How to make netherite gear in Minecraft snapshot 23w04a

Minecraft 1.20 update is quickly approaching, but Mojang is providing peeks into future content and gameplay changes along the way. For example, look no further than the recently released Java 23w04a snapshot.

Plenty has been implemented in this particular preview snapshot for Java Edition, but one of the more notable inclusions regards netherite armor. Netherite armor will now be more difficult to craft than before due to changes to the smithing table block and the addition of smithing template items.

According to Mojang, this was a deliberate design choice intended to make diamond armor a longer-term survival option while making netherite armor feel more like an achievement to obtain.

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How to Craft Netherite Armor in Minecraft Java Snapshot 23w04a

Players will need to rely on smithing templates to upgrade netherite armor in Minecraft 23w04a (Image via ECKOSOLDIER/YouTube)

With the latest Minecraft Java snapshot changes, players will now need to rely on smithing templates in addition to previously-used materials to craft their netherite armor. The recipe for creating one piece of powerful armor requires one netherite ingot, one piece of diamond armor, and a netherite upgrade smithing template. These templates cannot be crafted, so players must rummage around in a particular generated structure in the Nether to find them.

Crafting Netherite Armor in Minecraft Snapshot 23w04a

1. Collect your materials. Diamond armor and netherite ingots have remained unchanged by this Minecraft snapshot, so any methods used to obtain them still work perfectly fine. You can either craft the armor and ingot it yourself or loot them from generated structures if you'd like an alternative.
2. Obtain a netherite upgrade smithing template. These are found within bastion remnant structures in the Nether. Once you find yourself in a bastion, check every loot chest you come across. It may take a few chests or even a few different bastions to find this item, as it only has a 3.2% chance to spawn in a loot chest. However, once you have one, it's possible to clone more with suitable materials.
3. With all your resources gathered, build and place a smithing table. Open the table's UI and place your ingot, diamond armor piece, and netherite upgrade template in their slots. Each new slot in the smithing table will outline where the necessary item needs to be placed.
4. Once all three items are placed in their proper slots, remove your new netherite armor piece from the output slot in the smithing table.

As Minecraft players may have guessed, one netherite upgrade template won't do the job for an entire armor set. This is because the smithing table consumes the item after use. Fortunately, if players have at least one upgrade template, they can clone more with a few materials. By combining seven diamonds, a block of netherrack, and their upgrade template in a crafting table UI, they can create clones of their template.

With four total templates, Minecraft players can create a complete set of netherite armor. It's not cheap to clone templates due to the need for diamonds, but it beats hunting down individual templates in generated structures when their appearance chances are so low.