The 23 Rarest Items In Minecraft (& How To Get Them) (2024)

Item rarity is a mechanic in Minecraft that colors items with different hues when they are in the hotbar, which represents how useful or powerful they are, as well as how easy they are to obtain. Common items are white, while Uncommon ones are yellow. Rare items have a cyan coloration while the most elusive Epic items have a purple hue.

Those seeking to mine every kind of block and craft everything possible should be sure to keep an eye out for a few select items that will grant the player insane potential or lead to a recipe that will.

Updated on December 22, 2023, by Anastasia Maillot: A big part of Minecraft's gameplay in survival mode has always been about getting the good loot and the rarest of treasures. And it's no surprise since most of the good stuff is incredibly rare in the game and often requires quite a bit of time and effort for players to get their hands on it. With every update, new stuff is inevitably introduced, and while 1.20 didn't make massive waves like some of the game's previous updates, there was still something new and rare for players to find that was added in. Here's what Minecraft's rarest items are as of 2023 and early 2024, and how players can get them.

23 Smithing Templates

A Special Loot Exclusive To Treasure Chests

• Found in all types of structures in the Overworld, Nether, and End.

Smithing templates have been added since 1.20 into the loot pool of Minecraft's various structures, and while some of them are easier to find than others, the Netherite Upgrade smithing template is particularly tough to one. Moreover, it's required if players want to upgrade their diamond gear into Netherite.

The Netherite Upgrade smithing template can be found in the infamous treasure room of Bastion Remnants, which are Piglin-infested structures in the Nether. Look for them in any Nether biome, except for the Basalt biomes.

22 Ancient Debris

The Rarest Resource In The Nether

• Mined from Y=15 elevation in the Nether dimension.

Netherite being the new gold standard for armor and gear, players will want to find it pretty fast after getting a full diamond armor set. The grind for a single ingot is not easy. First, one must find Ancient Debris, which is only found at a specific elevation in the Nether and is quite dangerous to mine given the pockets of lava and uneven structure of the Nether dimension.

There are some strategies for mining it, including the use of beds that explode in the Nether, as well as TNT for those who can afford it and have an excess of gunpowder. Ancient Debris must then be smelted to gain Netherite Scrap. Four of these scarps, combined with four gold ingots, will yield a single Netherite ingot. It's quite a long grind, but worth it for those who want the best gear in Minecraft.

21 Diamond Ore

A Historically Treasure Rare Ore In The Overworld

• Underground in the Overworld between Y=14 and Y=-64. The best strategy is to find a large cave and search between these two elevation points.

There are few things as exciting as coming across diamond ore in Minecraft. This classic ore was the most coveted resource until Netherite took over, and it's still a cornerstone of the game's survival mode and considered by many a treasured resource.

However, the way diamond ore can be acquired has changed over the years. Strip mining is no longer as effective as it used to be in Minecraft, and with the abundance of deep slate and how long it takes to break it, getting diamond ore has been made a bit more tedious. Now, exploring large caverns underground is likely to yield more diamond ore to the player than going on a strip mining venture.

20 Emerald Ore

An Ore Rare Than Diamond

• Spawns exclusively in mountain biomes, between elevations Y=-16 and Y=320.

For long-time fans of Minecraft, it is often thought that Diamond Ore was the rarest to come by. While it can still be tricky to find, especially due to the Caves and Cliffs update, it is no longer the rarest ore. Emerald Ore is now about 30x more rarer than Diamond due to it only spawning in one to two-block veins, meaning that players have to be quite meticulous when mining to catch them.

Thankfully, Emeralds can be found in loot, so players might opt to find Emeralds that way, but those who come across Emerald Ore naturally, best believe they are lucky. Emerald Ore can be mined to create Emeralds, which are mostly used for trading with villagers and wandering traders, and will only spawn in mountain biomes.

19 Chorus Fruit

An Odd Food Item Exclusive To The End

• Head to the End islands after accessing the End to harvest the strange, purple trees within.

This food item can only be found in The End, which is the primary reason it is so rare. This fruit can either be eaten or smelted. Once eaten, the fruit will teleport the player up to 8 blocks in any direction, while also restoring 4 hunger.

In order to get ahold of this item, players must go to the End Portal which will transport them to the End. Players will have to find the Chorus Trees, which are tall, coral-like blocks around the Outer Islands. Breaking these blocks will give players a 50% chance at dropping a Chorus Fruit.

18 Echo Shards

Found Only In The Rare Deep Dark City Structure

• Search the caves underneath mountain biomes to find a deep dark biome, and possibly an ancient city.

A new item added to the game with the recent update, Echo Shards are items that can only be found in ancient cities and are used to craft recovery compasses. These compasses are incredibly useful, as they will direct the player to where they previously died, which can be super helpful for recovering items that might have dropped.

The ancient city is a structure that can be found in the Deep Dark biomes but can be hard to find. Not only is the city itself very rare to find, but Echo Shards can only be found in chests with a 29.8% chance rate. If players do happen upon a chest that has Echo Shards, they will only find between 1 and 3 Shards, but to craft the recovery compass, players will need 8 Shards in total.

17 Elytra

Found In The Elusive End Ship That Spawns In Some End Cities

• Use the teleporter from the Ender Dragon's arena to get to the End Islands and look for End Cities. Look for one that has an End Ship, as shipless cities will not yield an Elytra.

Added during the 1.0 Update, the Elytra is a rare item that can be found only in the End Ships. The wings are the first and only item that will allow players to fly in Minecraft. After players defeat the End Dragon, they will need to scale the perilous land upwards toward the End Cities, where more mobs called Shulkers will prevent players from reaching the treasure room at the end of the End Ship. The Elytra will be hanging on an item frame in that room.

Flying is a dangerous and risky activity in Minecraft, especially for those in Hard Mode. Thankfully there are ways that players can avoid fall damage if they fly at a low enough speed or at a shallow angle. The Elytra can be enchanted for mending and can be repaired by Phantom Membranes.

16 Sponges

A Handy Resource Only Available Deep Within The Waves In An Ocean Monument

• Look for Ocean Monuments in deep ocean biomes. The sponge rooms typically spawn in the back upper levels of the pyramid.

For the builders looking to work with water, this is a great block to utilize to move heavy amounts of liquid. The sponge block is fairly uncommon and can be hard to obtain, but useful. By placing the block in water, it absorbs a big chunk of the water (7 units in 6 directions) to allow players to build in the ocean, ponds, or rivers, or to simply catch their breath if they're exploring underwater caves.

There are two ways that players can get this block. One is by killing an Elder Guardian. The next area is to explore the Ocean Monuments, where each room can contain around 30 wet sponges. After gathering the wet sponges, players will simply need to smelt the sponge with any fuel to create just a regular sponge. Another way to dry the sponge is to set it in the Nether, where it dries instantly. If placed in a dry biome in the Overworld, it will only take a few seconds for the sponge to dry.

15 Dragon's Breath

Only Acquired From And Ender Dragon, The Final Boss Of Minecraft

• Head to the End to challenge the Ender Dragon. Wait for him to breathe purple fire, and use an empty bottle to gather it.

The Dragon's Breath is a brewing item that can be used when crafting lingering potions. The potion is really useful for those wanting lingering effects on their splash potions, however, it is pretty dangerous.

For the brave players wanting to obtain this potion aid, players will need to get to the Ender Dragon with as many empty bottles as they want. Players will need to scoop up the Ender Dragon's breath attack, or the purple clouds that are caused by the fireballs, into the empty bottle. Thankfully, if players can withstand the Dragon's attacks, they can most likely gather a lot of Dragon's Breath.

14 Sea Lanterns

A Decorative Block Exclusive To Ocean Monuments And Ruins

• Look for Deep Ocean biomes to discover Ocean Monuments and ruins.

Sea Lanterns are a beautiful block that can help illuminate areas and is especially useful to light underwater areas. To gather this resource, players will first need to enchant a tool with Silk Touch. When mining the Sea Lanterns, two or three Prismarine Crystals will drop.

The Sea Lanterns are found in Ocean Monuments and Ocean Ruins. Once five Prismarine Crystals are gathered, players will need four Prismarine Shards, which are found when defeating Guardians and Elder Guardians, to craft one Sea Lantern. It's a lucrative chore, but it's a great look for builds, as well as activating a conduit.

13 Heads (As Helmets Or Trophies)

Only Dropped By Specific Mobs Or Mobs Killed By A Charged Creeper

• Wither Skeletons can be slain for a chance to earn their heads. End Ships will spawn with a Dragon head at the front. Other mobs will only drop their heads if killed by a Charged Creeper.

These mostly decorative blocks can be found from various sources as drops, though only 6 are obtainable by normal methods in the base game. Most commonly, these Uncommon-tier rare things are acquired as drops from enemies, for example, wither skeletons can drop wither skeleton heads when they are slain.

In addition to looking nice as a trophy in one's home, they can be worn as a helmet, which actually decreases the detection range that mobs can spot the player and can be quite useful for sneaking about. Those in need of a particular banner pattern can also make use of these heads, as some of them are used in crafting specific banner designs.

12 Nether Star

Looted From The Fearsome Wither Boss

• Summon the Wither with three Wither Skeleton skulls and soul sand. Defeat him to loot the Nether Star.

Few items are as tedious to acquire as the Nether Star, due to one needing to slay the Wither boss in order for it to drop. As such, it is strange to learn that this four-pointed piece of brilliance is only an Uncommon item and not one of higher rarity.

It is the most important component in making the vibrant and luminous Beacon decorative item, which sends up a pillar of light into the sky.

11 Totem Of Undying

Dropped By The Infamously Tough Evoker Found In The Rare Woodland Mansion Structure

• Buy a Woodland Mansion map from a Cartographer villager and head to it. Kill the Evoker inside. Raids that spawn Evokers can also yield Totems.

These immensely helpful little effigies are Uncommon items that can be dropped by foes. If the player is holding one in their hands and takes fatal damage, the Totem of Undying will restore the player's hearts with vast amounts of healing and defensive buffs.

However, the only mob that drops them is the Evoker. These spell-casting adversaries can be found in Woodland Mansions of the Dark Forest and Dark Forest Hills biomes.

10 Heart Of The Sea

Exclusive To Buried Treasure Chests

• Follow treasure maps found in shipwrecks to buried treasure for a chance to find one.

This rare item of underwater beauty cannot be crafted, therefore players will have to delve into shipwrecks and ocean ruins to acquire a Heart of the Sea. They are only located in chests of buried treasure, which are normally quite tough to find, though, this Uncommon item can be sniffed out.

By feeding a raw cod or raw salmon to a dolphin, the friendly cetacean will lead the player to the nearest buried treasure, shipwreck, or ocean ruin. Keep in mind that the Heart of the Sea is not a mere bobble to trinket, but is actually the core component to an even rarer item: a Conduit.

9 Nautilus Shell

A Rare Drop From Drowned Enemies

• Kill Drowned enemies holding the Nautilus Shell, or go fishing for a chance to discover one.

The Nautilus Shell is an elusive crafting item that's used in the making of a Conduit. Once the Conduit is placed within a Prismarine frame, it grants a large AoE of water breathing and night vision, allowing players to move freely underwater.

But getting a Nautilus Shell is no easy task. Fishing is probably the most convenient route to find one, as well as finding Drowned enemies that sometimes spawn with one of these shells in their hands and drop it at their death.

8 End Crystal

Crafted With Two Rare Items—Ghast Tear & Eye Of Ender

• Craft the End Crystal with Ghast Tear, Eye of Ender, and glass.

These sinister crystals are most infamous for residing in The End atop many obsidian pillars for the purpose of healing and respawning the Ender Dragon. They shoot the mighty draconic fiend with a beam that grants the Regeneration effect in huge quantities.

They also cause explosions around themselves when struck or destroyed by most conventional means. If the player desires, they can craft these strange and usually harmful Rare items. To craft an End Crystal, one will need seven blocks of glass, a Ghast tear, and an Eye of Ender.

7 Beacon

A Rare Structure Crafted With Another Rare Item

• Craft the beacon with a Nether Star, glass, and obsidian.

Beacons are one of the brightest blocks in the game. They are a Rare item that emits a beam of light pointing to the sky. They can be useful in helping one find their way back home or as impressive decorations. To get their cubic hands on them, players will need to craft these luminous ornaments from some tough-to-find ingredients.

The five blocks of glass needed are easy enough to craft, however, the three blocks of obsidian will take some exploration or lava harvesting to obtain. The most challenging component to acquire will be the Nether Star, which is only dropped by the fearsome mob boss known as the Wither.

6 Enchanted Weapons & Armor

Rarely Found In Treasure Chests In Various Structures

• Look for them in treasure chests of a variety of structures. Only End City chests will have enchanted diamond gear.

Normally, players must enchant items and weapons using an Enchanted Book, an item created by putting a regular Book into an Enchanting table and infusing it with an effect. This Enchanted Book must then be placed onto an Anvil alongside the desired weapon or piece of armor to bestow the sought-after attributes.

However, weapons and bits of armor that are already enchanted can spawn on mobs such as zombies. This is fairly rare and the enchantments upon the gear will always be random.

5 Golden Apple

Found In Some Chests In Various Dungeons And Structures

• Can be found in treasure chests inside various structures from dungeons to abandoned mineshafts.

This lustrous orb is a Rare item as well as a type of food that, upon being eaten, grants the player the Absorption I effect that provides two bonus golden hearts that act as armor, though only for two minutes. It also gives the eater the Regeneration II effect that heals half of a heart every 0.4 seconds over the course of five seconds.

It is possible to craft a Golden Apple, though it will require a fair bit of Gold Ingots. Eight to be exact, all arranged around an Apple on a Crafting Table.

4 Music Disc

Another Dungeon And Structure Loot That Is Tough To Find

• Open chests in certain structures. Dungeons have the highest likelihood of having at least one.

There are 13 unique music discs that exist in Minecraft. Each has its own tune and different colored appearance. Their tracks range from ominous ambient sounds to cheerful melodies and even jazz numbers. They can only be played after being placed into a Jukebox.

Each of these songs can be found in chests from dungeons, Woodland Mansions, Bastion Remnants, as well as in buried treasure. These are at the top of the list for all true Minecraft collectors.