Guide to Find Iron in Minecraft

Iron can be used to create a variety of items in the game and is very useful. Thankfully, it is also fairly common! Here are a few quick tips on how to find iron ore in the game.

Steps

1. Get yourself a stone pickaxe. The stone will be necessary to break the iron blocks down in order to get the material.

2. Get torches. You will need to bring some torches with you, as it can get dark and impossible to see.

3. Get a lot of dirt. Get a large amount of dirt. At least 80 pieces. You will be using this to lift yourself out of the mine you create.

4. Find a suitable cave. Caves are the best way to find Iron Ores. They usually appear in veins at a time. Stop wasting your time digging down from the surface, as this will only yield a small chance of success.

5. Investigate all blocks surrounding any iron you find. Iron occurs in veins, or groups, so if you find one, there is likely more nearby. Check diagonal blocks as well. The usual size of a vein is 2x2x2 blocks.

- Iron looks like peach or pink-ish splotches on grey stone.

6. Place torches as necessary. Recover them when you can.

7. Mind your vertical level. Using your map or the debug mode, check out the "Y" axis: this indicates your elevation. Remember that Iron Ore only occurs from levels 1-63.

8. Use a furnace to turn the Iron Ore into Ingots. Coal goes at the bottom slot, Iron Ore goes on top.

9. Use the iron to make better tools and armor. Enjoy!

Bonus Q&A

Q :  Why do I have to make an iron tool? Why can't I make armor instead?

A : Armor is usually made when you have a good amount of iron to spend, as armor needs a lot of Iron. Also, certain ores (such as the valuable diamond) need an Iron tool in order to be mined.

Q : Can iron be found near lava with diamonds?

A : Yes, iron can be found at Levels 1-63. It can therefore be found near lava with diamonds.

Q : What if you don't have any caves?

A : Then you must make a mine. Dig down to a suitable level and begin branch mining. You will probably mine into a cave at some point. Continue from there.

Q : What if I don't find caves if I dig down to find iron?

A : As the author says, don't waste your time digging straight down. Most of the time the only thing you will find that way is cobblestone. Instead, look around your area for any caves or natural entrances into cobblestone,

Q : How long does it take to dig down to find iron?

A : There is no definite answer for this; it depends on how deep the ore is. You can also get iron from killing Zombies, but its very rare.

Q : Can I enter a village and kill an iron golem?

A : You can, but this may result in the golem trying to kill you. If you hurt just one villager, all the iron golems (even the ones that just spawned) will try to kill you. Bring armor and weapons. Killing the golem might be useful if you're short on iron.

Q : How do I check out the Y axis?

A : You can easily check your Y axis by going into the debug mode. You can check the debug mode by pressing F3, then find XYZ and then look for your Y axis, as shown in the picture.

Q : If I find two to three blocks of iron ore, which direction should I dig?

A : Dig up and down; usually, iron ore is in a 2x2x3 cube.