Best Y Level for Iron in Minecraft
Mine at Y 14 underground, or as high as you can in a mountain, where iron peaks at Y 230.
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How to find the best Y levelHow to find the best Y level
Choose Overworld or Nether to see the ores that spawn there.
Each ore shows where it spawns and the Y level where you find the most.
Click an ore for its own page with the best level, the pickaxe it needs and where it spawns.
Frequently Asked Questions
We've got answers for everything you need. If you don't find your answers here, contact us directly.
Y 14 underground. Iron spawns most at Y 14 and Y 15 below the surface, but there's even more high up in mountains, where it peaks at Y 230.
Yes. Any stone above Y 150 has more iron than the best underground level, and Y 230 has more than twice as much. Look for iron on the cliffs of tall mountains.
Huge veins of deepslate iron ore mixed with tuff and blocks of raw iron. They spawn between Y -60 and Y -9 and hold far more iron than normal ore. The chart shows normal iron ore only.
A stone pickaxe or better, and a copper one works too. A wooden or gold pickaxe breaks iron ore without dropping anything.
The game aims iron veins at Y 16, but each vein grows downward from there, so the most iron ore ends up at Y 14 and Y 15. This chart counts the ore blocks themselves.
Yes. Iron spawns at the same levels on Bedrock, where its veins are a little bigger.