How to Get Netherite: Complete Upgrade Guide (2026)
Everything you need to know about finding Ancient Debris, crafting Netherite Ingots, and upgrading your Diamond gear to the strongest material in Minecraft.
What You Need Before You Start
Netherite is the ultimate upgrade for your Diamond equipment in Minecraft. It's stronger, more durable, floats in lava, and looks incredible. But getting it requires preparation. Here's everything you'll need before heading into the Nether:
- Diamond Pickaxe — the only tool that can mine Ancient Debris
- Full Diamond Armor — the Nether is dangerous; don't go in under-geared
- Food Stack — at least a stack of cooked porkchops or golden carrots
- Fire Resistance Potions — essential for lava-heavy mining areas
- At least 4 Gold Ingots — needed to craft each Netherite Ingot
- Smithing Table — the workstation for Netherite upgrades
Step 1: Finding Ancient Debris
Ancient Debris is the raw ore that smelts into Netherite Scraps. It generates exclusively in the Nether, and finding it efficiently requires knowing exactly where to look.
Best Y-Level for Ancient Debris
Ancient Debris generates most commonly at Y=15 in the Nether. It spawns in veins of 1-3 blocks, always completely encased by other blocks (never exposed to air). This makes it invisible from open caverns and lava lakes.
Three Best Mining Methods
| Method | Speed | Risk | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strip Mining — 2x1 tunnels at Y=15 | Medium | Low | Safe, consistent results |
| Bed Explosion — Exploding beds at Y=15 | Fast | High | Experienced players, large areas |
| TNT Mining — TNT chains through netherrack | Very Fast | Medium | Late-game with gunpowder farms |
For most players, strip mining at Y=15 is the safest and most reliable approach. Bed explosion mining is faster but requires practice and good armor — mistiming the bed can kill you instantly even with full Diamond.
Step 2: Smelting Netherite Scraps
Once you've mined Ancient Debris, bring it back to the Overworld and smelt it in a Furnace or Blast Furnace. Each Ancient Debris block yields exactly 1 Netherite Scrap.
Place Ancient Debris in the top slot of the furnace and any fuel source (coal, lava bucket, blaze rods) in the bottom. Each piece takes 10 seconds in a regular Furnace or 5 seconds in a Blast Furnace.
Step 3: Crafting Netherite Ingots
A Netherite Ingot requires 4 Netherite Scraps + 4 Gold Ingots. Combine them in the crafting table in any arrangement — the recipe is shapeless.
This means each Netherite Ingot costs 4 Ancient Debris blocks and 4 Gold Ingots. To upgrade a full set of armor (helmet, chestplate, leggings, boots) plus a sword and pickaxe, you'll need 24 Ancient Debris and 24 Gold Ingots.
Step 4: Upgrading Diamond Gear
This is where the Smithing Table comes in. Place your Smithing Table, then use it to combine:
- Left slot: Diamond item (pickaxe, sword, armor piece)
- Middle slot: Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template
- Right slot: Netherite Ingot
Best Netherite Upgrade Order
With your first 4 Netherite Ingots, upgrade in this priority order based on the benefit each upgrade provides:
| Priority | Item | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Pickaxe | Mines faster, mines more Ancient Debris for future upgrades |
| 2nd | Chestplate | Highest armor value, protects against most damage types |
| 3rd | Sword | Higher base damage (Netherite Sword: 8 attack vs Diamond: 7) |
| 4th | Leggings | Second highest armor value |
| 5th | Helmet | Moderate armor gain |
| 6th | Boots | Lowest armor gain, upgrade last |
Pro Tips for Farming Netherite
- Use Efficiency V on your pickaxe — it reduces mining time per block from 2.5s to 0.4s, dramatically speeding up strip mining.
- Bring a Fire Resistance Potion (8:00) — extended duration potions cover a full mining session and protect against accidental lava dips.
- Mark your portal coordinates — the Nether is disorienting. Write down your portal coordinates before venturing deep into mining tunnels.
- Enchant with Mending before upgrading — it's much cheaper to repair Diamond gear with Mending than Netherite gear. Apply Mending to your Diamond items first, then upgrade.
- Keep your enchants — upgrading to Netherite at the Smithing Table preserves all enchantments on the original Diamond item.