How to Find Copper in Minecraft

In Minecraft, copper is a useful ore added in the 1.17 update to the game. While you can't craft armor or weapons with it, copper can be used to make useful items like the spyglass, lightning rod, and decorative copper blocks. Here's how you can find copper.

Part 1
Part 1 of 2:

Mining Copper Ore

  1. 1
    Make a pickaxe . Copper ore can be mined with a stone, iron, diamond, or netherite pickaxe. To make one, you'll need 2 sticks and 3 of the material you want your pickaxe to be made of. Open a crafting table and place the 2 sticks on top of each other starting at the bottom of the middle column. Then, fill the top row with the stone, iron, or diamonds.
  2. Hold your pickaxe, face the block you want to mine, and hold down right click until it breaks.
    • If you're playing on Pocket Edition, tap and hold on the block to break it.
    • If you're playing on a console or with a controller, hold the right trigger.
    • You can also explore caves to find copper, and sometimes it can even spawn above ground.
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  3. Check your Y-coordinate . Copper can be found at Y-levels -16-112 in both Java and Bedrock editions of Minecraft that are 1.18 and above. [1] You can check your Y-coordinate by pressing F3 on Java Edition, opening a map on consoles, or by enabling the "Show Coordinates" option on Bedrock Edition.
    • In Java Edition 1.17, copper can be found from layers 0-192, while most iron is between 0-96. [2] Bedrock copper spawning in 1.17 is the same as it is in new versions.
    • Copper is most commonly found on layers 47 and 48, and the amount of copper decreases on either end of the spectrum it's found on.
    • Larger amounts of copper generate in dripstone cave biomes.
    • Copper can be most commonly found in beach biomes, especially stoney shores. Ore veins can occasionally generate above Y-level 0 in beaches.
  4. 4
    Mine in branches to find copper. If you are at the correct Y-level, you can start strip mining or exploring an existing cave. Mine a main tunnel first, and then mine 1 block wide, 2 block tall tunnels that branch off the main one.
  5. 5
    Mine any copper ore you find. You'll know it's copper ore when you see a block that looks like stone or deepslate but with bits of green and copper in it. Hold your pickaxe, face the block, and hold right click on it until it breaks. It'll drop 2-5 raw copper when broken.
    • If you're playing on Pocket Edition, tap and hold on the block to break it.
    • If you're playing on a console or with a controller, hold the right trigger.
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Part 2
Part 2 of 2:

Using Copper

  1. 1
    Smelt raw copper . To get copper ingots to make more items and blocks, you need to smelt raw copper in a furnace. Open a furnace and place raw copper in the top slot and a fuel source, like coal, in the slot below it. Wait for a while until a copper ingot appears in the rightmost slot.
  2. 2
    Make blocks. You can make a variety of decorative blocks using copper ingots and raw copper. Open a crafting table and put copper ingots or raw copper in all 9 slots to make a copper or raw copper block. You can also use copper blocks to make slabs, stairs, and different cuts of the block by putting them in a stonecutter. [3]
    • You can use honeycomb on copper blocks to wax them, preventing them from oxidizing and turning green. Just hold honeycomb in your hand, face the block, and right click, tap it, or press left trigger. [4]
    • You can unwax copper blocks by using an axe on them. You can also use an axe to deoxidize them by one stage. [5]
  3. 3
    Make lightning rods. Lightning rods are useful blocks that can be used to redirect lightning from buildings to prevent them from catching on fire. They can be made using a crafting table and 3 copper ingots. Open a crafting table and place a copper ingot in each middle slot to make a lightning rod. [6]
  4. 4
    Make a spyglass. Spyglasses are used to zoom it on something within your vision. They can be crafted using an amethyst shard and 2 copper ingots. Open a crafting table and place a copper ingot in the middle slot and the one below it. Then, place an amethyst shard in the upper middle slot.
    • A spyglass can be used by holding it in your hand and right clicking or holding the left trigger.
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      Tips

      • Drowned have an 11% chance to drop a copper ingot when killed by a player or tamed wolf.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Copper_Ore#Natural_generation
      2. ↑ https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Ore/Pre-1.18_distribution
      3. ↑ https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Block_of_Copper#Crafting
      4. ↑ https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Block_of_Copper#Waxing
      5. ↑ https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Block_of_Copper#Scraping
      6. ↑ https://minecraft.fandom.com/wiki/Copper_Ingot#Crafting_ingredient

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