Iron Ore

This article is missing information about the deepslate iron ore.

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Iron ore is a mineral block found underground. It is a source of raw iron, which can be smelted into iron ingots.

Deepslate iron ore is a variant of iron ore that can generate in deepslate and tuff blobs.

Obtaining

Breaking

Iron ore itself can be obtained by mining it with a stone pickaxe or higher enchanted with Silk Touch. When mined without Silk Touch, iron ore drops raw iron. It is affected by the Fortune enchantment, dropping 1–2, 1–3, or 1–4 raw iron respectively with Fortune I, II, and III.

Block	Iron Ore	Deepslate Iron Ore
Hardness	3	4.5
Tool
Breaking time^[A]
Default	15	22.5
Wooden	7.5	11.25
Stone	1.15	1.7
Iron	0.75	1.15
Diamond	0.6	0.85
Netherite	0.5	0.75
Golden	1.25	1.9

↑ Times are for unenchanted tools as wielded by players with no status effects, measured in seconds. For more information, see Breaking § Speed.

Natural generation

In Java Edition, iron ore generates in three batches. The first batch attempts to generate 40 times per chunk in blobs of 0-13, from levels 128 to 320, being most common around level 255 and becoming less common towards either end of the range. The second batch attempts to generate 6 times per chunk in blobs of 0-13, from levels -24 to 54, being most common around level 15 and becoming less common towards either end of the range. The third batch attempts to generate 3 times per chunk in blobs of 0-5, evenly from levels -63 to 64.

Iron ore can generate as a large ore vein found at deepslate layer. These veins consist of iron ore, blocks of raw iron, and tuff.

In Bedrock Edition, iron ore generates in three batches. The first batch attempts to generate 90 times per chunk in blobs of 0-13, from levels 80 to 319, being most common around level 232 and becoming less common towards either end of the range. The second batch attempts to generate 10 times per chunk in blobs of 0-13, from levels -24 to 56, being most common around level 16 and becoming less common towards either end of the range. The third batch attempts to generate 10 times per chunk in blobs of 0-5, evenly from levels -63 to 72.

Usage

The primary usage of iron ore is to obtain iron ingots.

Smelting ingredient

Ingredients	Smelting recipe
Iron Ore or Deepslate Iron Ore + Any fuel	0.7

Note blocks

Iron ore can be placed under note blocks to produce "bass drum" sounds.

Sounds

Iron ore

Java Edition:

Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	`block.stone.break`	`subtitles.block.generic.break`	1.0	0.8	16
Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	`block.stone.place`	`subtitles.block.generic.place`	1.0	0.8	16
Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	`block.stone.hit`	`subtitles.block.generic.hit`	0.25	0.5	16
None^{[sound 1]}	Entity-Dependent	Falling on the block with fall damage	`block.stone.fall`	None^{[sound 1]}	0.5	0.75	16
Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	`block.stone.step`	`subtitles.block.generic.footsteps`	0.15	1.0	16

↑ ^a ^b MC-177082

Bedrock Edition:

Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
Blocks	Once the block has broken	`dig.stone`	1.0	0.8-1.0
Blocks	When the block is placed	`dig.stone`	1.0	0.8-1.0
Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	`hit.stone`	0.37	0.5
Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	`fall.stone`	0.4	1.0
Players	Walking on the block	`step.stone`	0.3	1.0
Players	Jumping from the block	`jump.stone`	0.12	1.0
Players	Falling on the block without fall damage	`land.stone`	0.22	1.0

Deepslate iron ore

Java Edition:

Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	`block.deepslate.break`	`subtitles.block.generic.break`	1.0	0.8	16
Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	`block.deepslate.place`	`subtitles.block.generic.place`	1.0	0.8	16
Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	`block.deepslate.hit`	`subtitles.block.generic.hit`	0.25	0.5	16
None^{[sound 1]}	Entity-Dependent	Falling on the block with fall damage	`block.deepslate.fall`	None^{[sound 1]}	0.5	0.75	16
Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	`block.deepslate.step`	`subtitles.block.generic.footsteps`	0.15	1.0	16

↑ ^a ^b MC-177082

Bedrock Edition:

Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
Blocks	Once the block has broken	`dig.deepslate`	1.0	0.8-1.0
Blocks	When the block is placed	`place.deepslate`	1.0	0.8-1.0
Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	`hit.deepslate`	0.3	0.5
Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	`fall.deepslate`	0.4	1.0
Players	Walking on the block	`step.deepslate`	0.3	1.0
Players	Jumping from the block	`jump.deepslate`	0.12	1.0
Players	Falling on the block without fall damage	`land.deepslate`	0.22	1.0

Data values

ID

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Block tags	Item tags	Translation key
Iron Ore	`iron_ore`	Block & Item	`iron_ores` `mineable/pickaxe` `needs_stone_tool`	`iron_ores`	`block.minecraft.iron_ore`
Deepslate Iron Ore	`deepslate_iron_ore`	Block & Item	`iron_ores` `mineable/pickaxe` `needs_stone_tool`	`iron_ores`	`block.minecraft.deepslate_iron_ore`

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Item ID^{[i 1]}	Translation key
Iron Ore	`iron_ore`	`15`	Block & Giveable Item^{[i 2]}	Identical^{[i 3]}	`tile.iron_ore.name`
Deepslate Iron Ore	`deepslate_iron_ore`	`656`	Block & Giveable Item^{[i 2]}	Identical^{[i 3]}	`tile.deepslate_iron_ore.name`

↑ ID of block's direct item form, which is used in savegame files and addons.
↑ ^a ^b Available with /give command.
↑ ^a ^b The block's direct item form has the same id with the block.

History

Java Edition Classic
May 21, 2009					Notch shows interest in adding iron ore.
May 23, 2009					Notch says he accomplished adding iron blobs in stone.
0.0.14a					Added iron ore.
0.0.14a					Iron ore spawns in huge blobs, sometimes big enough to protrude into 3 caverns, and could be as big as 167 blocks.
0.26 SURVIVAL TEST					Breaking iron ore now gives the player 1–3 blocks of iron when mined.
Java Edition Indev
0.31		20100128			Iron ore now drops itself instead of blocks of iron when mined.
		20100129			Before the furnace was added, players had to smelt ore by dropping ore blocks onto fire.
		20100201-2			Iron ore now requires a stone, iron, or diamond pickaxe to be successfully obtained.
Java Edition Infdev
20100227-1					Iron ore no longer generates.
20100320					Iron ore blobs now generate, but differently.
20100325					Ore blobs now appear more like they do today.
20100327					Iron ore now regenerates after the world is reloaded, assuming that the positions of the ore blocks were replaced by stone.
20100330					Iron ore no longer regenerates.
Java Edition
1.3.1		12w22a			Smelting iron ore, along with other ores, blocks and items, gives the player experience orbs when taking the item out of the furnace. One stack of iron ore gives the player approximately 2 levels of experience.
Texture Update		?			A new texture for iron ore has been proposed.
1.14		18w43a			The texture of iron ore has been changed.
1.14.1		Pre-Release 1			The texture of iron ore has been changed again.
1.17		21w07a			The texture of iron ore has been changed, once again.
		February 17, 2021			Henrik Kniberg shows grimstone variant of iron ore.
		February 18, 2021			JAPPA Shows updated iron ore texture and grimstone variant of iron ore.
		February 22, 2021			JAPPA shows updated iron ore textures and grimstone variant of iron ore.
		21w08a			Added deepslate iron ore.
					The texture of iron ore has been changed again.
					Iron ore now generates less frequently. However, a bug exists in this version where regular iron ore are generated way more infrequent.
					Iron ore can now generate in negative y-levels in smaller blobs.
		21w08b			Regular iron ore now generates more frequently than in 21w08a.^[1]
		March 2, 2021			JAPPA shows updated iron ore texture.
		March 4, 2021			JAPPA shows updated deepslate variant of iron ore texture.
		21w10a			The textures of iron ore and deepslate iron ore was updated.
		21w14a			It now drops raw iron when broken without Silk Touch, instead of itself.
		21w15a			All changes to iron ore generation in the previous 1.17 snapshots have been reverted, but they can be re-enabled with the Caves & Cliffs Prototype Data Pack.
1.18		Experimental Snapshot 1			Iron ore once again generates the way it did in the 1.17 snapshots without the use of a data pack.
		experimental snapshot 4			Iron ore now generates more frequently.
		21w40a			Iron ore now generates above Y=80 instead of Y=128.
Pocket Edition Alpha
v0.1.0					Added iron ore.
v0.3.0					Iron ore is now obtainable in Survival mode.
v0.3.2					Iron ore is now available in the creative inventory.
v0.3.2					With the addition of furnaces, iron ore is able to be smelted into iron ingots.
v0.12.1		?			Iron ore now gives experience when smelted.
Bedrock Edition
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			The texture of iron ore has been changed.
1.16.220		beta 1.16.220.50			The texture of iron ore has been changed.
1.17.0		beta 1.16.230.52			Added deepslate iron ore.
		beta 1.16.230.54			Iron ore texture was updated.
		beta 1.17.0.50			It now drops raw iron when broken without silk touch, instead of itself.
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.0	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added iron ore.
?					Smelting iron ore now gives experience.
		1.90			The texture of iron ore has been changed.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					Added iron ore.

Data history

Java Edition
1.13		17w47a			Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 15.
1.17		21w08a			Added `iron_ores` block tag.

Issues

Issues relating to "Iron Ore" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Gallery

A total of 20 iron ore blocks were obtained from this blob, which was most likely composed of two smaller blobs.
Iron ore blob.
Ravine with multiple ores, water and lava falls, and stronghold bridge over it.
Vein of deepslate iron ore with some raw iron blocks.
Iron ore in a cave.