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 magenta hue.
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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 incredible potential or lead to a recipe that will. While this list will prioritize items under the above-mentioned rarity tiers that need to be found rather than crafted in Java Editions, it will also consider blocks and materials that might be more difficult to get due to being found in small amounts or in specific, rare biomes, and some noteworthy craftable items.
Updated on October 28, 2025, by Anastasia Maillot: Minecraft has come a long way from where it started, and each update has led to something new being added to the game. The latest major update, The Copper Age, saw the introduction of the Copper Golem into the game, a mob that sorts players' chests for them. Another upcoming update, Mounts of Mayhem, is set to introduce nautilus armor and some very interesting zombie variants, so it's safe to say Minecraft continues to be ever-changing. With all these recent updates, a few additional rare items have surfaced, worthy of a spot on this list.
Dried Ghast
Make a New Friend in the Soul Sand Valley
- Next to bone block fossils in Soul Sand Valley biomes in the Nether, or acquired by bartering with Piglins.
The Chase the Skies update for Minecraft introduced Happy Ghasts, a variant that players could saddle up and ride into the skies as a flying mount. In order to acquire the Happy Ghast, though, players first need to get into the Nether, where they have two options.
First, either find a Soul Sand Valley. This biome naturally spawns bone blocks in the form of giant fossils, and Dried Ghasts typically spawn next to them. Players can just mine them and collect them. Otherwise, use gold ingots to barter with a Piglin for a 2.13% chance to get a Dried Ghast. To revive the Ghast, simply pour a bucket of water on top of it.
Resin Clump
Hit the Creaking in the Pale Garden to Harvest This Resource
- In the Pale Garden biome, attack the Creaking (a creaking heart is required) to generate resin clumps on wood. Sometimes appears in Woodland Mansion chests (53.8% chance on Java).
The Garden Awakens update added the Pale Garden biome, which is an eerie, special variation of the dark oak biome. It's here that players have a chance of acquiring resin clumps, a resource that is rather rare, mainly due to how rare the biome itself is. It can also be found in Woodland Mansion chests, but that structure is also rare and typically difficult to find.
To get resin, players will need to wait for a Creaking to spawn at night in the Pale Garden biome. Damaging the Creaking will cause resin to spawn on a nearby tree, as shown by small orange particles. Resin is mostly a cosmetic material used to make resin bricks, which can enhance the appearance of armor when used with armor trims at a smithing table.
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 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.
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The ancient city is a structure that can be found in the Deep Dark biomes, but it 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.
Ominous Trial Key
A Must-Have For Players Looking To Up Their Loot In Trial Chambers
- Drops as Trial Chamber loot.
The Ominous Trial Key isn't extremely rare compared to other items here. It is unique to Trial Chambers, so finding one first is necessary, but once players are in, there's a 30% chance it will spawn from an Ominous Spawner. This, of course, requires players to have the Bad Omen potion effect active when they enter a Trial. This means that there are a few hoops to jump through before players can hope to get their hands on this key.
The reason why this key is so valuable is that it opens Ominous Vaults, which are special chests in the Trial Chambers that have a chance of dropping far more valuable and interesting loot than the regular vaults. The more keys, the more Vaults can be unlocked. However, note that for each Ominous Trial completed, only one key per player can be used, so players will need to enter another chamber with their Bad Omen status if they want more.
Diamonds
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. Also found in various structures and dungeons.
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. After all, diamond gear is a requirement to acquire Netherite gear.
However, the way diamond ore is found has changed over the years. Strip mining is no longer as effective as it used to be in Minecraft, but on the other hand, diamond is found as loot in a large variety of structures, from buried treasure chests to Nether Fortresses. Exploring large caverns underground in a more organic way around the Y=14 and Y=64 elevations, rather than digging tunnels in a set pattern, is currently the most effective method.
Emerald Ore
Rarer Than Diamonds in the Wild
- 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 is the rarest to come by. While it can still be tricky to find, it is no longer the rarest ore. Emerald Ore is now about 30x 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.
Note that it's specifically the ore version of this block that is rare. Emeralds themselves are found in a variety of treasure chests and structures, and even come as block form in Trial Chambers.
Sniffer Egg
Spawn an Ancient Mob
- Use a brush on suspicious sand in warm ocean ruins for a chance to find a sniffer egg
Trails and Tales introduced sniffers, and these curious little creatures are available only if players get their hands on a sniffer egg. Look around for something called suspicious sand in warm ocean ruins, which is a sand block with a slightly more textured appearance.
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Using a brush, interact with the surface to dig up some loot. It takes some serious luck to find a sniffer egg, the chance being only 6.7%. Not only are warm oceans and these ruins typically a bit difficult to find, but the chance of extracting a sniffer egg is even smaller.
Nautilus Shell
A Rare Shell Required to Make a Conduit
- 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.
Sponge
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 large amounts of liquid. The sponge block is a bit more common to come by than some of the other items on the list, and when found, it is usually found in abundance. 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.
Goat Horn
With Eight Different Sound Variants
- Occasionally dropped by goats when killed, and found in Pillager Outposts
Goats are another fairly rare passive mob in Minecraft. Players will need to go looking for icy mountaintops to find them in order to score the goat horn. A better method is looking for Pillager Outposts, where they can also be found in loot chests with a 50% drop chance.
There's a total of eight different goat horn variants, each of which produces a different sound when blown into. Good luck collecting them all.