Copper has become one of the most important resources in Minecraft. You can obtain the ore in several ways and craft a wide variety of different blocks from it. Use it for decorative blocks in different oxidation stages, craft a lightning rod and a spyglass, and create waxed variants that do not oxidise. Copper is therefore a key resource you may want to gather in bulk. But how exactly do you do that? Today we’ll look at where you can get copper and why Drowned play such an important role.
Minecraft copper: Properties, blocks and oxidation
Although relatively new, copper has become one of the most versatile materials in the entire game. It covers many aspects of gameplay and can be used by almost every player for different purposes. We recommend you get to grips with it sooner rather than later.
You can learn more about all copper blocks in our separate guide (The Ultimate Guide to Copper in Minecraft: Discoveries, Building Ideas, and Oxidation) . Remember that all blocks and decorations can oxidise, so there are four different colours!
Farming copper in Minecraft: Ores, Trial Chambers and Drowned
Copper is an ore that you need to mine in mountains or caves. It generates between Y-level -16 and 112, with the highest density around Y-level 47 to 48. From Y-level 40 down to 0 you can also occasionally find copper veins containing hundreds of copper ore blocks, distinguished by granite and raw copper in the surrounding stone. You should especially search Dripstone Caves, where copper appears more frequently.
Another source of copper blocks is Trial Chambers. They contain lots of copper and tuff that you can simply mine and use for your own builds. All copper blocks found there are waxed, so they don’t oxidise.
If you don’t fancy caving or hunting for Trial Chambers, there’s a third source of copper. Copper ingots can also be dropped by Drowned, but only if you land the killing blow yourself. Alongside Rotten Flesh, the occasional Trident and the Nautilus Shell, copper ingots are one of the rarer drops from Drowned. With a large Drowned farm you can collect plenty of copper ingots without ever going underground.
Materials and gear for the Minecraft Drowned farm
A Drowned-and-copper farm is large and requires a lot of building materials. It’s worth gathering these first before starting construction. We’ll also show you a trick to save materials. Otherwise, the build isn’t particularly difficult as long as you understand Drowned spawn mechanics. More on that in the tutorial.
You’ll need:
- 2 to 3 stacks of scaffolding made from bamboo for construction
- one double chest of building materials, ideally cobblestone, OR alternatively several lava buckets and access to a lava source, for example a Nether portal, enough for roughly 80 lava placements
- 2x water buckets for an infinite water source
- 7 stacks of dirt as a temporary aid
- 7 stacks of slabs
- 7 stacks of signs
- 4 hoppers plus 2 chests
- Sword with Sweeping Edge and Looting
Drowned farm for copper in Minecraft: Step-by-step guide
1. Choose a location: River biome and height for Drowned spawns
For Drowned to spawn, certain conditions must be met:
- Build in a wide river biome with at least 20x20 blocks of space.
- Construct the farm well above the river, ideally at Y-level 160.
- Ensure the farm is completely underwater; more on this in Point 3.
2. Build the collection area and hopper system
As with all mob farms, start by creating a collection area for mobs and their drops. Use scaffolding to climb to Y-level 160 and build the farm there. This reduces other nearby spawns and increases the chance for Drowned to appear.
Build a small platform, place the four hoppers and connect them to the chest. You can expand this if you get lots of drops. Then build a 2x2 wide and 18-block tall tunnel above the hoppers. At the top, feed the tunnel with two side arms, each 8 blocks long and 2 blocks wide. One layer above that, add two large platforms to the left and right, also 8 blocks long. Use water streams to guide the Drowned into the hole.
3. Water tank and Drowned spawning mechanics
Now build the water tank where Drowned can spawn. First, construct a 4-block-high wall around the collection pit. Fill the top layer entirely with signs. These stop the water above from flowing down while allowing Drowned to fall through.
Above that, build another wall around 50 blocks high. This needs a lot of materials. Alternatively, you can run lava streams down from the top and convert them into cobblestone with water. Both methods have pros and cons. The key is to end up with a large tank filled with water.
Filling the water is easy. Lay a ring of dirt around the top edge of the tank, one block away from the wall. Then fill the entire area with water. Remove the dirt so the rest of the tank fills itself with water.
4. Final touches: Spawn optimisation and safe kills
Your Drowned farm is now essentially complete. We recommend capping the top with slabs to prevent other mobs from spawning and to keep it dark. The Drowned should spawn in the tank, sink down and then pass through the signs into the collection pit and fall through the tunnel. At the bottom, finish them with an enchanted sword to get all drops, from Rotten Flesh and Tridents to plenty of copper.
Bonus tip: With Looting III and Sweeping Edge you can kill multiple Drowned at once and increase the drop chance. Make sure the final hit is yours so copper ingots actually drop.
Conclusion: Unlimited copper with a Drowned farm
If you want enough copper for all your builds, a large Drowned farm above a river is the way to go. While it takes some effort to construct, it will reliably supply you with copper over time. You won’t need to go caving or visit Trial Chambers. At the same time, the farm also yields plenty of experience.
For your own Drowned farm, you can rent a Minecraft server from us. On a server, a farm like this is invaluable: build it together with friends and use it to gather enough copper ingots.
