Copper is one of the most abundant ores in Minecraft, yet it is sadly often left behind despite all the wonders it can be used for. So, today, we explore the many uses of copper in our Minecraft copper guide, complete with how to build copper golems and whether copper tools are worth the time.

Minecraft Copper Ore

Before the many recipes of copper can be explored, one must first mine some copper ore! Thankfully, it is very abundant and can be found in any overworld biome between Y level -16 and 112 and mined with a stone pickaxe. Each copper ore typically drops two to five raw copper. Once enough raw copper has been gathered, it can be placed within a furnace or blast furnace to smelt it into copper bars.

Crafting with Copper

Crafting with copper comes in two forms, each with its own recipes. The first is crafting with copper ingots, which leads to tools, armor, and a variety of items. The second is crafting with blocks of copper, which leads to mostly decorative building blocks. The individual recipes for each category are unlocked within the crafting book after picking up a copper ingot and block of copper, respectively.

Copper Ingot Recipes

• Block of Copper
• Brush
• Copper Axe
• Copper Boots
• Copper Chest
• Copper Chestplate
• Copper Door
• Copper Helmet
• Copper Hoe
• Copper Leggings
• Copper Nugget
• Copper Pickaxe
• Copper Shovel
• Copper Sword
• Copper Trapdoor
• Lightning Rod
• Spyglass

Copper tools and copper armor fall between stone and iron in terms of strength and efficiency, making them a new, powerful early game item. The brush tool, which is exclusive to copper, is also the only way to access the archaeology features of Minecraft.

Block of Copper Recipes

• Bolt Armor Trim Smithing Template
• Chiseled Copper
• Copper Bulb
• Copper Grate
• Copper Ingot
• Cut Copper
• Cut Copper Slab
• Cut Copper Stairs

While it is still possible to craft on a crafting table, cut copper, chiseled copper, copper grates, copper slabs, and copper stairs can all be made more efficiently by placing a block of copper in a stone cutter. As for the other decorative blocks, copper bulbs are one of the few blocks within Minecraft that produce strong light levels akin to glowstone.

Oxidation

Copper in Minecraft has a unique feature known as oxidation that affects everything from copper blocks to copper golems. Over time, placed copper blocks will gradually oxidize, turning green in three stages known as exposed, weathered, and oxidized. This process can be prevented by waxing copper blocks and copper golems using honeycombs. But, for those who prefer the green color, it is thankfully mostly cosmetic, with the sole exception of copper bulbs. The more a copper bulb oxidizes, the lower the light level it produces. An oxidized copper bulb or any other copper block can be scraped clean using an axe at any time, allowing honeycombs to be used later if desired. Copper tools and armor do not oxidize and always retain their standard copper color.

Minecraft Copper Golems

Unlike the recipes in the categories above, copper golems are built out in the world rather than on a crafting table. This is done by placing a copper block of any oxidation level and then a carved pumpkin or jack-o’-lantern on top. Doing so will create a copper golem and a copper chest as well. Once spawned, Copper Golems will take items from copper chests and store them in nearby regular chests that have matching items. For example, if seeds were placed in the copper chest, the copper golem would take the seeds and search all the nearby regular chests for one that contains seeds or is entirely empty. Copper golems do, however, struggle in large storage rooms, as they have a search radius of only 32 blocks horizontally and eight blocks vertically. The copper golem can also only remember up to ten chests during a search, so it may end up getting lost or looping between the same few chests it just searched. One must also keep in mind that copper golems can not open doors or climb ladders, so the storage rooms they are working in must be walkable with chests that are within their reach. Additionally, copper golems will gradually oxidize over time if outdoors, turning into a decorative statue block with customizable poses at maximum oxidation. This process can be reset at any time using an axe or prevented entirely by waxing the copper golem with honeycomb.