Minecraft smithing template guide: All you need to know

Smithing in Minecraft is an interesting system. Most of its applications are aesthetic, such as being able to apply different armor trims to armor sets using different trim materials. However, it also has a major gameplay use due to being the system players need to use to upgrade diamond gear up to netherite, the best tier in the game.

Detailed below is everything players need to know about smithing, from the different trims and trim materials available to the workstation needed to make beautiful armor.

All about Minecraft smithing templates

Applying Templates

Applying an armor trim to armor in a smithing table (Image via Mojang Studios)

Armor trims can be applied to any piece of armor, including dyed leather armor. This means when including every potential shade of leather armor, template, trim material, and enchantments, there are nearly unlimited customization options for armor.

These items are combined within smithing tables, which were one of the last Minecraft villager profession blocks to be given a use.

Duplicating Templates

Duplicating armor trim means only a single one ever needs to be randomly found (Image via Mojang Studios)

The most important thing to know about smithing templates is that they should never be immediately used. This is due to the fact that a single trim can be duplicated in the crafting table with diamonds and a matching material block. Each specific armor trim will list its required materials, which go in the center spot of the crafting grid, below the trim itself.

Armor Trims

All the different armor trim materials (Image via Mojang Studios)

A total of 10 different materials can be used as armor trims. These materials are various rare resources collected while mining. Each material applies a trim of a matching color. The full list of trim materials is as follows:

Emerald
Redstone
Lapis Lazuli
Amethyst
Quartz
Netherite
Diamond
Gold
Iron
Copper

This makes setting up some kind of mine underneath a main Minecraft survival base vital to getting the coolest-looking aesthetic armor available to players.

Netherite Upgrade

Upgrading armor to netherite is the one gameplay benefit of smithing (Image via Mojang Studios)

Netherite upgrades use netherrack as their duplication material. This makes it considerably easy to get full Netherite armor since duplicating the upgrade is quite cheap. Netherite upgrades can be found in Minecraft piglin bastions, but they are only guaranteed in treasure room chests. Every other bastion type only has a 10% chance to find the item.

Sentry Armor Trim

Sentry armor trim uses cobblestone as its duplication material. Sentry armor trims can be found in pairs within 25% of dangerous Minecraft pillager outpost chests. This makes sentry armor sets one of the easiest to get in the entire game, both due to their spawn percentage and how many biomes pillager outposts appear in.

Vex Armor Trim

Cobblestone is also the duplication material for vex armor trims. This trim is hard to get due to the structure it's in, rather than its chance to spawn. Found within elusive Minecraft woodland mansions, vex armor trims have a surprisingly generous 50% spawn chance within loot chests.

Wild Armor Trim

Wild armor trim is slightly different, using mossy cobblestone as its duplication material. This wild, overgrown theme continues into how the trim is obtained. Wild trims are found within 33% of the jungle temples that make Minecraft's best jungle seeds so amazing to use.

Coast Armor Trim

Coast armor trim is another armor trim that's duplicated using cobblestone. Coast armor trims can be found in several different types of loot chests. Treasure chests, map chests, and supply chests found in amazingly useful Minecraft shipwrecks all have a 16.7% chance to contain two coast trims.

Dune Armor Trim

Dune armor trim uses another incredibly common material to duplicate in sandstone. Bedrock Edition players can also duplicate dune armor trims with smooth sandstone, cut sandstone, and chiseled sandstone. Dune armor trims appear in pairs within 14.3% of Minecraft desert temples.

Wayfinder Armor Trim

Wayfinder armor trim is the first of several armor trims that use terracotta as its duplication material. Additionally, wayfinder armor trim is one of several trim sets to be found within suspicious blocks, being some of the best Minecraft archeology loot available. Each block has an 8.3% chance to drop a wayfinder armor trim. Brushing a suspicious block will cause its item to drop.

Raiser Armor Trim

Raiser armor trim is another trim that needs terracotta to duplicate. Raiser armor trim is also another armor trim that's obtained via brushing suspicious blocks as part of archeology. It also has an 8.3% chance of dropping from brushing suspicious blocks.

Shaper Armor Trim

The third armor trim that uses terracotta to duplicate is the shaper armor trim. It's also the third armor trim to be obtainable by brushing suspicious blocks found in many of Minecraft's different structures. Shaper armor trims have the same 8.3% chance to drop as wayfinder and raiser trims.

Host Armor Trim

Host armor trim is the fourth and final armor trim duplicated with terracotta. Host armor trims are also the final armor trim that can be obtained via archeology. It has the same 8.3% drop chance as the rest of the archeological trims. Simply brushing a suspicious block will give players a chance to get this trim.

Ward Armor Trim

Cobbled deepslate is the material needed to duplicate ward armor trim. This trim is found within 5% of Minecraft ancient city loot chests. This makes ward armor trim the second rarest armor trim in the entire game, second only to silence armor trim, which has a 1.2% chance to be found.

Silence Armor Trim

Silence armor trims also use cobbled deepslate as their duplication material. Silence armor trim, like ward trim, is found in ancient city loot chests. However, silence trim is considerably rarer than ward trim, only appearing in 1.2% of chests. This means that players will need to spend a considerable amount of time at risk of Minecraft's deadly warden mob while hunting for silence trim.

Tide Armor Trim

Tide armor trims need prismarine to be duplicated. These blocks can be found in ocean monuments or crafted using the prismarine shards produced by a Minecraft guardian farm. Bedrock players can also use prismarine bricks and dark prismarine to duplicate tride armor trims.

Tide armor trim is also unique due to being the only trim that is dropped by a hostile Minecraft mob; in this case, the elder guardians found guarding ocean monuments. Elder guardians have a 20% chance to drop a single-tide armor trim on death. This is unaffected by looting and can drop even if a player doesn't kill the mob.

Snout Armor Trim

The snout trim adds an interesting symbol to chest plates (Image via Mojang Studios)

Snout armor trims also use a Nether material to duplicate. This material is the blackstone that makes up a large portion of basalt deltas. Snout trims are a second trim that can be obtained from bastions. They can be found in hoglin stable, bridge, generic, and treasure chests. Each of these containers has an 8.3% chance to have a single snout trim.

Rib Armor Trim

Rib armor trim uses netherrack as its duplication material, like the netherite upgrade. Rib armor trims are also found in the Nether but from nether fortress chests rather than dangerous bastions. Each nether fortress chest has a 6.7% chance to have a rib trim.

Eye Armor Trim

Eye armor trims use a material from Minecraft's underdeveloped end dimension to duplicate. This material is the end stone that nearly the entire dimension is made of. While eye trim might use an end material to duplicate, they are not found in the dimension. Instead, they are found in 10% of stronghold altar chests and 100% of Minecraft stronghold library chests.

Spire Armor Trim

Spire armor trims also use an end material in their duplication crafting recipe. This material is the purpur blocks that make up Minecraft's end cities. Spire armor trim can also be duplicated with purpur pillars on Bedrock. These materials make sense, as spire armor trim is found in 6.7% of end-city loot chests.

Flow Armor Trim

Flow armor trim is unique for not requiring a block to duplicate. Instead, it requires a breeze rod, the unique drop of Minecraft's new breeze mob. Additionally, flow trim can only be found within upcoming trial chambers. They are loot that might pop out of an ominous vault when opened with an ominous key. There's a 22.5% chance for a trim to appear as loot in this way.

Bolt Armor Trim

Netherite armor with bolt trim applied (Image via Mojang Studios)

Bolt armor trim is unique for being incredibly expensive to duplicate when compared to every other armor trim in the game. It requires the same base of seven diamonds but also needs a full copper block to duplicate. Like flow trims, bolt trims are found in trial chambers, but in regular Minecraft vaults rather than ominous vaults. Bolt armor trim has a 5.4% chance to be found this way.