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.
Vaults in Minecraft: Trial Keys and Loot
A vault is the locked loot block in trial chambers. Use a trial key on it and it opens and drops loot one stack per second. Each player can open each vault once, so friends can all use the same vault. Ominous vaults need an ominous trial key and hold rarer loot, such as heavy cores and enchanted golden apples.
How do you open a vault?
Get a trial key from a trial spawner or a chest in the chamber, walk within 3 blocks so the vault lights up, then use the key on it. It closes its keyhole, opens and pushes out items one stack at a time. If you have already opened that vault, it ignores your key. Trial spawners: trial spawners.
What can a vault drop?
- Normal vaults: emeralds, arrows, arrows of poison, iron, wind charges, honey bottles, diamonds, crossbows, shields, enchanted books, golden apples, the Bolt armor trim and more.
- Ominous vaults: better loot, including heavy cores for the mace, enchanted golden apples and the Flow armor trim.
- While idle, a vault shows a cycling preview of its possible loot inside it.
- Mace and heavy cores: the mace.
Vault rules
Vaults generate on copper pedestals in trial chamber rooms with spawners and in the entrance. They cannot be mined: breaking one gives nothing. Lit vaults give light 12, idle ones 6. Each player gets one opening per vault, which encourages exploring the whole chamber. Overview: trial chambers.
How do you get ominous keys?
Fight ominous trial spawners, which need Trial Omen from an ominous bottle. Ominous bottles come from pillager captains that are not in a raid, such as patrol and outpost captains, and from vaults; see pillagers.
Frequently asked questions
Can each player open a vault?
Yes, every player can open each vault once.
Sources
Every fact on this page was checked against these pages; the wording is ours.