How to Find and Use Copper in Minecraft

When it comes to metals in Minecraft, the most useful is definitely iron. But you shouldn’t forget about copper, a rarer metal that can be used in a few different ways.

Copper in Minecraft is used for construction and crafting

There are essentially three ways to use copper.

Construction and decoration

Smelting a unit of raw copper or copper ore gives you a copper ingot, and combining nine copper ingots gives you a block of copper. You can place or stack blocks of copper to make walls, roofs, floors, and more.

If you place four blocks of copper in a square shape on your crafting table, you’ll get four cut copper blocks. These can be placed the same way as regular blocks of copper, but have score lines cut across it.

Once you’ve got blocks of cut copper, a few more options open up. 

You can craft six cut copper slabs by filling the bottom row of your crafting table with blocks of cut copper. And if you place blocks of cut copper on your crafting table in the shape of a staircase, you’ll craft four cut copper stairs.

If you have a stonecutting table, you can use that to make cut copper, slabs, and stairs instead.

Lightning rod

In Minecraft, lightning storms can be disastrous, especially if you live in a forest or jungle.

If you have three copper ingots, you can make a lightning rod. Place them in a straight vertical line on your crafting table to make it.

When placed, the lightning rod will attract and divert lightning strikes in the area so they hit the rod instead of trees. It’s a great way to avoid forest fires or brush fires.

The lightning rod will divert any lightning strikes within a radius of 128 blocks in Java Edition, or 64 blocks in Bedrock Edition.

Just note that if you place the lightning rod on a flammable block (wood, grass, etc.), lightning striking the rod can still cause fires within a small area around it.

Spyglass

A spyglass is a type of telescope, and you can use them in Minecraft to zoom in on things far away from you. If you’ve installed the Optifine mod, it’s like a native in-game version of the Optifine Zoom feature.

To make a spyglass, combine two copper ingots with one amethyst shard. Place them in a straight vertical line on the crafting table, with the amethyst shard in the top slot.

Once you’ve made your spyglass, place it in your hotbar and take it out, then use it to see into the distance. You need to hold down the use button (right-click or Left Trigger) the entire time.

Copper blocks in Minecraft change color over time

As time passes, copper blocks, slabs, and stairs oxidize. This process makes the blocks slowly turn from a reddish-brown color to a blueish-green. Otherwise, there’s no difference.

There’s no set amount of time it takes for copper to oxidize, since it’s based on the results of a random number generator. Depending on your game, it can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days.

The oxidation process will only progress while you’re standing in the same chunk as it. And in Java Edition, copper items will oxidize much more slowly if they’re within four blocks of another copper item.

If you don’t want your copper items to oxidize, combine them with one unit of honeycomb. This turns the copper into waxed copper, which stays stuck in its current oxidation state.

You can also remove oxidation from a copper item by using an axe on it. Every use removes one layer of oxidation, but it’ll also remove any wax too.

How to get copper in Minecraft

Like most metals, you’ll find copper underground. It’s most common underneath beaches, and you’ll need a stone pickaxe or better to mine it.

Breaking a block of copper ore gives you a few units of raw copper. You can smelt those pieces of raw copper to make copper ingots, which can then be turned into blocks of copper or other items.

You can also get copper ingots by killing Drowned, the zombies that appear underwater.