How to Get Ancient Debris in Minecraft

What is Ancient Debris?

Ancient Debris is a rare ore found only in the Nether. It is difficult to find, and highly sought after by players in Minecraft because it smelted into Netherite scraps, which in turn are used to craft Netherite ingots. These ingots can then be used with a smithing table to upgrade diamond gear into Netherite gear, which is stronger and more durable.

What can you do with Ancient Debris?

Ancient Debris only has one purpose: it can be smelted in a furnace or blast furnace to become Netherite Scrap. The Netherite Scrap can then be combined with Gold Ingots to craft a Netherite Ingot. You’ll need four pieces of Netherite Scrap and four Gold Ingots to craft one Netherite Ingot.

Where can you find Ancient Debris?

Finding Ancient Debris is one of the most challenging searches in Minecraft. It is very rare and only found in the Nether, which you travel to through a Nether Portal. The scarcity of Ancient Debris is roughly equivalent to that of Lapis Lazuli in the Overworld.

Ancient Debris usually spawns deep underground. Your best chances of finding it are between y-level 8 and 22 — with y-level 15 having the highest chance of spawning. So a typical search for Ancient Debris involves digging (carefully) down to y-level 15 and then patiently doing a lot of mining.

The search for Ancient Debris is more difficult because the Nether is a dangerous place — deadly mobs and the presence of fast-flowing lava will make the search challenging, even for an experienced and well-geared player.

How to Get Ancient Debris in Minecraft with Exploding Beds

You can search for Ancient Debris in several ways, including the time-tested technique used to locate diamonds in the Overword — digging a network of simple tunnels spaced at intervals to maximize the search. But this is a slow and often frustrating way. Fortunately, there’s a faster, more efficient, and even more fun way to search — using exploding beds!

Why Exploding Beds?

Yes, exploding beds are an efficient and effective way to discover Ancient Debris in Minecraft. The humble bed, which can be crafted with just 3 wooden planks and 3 blocks of wool, is normally an item you make to sleep peacefully during the Minecraft night. But if you’ve ever done any exploration in the Nether, you may have noticed that beds have a rather surprising behavior when you try to use them there. They explode. With tremendous force.

Using a bed in the Nether is therefore a great way to clear out a lot of blocks quickly. This technique is much faster than trying to mine them one-by-one with a pickaxe. As long as you take some basic precautions and have the correct gear (think blast resistance), you can use beds to efficiently clear out large amounts of blocks.

Ancient Debris, meanwhile, has very high blast resistance. So when you blow up an area with a bed, often the only blocks left in place will be Ancient Debris.

Step-by-Step Guide to Finding Ancient Debris with Exploding Beds

1. You’re going to need a lot of wooden planks (any type of wood will do) and a lot of wool. Gather as much as you can carry and bring it with you into the Nether. Creating a sheep farm will help you to produce lots of wool quickly.
2. Blowing up beds in the Nether is dangerous business. You’re going to want strong gear (iron armor or better), and if you can, enchant at least one piece of it with blast resistance. Another great enchant for the Nether is fire resistance.
3. Bring plenty of food. It’s almost impossible to not take lots of damage when messing around with exploding beds. You’ll need to eat food from time-to-time to regain your health.
4. Bring a diamond pickaxe. You need a diamond pickaxe or better to successfully mine Ancient Debris.
5. Now that you’ve got your gear, head to the Nether and dig a staircase or tunnel until you reach level 15 on the y-axis (press F3 to quickly check your coordinates in the game).
6. Use your pickaxe to dig out a “starter room.” You’ll want a big enough space to hold a crafting table and some chests. Give yourself plenty of space to work in before you start blowing things up.
7. Now it’s time to craft. Using the wood and wool that you have brought, craft as many beds as you can. Place several in your inventory and store the rest in the chests you just created.
8. Now we get to the fun part. It’s time to blow things up!
9. Make sure you are far enough from your crafting table and chests and then dig a two-block high tunnel. It’s best to make the tunnel at least 6 or 7 blocks long. Place a bed at the very end of your tunnel and then step back at least three blocks from the foot of the bed.
   
   
   
10. Place a strong block 3 or 4 blocks from the foot of the bed (cobblestone, deep slate, or black rock work nicely). Make sure the block is between you and the bed.
11. Now right-click the bed and BOOM! It will explode, clearing out several blocks nearby. You may take some damage from the blast, but if you have the right armor and were careful about putting the block between you and the bed, the impact should be minimal.
12. Right click on the fires that have appeared to put them out.
13. Scan the area for Ancient Debris. Remember it is rare, so you may not find any for a while.
14. If you find Ancient Debris, mine it with your diamond pickaxe.
15. It’s possible that the explosion will free up lava flows. Be careful with these, as lava moves quickly in the Nether.
16. Once you’ve cleared out the fires and made sure you can move safely past any lava, repeat steps 9-15 until you’ve run out of beds to blow up.

How to Get Ancient Debris in Minecraft with TNT

An alternate method to using exploding beds is to use a chain reaction of explosions with TNT. This method requires a lot of gunpowder to create enough TNT to use for a large chain of explosions. That means you need to harvest a lot of creepers, but it is very effective and in many ways is faster and safer than using exploding beds.

The general idea is the same. You’re going to blow up a lot of blocks very quickly deep in the Nether to quickly expose any hidden debris.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to getting Ancient Debris with TNT.

1. Get a lot of gunpowder, which is a drop from Creepers. You’ll need 5 gunpowder and 4 sand to craft a single block of TNT. If you want to assemble a full stack of TNT, you’ll need 320 gunpowder and 256 blocks of sand. The most efficient way to do this is to go Creeper hunting in the desert.
2. Create your TNT at the crafting table. Don’t forget to craft a Flint and Steel, which you’ll need to ignite the TNT later.
3. Head deep into the Nether. The best place to start is at y level 15. This is the depth where Ancient Debris has the highest chance of spawning.
4. Start digging a tunnel, two blocks high. Keep the tunnel straight, while (of course) watching out for lava.
5. Make your tunnel length at least 3 times the number of TNT you brought. So if you brought a full stack of 64 TNT, make your tunnel at least 192 blocks long.
6. Once you’re finished with your tunnel, place TNT blocks inside the tunnel. Leave two blocks of space between each one. It should look like the image below.
   
7. After you place your last TNT, step safely back and then ignite the first block of TNT with your Flint and Steel. Step a little further back for safety once it ignites.
8. Sit back and watch as your chain reaction explosion creates a massive cavern deep in the Nether!
9. Once all the TNT has exploded, you can walk through the cavern and look for any exposed Ancient Debris.
10. Mine any Ancient Debris you find with a diamond pickaxe or better!