	381
48	403
49	429
50	452
51	480
52	500
53	530
54	558
55	584
56	616
57	634
58	664
59	694
60	730
61	760
62	790
63	826
64	864

A scatter ore is a slightly dispersed cluster of blocks. Currently only ancient debris is generated in this form. Scatter ores also have a spawn size value. The maximum number of generated blocks in a scatter ore is just the spawn size.

There was also a deprecated ore type, which generates only one block in each generation attempt. It was used by emerald ore before 1.18.

List[]

Dimension	Block	Can replace
Overworld	Andesite Clay (Only in lush caves) Coal Ore Copper Ore Diamond Ore Diorite Dirt Emerald Ore (Only in mountains and windswept hills biomes) Gold Ore Granite Gravel Infested Stone (Only in mountains and windswept hills biomes) Iron Ore Lapis Lazuli Ore Redstone Ore Tuff	Andesite Diorite Granite Stone
Overworld	Andesite‌^{[JE only]} Clay‌^{[JE only]} (Only in lush caves) Deepslate Coal Ore Deepslate Copper Ore Deepslate Diamond Ore Diorite‌^{[JE only]} Dirt‌^{[JE only]} Deepslate Emerald Ore (Only in mountain biomes and windswept hills biomes) Deepslate Gold Ore Granite‌^{[JE only]} Gravel Infested Deepslate (Only in mountain biomes and windswept hills biomes) Deepslate Iron Ore Deepslate Lapis Lazuli Ore Deepslate Redstone Ore Tuff	Deepslate Tuff‌^{[JE only]}
The Nether	Ancient Debris	Basalt Blackstone Netherrack
	Blackstone Gravel Nether Gold Ore Nether Quartz Ore Soul Sand	Netherrack
	Magma Block	Netherrack Blackstone‌^{[BE only]}

Overworld[]

Blocks	Spawn size	Spawn tries per chunk	Minimum height	Maximum height	Ore concentrate^{[note 1]}	Skipped when air exposed^{[note 2]}	Biomes
Dirt	33	7	0	160	Uniform	0	All
Clay	33	46	-64	256	Uniform	0	Lush Caves
Gravel	33	14	-64	320	Uniform	0	All
Granite	64	2	0	60	Uniform	0	All
Granite	64	¹⁄₆	64	128	Uniform	0	All
Diorite	64	2	0	60	Uniform	0	All
Diorite	64	¹⁄₆	64	128	Uniform	0	All
Andesite	64	2	0	60	Uniform	0	All
Andesite	64	¹⁄₆	64	128	Uniform	0	All
Tuff	64	2	-64	0	Uniform	0	All
Coal Ore Deepslate Coal Ore	17	20	0	192	Triangle	0.5	All
		30	136	320	Uniform	0	All
		0‌^{[JE only]} 20‌^{[BE only]}	128	156	Uniform	0	Grove Cherry Grove Jagged Peaks Meadow Frozen Peaks Stony Peaks Snowy Slopes
Iron Ore Deepslate Iron Ore	4	10	-64	72	Uniform	0	All
	9‌^{[JE only]} 10‌^{[BE only]}	10	-24	56	Triangle	0
	9‌^{[JE only]} 10‌^{[BE only]}	90	80	384	Triangle	0
Copper Ore Deepslate Copper Ore	10	16	-16	112	Triangle	0	Other
Copper Ore Deepslate Copper Ore	20	16	-16	112	Triangle	0	Dripstone Caves
Redstone Ore Deepslate Redstone Ore	8	4	-64	15	Uniform	0	All
Redstone Ore Deepslate Redstone Ore	8	8	-96	-32	Triangle	0	All
Lapis Lazuli Ore Deepslate Lapis Lazuli Ore	7	2	-32	32	Triangle	0	All
Lapis Lazuli Ore Deepslate Lapis Lazuli Ore	7	4	-64	64	Uniform	1	All
Gold Ore Deepslate Gold Ore	9	4	-64	32	Triangle	0.5	All
		¹⁄₂	-64	-48	Uniform	0.5	All
		50	32	256	Uniform	0	Badlands Eroded Badlands Wooded Badlands Badlands Plateau‌^{[BE only]}(Unused) Modified Badlands Plateau‌^{[BE only]}(Unused) Modified Wooded Badlands Plateau‌^{[BE only]}(Unused)
Diamond Ore Deepslate Diamond Ore	4	7	-144	16	Triangle	0.5	All
	8	4			Triangle	1
	12	¹⁄₉			Triangle	0.7
Emerald Ore Deepslate Emerald Ore	3	100	-16	480	Triangle	0	Windswept Hills Grove Cherry Grove Jagged Peaks Meadow Frozen Peaks Stony Peaks Windswept Forest Snowy Slopes Windswept Gravelly Hills Mountain Edge‌^{[BE only]}(Unused) Gravelly Mountains+‌^{[BE only]}(Unused)
Infested Stone Infested Deepslate	9‌^{[JE only]}	14	-64‌^{[JE only]} 0‌^{[BE only]}	63‌^{[JE only]} 64‌^{[BE only]}	Uniform	0	Windswept Hills Grove Cherry Grove Jagged Peaks Meadow Frozen Peaks Stony Peaks Windswept Forest Snowy Slopes Windswept Gravelly Hills Mountain Edge‌^{[BE only]}(Unused) Gravelly Mountains+‌^{[BE only]}(Unused)

The Nether[]

Blocks	Spawn size	Spawn tries per chunk	Minimum height	Maximum height	Ore concentrate^{[note 1]}	Skipped when air exposed^{[note 2]}	Biomes
Magma Block	33‌^{[JE only]} 24‌^{[BE only]}	4‌^{[JE only]} 8‌^{[BE only]}	27	36	Uniform	0	All
Nether Quartz Ore	14	16	10	117	Uniform	0	Others
Nether Quartz Ore	14	32‌^{[JE only]} 16‌^{[BE only]}	10	117	Uniform	0	Basalt Deltas
Nether Gold Ore	10	10	10	117	Uniform	0	Others
Nether Gold Ore	10	20‌^{[JE only]} 10‌^{[BE only]}	10	117	Uniform	0	Basalt Deltas
Ancient Debris	3	1‌^{[JE only]} 2‌^{[BE only]}	8	24	Triangle	1	All
Ancient Debris	2	1‌^{[JE only]} 3‌^{[BE only]}	8	119	Uniform	1	All
Soul Sand	12	12	0	31‌^{[JE only]} 32‌^{[BE only]}	Uniform	0	Soul Sand Valley
Gravel	33	2	5	41‌^{[JE only]} 36‌^{[BE only]}	Uniform	0	Nether Wastes Crimson Forest Warped Forest Soul Sand Valley
Blackstone	33	2	5	31‌^{[JE only]} 36‌^{[BE only]}	Uniform	0	Nether Wastes Crimson Forest Warped Forest Soul Sand Valley

↑ ^a ^b Ores generate using either uniform distribution, or triangle distribution. Uniform distribution have all ores spread in same frequency at any height, while triangle generate more frequent in center height.
↑ ^a ^b When an ore block is about to be placed, if it is exposed to air then it has this chance of being skipped instead.

Data values[]

ID[]

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier
[No displayed name]	`ore_ancient_debris_large`
[No displayed name]	`ore_ancient_debris_small`
[No displayed name]	`ore_andesite`
[No displayed name]	`ore_blackstone`
[No displayed name]	`ore_clay`
[No displayed name]	`ore_coal`
[No displayed name]	`ore_coal_buried`
[No displayed name]	`ore_copper_large`
[No displayed name]	`ore_copper_small`
[No displayed name]	`ore_diamond_buried`
[No displayed name]	`ore_diamond_large`
[No displayed name]	`ore_diamond_small`
[No displayed name]	`ore_diorite`
[No displayed name]	`ore_dirt`
[No displayed name]	`ore_emerald`
[No displayed name]	`ore_gold`
[No displayed name]	`ore_gold_buried`
[No displayed name]	`ore_granite`
[No displayed name]	`ore_gravel`
[No displayed name]	`ore_gravel_nether`
[No displayed name]	`ore_infested`
[No displayed name]	`ore_iron`
[No displayed name]	`ore_iron_small`
[No displayed name]	`ore_lapis`
[No displayed name]	`ore_lapis_buried`
[No displayed name]	`ore_magma`
[No displayed name]	`ore_nether_gold`
[No displayed name]	`ore_quartz`
[No displayed name]	`ore_redstone`
[No displayed name]	`ore_soul_sand`
[No displayed name]	`ore_tuff`

Bedrock Edition:

Feature	Identifier
[No displayed name]	`andesite_feature`
[No displayed name]	`clay_ore_feature`
[No displayed name]	`coal_ore_feature`
[No displayed name]	`coal_ore_upper_feature`
[No displayed name]	`copper_ore_feature`
[No displayed name]	`deepslate_feature`
[No displayed name]	`diamond_ore_buried_feature`
[No displayed name]	`diamond_ore_feature`
[No displayed name]	`diamond_ore_large_feature`
[No displayed name]	`diorite_feature`
[No displayed name]	`dirt_feature`
[No displayed name]	`dripstone_caves_copper_ore_feature`
[No displayed name]	`emerald_ore_feature`
[No displayed name]	`gold_ore_extra_feature`
[No displayed name]	`gold_ore_feature`
[No displayed name]	`gold_ore_lower_feature`
[No displayed name]	`granite_feature`
[No displayed name]	`gravel_ore_feature`
[No displayed name]	`iron_ore_feature`
[No displayed name]	`iron_ore_small_feature`
[No displayed name]	`lapis_ore_buried_feature`
[No displayed name]	`lapis_ore_feature`
[No displayed name]	`nether_soul_sand_underground_feature`
[No displayed name]	`redstone_ore_feature`
[No displayed name]	`silverfish_feature`
[No displayed name]	`tuff_feature`
[No displayed name]	`nether_gold_ore_feature`
[No displayed name]	`nether_gravel_underground_feature`
[No displayed name]	`nether_quartz_ore_feature`
[No displayed name]	`nether_magma_feature`
[No displayed name]	`blackstone_feature`
[No displayed name]	`nether_netherite_deep_feature`
[No displayed name]	`nether_netherite_tall_feature`

History[]

This section is missing information about other editions' information, all the 1.13 changes and details.

Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page.

Java Edition Classic
0.0.14a		Added gold ore, iron ore, and coal ore, which generate in blobs.
Java Edition Infdev
20100227-1		Ore blobs no longer generates.
20100320		Ore blobs now generate, but differently.
20100325		Ore blobs now appear more like they do today.
20100617-2		Added underground ores of dirt and gravel.
Java Edition Alpha
v1.0.1		Added ores of redstone ore.
Java Edition Beta
1.2		Added ores of lapis lazuli ore.
1.2		Iron, diamond, and coal ores are now larger on average.
1.2_02		Lapis lazuli ore can now be found at bedrock level.
1.6	Test Build 3	Fixed ore density varying per quadrant from the center of the world.
1.8	Pre-release	The highest layer for some ores has been lowered by 2.
1.8	Pre-release	Diamond ore has now become about 25% rarer.
Java Edition
1.3.1	12w21a	Added ores of emerald ore to Extreme Hills and Extreme Hills Edge biomes.
1.3.1	12w22a	Emerald ore now generates as single blocks.
1.4.2	12w38a	Stone monster eggs now generate underground in extreme hills biomes.
1.5	13w01a	Added ores of nether quartz ore to the Nether.
1.8	14w02a	Added ores of granite, diorite, and andesite to overworld generation.
	14w17a	Added custom worlds allowing for ore customization.
	14w29a	Ore now generates faster.
1.10	16w20a	Added magma block ores to the Nether.
1.10	16w20a	Added extra gold ore ores to the mesa biome and its variants.
1.16	20w06a	Added ancient debris, which generates in the Nether in two different ore specifications.
	20w11a	Added nether gold ore to the Nether.
	20w19a	Added ores of blackstone and gravel to nether wastes, soul sand valley, crimson forest and warped forest biomes.
		Added underground soul sand ores to the soul sand valley.
		Basalt and blackstone can be replaced by nether ores, like with netherrack.^{[is this the correct version?]}
1.16.2	20w28a	No longer use 32-bit floats for generation, which used to cause a crash when using mods to generate terrain between 67,108,864 and 134,217,728 blocks.
1.17	20w45a	Added copper ore, which generates evenly between levels 0 and 63.
	21w06a	The height limit was expanded down to Y=-64. All overworld ore features except lapis lazuli ore are temporary generating from Y=-64 instead of Y=0.
	21w07a	Ore distribution has changed.
		Pockets of diorite, granite and andesite are now larger and more spherical but less common.
		Diorite, granite, gravel and dirt no longer generate below Y=0, but gravel and dirt are more common than in pre-21w06a versions.
	21w08a	Ore distribution has changed once again.
		Added deepslate variants of diamond, iron, gold, lapis lazuli, and redstone ores, which take place of ores that generate in deepslate.
		Iron ore no longer generates as often due to a bug.^[5]
		Tuff ores now generate below Y=0.
		Andesite ores no longer generate below Y=0.
	21w08b	Iron ore now generates correctly.^[6]
	21w08b	Redstone ore generation is tweaked, matching the latest ore distribution chart.^[7]
	21w10a	Ore distribution has changed for a third time.
		Normal lapis ore no longer generates in deepslate.^[8]
		Added clay blob, which can now generate in the lush caves.
	21w11a	Slightly increased the frequency of diamond ore blobs.
	21w11a	If any ore replaces tuff, it will now be its deepslate variant.
	21w13a	Deepslate blobs now generate between Y=0 and Y=16.
		Added large diamond ore blobs, generated same with the range and method of the regular one.
		Copper ore now generates uniformly between levels 0 and 63 instead of generating with a triangle distribution from 0 to 96.
	21w15a	Most ore generation has been reverted back to the pre-21w06a generation and requires the Caves & Cliffs Prototype Data Pack to enable. However, emerald ore and diamond ore generation was not properly reverted due to bugs.^[9]^[10]
		Now triangle distribution generation works correctly. Before, the base line was one blocks lower than expected, and the maximum height was two blocks lower than expected.
		Tuff ores now generate between Y=0 and Y=16 as well.
	21w16a	Emerald ore now generates at the correct Y-levels. And it now attempts to generate 6-24 times per chunk in mountains, instead of 1 time.
		Deepslate emerald ore variant now generates naturally.
		In the Caves & Cliffs Prototype Data Pack, emerald ores now generate in the form of ore blobs instead of single blocks.
	21w17a	Deepslate coal ore and Deepslate copper ore now generate naturally.
	21w17a	Emerald ore can now replace granite, andesite, diorite, tuff, and deepslate upon generating.
	21w18a	Ore distribution has changed again, but only if the Caves & Cliffs Prototype Data Pack is applied to a world.
	21w18a	Removed deepslate blobs, but only if the Caves & Cliffs Prototype Data Pack is applied to a world.
1.17.1	Pre-release 2	Now emerald ore generates in the correct frequency.^[11]
1.17.1	Pre-release 2	Now diamond ore generates at the correct Y-levels.^[10]
1.18	Experimental Snapshot 1	All previous changes to ore distribution from the prototype data pack have now been implemented into the base game.
	Experimental Snapshot 1	Ore distribution has changed for a fifth time.
	Experimental Snapshot 2	Emerald ore blobs and infested stone blobs now generate in the new mountain biomes.
	experimental snapshot 4	Large copper ores can now generate in dripstone caves.
		Increased the amount of iron ore in mountains.
		Reduced the number of diorite/andesite/granite blobs on the surface.
	21w38a	Copper ore now generates up to Y=95, and increased its amount.
	21w38a	Buried lapis lazuli ore now generates in ore blobs instead of scatter ores.
	21w39a	Dirt ores no longer generate above Y=160, and becomes rarer than before. Before, the spawn attempt is 15 times per chunk.
	21w40a	Ore distribution has changed again.
	21w40a	Deepslate emerald ore can now generate naturally.
	21w42a	Increased top height limit of badlands gold generation from Y=79 to Y=256, and increased the number of blobs.
	21w44a	Deepslate coal ore can now generate naturally, again.
	Release Candidate 4	Fixed an issue where coal ore at lower heights (Y=0 to Y=192) is not distributed as intended since 1.18-pre1.
1.19	22w11a	Large copper ores can now generate in deep dark.
1.19.3	Pre-release 1	Large copper ores no longer generates in deep dark.^[12]
Bedrock Edition

Gallery[]

Multiple ores generated above an underground lava lake.
A coal ore generated underwater.
Multiple ore ores in a cave. Diamond ore and redstone ore as well as coal ore and gold ore are visible in the distance.
Magma ores.
An ore of iron ore.

References[]

↑ "Minecraft Snapshot 20w45a" – Minecraft.net
↑ "Minecraft Snapshot 21w13a" – Minecraft.net
↑ "Minecraft Changelog 1.17.0.50" – Minecraft.net
↑ This table is based on Java Edition.
↑ MC-216744 — "Iron ore doesn't generate (only iron ore in deepslate is generated)" — resolved as "Fixed".
↑ MC-216744 — "Iron ore does not generate above Y=0." — resolved as "Fixed".
↑ MC-216101 — "Redstone ore generates with a flat distribution below Y=12" — resolved as "Fixed".
↑ MC-216735 — Stone Lapis Ore generating in Deepslate
↑ MC-223260 — Emerald ore does not generate as intended
↑ ^a ^b MC-229191 — Diamond ore distribution changed between 1.16.5 and 1.17
↑ MC-226926 — Emerald ore generates too often
↑ MC-255133 — "Extra copper ore generates in deep dark" — resolved as "Fixed".

Generated structures, features and terrain features

[distributionType-5] Ores generate using either uniform distribution, or triangle distribution. Uniform distribution have all ores spread in same frequency at any height, while triangle generate more frequent in center height.

[exposeAir-6] When an ore block is about to be placed, if it is exposed to air then it has this chance of being skipped instead.

[1] "Minecraft Snapshot 20w45a" – Minecraft.net

[2] "Minecraft Snapshot 21w13a" – Minecraft.net

[3] "Minecraft Changelog 1.17.0.50" – Minecraft.net

[4] This table is based on Java Edition.

[7] MC-216744 — "Iron ore doesn't generate (only iron ore in deepslate is generated)" — resolved as "Fixed".

[8] MC-216744 — "Iron ore does not generate above Y=0." — resolved as "Fixed".

[9] MC-216101 — "Redstone ore generates with a flat distribution below Y=12" — resolved as "Fixed".

[10] MC-216735 — Stone Lapis Ore generating in Deepslate

[11] MC-223260 — Emerald ore does not generate as intended

[MC-229191-12] MC-229191 — Diamond ore distribution changed between 1.16.5 and 1.17

[13] MC-226926 — Emerald ore generates too often

[14] MC-255133 — "Extra copper ore generates in deep dark" — resolved as "Fixed".

[1]