Updated 25 October 2026. Facts on this page come from minecraft.wiki, minecraft.net and the live Artemis PvP server; sources are listed at the bottom.
Gold in Minecraft: Where to Find It and What It's For
Gold ore generates most around Y=-16, below the middle of the world, and in big extra amounts in badlands biomes from Y=32 up to 256. Mine it with an iron pickaxe or better. Gold makes golden apples, golden carrots, clocks and powered rails, and wearing one gold armor piece keeps piglins calm in the Nether.
Where is gold most common?
- Most worlds: Y -64 to 32, peaking around Y -16, with a small extra batch between Y -64 and -48. Half of this gold does not generate where it would touch air, so mine through solid rock rather than only walking caves.
- Badlands: an extra 50 attempts per chunk from Y 32 to 256, even out in the open. See badlands.
- Nether: nether gold ore drops 2-6 gold nuggets with any pickaxe, and gilded blackstone in bastions sometimes drops nuggets. See bastions.
How do you turn gold ore into gold?
An iron, diamond or netherite pickaxe drops 1 raw gold (up to 4 with Fortune III); a stone pickaxe drops nothing. Smelt raw gold into ingots. Zombified piglins drop gold nuggets, which makes gold farms in the Nether popular; see gold farms.
What is gold used for?
| Item | Recipe |
|---|---|
| Golden apple | 8 gold ingots around an apple |
| Golden carrot | 8 gold nuggets around a carrot (best food for saturation) |
| Glistering melon slice | 8 nuggets around a melon slice (for Instant Health potions) |
| Clock | 4 ingots around a redstone dust |
| Powered rail (6) | 6 ingots, a stick and a redstone dust |
| Netherite ingot | 4 netherite scrap + 4 gold ingots |
Gold tools mine very fast but break quickly. Gold armor is weak, but piglins ignore players wearing at least one gold piece, and you can barter gold ingots with them; see piglin bartering and golden apples.
How does the ArtemisPvP economy work?
Frequently asked questions
What is the best Y level for gold?
Around Y=-16, or anywhere from Y=32 up in badlands biomes.
What pickaxe mines gold?
Iron or better. A stone pickaxe drops nothing.
Sources
Every fact on this page was checked against these pages; the wording is ours.