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When the first part of the Minecraft 1.17 Cave & Cliff update came out, everyone is restless because, after many years, Minecraft finally has a first cave update! With a lot of new content, amethyst is the one that attracts much attention in the update due to its appearance and usage.
In this article, let us guide you on how to find amethyst in Minecraft and anything related to it!
Two steps to find Amethyst in Minecraft
Amethyst shard is a beautiful purple crystal that can only be obtained by breaking amethyst cluster blocks. In general, you will need to find an amethyst geode spawn underground. They blend in the caves and surrounding environment and usually come in a circle shape.
#1 How to Find the Amethyst Geode in Minecraft
The amethyst geode can only spawn in the Y layer between -64 and 30, which means you need to dig quite deep to the ground. Regardless of the biomes, the geode always contains 3 layers following the order: smooth basalt, calcite, and amethyst block or budding amethyst. So if you’re mining and see smooth basalt in the Overworld, it’s the amethyst geode!
Sometimes, the geode doesn’t expose the inside to any caves or ravines, so you have to mine randomly for it. But most of the time, the amethyst geode will expose at least 1 side to any surrounding surface. So if you’re in a big cave, turn on the brightness setting and look around a little bit. You may see something shiny than diamonds!
Once you’ve found the geode, you have to harvest the amethyst. Every amethyst block in the inner layer has an 8.3% chance to spawn as a budding amethyst block instead. This special block can nurture the amethyst and make them grow. Therefore, the only way you can farm and harvest the amethyst is through this block.
#2 Harvest the Amethyst
Pay attention to the budding amethyst block, you will see some amethyst buds and amethyst shards growing from it. In advance, amethyst grows in 4 stages and it will drop amethyst shard only when it’s in stage 4.
However, you can still break the amethyst in stages 1 to 3 (they’re called amethyst bud when in stages 1 to 3) but they will drop nothing unless you use a Silk Touch pickaxe. This way, you can plant them on the amethyst budding block or use them to decorate your house.
When you use a pickaxe to break an amethyst cluster (amethyst in stage 4), it will drop 4 amethyst shards. And with other methods like using a piston, it will only drop 2 shards. With Fortune enchantment, you can get up to 16 amethyst shards for each amethyst cluster broken.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the easiest way to find amethyst in Minecraft?
The easiest way to find amethyst in Minecraft is to go mining deep underground. Until you meet some large deepslate caves, try to sprint and look around real quick for any purple particles. That’s the amethyst geode!
Can you grow amethyst in Minecraft?
You can grow amethyst by waiting for the Budding Amethyst block to grow the amethyst bud, or by manually planting the amethyst bud on any side of the budding block. However, you can’t break the budding amethyst block and bring it home to the farm because it drops nothing. You can only get the Budding Amethyst block in creative mode.
Can you bonemeal amethyst?
You can’t bonemeal amethyst in Minecraft just yet. But hopefully, in the future, Mojang will add this feature to the game.