Netherite upgrade: the complete guide
Netherite is the toughest material in Minecraft: netherite items don't burn in lava, last longer and deal more damage than diamond ones. Upgrading isn't simple, though. You need Ancient Debris from the Nether, a smithing template from a bastion and a smithing table. This guide walks you through the whole process, from mining to finished gear.
1. Mining Ancient Debris
Ancient Debris is the ore of netherite. It only spawns in the Nether, most often between Y 8 and Y 22. Generation peaks at Y 15, where you will statistically find the most Ancient Debris per chunk. It is blast resistant and doesn't burn, which sets it apart from every other ore in the game. It looks like a brown block with cracks and stands out against the netherrack around it.
A vein of Ancient Debris has at most 3 blocks (usually 1-2). An average chunk (16x16 blocks) generates 1-3 blocks of Ancient Debris. That means you have to search a lot of chunks to collect enough for a full set of gear. One Netherite Ingot takes 4 Ancient Debris, and full gear (sword, pickaxe, helmet, chestplate, leggings, boots) takes 24.
To mine Ancient Debris you need at least a diamond pickaxe. An iron pickaxe or anything lower won't drop it. A pickaxe with Unbreaking III and Efficiency V is worth having: it speeds up mining netherrack, which is softer than stone anyway.
Mining at Y 15 often breaks into lava pockets. Always have a Potion of Fire Resistance active or Fire Protection on your armor. Your top priority is not dying in lava with all the Ancient Debris you've collected.
2. Mining methods: TNT vs bed mining
Bed mining (the cheapest method)
Beds explode in the Nether, and that mechanic is your best friend here. Dig a tunnel at Y 15, carve a 1x1x2 nook every 4 blocks, put a bed at the end of the nook and right-click it. The explosion exposes Ancient Debris within a 5-6 block radius without destroying it (Ancient Debris is blast resistant). Cost: wood and wool, materials you have plenty of. Downside: the explosion hurts you, so Protection IV and Fire Resistance are mandatory.
TNT mining (the fastest method)
Each block of TNT exposes a bigger area than a bed. Dig a tunnel at Y 15, place TNT every 4 blocks, light it and run. It's faster than bed mining and safer (you can detonate it from a distance with redstone), but TNT has to be crafted from gunpowder and sand, which are not as easy to come by. On servers, TNT duping (where allowed) makes this method unbeatable.
Strip mining (the simplest method)
A classic strip mine at Y 15: dig a 1x2 tunnel straight ahead. It's slower than explosions, but needs no special materials. With Efficiency V and Haste II (from a beacon), netherrack breaks instantly, which speeds up the whole process a lot. Dig your tunnels 2 blocks apart so you don't miss any veins.
3. Turning it into Netherite Ingots
The processing chain looks like this: Ancient Debris (ore) -> Netherite Scrap (smelting) -> Netherite Ingot (crafting). Each step needs specific materials.
Smelting: Put Ancient Debris in a furnace or a blast furnace. A blast furnace smelts twice as fast, so use one if you have it. Each Ancient Debris gives 1 Netherite Scrap. Smelting one block gives 2 XP, which is pretty decent.
Crafting: 4 Netherite Scrap + 4 Gold Ingots = 1 Netherite Ingot. Yes, you need gold, so don't throw it away. A full armor set (4 pieces) takes 4 Netherite Ingots = 16 Netherite Scrap = 16 Ancient Debris. For a sword and a pickaxe add 2 more Netherite Ingots = 8 Netherite Scrap = 8 Ancient Debris. In total: 24 Ancient Debris for a full set of combat gear.
You can get gold for Netherite Ingots in many ways: mining in the Nether (Nether Gold Ore), bartering with piglins, blocks of gold in bastions or classic mining in the Overworld. The fastest source is Nether Gold Ore with Fortune III: one block drops 2-24 Gold Nuggets.
4. Smithing Template: where to find it
Since version 1.20 (Trails & Tales), upgrading gear to netherite takes a Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template. Before 1.20 a Netherite Ingot on a smithing table was enough; now it's harder.
The template only generates in bastions. Treasure room bastions give you the best chance.
The good news: you can duplicate the Smithing Template. At a crafting table, place 7 Diamonds + 1 Netherrack + 1 Smithing Template to get 2 Smithing Templates. Each copy costs 7 diamonds, which beats raiding more bastions. One template you find is enough for a whole set of gear if you have enough diamonds.
With 6 upgrades (helmet, chestplate, leggings, boots, sword, pickaxe) you need 6 templates. Starting from the 1 you found: 1 -> 2 (7 diamonds) -> 4 (14 diamonds) -> 8 (28 diamonds). Three rounds of duplicating and you have spares. Total cost: 49 diamonds for templates plus 6 Netherite Ingots for the upgrades.
5. Upgrading at the smithing table
A smithing table is crafted from 2 Iron Ingots + 4 planks (any wood). In the smithing table you put three items into the slots:
- Slot 1 (left): Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template
- Slot 2 (middle): the diamond item you want to upgrade
- Slot 3 (right): Netherite Ingot
Done: the diamond item turns into a netherite one. Importantly, all enchantments, names and durability are kept. Your diamond sword with Sharpness V, Unbreaking III and Mending becomes a netherite sword with exactly the same enchantments. You don't have to enchant it again, which saves a huge amount of time and XP.
Upgrading at a smithing table costs no experience (unlike an anvil). It also doesn't raise the prior work penalty, so you can keep modifying the item on an anvil after the upgrade without extra XP costs.
6. What to upgrade first
You have your first Netherite Ingot and Smithing Template. The order matters:
- Pickaxe (priority #1): if you keep mining Ancient Debris, a netherite pickaxe with Unbreaking III lasts much longer. Bonus: it won't burn up in lava if you fall in.
- Sword (#2): +1 damage compared with diamond (8 vs 7). Combined with Smite V or Sharpness V, the difference is noticeable.
- Chestplate (#3): the most important armor piece (8 armor points vs 6 for leggings). A netherite chestplate with Protection IV makes you almost indestructible.
- The rest of the armor (#4-6): leggings, helmet, boots. Boots with Soul Speed can be upgraded last, since the durability bonus matters less there.
Each upgraded piece gains +1 Armor Toughness and +1 Knockback Resistance. A full set gives +4 Knockback Resistance in total, so mob attacks knock you back much less, a huge advantage when fighting the Wither or the Ender Dragon.
7. Netherite vs diamond stats
A side-by-side comparison of the two best material tiers in the game:
- Sword durability: Diamond 1561 -> Netherite 2031 (+30%)
- Pickaxe durability: Diamond 1561 -> Netherite 2031 (+30%)
- Sword damage: Diamond 7 -> Netherite 8 (+14%)
- Chestplate armor: Diamond 8 -> Netherite 8 (no change, but +1 Armor Toughness)
- Mining speed: Diamond 8 -> Netherite 9 (+12.5%)
- Fire resistance: Diamond NO -> Netherite YES (items don't burn in lava!)
- Knockback Resistance: Diamond 0 -> Netherite 1 per armor piece
The biggest advantage of netherite is that it survives lava and fire. Dying in the Nether with diamond gear means losing everything: the items burn in lava before you can get back. Netherite survives and waits for you. The same goes for dropping items into lava by accident or dying over a lava lake. You'll find more about the material itself in our main netherite guide.
