How to Get Netherite

Netherite was introduced in the 1.16 update and provides a new tier of weapons, tools and armor. Upgrading your diamond gear to Netherite provides extra durability and some additional features like not being destroyed in lava. It can be difficult to obtain as it spawns very rarely in the lower Y levels of the Nether. In this guide we’ll teach you two effective methods for getting Netherite as well as how to craft your new gear.

Different ways to get Netherite

To get Netherite you’ll need Ancient Debris. Ancient Debris spawns are similar but fewer than diamonds. You’ll want to do your mining around Y level 12, regardless of which method you pick. There are a few different ways to mine for Ancient Debris:

• Strip mining
• Bed mining
• TNT mining

Because Ancient Debris spawns even more rarely than diamond, strip mining can be very slow so we’ll be focusing on the other two methods. It’s also a lot more fun to go mining by blowing stuff up!

Bed Mining for Ancient Debris

This method utilises the fact that beds will blow up if you try to sleep in them in the Nether. You’ll need lots of wool and wood. Setting up a wool farm is pretty simple and gathering wood is easy enough so it’s a pretty cheap method compared to using TNT. That being said, it also has some risks. 

The explosion of a bed is slightly larger than that of TNT and you need to try to sleep in the bed for it to explode. This means you’ll be within the blast radius and will take some damage. You can place a block between you and the bed to reduce the damage but try to activate the bed from as far away as possible. You’ll need to bring lots of food to heal and should have armor with the Protection enchantment.

TNT Mining for Ancient Debris

TNT mining is far safer and much faster than using beds but it is also far more expensive. You’ll need LOTS of TNT each of which will require five gunpowder. You’ll most likely need to set up a Creeper farm or at least a general mob farm to get the amount of gunpowder required to get enough Ancient Debris. Unless you get very lucky you’ll need at least four stacks of TNT to get a decent amount of Ancient Debris.

Mine out a long 2×1 tunnel at Y level 12. Once you’ve made a decent length tunnel start to place TNT every four blocks. If they’re too close it’ll destroy the blocks under the TNT causing it to fall. When ready, ignite the TNT and watch the domino of explosions.

How to Craft Netherite Gear

Once you’ve collected enough Ancient Debris you can start the processing of upgrading your diamond gear to Netherite gear. First you’ll need to smelt your Ancient Debris down to Netherite Scrap. 

Each Ancient Debris gives you one scrap. You’ll need to combine four Gold Ingots and four Netherite Scraps in a Crafting Table for one Netherite Ingot. Each Netherite Ingot can upgrade one piece of diamond gear into Netherite Gear. 

Finally, you’ll need to use a Smithing Table to craft your Netherite gear. Put whatever you are upgrading, a Diamond Pickaxe as an example, into the left most slot and your Netherite Ingot in the next one along. Drag your newly upgraded pickaxe from the right most slot and you’re good to go!

Now that you know how to get Netherite Gear why not check out some tricks that you can play on your friends with these 5 Netherite Armor Tricks!

I also run a vanilla SMP server for viewers on my Twitch channel. Anybody is welcome to join so if you’re looking for people to play with feel free to drop by and I’ll tell you how you can get on the whitelist!