How to Find Iron in Minecraft

Co-authored by Zac Churchill

Last Updated: May 19, 2022 References

Iron is the next tier of tools and weapons, specifically swords, in Minecraft after stone. It is relatively common, making it an adequate and preferred material for tools and weapons. Not only that, but iron is used in many crafting recipes later in-game. Without iron, you cannot progress to the next tiers. Here is a simple guide on how to find iron in Minecraft.

Steps

1
Get yourself a wooden pickaxe. The first pickaxe you will craft will be made out of wood, which will be used to mine stone.
2
Get yourself a stone pickaxe. The stone will be necessary to break the iron blocks down in order to get the material.^{[1]
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Research source} To craft one, place three cobblestones (mined from stone with a wooden pickaxe) on the top row of the crafting table, and place 2 sticks below it, resembling the shape of a pickaxe.

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3
Get torches. You will need to bring some torches with you, as it can get dark and impossible to see. To do this, you place one stick on your crafting area/table and one piece of coal or charcoal above it.
4
Get a lot of dirt. You might not always need it, but if you're ever in a sticky situation while mining, you're going to need cheap and abundant dirt to get yourself out of it.
5
Find a suitable cave. Caves are the best way to find iron ores.^{[2]
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Research source} They usually appear in veins at a time. Stop wasting your time digging down from the surface, as this will only yield a small chance of success.
6
Investigate all blocks surrounding any iron you find. Iron occurs in veins, or groups, so if you find one, there is likely more nearby. Check diagonal blocks as well. The usual size of a vein is 2x2x2 blocks.
- Iron looks like peach or pink-ish splotches on grey stone.
7
Place torches as necessary. Recover them when you can, but only if it's a one-time mining trip. Otherwise, keep it there or else monsters will spawn in the dark.
8
Mind your vertical level. Using your map or the debug mode, check out the "Y" axis: this indicates your elevation. Remember that iron ore only occurs from levels 1-63.
9
Use a furnace to turn the iron ore into ingots. Iron ore is almost of no benefit to you, and only the iron ingots are useful.
10
Use the iron to make better tools and armor.^{[3]
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Research source} Enjoy!
- If you like, you can create servers to play with your friends or other Minecraft users.^{[4]
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- For instance, the Minecraft pocket edition server allows players from different devices to join the same Minecraft world.^{[5]
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- You can even create large servers to play minigames with many players.^{[6]
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  Research source}

Community Q&A

Question

Why do I have to make an iron tool? Why can't I make armor instead?

Community Answer

Armor is usually made when you have a good amount of iron to spend, as armor needs a lot of Iron. Also, certain ores (such as the valuable diamond) need an Iron tool in order to be mined.
Question

Can iron be found near lava with diamonds?

Community Answer

Yes, iron can be found at Levels 1-63. It can therefore be found near lava with diamonds.
Question

How do I make a compass in Minecraft?

Gerbillover

Community Answer

Craft it by placing a piece of redstone in the middle of your crafting table and iron at the sides, top and bottom (but not the corners).

Warnings

You may find many aggressive mobs in the cave.

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Don't dig straight down, you might fall into lava or drown in deep water.

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Don't dig straight down, you might fall down a cave, which have mobs inside

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Don't dig straight down, you might fall down a cave, and die from fall damage

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