Where to find Minecraft copper in 1.21.9 and its uses

What is Minecraft copper used for? A fun quirk of this material that veteran players will adore is that Minecraft copper turns green over time when naturally exposed to the elements, making a unique building material. But with more uses than just building - including a full set of copper tools and armor - how do you use copper, how does it work, and where do you find it?

The colorful resource arrived in the long-awaited Caves and Cliffs update in 2021. Since then, copper ore has been readily available in the crafting game, maybe more so than the likes of iron and coal, filling up chests across the overworld with minimal uses for anyone other than adept builders. That all changed in Minecraft 1.21.9, the Copper Age update, with the addition of copper tools, weapons, armor, more copper blocks, and the adorable Copper Golem.

What is copper used for in Minecraft?

Since Minecraft 1.21.9, copper has more uses than ever. As well as being an ingredient in multiple copper block and item recipes, you can craft a full set of copper tools, weapons, and armor, Copper Golems, chests, lanterns, and much, much more.

One of the most appealing features of Minecraft copper is its unique ability to change color as it oxidizes, just like real copper. This applies to almost all copper blocks and items, including Copper Golems. Golems turn to statues when fully oxidized, and can then be used to provide redstone current, so copper is now maybe one of the most useful ores in the game. Use it to make a lightning rod, and you can build a Creeper farm and gather rare mob heads, while its brush recipe is a necessity for finding rare Sniffer eggs!

All Minecraft copper crafting recipes

Here's every item you can craft using Minecraft copper as of 1.21.9:

• Copper ingot
• Copper nugget
• Copper block
• Block of raw copper
• Copper Golem
• Copper axe
• Copper sword
• Copper pickaxe
• Copper shovel
• Copper hoe
• Copper chestplate
• Copper leggings
• Copper boots
• Copper helmet
• Copper horse armor
• Copper bars
• Copper chain
• Copper chest
• Copper door
• Copper trapdoor
• Copper torch
• Copper bulb
• Copper grate
• Copper slab
• Copper stairs
• Copper lantern
• Cut copper slab
• Cut copper stairs
• Brush
• Lightning Rod
• Spyglass

A copper spear will be available from the next Minecraft update, Mounts of Mayhem, which adds the new weapon, alongside zombie horses and the Nautilus.

Building

Copper is an excellent block for industrial-style Minecraft builds like factories due to its clean-cut or oxidized looks. Copper is one of the more unique items in the Minecraft building inventory due to this oxidization mechanic, which results in four different colored variants, ranging from natural orange copper to its Verdigris look.

Not only are there four variants of the standard, smooth block of Copper, but the same goes for slabs, stairs, and cut copper, too. In survival mode, crafting Copper blocks will only result in the original variant. Leave it exposed for some time to cause the color change. To keep at any one of the stages of oxidization, you must combine the block with honeycomb in a Crafting Table, resulting in a waxed block that will no longer oxidize.

More copper blocks were added in the 2024 Minecraft 1.21 update rounding it out to a fuller block set, including doors, trapdoors, and grates, all of which still oxidize.

Lightning Rods

Copper can also be used to craft lightning rods. These semi-defensive objects attract lightning during lightning strikes, redirecting them away from your flammable wooden or wool builds. Place three copper ingots in a straight vertical line down the middle column to make lightning rods.

Lightning Rods can also be used in Redstone circuits, as the copper item produces a redstone signal when struck by lightning. The unpredictability of lightning strikes can have a randomized effect.

Charged Creeper farm

Another great use for the lightning rod is in a Charged Creeper farm. Charged Creepers do not spawn naturally in vanilla Minecraft and are created when a Creeper is hit by lightning. You already know that when you get too close to a Creeper, it explodes, but get too close to a Charged Creeper, and it deals an even more devastating blow. So why would you want to farm them?

Interestingly, Charged Creepers are the only way to farm a specific decorative item you may not even know is available in vanilla Minecraft: Mob heads. While Skeleton mob heads were the first to be officially added to the survival inventory in 1.18 with Ancient Cities, no other mob head can be obtained in vanilla Minecraft without a Charged Creeper getting involved. If a Charged Creeper kills another mob, that mob may drop its head as an obtainable item. So, create a simple mob farm with a lightning rod to direct thunder strikes, and decorate your base's walls with your favorite mob's decapitated heads. Nice.

Minecraft brush

The Minecraft brush was added at the same time as the Minecraft archeology feature, and allows players to dust through blocks of suspicious sand or gravel to obtain rarities. Another item made with copper, a Minecraft brush is made using one copper ingot, one feather, and one stick.

Copper Golem crafting recipe and use

To build a Copper Golem, you must place a carved Minecraft pumpkin or Jack o'Lantern on top of a copper block, automatically turning the two-high construction into a living Copper Golem.

In its moveable state, the Copper Golem sorts items between copper chests and normal chests. If you want your new friends to sort your inventory for you, simply place items in a copper chest nearby. Your golems will then take the items out and place them in nearby chests containing the same item. Handy!

After a while, Copper Golems oxidize like other copper blocks, and this turns them into statues. You can either revert the golem to its original state using an axe, or use the statue in redstone builds. With four different 'poses', the statues give off four different redstone signal strengths.

Copper golem statue redstone signals

Copper is found underground between levels 112 and -16, and requires a stone pickaxe or better to mine. Since you can find Copper below Y-level 0, you might see it as the Deepslate variant, which takes longer to break. When mined without the Silk Touch Minecraft Enchantment, Copper Ore drops Raw Copper in the same way as other ores, which is then smelted in a Furnace or Blast Furnace. With Silk Touch, the Ore block drops itself.

Copper is quite a common ore, so you can find plenty without even trying. However, if you are specifically on a hunt for the orange shiny stuff, your best bet is going to be Y-level 48.

In order to increase your Raw Copper output, you can mine the ore with a Fortune-enchanted Pickaxe, which can drop multiples of the raw mineral from one block.

Now you have all the information to use up your Minecraft Copper, or find more if you run out, why not check out some of the best Minecraft Seeds in which to build your copper masterpieces? And if you love Minecraft, then why not take a look at some of the other building games and sandbox games that might also tickle your fancy.