Ores (2024)

Ores are primary crafting materials necessary for game progress. They generally must be crafted into bars at a Furnace, after which they can craft several essential tools, weapons, armor, and other items. Some items require raw ores themselves, most commonly bricks and potions. Raw ores can also be used as plain blocks for construction.

Ores are generally found as veins of placed blocks in the Underground layer and below, and are mined with a pickaxe or drill. Lower-tier ores can be found among Dirt near the surface, or within Floating Islands. Some ores are also dropped by bosses, namely Eye of Cthulhu, Eater of Worlds, Brain of Cthulhu, Ocram, and Moon Lord.

An Extractinator and Wooden Crates (from fishing) also provide ores as random rewards.

A world will generally only contain one ore type from each tier, which is chosen at random, for instance; one world may have Copper and Iron Ores, while another may have Copper and Lead Ores (see tables below). The alternate ore types which do not generate naturally in a world, can still be obtained by other means, such as crates, bonus drops, or loot from an Extractinator. Hardmode ore types are chosen at random as soon as the player destroys an Altar.

There are 21 / 20 different types of ores.

Types[]

Ore		Rarity	Sell
	Copper Ore Internal Item ID: 12		50
	Tin Ore Internal Item ID: 699		75
	Iron Ore Internal Item ID: 11		1
	Lead Ore Internal Item ID: 700		150
	Silver Ore Internal Item ID: 14		150 2
	Tungsten Ore Internal Item ID: 701		225
	Gold Ore Internal Item ID: 13		3
	Platinum Ore Internal Item ID: 702		450
	Meteorite Internal Item ID: 116		2
	Demonite Ore Internal Item ID: 56		10
	Crimtane Ore Internal Item ID: 880		13
	Obsidian Internal Item ID: 173		-
	Hellstone Internal Item ID: 174		250
	Cobalt Ore Internal Item ID: 364		7
	Palladium Ore Internal Item ID: 1104		9
	Mythril Ore Internal Item ID: 365		11
	Orichalcum Ore Internal Item ID: 1105		13
	Adamantite Ore Internal Item ID: 366		15
	Titanium Ore Internal Item ID: 1106		17
	Chlorophyte Ore Internal Item ID: 947		15 / 6 / 50
	Luminite Internal Item ID: 3460		30

Pre-Hardmode[]

Tier	Ore types	Minimum tools required	Crafting	Source
1	Copper Ore Tin Ore		3  = 3  =	Surface, Underground, Cavern
2	Iron Ore Lead Ore		3  = 3  =	Surface, Underground, Cavern
3	Silver Ore Tungsten Ore		4  = 4  =	Underground, Cavern, Floating Islands, Surface (rarely)
4	Gold Ore Platinum Ore		4  = 4  =	Underground, Cavern, Floating Islands, Surface (very rarely)
5	Meteorite		3  =	Meteorite biome
6	Demonite Ore Crimtane Ore	()	: 4  =     : 3  =   : 4  =     : 3  =	Eye of Cthulhu, Underground, Cavern, Eater of Worlds (Demonite), Brain of Cthulhu (Crimtane)
7	Obsidian	()	n/a	Contact between water & lava
8	Hellstone	()	3  + =	Underworld

Hardmode[]

Tier	Ore types	Minimum tools required	Crafting	Source
9	Cobalt Ore Palladium Ore	()	3  = 3  =	Underground, Cavern
10	Mythril Ore Orichalcum Ore		4  = 4  =	Cavern
11	Adamantite Ore Titanium Ore	()	: 5  =    : 4  =    : 5  =    : 4  =	Cavern (roughly at lava depth), Ocram (Adamantite only)
12	Chlorophyte Ore		: 6  =    : 5  =	Underground Jungle
13	Luminite		4  =	Moon Lord

The first three tiers of Hardmode ores are spawned by destroying Demon/Crimson Altars, which requires a hammer with 80% hammer power or higher, e.g. the Pwnhammer. Chlorophyte Ore spawns on its own once Hardmode is triggered, though it cannot be mined before defeating all of the mechanical bosses, and Luminite does not occur naturally. Neither ores are affected by destroyed altars.This content is transcluded from Altars.

1. First altar: Cobalt Ore or Palladium Ore, chosen randomly.
2. Second altar: Mythril Ore or Orichalcum Ore, chosen randomly.
3. Third altar: Adamantite Ore or Titanium Ore, chosen randomly.

Players will be able to find these new ores scattered across the Underground layer to near-Underworld levels, with them replacing most blocks created during world generation. They will spawn at random locations in varying quantity, in places explored and unexplored alike.

• Destroying more altars will never spawn Hardmode ore types beyond the three that were randomly assigned to the world during the initial round of destroyed altars. A world with Palladium Ore deposits will never spawn Cobalt Ore deposits, or vice versa (with the exception of drunk worlds).
• Which ores are generated is not determined until the first, second, or third altar is smashed. For example, it is not determined if the world has Cobalt or Palladium until the first altar has been smashed. The same goes for Mythril/Orichalcum with the second altar, and Adamantite/Titanium for the third.
• Each time an altar is destroyed, there is a 66.67*2/3 (66.67%) chance that a single random Stone Block in the Cavern layer will be converted to Ebonstone/Crimstone or Pearlstone, facilitating the spread of Underground Hallow or Corruption/Crimson. No block other than the selected one will be converted initially.
• Subsequent altars destroyed will begin the cycle again, though the fourth to sixth altars will spawn half as much ore as the first ones, the seventh to ninth will spawn only one third of the ore of the first ones, and so forth. So, the n^th cycle will only generate one-n^th as much ore as the first one. For example, destroying the 19th altar would yield one-seventh of Cobalt/Palladium Ore compared to the first altar. Destroying 12 altars will roughly double the ore provided by the first three; tripling that original allotment would require destroying 33 altars. Notice that although each subsequent destroyed altar will yield less ore, the total amount is unbounded (except by the number of altars in a world).
• No matter how many altars are destroyed, ore rarity remains set with Cobalt/Palladium being the most common, followed by Mythril/Orichalcum, then Adamantite/Titanium as the rarest.

Ore generation[]

The number of ore veins generated upon destroying an altar is determined by the following formula:^[1]

• ⌊x⌋ is the floor function.
• world size is the width of the world divided by 4200: 1 for small, 1.524 for medium worlds and 2 for large worlds.
• ore tier represents the respective tier of ore:

Ore type		Value
Cobalt Ore	Palladium Ore	0
Mythril Ore	Orichalcum Ore	1
Adamantite Ore	Titanium Ore	2

• factor depends on the ore type, slightly increasing/decreasing the rarity of different types:

Ore type		Value
Cobalt Ore		1.05
Mythril Ore	Adamantite Ore	1
Palladium Ore		0.945
Orichalcum Ore	Titanium Ore	0.9

This reveals that worlds with Palladium instead of Cobalt, Orichalcum instead of Mythril, or Titanium instead of Adamantite will, on average, have 10% less of the respective ore.

The table below visualizes this and shows how many ore veins will be spawned for each altar destroyed. If 264 altars were to be destroyed in one world, all following altars would only spawn one ore vein.

Ore type		1 altar	2 altars	3 altars	4 altars	5 altars	6 altars	7 altars	8 altars	9 altars
	Cobalt	276 veins	-	-	138 veins	-	-	92 veins	-	-
	Palladium	249 veins	-	-	124 veins	-	-	83 veins	-	-
	Mythril	-	191 veins	-	-	95 veins	-	-	63 veins	-
	Orichalcum	-	172 veins	-	-	86 veins	-	-	57 veins	-
	Adamantite	-	-	119 veins	-	-	59 veins	-	-	39 veins
	Titanium	-	-	107 veins	-	-	53 veins	-	-	35 veins

• These values are for a small world.

All Hardmode ores will avoid spawning in the outer 100 tiles of the world. The highest location for Cobalt and Palladium to spawn is just below the surface, Mythril and Orichalcum start to spawn from the top of the Cavern layer, and Adamantite and Titanium start to spawn in the Cavern layer, lower than Mythril/Orichalcum.^[2] All ores stop spawning at 150 tiles above the world's bottom border, i.e. about one fourth into the Underworld.

The amount of altars smashed does not affect the size of ore veins, only the amount. As the generation of each vein is heavily randomized, it is difficult to give exact high and low values from "optimal" veins. Instead, a table of "good luck" vein amounts and "bad luck" vein amounts is shown below. Average yield is likely between 30–40% due to occasional lost ore.

Ore type		Good luck	Bad luck
	Cobalt	103 (34 + 1 )	11 (3 + 2 )
	Palladium	103 (34 + 1 )	11 (3 + 2 )
	Mythril	89 (22 + 1 )	11 (2 + 3 )
	Orichalcum	89 (22 + 1 )	11 (2 + 3 )
	Adamantite	58 (11 + 3 )	11 (2 + 1 )
	Titanium	58 (11 + 3 )	11 (2 + 1 )

• Note that this is not related to the Luck mechanic.

Note however, that the above table assumes that all the ore actually replaces blocks. Ore will only spawn if it attempts to replace one of the blocks listed in the table below.

In addition to this, Hardmode ores will not generate over Granite Blocks, Marble Blocks, or any hardened sands, and as such cannot be found in the Granite Cave, Marble Cave, and Underground Desert biomes without replaceable blocks already existing there.

Notes[]

• Meteorite, Obsidian and Luminite are not considered ores by the game. They do not have "ore" in their names and mining them does not unlock the Ooo! Shiny! and Extra Shiny! achievements.
• Chlorophyte Ore is not counted as a Hardmode ore for the Extra Shiny! achievement.

Achievements[]

Tips[]

• Each Hardmode ore is chosen at the moment the first three altars in the world are broken. Ores can be "chosen" by quitting the world without saving (by ending the task or killing the process) after smashing the first altars. It is more easily done with a server, using the exit-nosave command.
• All ores except Hellstone and Obsidian are highlighted by the Spelunker buff, making it easy to find veins of ore. Hellstone is not lit up by the buff, but it is by a Dangersense Potion. Obsidian is easily found and made around lava.
• Using a Crate Potion will improve the chances of obtaining crates and as such the ore-bearing Wooden Crates.
• Filling in caves with spare natural blocks such as dirt before destroying altars can cause Hardmode ores to spawn in them. They can then also be seen on the minimap, presenting an easy way to convert extra blocks into ores with knowing their exact location.
• In the Windows Phone version and Nintendoversion, the Palladium Pickaxe and Drill can mine Adamantite and Titanium.
• Most ores sell for the same as or more than the bars made from them, exceptions being the late pre-Hardmode ores (Meteorite, Hellstone, and Demonite/Crimtane) and Chlorophyte, all of which are far more profitable as bars. (Hellstone and Obsidian are unsaleable as ores, and there is no Obsidian Bar).
• Two ways to quickly find Hardmode ores is to use previously discovered Abandoned Mine Tracks or search along the ceiling of The Underworld. Both of these methods feature large cave systems along a significant horizontal distance, the Minecart Tracks allow the player to outrun dangerous enemies, and pre-mechanical boss Hardmode enemies in the Underworld spawn rarely and are easy to avoid.

Trivia[]

• Hellstone's item sprite is a recolor of that of Silver Ore.
• Hellstone is the only ore that cannot be infinitely generated within a single world. Others can be obtained from sources such as crates, an Extractinator, bosses, duplicable liquids, Meteorite crashes, and mud.
  • Chlorophyte is limited by the amount of mud (and dirt) in the world, due to the absence of Dirt Bombs.
• Iron and Lead are the only ore types without a respective brick type.
• Luminite sells for the most of any ore, 30 per piece.
• Palladium, Cobalt, and Titanium are the only Hardmode ores named after real metals.
• Luminite is the only ore that does not use either a Furnace or Hardmode Forge to craft bars, instead requiring the Ancient Manipulator.

• In a drunk world, both alternative ore types in each tier are available.

Non-equivalencies[]

While most objects made of or implied to be made of ores and their derivatives have equivalents in the same tier, there exist several exceptions:

Copper / Tin

• The Tin Can, obtained via fishing, has no "Copper Can" equivalent.
• The Merchant will always sell copper tools even in worlds generated with tin.
• Newly-spawned characters and respawning Mediumcore characters will always respawn with copper tools even in tin worlds.

Iron / Lead

• While implied to be linked to ore progression due to the Hardmode Mythril Crate, the Iron Crate does not have a "Lead Crate" version.
• The Ironskin Potion, despite its name, can be crafted using either Iron Ore or Lead Ore; there is no "Leadskin Potion" equivalent.
• The Merchant will always sell an iron anvil even in worlds generated with lead.
• Underground cabins will always spawn with an iron anvil even in lead-containing worlds.
• Newly-spawned Journey characters will always have iron tools even in lead worlds.

Gold / Platinum

• Gold Chests found underground have no "Platinum Chest" counterpart.
• Golden furniture, dropped by the Pirate Invasion enemies, does not have a corresponding "Platinum furniture" set.
• The Gold Ring, also dropped, has no platinum counterpart.
• Gold Dust, alongside its derivatives and related buffs and debuffs, does not have a platinum counterpart.
• Gold versions of critters do not have platinum counterparts.
• The Golden Carp does not have a "Platinum Carp" equivalent.
• While implied to be linked to ore progression due to the Hardmode Titanium Crate, the Gold Crate does not have a "Platinum Crate" version.
• Despite gold and platinum being of the same tier for ores, Platinum Coins are in the tier directly above Gold Coins.

Cobalt / Palladium

• Ancient Cobalt armor does not have a corresponding "Ancient Palladium set".
• The Cobalt Shield does not have a matching "Palladium Shield".

Mythril / Orichalcum

• While implied to be linked to ore progression due to the pre-Hardmode Iron Crate, the Mythril Crate does not have an "Orichalcum Crate" version.

Adamantite / Titanium

• While implied to be linked to ore progression due to the pre-Hardmode Gold Crate, the Titanium Crate does not have an "Adamantite Crate" version.

History[]

• Desktop 1.4.0.1: Increased the sell values of Demonite, Crimtane, and Chlorophyte.

• Desktop 1.3.0.1:
  • Updated some ore graphics.
  • Introduced Luminite.

• Desktop 1.2.3:
  • Ore now stacks to 999.
  • Chlorophyte is slightly rarer and grows slower.
  • Hardmode ores generate slightly less.

• Desktop 1.2:
  • Added 8 new ores as possible alternatives to the original 8: Tin, Lead, Tungsten, Platinum, Crimtane, Palladium, Orichalcum, and Titanium Ore, ordered by tier.
  • Added Chlorophyte Ore.

• Desktop 1.1: Introduced Hardmode ores: Cobalt, Mythril, and Adamantite Ore.

• Desktop 1.0.2: Mining stone and other hard makes a 'tink' sound now.

• Desktop-Release: Introduced Copper, Iron, Silver, and Gold Ores, Hellstone, Obsidian, and Meteorite.

• Console 1.0.933.1: Made changes from PS4's 1.0.750.0 update. ()

• Console 1.0.750.0: ()
  • Updated some ore graphics.
  • Introduced Luminite.

• Console 1.06:
  • Ore now stacks to 999.
  • Chlorophyte is slightly rarer and grows slower.
  • Hardmode ores generate slightly less.

• Console 1.02: Introduced ores from Desktop 1.2.

• Console-Release: Introduced with mining noises.
  • Pre-Hardmode Ores: Copper, Iron, Silver, and Gold Ores, Hellstone, Obsidian, and Meteorite.
  • Hardmode Ores: Cobalt, Mythril, and Adamantite Ores.

• Mobile 1.2.11212:
  • Ore now stacks to 999.
  • Chlorophyte is slightly rarer and grows slower.
  • Hardmode ores generate slightly less.

• Mobile 1.2.6508: Introduced ores from Desktop 1.2.

• Mobile 1.1.5536: Introduced Hardmode ores: Cobalt, Mythril and Adamantite Ore.

• Mobile-Release: Introduced Copper, Iron, Silver, and Gold Ores, Hellstone, Obsidian, and Meteorite. These make noises when mined.

• 3DS-Release: Introduced with mining noises and generation mechanics from Desktop 1.2.3.
  • Pre-Hardmode ores: Copper, Tin, Iron, Lead, Silver, Tungsten, Gold, and Platinum Ores, Hellstone, Obsidian, and Meteorite.
  • Hardmode ores: Cobalt, Palladium, Mythril, Orichalcum, Adamantite, Titanium, and Chlorophyte Ores.

References[]