Minecraft: Non-renewable resources and all limited items

In many of our other articles, we look at blocks and items you can partly obtain automatically via large farms. From simple mob grinders to massive gold or iron farms, you’re well supplied with the most important resources! However, there are some resources in the game for which that isn’t possible. They are neither dropped by a mob nor craftable by other means. While Minecraft’s world is vast and many materials are still very common, some are extremely rare and therefore true treasures! Today we’ll go through every item you have to find or obtain in other ways, but of which there is only a limited quantity.

Minecraft structures: Non-renewable items and where to find them

The largest number of non-renewable items are those you must find in structures. After all, that’s part of the gameplay loop, and it would be far less exciting if you could just farm them automatically. The game also wants you to search for buildings and go on a treasure hunt.

• Dragon Egg: Can be found only once per world when you defeat the Ender Dragon for the first time.

• Dragon Head: Found on ships in End Cities.

• Elytra: Elytra are also limited, likewise found in End Ships. You can, however, repair them with Phantom Membranes, which are renewable.

• Some banner patterns: You can craft several banner patterns yourself, but three of them (Snout, Flow, Guster) only appear as loot in certain chests.

• Pottery Sherd: These decorative items are obtained only via archaeology (Minecraft Archaeology: Discover All Excavation Sites & Rare Items) .

• Music Disc Fragment: Most other music discs can be obtained by having a skeleton kill a creeper. Disc 5 is exclusive to the Deep Dark.

• Six music discs: There are six additional discs you must find. We have a full article on this topic (Minecraft Records: All Locations & How to Build an Automatic Farm) .

• Echo Shard: Also found only in the Deep Dark, used to craft a Recovery Compass.

• Enchanted Golden Apple: One of the rarest items in the entire game, found only in treasure chests.

• Gilded Blackstone: This beautiful block appears in the Nether, either as part of Bastion Remnants or in their chests.

• Heart of the Sea: To build a Conduit, you’ll need this rare find from buried treasure chests, which you locate using a treasure map. Nautilus shells, by contrast, are renewable.

• Sponge: Sponges are extremely handy for removing water. They are found only in Ocean Monuments and are part of the structure. They are also dropped by Elder Guardians, but those cannot be farmed.

World generation in Minecraft: Limited blocks and ores

Beyond the fixed structures you visit for the resources above, there are also materials tied to specific biomes or world generation. While Minecraft’s map is enormous, with around 29 million blocks in every direction, the following blocks are still finite, and you can’t craft them yourself. Let’s take a closer look at what that includes.

• Calcite: An underrated white building block you can only find in amethyst geodes and in stony peaks.

• Tuff: Much like calcite, tuff appears only in certain places, for example in caves or in iron ore veins. Some building blocks also generate as part of trial chambers. Unlike granite, andesite, and diorite, you can’t craft tuff.

• Ore blocks: You can farm pretty much all metals renewably, but the actual ore blocks themselves are finite. You may not need them often, but as decoration you can mine them with Silk Touch.

• Diamonds: You can farm all other ores and metals, but not classic diamonds. You can, however, trade armour and tools with villagers, which helps. Diamonds themselves are not renewable and remain rare.

• Netherite: The rare Nether ore is also not renewable. Here’s how to find it (Farming Netherite in Minecraft: Best Methods & Tips for Armour and Tools) .

• Raw metals: You can farm copper, iron, and gold, but not their raw variants dropped by ore blocks.

• Spore Blossom: Most flowers and flora blocks are renewable, but not the spore blossom. You’ll find it only in Lush Caves, hanging from the ceiling. Break it by hand and use it as decoration.

Peaceful mode in Minecraft: These resources aren’t farmable

Some players prefer not to play with monsters, which makes Peaceful difficulty perfect. However, a few otherwise renewable resources become much rarer here because they’re dropped by hostile mobs. If you want to learn more about the mode in general, check out our guide (Minecraft Peaceful Mode: Tips, limits and hidden challenges) . It’s a completely new challenge.

• Coal: Can be dropped by Wither Skeletons.

• Copper: Part of the loot table for the Drowned.

• Music discs: Some can only be obtained by killing specific mobs, such as Ghasts or chicken jockeys. Others are renewable via creepers and skeletons, but not on Peaceful.

• Prismarine crystals: Would otherwise be farmable from Guardians.

• Resin: Obtainable from the Breeze.

• Spider Eye: Unlike gunpowder, string, or bones, which you can get from fishing, spider eyes are only renewable via spiders and witches.

• Shulker Shell: Shulkers do spawn on Peaceful, but getting to the End is almost impossible. And even then, you can’t replicate shulkers there.

• Trident: Also dropped by the Drowned.

• Ominous Bottle: Only obtainable from pillagers to start a raid.

Conclusion: Secure limited resources in Minecraft wisely

Minecraft is now famous for its large farms, some of which automatically collect key resources for you. But there are several materials and items you cannot renewably produce. Many are only found as chest loot in various structures, while others are part of world generation. And even though the Minecraft world is huge, they’re still limited. Anyone playing on Peaceful will find some resources even harder to obtain.

To start hunting for rare materials, rent your own Minecraft server from us and play together with your friends. See who among you can find the most non-renewable resources and keep them safely stored.