Which Minecraft structures have the rarest loot?

There are a surprising number of structures to stumble across throughout Minecraft. These structures, ranging from small trail ruins to huge, towering end cities, are some of the most interesting features of the entire game, in large part due to the mobs and loot found within them. While some of this loot is common and abundant, there are also remarkably rare items to be found.

The structures with the most uncommon loot items are detailed below, along with an explanation as to exactly which item(s) is so rare.

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Which Minecraft structures have the hardest-to-find loot?

Ancient cities

The portal-like structure found in the middle of ancient cities (Image via Mojang)

Ancient cities are abandoned cityscapes found deep underground, infected by huge amounts of sculk. Players trying to infiltrate these structures will need to be careful and quiet to avoid accidentally summoning Minecraft's warden mob. Ancient cities have a plethora of incredible loot, including leads, music discs, enchanted diamond gear, and even enchanted golden apples.

The rarest piece of loot that can be found in ancient cities is the silence armor smithing template, which has a remarkably low 1.2% chance to appear in loot chests.

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Abandoned mineshafts

An abandoned mineshaft (Image via Mojang)

Abandoned mineshafts are one of the oldest structures in Minecraft and have remained largely unchanged over the years. These labyrinthine tunnels feature plenty of ores and loot chests, as well as cave spider spawners.

While much of the loot in these chests is not very remarkable, such as Minecraft melon seeds, beetroot seeds, rails, or torches, there are excellent but rare items players can find. These items are enchanted golden apples, which appear in 1.4% of the chests found in these tunnels.

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Ruined portals

A ruined portal in a forest (Image via Mojang)

The only surface structures with particularly rare loot are ruined portals. These structures are broken frames of Nether portals, created by an unknown party. While they have fallen into decay by the time the player arrives, they allow for quick and easy portals to the Nether and also have interesting loot.

There are three pieces of loot that can be found in ruined portal chests, both with a 1.5% drop rate. The first of these items is a block of gold. The second is a bell, normally found in the center of villages. The final rare piece of loot is an enchanted golden apple, one of the most powerful support items in the entire game.

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Trial chambers

Trial chambers have the rarest loot in all of Minecraft (Image via Mojang)

Trial chambers are the newest structure in the game, as well as the most dangerous. These large, underground mazes are filled with trial spawners and falls, which is what makes them so dangerous, but their loot is amazing enough to compensate.

Many of these different loot items are actually some of the rarest items in all of Minecraft 1.21. There are multiple items with less than 1% chance of dropping. Regular vaults found on the Bedrock Edition of the game can drop enchanted diamond axes and chestplates, but with a meager 0.9% chance to do so. Ominous vaults on Bedrock have only a 0.7% chance of dropping blocks of diamond.