Can You Fortune Ancient Debris? No…And Here‘s Why
As an avid Minecraft gamer with over 200 hours mining the depths of the Nether, I get asked this question a lot by players hungering after durable netherite gear:
"Can you fortune ancient debris?"
The short answer is no, Fortune does absolutely nothing when mining ancient debris. The precious debris simply drops itself rather than items.
But why does Fortune work wonders on diamond and nether quartz ores, yet fail with debris? Let‘s dig into the nitty gritty details.
Why Fortune Drops the Ball on Ancient Debris
Fortune shines when used on traditional ore blocks that drop items rather than blocks. For example, breaking iron ore yields iron bits versus more raw iron ore blocks.
However, debris defies this norm. When mined, it drops itself in block form rather than items.
| Ore Type | Drops |
| Iron Ore | Iron bits |
| Diamond Ore | Diamonds |
| Ancient Debris | Itself (block) |
With no items to multiply, Fortune does zilch for improving debris yields.
Additionally, Fortune only applies to four tool types in Minecraft:
- Pickaxes
- Shovels
- Axes
- Hoes
You must use a diamond or netherite pickaxe to mine ancient debris. Even if debris somehow benefited from Fortune, those pickaxes offer no enchantment support.
Based on these technical limitations around debris drops and tool compatibility, Fortune III wastes precious enchantment potential when hunting netherite.
Silk Touch: The Superior Debris Enchantment
So if Fortune fails with ancient debris, what enchantment should guide your pickaxe?
Hands down, go with Silk Touch.
Unlike Fortune, Silk Touch ensures the debris block itself drops rather than vaporizing after a punishing mining session. Players can then smelt debris to extract a precious netherite scrap.
I always enchant my diamond pickaxe with Silk Touch before mining in the Nether. This lets me stockpile more debris rather than wasting the rare blocks. Once I return to base, it takes just seconds to fire up the furnace and process more scraps.
Here‘s a comparison showing how Silk Touch preserves your debris haul:
| With Silk Touch | Without Silk Touch | |
| Debris Mined | 5 blocks | 5 blocks |
| Debris Drop | 5 blocks | 0 blocks |
| Netherite Scrap Yield | 5 scraps | 0 scraps |
As you can see, Silk Touch results in far superior debris conservation and more netherite scrap for your efforts.
Uncovering Buried Ancient Debris
Now that your pickaxe rocks Silk Touch, let‘s uncover some tactics for exposing buried ancient debris…
Ancient debris hides between y-levels 8 to 22 in the Nether, but most commonly spawns around layer 15. You‘ll find it embellished in netherrack.
Since it loves to hide behind blocks, blast mining with beds and TNT clears material and reveals debris effectively. Just tread carefully not to nuke the debris itself!
Target the edges of Nether chunks when prospecting for ancient material glints. Debris often tucks itself into these fringe areas. I also recommend periodically scanning ceilings. Gravity leaves upside-down debris untouched by other players.
Blast mining debris with beds or TNT
Scan ceilings for gravity-defying debris
How Much Netherite Gear Do You Really Need?
Alright, step back for a second. How much netherite should you actually grind for? Sure, rocking a full set of netherite armor and tools bathes you in diamond-crushing superiority.
But that level of gear requires almost 14 hours of pure ancient debris grinding. Let‘s expose the math:
- Smithing just one netherite ingot consumes 4 debris blocks
- A full set of maxed out netherite gear uses 36 ingots
- That totals 144 ancient debris
- Average debris mining rates sit around 10 blocks per hour
So if you desire a complete glittering set of ludicrously durable gear…I hope you packed a few stacks of Golden Carrots and cleared your calendar for the next day or two!
However, since armor matters most in battle, I recommend starting with netherite leggings, chestplate, then helmet – skipping less vital boots and gloves early on.
Weapons are also crucial. Make a netherite sword your first smithed item, followed by a pickaxe for harvesting more debris even faster.
This leaner loadout requires under 300 debris blocks total, chopping overall mining estimates down to around 8 hours. Much more reasonable!
Crunching the Numbers on Mining Times
Let‘s break things down by just how much Standard digging vs. Efficiency-Enchanted mining impacts debris totals per hour:
| Standard Pick | Eff. III Pick | Eff V Pick + Haste II | |
| Blocks/Second | 0.15 | 0.25 | 0.78 |
| Blocks/Minute | 9 | 15 | 47 |
| Total Blocks/Hour | 540 | 900 | 2820 |
Upgrading to that sweet Eff V pickaxe saves almost 5 hours hunting enough debris for endgame weapons and armor! Toss in a Beacon‘s Haste II buff, and your dig speed approaches 3 blocks per second. Gluttonous!
In summary – Silk Touch your pickaxe, blast away debris coverings, and juice your equipment to magnify per hour yields. Do this while conserving debris through smart upgrades targeting vital gear first. Follow these tips from a Grizzled Nether veteran, and you‘ll be bathing in diamonds quivering at the sight of your netherite-clad presence in no time! Just maybe take a quick nap first after all that mining.
Let me know if you have any other questions down below, and be sure to blast that Subscribe button! Happy hunting, and watch out for misfired projectiles in the Nether!
