Vault block in Minecraft 1.21 update: Everything you need to know

Minecraft 1.21's trial chambers are full of new blocks and have plenty of goodies to loot; one such way is through the new vault block. This locked block possesses a collection of quality items but must be unlocked using a trial key. Moreover, players can only open a vault once per each vault. This isn't necessarily the downside it sounds like, though, particularly in multiplayer.

According to Mojang, vault blocks were introduced to help players in Minecraft multiplayer not miss out on loot. In larger servers, ordinary loot chests are typically picked clean quickly, leaving other players empty-handed. However, vaults allow each player to open them once, and their inventory isn't reduced each time they dispense items, ensuring every player in a trial chamber can reap the rewards.

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Minecraft 1.21 update vault block: Locations, mechanics, loot, and more

Vaults can only be opened via a trial key in Minecraft (Image via Mojang)

Vaults, like many new blocks in Minecraft 1.21, are generated within trial chambers. These structures appear between the Height Levels -40 and -20 and have diverse procedurally generated layouts, so players won't have an easy time memorizing the various halls and corridors of the structure. Trial chambers also contain trial spawner blocks, which are vital to unlocking the vault once it's found.

Trial spawners are found in various parts of Minecraft's trial chambers, and they operate similarly to standard spawner blocks. However, the blocks surrounding the trial spawner will dictate which mobs it can spawn, and these mobs include the breeze, another 1.21 addition. Regardless, after players have defeated all of the trial spawner's mobs, it will dispense various loot items.

How to unlock Vault in Minecraft

Currently, trial spawners in Minecraft have a 50% chance to disperse a trial key when defeated. This key can then be picked up and carried to a vault, where it can be used to unlock the vault and dispense the items inside. Vaults can carry and release a wide swathe of items, including the following:

• Enchanted Books - 36.2% appearance chance for books with Sharpness/Bane of Arthropods/Efficiency/Fortune/Silk Touch/Feather Falling. 16.8% for books with Mending/Riptide/Channeling/Impaling
• Emeralds - 25.6%
• Iron Horse Armor - 25.6%
• Damaged Shields - 19.8%
• Saddles - 19.8%
• Enchanted Iron Axes - 19.8%
• Enchanted Iron Pickaxes - 19.8%
• Enchanted Iron Shovels - 19.8%
• Enchanted Iron Armor Pieces - 19.8%
• Golden Horse Armor - 19.8%
• Enchanted Crossbows - 10.4%
• Enchanted Golden Apples - 10.4%
• Diamond Horse Armor - 10.4%
• Enchanted Diamond Axes - 10.4%
• Enchanted Diamond Chestplates - 10.4%
• Diamonds - 7%

Vaults offer loot that can also be found in trial chamber loot chests (Image via Mojang)

Keep in mind that these loot appearance chances may change over time. Regardless, each player can open each vault once. Since vault inventories aren't finite, players in multiplayer servers can each open a vault once and collect the loot inside without worrying about the loot running out.

Since vaults are generated in trial chambers, and at least one trial chamber is generated in each region of 32x32 chunks, there is a massive number of vaults to loot per world. Each time they're activated, vaults will dispense an item stack (not full stacks of items in many cases) until two to six stacks have been released. The vault will then become inaccessible for the player who opened it.

Note that vaults utilize the same loot table as loot chests within trial chambers, so Minecraft players shouldn't expect to find any new loot by opening a vault. At the moment, they exist to ensure that if multiple players are exploring a trial chamber, they all have the opportunity to access the structure's loot regardless of whether they beat their friends to the loot chests.

A Minecraft player uses a trial key to open a vault block (Image via Mojang)

Vaults are still a new addition in Minecraft 1.21, so Mojang may tweak their loot tables or mechanics in the future. Players will have to keep an eye on snapshot betas and major updates to ensure vaults don't become less or more valuable as a lootable block over time.