Minecraft 1.21 ore distribution - Best level for all ores

Ore is one of the most important resources to hunt for in Minecraft. Coal is needed to create torches, cook food, and smelt items; iron is needed to make shields and redstone components; and diamonds are needed to make the overworld's best tools. This makes knowing the best levels to get any of the game's different ores vital for long-term survival.

Minecraft's ore distribution is detailed below, including the range for each in the game, the best levels for them, and what the materials are used for.

Minecraft 1.21's ore distribution

Minecraft ore distribution as of 1.21 (Image via Bazoqa/Reddit)

Thankfully, none of the ore-distribution ranges have changed with the release of 1.21. This means that the same levels that players have been using since the world-generation overhaul can continue being used. The most common ranges for each individual ore can be found below.

Ore	Most Common Layer(s)
Coal	45
Copper	43
Lapis Lazuli	-2
Iron	14
Gold	-18
Gold (Badlands)	32 to 256
Redstone	-59
Diamond	-59
Emerald	85

Coal ore

A huge amount of coal found in a mountain biome (Image via Mojang)

Total Range: Zero to 320
Most found in layer(s): 45
None at layers: -64 to -1

Coal is one of the most important ores to look for in survival. This item is used to power furnaces and process other ores like copper, iron, and gold, as well as cook Minecraft's best food items. Coal is found starting at Y Level 0, though it appears in huge numbers within mountain biomes. This makes these biomes great for early-game survival due to the amount of coal they can provide.

Copper ore

Total Range: -16 to 112
Most found in layer(s): 43
None at layers: -64 to -17 and 113 to 320 (Dripstone Caves)

Copper is one of the most common ores in the game. This makes sense, as it is a mostly decorative block type. These blocks are particularly amazing for Minecraft steampunk builds due to their orange metallic color and mechanical textures. The 1.21 Tricky Trials update also just added both copper trapdoors and regular doors to the game for players who enjoy using this material for decorating bases.

Lapis Lazuli ore

Lapis ore in the ceiling of a lush cave (Image via Mojang)

Total Range: -64 to 64
Most found in layer(s): -2
None at layers: 65 to 320

Lapis lazuli is a surprisingly rare ore. Found most commonly just into deepslate, this striking blue ore is vital to look for in the mid-game. Lapis is required to add Minecraft's best enchantments to weapons, tools, and armor. Since enchanting is one of the most important things for players to set up, lapis is one of the most important ores to be familiar with.

Iron ore

Total Range: -64 to 320
Most found in layer(s): 14
None at layers: 73 to 79

Iron ore is probably the best to mine in large numbers. Used to craft many useful items, such as shields, tools, armor, Minecraft hoppers, minecarts, and rails, it is fantastic to set up a dedicated strip mine for. Iron can also be obtained through iron farms, which should eventually replace manual mining for iron in worlds.

Gold ore

Total Range: -64 to 32, -64 to 256 (Badlands)
Most found in layer(s): -18, 32 to 256 (Badlands)
None at layers: 33 to 320, 257 to 320 (Badlands)

Gold ore is an interesting ore. It is relatively rare in most biomes, but quite common within badlands. This makes badlands, one of Minecraft's most beautiful biomes, particularly great for players to enjoy traveling around using powered rails due to the sheer amount of gold found within.

While gold items like weapons, tools, and armor might have awful durability, they do have better enchantability. This makes it easier to get great enchantments on them with a Level 30 Minecraft enchanting setup.

Redstone ore

Total Range: -64 to 16
Most found in layer(s): -59
None at layers: 15 to 320

Redstone is an interesting ore that starts generating just above deepslate. It then becomes more common as players get deeper into the ground. It's most commonly found at Y Level -59. Redstone is amazing to mine with Minecraft's Fortune enchantment, as a single ore can drop up to eight redstone dust with Fortune III.

Diamond ore

Total Range: -64 to 16
Most found in layer(s): -59
None at layers: 16 to 320

Diamond is perhaps the most iconic of the game's ores. It also shares its range with redstone but is much less common. Diamond is the final tier of tools, weapons, and Minecraft armor found in the overworld, making it vital to mine.

Diamond ore spawns most commonly at Y Level -59, but Level -56 is actually recommended. There is essentially the same amount of diamonds at this level, but there are considerably fewer lava pools to deal with. This makes mining for diamonds much more convenient.

Emerald ore

Total Range: -16 to 320
Most found in layer(s): 85
None at layers: -64 to -17

Emerald is by far the rarest ore in the game, despite having what appears to be quite a generous range. It's true that emerald can spawn in a huge vertical range, but it only naturally generates in the hills that many of Minecraft's best seeds are known for. This makes it inherently hard to find, since there are only a handful of areas to find it.

The emeralds obtained from this ore are used in Minecraft villager trading, the most powerful system that players have access to. This makes emerald a great ore to mine whenever it is found, even if it requires going a bit out of the way to do so.