Mining
Introduction
If a world is "Survival" and not "Creative", you'll spend much of your time mining.
This page discusses mining. Mining is simply the act of digging up a node; typically a stone block or an ore or other material such as gold or quartz.
When you dig up a node, it may crumble and "drop" something or it may stay the same. Either way, the results usually go into your inventory.
Once you've mined a few nodes, you can use the results to make objects such as furniture or tools. This is called "crafting".
How to mine
Depending on a world's modset, you'll usually need a privilege to do mining. The privilege will typically be "interact" or "build".
Mining is done by pointing to the desired node and holding the attack button (Left mouse button by default). If you're wielding a tool such as a pickaxe, the tool is used to mine the node. Otherwise, the game tries to use your hands to mine the node. That usually won't work (unless you are acquiring primitive materials such as dirt, or wood to build tools).
Not everything can be mined with all mining tools. Some tools are better for certain materials. Also, mining often takes some time to finish. The mining speed depends on your tool and the node you want to mine.
Mining depths
This chart shows where you can typically find a few of the most common ores or materials:
| Resource | Lowest Y | Highest Y | Note | Supplied by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lapis Block | -5000 | +200 | (minetest) | |
| Coal | +64 | abundant 0 or below | lapis | |
| Iron | +2 | more abundant as approaches -64 | (default) | |
| Zinc | +2 | technic | ||
| Silver | -2 | moreores | ||
| Copper | -16 | abundant -64 or below | (default, formerly moreores) | |
| Tin | -32 | abundant -128 or below | (default, formerly moreores, at +8) | |
| Marble | -50 | technic | ||
| Gold | -64 | abundant -256 or below | (default, formerly moreores) | |
| Mese | -64 | ore abundant -256 or below, blocks -1024 or below but rare | (minetest) | |
| Uranium | -300 | -80 | technic | |
| Chromium | -100 | |||
| Diamond | -128 | abundant below -256 | (default, formerly technic) | |
| Granite | -150 | technic | ||
| Lava | -256 | |||
| Mithril | -512 | moreores | ||
| Mycena Essence, Glow Mese Crystal |
-33,000 | -700 | caverealms | |
| Dungeon Master's Lair | -5000 | -4000 | caverealms | |
| Deep Realms | -7000 | caverealms |
Drops
After a block has been mined, it may leave none, one or some items which go straight into your player inventory. The items left behind are also called the “drop” of the node and it is said that a node drops something after being mined.
Most blocks drop themselves. This is also the default behaviour if not specified otherwise by the modder. But of course there are other drops possible, too. This is the list of possible drop types:
- itself,
- a different item,
- multiple items,
- nothing at all,
- item or items based on chance (probability-based drop).
If the drop wouldn't fit in your inventory, the items literally drop on the floor instead.
Mining speed
The mining speed is determined by groups.
Mining in typical modsets
You start with a hand which is itself able to mine a lot of nodes already, but at the worst speed. Axes are good to mine wooden nodes. Pickaxes are good to mine stone-like nodes. Shovels are very fast at digging dirt, sand and gravel. Axes, pickaxes and shovels come in 6 variants: Wooden, stone, steel, bronze, Mese and diamond. In this order, the tools become stronger and stronger and usually mine faster.
Most nodes drop themselves. Notable examples for nodes which don’t drop just themselves:
- Stone (drops 1 Cobblestone)
- Clay (drops 4 Clay Lumps)
- Coal Ore (drops 1 Coal Lump)
Notable examples for probability-based drops:
- Jungle Grass (drops 1 Cotton Seed or itself)
- Cotton (plant) (drops 0 to 3 Cotton Seeds and 0 to 3 Cotton)
