Summary
Item rarity is a mechanic inMinecraftthat colors items with different hues when they are in the hotbar, which represents how useful or powerful they are, as well as how easy they are to obtain. Common items are white, while Uncommon ones are yellow. Rare items have a cyan coloration while the most elusive Epic items have a purple hue.
Those seeking to mine every kind of block and craft everything possible should be sure to keep an eye out for a few select items that will grant the player insane potential or lead to a recipe that will.
Updated on June 13, 2025, by Anastasia Maillot:June brought in some big changes to Minecraft’s combat and adventuring. The Tricky Trials update marked the 1.21 version of Mojang’s sandbox game, and as its name implies, it officially added the Trial Chamber structure as well as the new mace weapon which can be crafted with a special item earned from these chambers. In terms of loot, this update was significant, since Trial Chambers added a brand-new source for players to earn some of the more difficult-to-get items in the game—as well as some never-before-seen treasure. So, how has the overall balance of the game’s loot fared ever since? Here’s how the ranking of rare Minecraft items stands in mid-2024.
27Trident
An Ocean-Themed Weapon That Cannot Be Crafted
One of the more unique weapons in Minecraft is the trident, which was first introduced in the Aquatic update. Initially, this rare throwable weapon could only drop from Drowned enemies that happen to be carrying it—and even then, the chance is fairly low, but increases with a Looting III sword. Trial Chambers have it in their loot pool as well in regular Vaults, but it still hovers around a 2.1% drop chance, which is rough.
Tridents have a bunch of fun enchantments that can make for some fun effects, such as dashing up in the air when it’s raining. While it doesn’t make for the most convenient of weapons, it does provide some cool mobility to play around with.
26Ominous Bottle
An Important Potion For Trial Chamber Adventurers
The Ominous Bottle is a special potion that grants a handy Bad Omen status effect. Two things can be done with this effect: it can start a raid when entering a village, which spawns a wave of enemies the players will have to fight to protect the village, or,if inside a Trial Chamber, it will convert nearby spawners into Ominous spawners. Basically, the trial will increase in difficulty, resulting in better overall loot.
It comes in five strength tiers, the first two being the more common to drop from Trial Chambers at 16.5%, and the last three being rarer around 13.9%. With raid captains, this exact drop chance is unknown but is likely much higher—either the potion or a banner. Players will just have to find a raid captain, which might not always be simple.
25Heavy Core
The Key Item Required To Craft The Newest Mace Weapon
Those looking to craft the mace will need to get their hands on the Heavy Core, a special ingredient required for the weapon. This incredibly rare item only spawns in Trial Chambers as loot, and its chance of dropping is quite slim at 7.5%. Moreover, it only drops from Ominous Vaults, so players will need to have Ominous Trial Keys at hand in order to access the higher-tier reward chest found in these chambers.
When combined in the crafting grid with a Breeze Rod,the Heavy Core is turned into a mace.
24Ominous Trial Key
A Must-Have For Players Looking To Up Their Loot In Trial Chambers
Compared to the rest of the items on this list, the Ominous Trial Key isn’t extremely rare. It is unique to Trial Chambers, so finding one first is necessary, but once players are in, there’s a 30% chance it will spawn from an Ominous Spawner. This, of course, requires players to have the Bad Omen potion effect active when they enter a Trial. This means that there are a few hoops to jump through before players can hope to get their hands on this key.
The reason why this key is so valuable is that it opens Ominous Vaults, which are special chests in the Trial Chambers that have a chance of dropping far more valuable and interesting loot than the regular vaults. The more keys, the more Vaults can be unlocked. However, note that for each Ominous Trial completed, only one key per player can be used, so players will need to enter another chamber with their Bad Omen status if they want more.
23Block of Diamond
One Of The Rarest Blocks In The Game To Spawn Naturally
Speaking of good Trial Chamber loot, diamond blocks are officially on the menu as a real piece of loot that can “spawn naturally” thanks to this new structure. Essentially, a block of diamonds is a collection of nine diamonds that can be extracted if the block is placed into a crafting grid. And even if Netherite is now king of all and the diamond economy has been watered down, who doesn’t love diamonds?
They are also the rarest item to drop from these Ominous Vaults, with only a 2.8% chance. That’s far lower than the Heavy Core, which is already fairly difficult to get. Plus, they can only be earned from the Ominous Vault variant.
22Smithing Templates
A Special Loot Exclusive To Treasure Chests
Smithing templates have been added since 1.20 into the loot pool ofMinecraft’svarious structures, and while some of them are easier to find than others, the Silence, Ward, Bolt, Rib, and Spire Armor Trim Smithing templates are some of the rarest in the game, as they all have a sub-7% chance of dropping from their respective structure’s treasure chests. Every other trim in the game has a chance of at least 8% to drop.
The Silence Armor Trim Smithing Template is by far the toughest to find, as it only spawns in Ancient City treasure chests and has a 1.2% chance of appearing in a chest. Already, these Ancient Cities can be a bit tricky to find and navigate, but players should start off by heading to their closest mountain biome to dig around.
21Ancient Debris
The Rarest Resource In The Nether
Netherite being the gold standard for armor and gear, players will want to find it pretty fast after getting a full diamond armor set. The grind for a single ingot is not easy. First,one must find Ancient Debris, which is only found at a specific elevation in the Nether and is quite dangerous to mine given the pockets of lava and uneven structure of the Nether dimension.
There are some strategies for mining it, including the use of beds that explode in the Nether, as well as TNT for those who can afford it and have an excess of gunpowder. Ancient Debris must then be smelted to gain Netherite Scrap. Four of these scarps, combined with four gold ingots, will yield a single Netherite ingot. It’s quite a long grind, but worth it for those who want the best gear inMinecraft.
20Diamond Ore
A Historically Treasure Rare Ore In The Overworld
There are few things as exciting as coming across diamond ore inMinecraft. This classic ore was the most coveted resource until Netherite took over, and it’s still a cornerstone of the game’s survival mode and considered by many a treasured resource.
However, the way diamond ore can be acquiredhas changed over the years. Strip mining is no longer as effective as it used to be inMinecraft, and with the abundance of deep slate and how long it takes to break it, getting diamond ore has been made a bit more tedious. Now, exploring large caverns underground is likely to yield more diamond ore to the player than going on a strip mining venture.
19Emerald Ore
An Ore Rare Than Diamond
For long-time fans ofMinecraft, it is often thought that Diamond Ore was the rarest to come by. While it can still be tricky to find, it is no longer the rarest ore. Emerald Ore is now about 30x more rarer than Diamond due to it only spawning in one to two-block veins, meaning that players have to be quite meticulous when mining to catch them.
Thankfully, Emeralds can be found in loot, so players might opt to find Emeralds that way, but thosewho come across Emerald Ore naturally, best believe they are lucky. Emerald Ore can be mined to create Emeralds, which are mostly used for trading with villagers and wandering traders, and will only spawn in mountain biomes.
18Echo Shards
Found Only In The Rare Deep Dark City Structure
A new item added to the game with the recent update, Echo Shards are items that can only be found in ancient cities and used to craft recovery compasses. These compasses are incredibly useful, as they will direct the player to where they previously died, which can be super helpful for recovering items that might have dropped.
The ancient city is a structure that can be found in the Deep Dark biomesbut can be hard to find. Not only is the city itself very rare to find, but Echo Shards can only be found in chests with a 29.8% chance rate. If players do happen upon a chest that has Echo Shards, they will only find between 1 and 3 Shards, but to craft the recovery compass, players will need 8 Shards in total.
