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.
Trail Ruins in Minecraft: Where to Find Them and Loot
Trail ruins are buried remains of an old village, found in taigas, snowy taigas, old growth taigas, old growth birch forests and jungles. Only the top of a tower usually shows above ground. Brush the suspicious gravel inside with a brush to find pottery sherds, colored glass, candles, dyes, four rare armor trim templates and the Relic music disc.
Where are trail ruins?
In taiga, snowy taiga, old growth spruce and pine taiga, old growth birch forest and jungle biomes. They are one of the few structures that generate in the same places on Java and Bedrock, so a seed map works for both. Look for a few blocks of terracotta, mud bricks or stone poking out of the ground. Biomes: taigas and jungles.
How do you dig them up?
The ruins are solid with no rooms, so dig down carefully around the tower and roads. Suspicious gravel looks like gravel with small dots; use a brush on it to slowly reveal the item. Some suspicious gravel floats and breaks if you disturb the block next to it, so brush before you mine around it. How brushing works: archaeology.
What loot is in trail ruins?
| Type | Examples |
|---|---|
| Common gravel | Wheat, seeds, candles, dyes, stained glass panes, bricks, clay, coal, emeralds, gold nuggets, leads, string, hanging signs, flower pots, a wooden hoe |
| Rare gravel | Burn, Danger, Friend, Heart, Heartbreak, Howl and Sheaf pottery sherds; Host, Raiser, Shaper and Wayfinder armor trims; the Relic music disc |
Sherds go on decorated pots, and the trims are covered in armor trims.
Any tips?
Bring several brushes, a shovel and a stack of torches. The tower top and the roads only hold common gravel; rare gravel is in the buildings and the lower tower, so dig there. The Relic disc is one of the rarest music discs; see music discs.
Frequently asked questions
What biomes have trail ruins?
Taigas, snowy taigas, old growth taigas, old growth birch forests and jungles.
Sources
Every fact on this page was checked against these pages; the wording is ours.