Copper was added to Minecraft 1.17 as a metal resource and must be smelted to be crafted. You can spot copper ore poking out of stony ore blocks depending on your Y-level. While you mine, smelt, and craft Copper, bear in mind that it oxidizes and turns blueish green. The best way to get a Lightning Rod or a Spyglass is to mine for Copper. Here’s where you can mine for Copper, how to get Copper Ingots, and how to wax Copper.
Find Copper in Minecraft
Copper Ingots can only be obtained by finding Copper Ore. Copper Ore spawns in the form of a Copper vein, meaning several Copper Ore blocks are typically clustered together. It’s best to bring a Stone Pickaxe, as Copper Ore won’t drop anything when mined with a wooden pickaxe.
Y-level 0 to 96 spawn Copper Ore, but with a higher chance in the middle layers – around Y48. If it spawns between layers Y0 and Y16, it will take the form of Deepslate Copper Ore. This type of Copper Ore takes a lot longer to mine, and is also very rare. Copper ore can also be found in dripstone cave biomes.
Minecraft Copper Ingots
In order to make Minecraft Copper Ingots, you need to smelt raw Copper. Mining Copper Ore will only give you Raw Copper. In order to make Copper Ingots, you need to put Raw Copper in a furnace with fuel (wood will work). Once they’re ready, you can begin crafting!
Copper usage in Minecraft
Copper Ingots can be used to craft the following items using Copper Ingots:
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Create a smooth, solid copper block with nine Copper Ingots.
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Make a lightning rod by stacking three Copper Ingots. Check out our separate Lightning Rods guide for more information.
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Craft a Spyglass by placing one Amethyst Shard on top of two Copper Ingots.
Minecraft copper waxing
It changes its color through oxidation, just like in real life. If you don’t want your copper to change, you can wax it (this preserves the color, not resets it). Just equip a honeycomb and use it on the copper block.
The other option is to scrape a copper block with an axe. This will reset the oxidation level by one (weathered copper becomes exposed copper). Finally, a lightning strike will altogether remove the oxidation.
