How to farm amethyst shards in Minecraft 1.19

Minecraft 1.17 introduced players to the amethyst shard, a type of crystal that could be collected. Added to the game with the 20w45a snapshot for the Caves and Cliffs Part 1 update, the developers gave the amethyst shards a change in texture. By the time Minecraft 1.19 was rolled out in 2022, these crystals were a common occurrence throughout the Minecraft world.

The only way to obtain amethyst shards in-game is through Amethyst Geodes. These are large, spherical areas buried deep within the Minecraft world’s caves, that are covered with amethyst blocks. While they do spawn commonly throughout the underground layer, newer players might struggle to find them and therefore, miss opportunities that may grant them amethyst shards.

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The best way to obtain and stock up on amethyst shards

As mentioned above, a player’s first task is to find an amethyst geode, as these are the only places where amethyst shards generate. Amethyst geodes can be found across the underground layer, specifically between the world heights of Y level -58 and Y level 30. They can be identified immediately as they’re covered with amethyst blocks and are usually exposed from one side.

Once you’re in a geode, look for budding amethyst blocks. They look similar to amethyst blocks, but have a small “X” or cross on all sides. These blocks spawn amethyst clusters, which is the final stage of shard generation.

Amethyst clusters take care of the four stages of shard generation. Each stage includes more shards, with the aforementioned final stage containing four to make a single cluster. Breaking amethyst clusters will drop these four amethyst shards if mined with a regular or unenchanted pickaxe. This count increases if players mine with a pickaxe enchanted with different levels of Fortune.

The best way to ensure that you can continue farming amethyst shards is to not run out of budding amethyst blocks, due to the reasons mentioned above. There are no clusters without budding amethysts, and there are no amethyst shards without clusters.

Therefore, the best way to farm amethyst shards in Minecraft is to locate every single budding amethyst block within an amethyst geode and isolate them. This means that players will have to clear a decent amount of space around each budding amethyst block, which will allow for the generation of a cluster on each of those sides.

Since the generation of amethyst geodes is quite common in Minecraft, it is more than likely that players will find one in the vicinity of their home base. If not, a few mining trips can easily help locate a geode.

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What are the uses of an amethyst shard in Minecraft?

Amethyst shards are used in four different processes in Minecraft. Three of these are associated with crafting, and the fourth concerns the adorable Allay mob. Amethyst shards can be used to make blocks of amethyst, spyglass, and tinted glass.

While the block only requires amethyst shards to be crafted, players will need to combine them with copper ingots and glass blocks to craft the spyglass and tinted glass blocks respectively.

The final use of the amethyst shard in Minecraft is quite interesting, as it allows players to duplicate the allay mob. However, this happens under only one condition. Once players obtain an amethyst shard, they need to find an allay, which can be found inside woodland mansions and pillager outpost cages.

Players also need a jukebox and any music diss, with the former being craftable. The latter, meanwhile, is part of chest loot or dropping from creepers if they’ve been killed by skeletons, strays, or wither skeletons with bows. When they put the music disc in the jukebox, the music will prompt nearby allays to dance.

During this phase, if players give allays amethyst shards, they’ll emit “heart” particles similar to when players tame an animal. Thereafter, players will notice that another allay immediately spawns into the world.