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For a list of iron-related objects in Minecraft, see Iron (Disambiguation).

Iron ore is a common ore found almost everywhere in a Minecraft world.

Mechanics[]

Iron ore generates around and below sea-level in the Overworld. It is a crucial material to gather during the early stages of the game since it can be made into a pickaxe, capable of mining all types of ores (including diamond ore). Every iron ore block contains enough iron to make one iron ingot when it is smelted.

Appearance[]

Iron ore is a gray-coloured block with beige spots.

Obtaining[]

Iron can only be mined with a stone pickaxe or better; using a wooden or gold pickaxe will not yield any ore. Once it is mined, the user will gain an ore block that they can place, but they will not be able to make any items using the ore. They must smelt it down into iron ingots using a (blast) furnace, and then create what they want. This makes iron ore one of three ores that require smelting, one being gold ore, the last one being ancient debris (netherite).

Uses[]

Iron is used to make weapons and armor with higher durability than those made with stone, leather, wood, or gold. Iron can also be used to make minecarts, rails, compasses, anvils, cauldrons and buckets. Iron tools can be used up to 250 times before they break. Iron can also be used to craft iron blocks; 4 blocks of iron combined with a pumpkin head is the spawning recipe of the iron golem.

Mining[]

Iron Ore requires a stone pickaxe or better to harvest. Otherwise, it will drop nothing.

Tool This block requires a Stone Pickaxe to be mined
Hardness 3
Breaking time[note 1]
Default
15
Wood
7.5
Stone
1.15
Iron
0.75
Diamond
0.6
Netherite
0.5
Gold
1.25
  1. Times are for unenchanted tools in seconds.

Trivia[]

  • In Survival Test, iron ore gave a player 3 iron blocks, which didn't require any smelting, as well as yielding twenty-seven times as many iron ingots.
  • Nether Quartz is as common as iron (45%), though the former is found in less blocky terrain, so they're easier to be seen in plain sight.
  • It is possible for multiple veins to combine and form larger ones.

Gallery[]

IronOreNew

Click for full Iron Ore gallery.

Video[]

Template:Blocks

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