Where to find loot in Minecraft?

In Minecraft, most loot is found in chests inside naturally generated structures: villages, mineshafts, dungeons, temples, shipwrecks, Nether bastions, End cities and ancient cities. Since the archaeology update you can also brush suspicious sand and gravel in ruins for unique items. The deeper or more dangerous the structure, the better the loot tends to be.

Overworld structures

• Villages: chests in houses, blacksmiths and other workplaces often hold food, tools, iron and sometimes diamonds.
• Mineshafts: look for minecarts with chests along the tunnels. Expect rails, tools, enchanted books and ores.
• Dungeons: small cobblestone rooms with a mob spawner and one or two chests. Good for saddles, name tags, music discs and golden apples.
• Desert pyramids: a hidden room under the center holds four chests, but watch for the TNT trap under the pressure plate. Suspicious sand inside can be brushed for pottery sherds.
• Jungle temples: chests guarded by tripwire and dispenser traps.
• Shipwrecks and ocean ruins: supply and treasure chests, plus buried treasure maps.
• Buried treasure: follow a treasure map to the X and dig down. The chest often contains a Heart of the Sea.
• Pillager outposts, woodland mansions and igloos: each has its own chests; igloos sometimes hide a basement.
• Trail ruins and desert wells: brush suspicious gravel and sand for sherds, armor trims and other archaeology items.
• Trial chambers: use trial keys from defeated waves to open vaults with enchanted gear.
• Ancient cities: deep in the Deep Dark biome. Some of the best loot in the game, but the Warden makes them dangerous.
• Strongholds: library and corridor chests with enchanted books and gear.

Nether and End

• Bastion remnants: treasure rooms can hold netherite pieces, enchanted diamond gear and the netherite upgrade template.
• Nether fortresses: chests with gold, iron, horse armor and saddles, plus blaze rods from blazes.
• End cities: shulker-guarded chests with enchanted diamond gear, and End ships that carry elytra.

Tips for safer looting

1. Bring a brush for archaeology sites, a pickaxe and blocks to escape.
2. Check chests in the corners of structures; many are easy to miss.
3. Light up dungeons and mineshafts before looting to stop mobs from spawning.
4. Write down coordinates (F3 on Java, or turn on coordinates in Bedrock) so you can find your way back.

FAQ

Can you get Looting on a pickaxe?

No. Looting is a sword enchantment that increases mob drops. The pickaxe equivalent is Fortune, which increases drops from ores.

What happens to my items if I die?

They drop where you died and despawn after about five minutes while that area is loaded. Go back quickly, or turn on the keepInventory game rule in worlds where cheats are allowed.

How do I find buried treasure?

Get a buried treasure map from a shipwreck or ocean ruin chest, follow it to the red X on a beach and dig around that spot.

Where is the rarest loot in Minecraft?

Ancient cities, bastion treasure rooms and End cities are generally considered the best sources of rare loot, such as enchanted golden apples, netherite templates and elytra.