How to Get and Upgrade Netherite Armor in Minecraft (Complete Guide)

TL;DR

• Netherite is an upgrade to diamond armor — you cannot skip diamond.
• Mine Ancient Debris at Y=15 in the Nether using beds or TNT for best efficiency.
• Smelt debris into Netherite Scraps, then combine 4 scraps + 4 gold ingots = 1 Netherite Ingot.
• Get the Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template from a Bastion Remnant treasure room — it is guaranteed there.
• Upgrade diamond armor at a Smithing Table — no XP cost, enchantments carry over.
• Enchant with Protection IV, Unbreaking III, and Mending to make it last forever.

Netherite armor is the best armor in Minecraft. It is stronger than diamond, lasts longer, and has one feature nothing else offers: it does not burn in lava. If you drop Netherite gear into a lava pool, it floats back up. That alone makes it worth the grind.

But getting it takes several steps and a trip into the most dangerous areas of the Nether. This guide walks through every step in order — no shortcuts missed, no steps skipped.

Why Netherite Is Worth It

Before diving in, it helps to understand exactly what you are working toward.

Netherite armor has the same armor point total as diamond — 20 points for a full set. But it pulls ahead in every other stat:

The armor toughness difference means Netherite reduces damage better against high-hit attacks — boss mobs, Piglin Brutes, and charged creepers all hit hard enough that the extra toughness is felt. Wearing a full Netherite set halves your knockback compared to diamond. And the lava immunity on dropped items is a genuine lifesaver in the Nether.

Enchantments carry over when you upgrade from diamond to Netherite. So enchant your diamond armor first, then upgrade — you lose nothing.

What You Need for a Full Netherite Armor Set

Here is the complete shopping list:

• Full diamond armor set — Helmet, Chestplate, Leggings, Boots (24 diamonds total to craft from scratch)
• 16 Ancient Debris — mined in the Nether (smelts into 16 Netherite Scraps)
• 16 Gold Ingots — to combine with scraps into 4 Netherite Ingots
• 4 Netherite Upgrade Smithing Templates — found in Bastion Remnants
• A Smithing Table — crafted from 2 iron ingots + 4 wood planks
• A Furnace or Blast Furnace — to smelt Ancient Debris

The bottleneck is always Ancient Debris. Everything else is straightforward once you have the debris.

Step 1 — Get a Full Diamond Armor Set First

Netherite is an upgrade. You cannot craft Netherite armor from scratch. You must have diamond armor first and then convert each piece.

If you still need diamonds, our guide on how to find diamonds in Minecraft covers the best Y-levels and mining methods. You need 24 diamonds for a full set of armor.

Enchant your diamond armor before upgrading. This is important. All enchantments on your diamond gear carry over to Netherite for free when you use the Smithing Table. Enchanting on diamond first means you spend fewer resources on enchanting and nothing is wasted. Check our enchanting table guide to get your armor properly set up.

A diamond pickaxe is also required to mine Ancient Debris — no lower-tier pickaxe will work.

Step 2 — Build a Nether Portal and Enter the Nether

Everything that follows happens in the Nether. You need a portal.

Build a 4×5 frame from Obsidian and light the inside with a Flint and Steel. Step through to enter. Our full Nether guide covers portal building and early Nether survival in detail.

What to bring into the Nether for debris mining:

• Diamond or Netherite pickaxe (Efficiency V helps a lot)
• Fire Resistance potions — lava is everywhere at the Y-level you are mining
• Plenty of food
• 20+ beds (if using the bed method) OR a stack of TNT (if using explosives)
• Building blocks to bridge over lava
• Gold armor — at least one piece to stop regular Piglins from attacking you on sight
• A shield

Brewing potions before going in makes the whole trip much safer. See our potion brewing guide for how to make Fire Resistance potions.

Step 3 — Mine Ancient Debris at Y=15

Ancient Debris is the raw ore that eventually becomes Netherite. It is found only in the Nether, never in the Overworld. It never generates exposed to air — it is always surrounded by other blocks — so you cannot spot it just by looking at cave walls.

The best Y-level is 15. This is where Ancient Debris has the highest concentration. Most experienced players mine between Y=13 and Y=17 to stay in the sweet spot while avoiding the worst lava pools that sit around Y=10.

To check your Y coordinate: on Java press F3 to open the debug screen. On Bedrock, enable “Show Coordinates” in world settings.

Ancient Debris generates in very small amounts — typically 1 to 5 blocks per chunk on average. That means finding 16 pieces (needed for a full set) takes patience. The key is mining efficiently rather than randomly.

Which biome to mine in: Head to the Nether Wastes biome. It is made almost entirely of Netherrack which mines extremely fast, especially with an Efficiency pickaxe. Avoid Basalt Deltas — the blackstone and basalt are slow to break and make mining painful.

The Three Mining Methods for Ancient Debris

Method 1 — Bed Mining (Best Value)

Beds explode when you try to sleep in them in the Nether. This is not a bug — it is one of the most efficient debris-mining tricks in the game. Ancient Debris is blast-resistant, so the explosion clears away Netherrack but leaves any debris completely intact.

How to bed mine:

1. Dig a tunnel straight into the Netherrack at Y=15.
2. Dig 3–4 blocks forward.
3. Place a bed at the end of the tunnel.
4. Place one solid block directly in front of you to shelter yourself.
5. Right-click the bed to trigger the explosion.
6. Peek into the blast area for exposed Ancient Debris.
7. Repeat, advancing forward each time.

Beds are cheap to craft — just wool and wood. You can farm sheep quickly for a large supply. Bring at least 20–30 beds per mining session. Wear your armor and drink a Fire Resistance potion. The blast deals damage to you so stay behind your shelter block every time.

Method 2 — TNT Mining (Fastest)

TNT covers more area per explosion than a bed and is slightly faster overall. The downside is cost — you need gunpowder and sand, which are less renewable early game.

How to TNT mine:

1. Dig a tunnel at Y=14 to Y=15.
2. Place TNT every 4 blocks along the tunnel.
3. Light the last TNT with Flint and Steel and back away.
4. The chain reaction blows through large sections of Netherrack.
5. Walk through the cleared tunnel and collect any exposed debris.

This method works best if you have a creeper farm producing steady gunpowder. If you are still early game, beds are the better option.

Method 3 — Strip Mining (Safest, Slowest)

Simply dig a long straight tunnel at Y=15 and branch off every 2–3 blocks. No explosions. No bed supplies needed. Just you and a pickaxe.

This is the safest approach and the best choice if you are low on resources. It is slower than explosive methods but works perfectly well. An Efficiency V pickaxe makes Netherrack break nearly instantly, which speeds things up significantly.

One important note: Fortune does NOT increase Ancient Debris drops. Each block of debris always drops exactly one piece. Do not waste your Fortune pickaxe on it — save Fortune for diamonds and other ores.

Step 4 — Smelt Ancient Debris Into Netherite Scraps

Once you have collected your Ancient Debris, take it to a furnace or blast furnace. Smelt each piece of debris.

Each Ancient Debris → 1 Netherite Scrap

You need 16 Ancient Debris to get 16 Netherite Scraps for a full armor set upgrade.

A blast furnace smelts twice as fast as a regular furnace. Setting up multiple blast furnaces in parallel speeds this step up dramatically if you have a large batch of debris.

Step 5 — Craft Netherite Ingots

With your Netherite Scraps in hand, head to a crafting table.

Recipe: 4 Netherite Scraps + 4 Gold Ingots = 1 Netherite Ingot

The recipe is shapeless — place the 4 scraps and 4 gold ingots anywhere in the crafting grid. Order does not matter.

You need 4 Netherite Ingots for a full armor set (one per piece). That means 16 Netherite Scraps and 16 Gold Ingots total.

Gold is easy to get in the Nether — Nether Gold Ore appears everywhere between Y=10 and Y=117. Mine it as you go while looking for Ancient Debris. You can also get gold from Piglins through bartering or from Bastion chests.

Step 6 — Get the Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template From a Bastion Remnant

Since Minecraft 1.20, you need a Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template to upgrade gear. You cannot just slap a Netherite Ingot into a Smithing Table anymore. The template is required and consumed on use — so you need 4 templates for a full armor set.

Where to find it: Bastion Remnants. These are large dark structures made of Blackstone and Basalt found throughout the Nether. They look like ruined fortresses and are hard to miss once you know what you are looking for.

The guaranteed location: The Treasure Room type Bastion Remnant always has one Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template in its main chest — 100% chance. Other Bastion types can have one in generic chests, but the chance is only around 10% per chest.

If you find a Treasure Room Bastion, that is your best stop. The template is in the chest in the central chamber surrounded by lava.

Surviving the Bastion

Bastions are extremely dangerous. They are full of Piglins and Piglin Brutes.

Before entering:

• Wear at least one piece of gold armor. Normal Piglins will not attack you on sight if you do. Piglin Brutes attack regardless of gold.
• Bring diamond or Netherite armor with Protection enchantments.
• Have a shield ready — Piglin Brutes hit extremely hard.
• Bring a bow for range attacks against Brutes.
• Never open a chest in front of a Piglin — it makes all nearby Piglins immediately hostile.

Bastion chests also contain great bonus loot — Ancient Debris, Netherite Scraps, Netherite Ingots, enchanted golden apples, and more. Raiding one thoroughly pays off well beyond just the Smithing Template.

How to Duplicate the Smithing Template

You only need to find one template. After that, you can duplicate it.

Duplication recipe: 1 Netherite Upgrade Template + 7 Diamonds + 1 Netherrack = 2 Netherite Upgrade Templates

Place them anywhere in the crafting grid (shapeless recipe). This doubles your supply. Repeat until you have 4 templates for the full armor set.

This is far cheaper than running multiple Bastions just to find more templates. One Bastion trip is usually enough.

Step 7 — Upgrade at the Smithing Table

With all four items ready for each piece — diamond armor, Netherite Ingot, Netherite Upgrade Template, and a Smithing Table — the actual upgrade takes seconds.

Open the Smithing Table. You will see three slots:

1. Left slot — Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template
2. Middle slot — Diamond armor piece
3. Right slot — Netherite Ingot

Place all three and take the Netherite armor piece from the output slot.

The upgrade costs zero experience points. This is one of the best parts. Unlike the Anvil, the Smithing Table upgrade never increases prior work penalty and requires no XP.

All enchantments on the diamond piece carry over automatically. Any durability damage also carries over — so if your diamond chestplate was 100 durability points low, your new Netherite chestplate starts 100 durability points low too. Repair your diamond gear at an anvil before upgrading if you want fresh Netherite pieces.

Repeat for all four armor pieces. Congratulations — you now have a full Netherite armor set.

Best Enchantments for Netherite Armor

Your Netherite armor is already the best in the game for raw stats. Enchantments push it further into near-invincibility territory. Apply these at an Anvil using enchanted books.

The most reliable source of specific enchantment books is a Librarian in your villager trading hall. Reroll lecterns until you land the books you need. See the villager trading tiers guide for the full breakdown.

Protection IV (Every Piece)

Reduces all incoming damage by 4% per level. Protection IV on all four pieces stacks for a significant overall damage reduction. This is the best general enchantment for armor and the one to prioritise on every piece. Note that Protection, Projectile Protection, Blast Protection, and Fire Protection are mutually exclusive — you can only have one type per piece.

Mending (Every Piece)

Repairs the armor using XP orbs you collect while wearing it. With Mending on all four pieces, your Netherite armor repairs itself passively and effectively lasts forever. Pair with an XP mob farm to keep your gear fully repaired at all times.

Unbreaking III (Every Piece)

Reduces the chance of durability loss. Unbreaking III roughly quadruples the lifespan of each piece. Combined with Mending, your armor almost never needs attention.

Feather Falling IV (Boots Only)

Reduces fall damage by 48% at level IV. This is the single most important boot enchantment. Even with Netherite boots, a bad fall can kill you. Feather Falling IV makes all but the most extreme drops survivable.

Respiration III (Helmet)

Extends underwater breathing. Useful if you explore ocean monuments or do a lot of underwater building.

Aqua Affinity (Helmet)

Removes the mining speed penalty underwater. Often paired with Respiration on the helmet.

Thorns III (Any Piece)

Reflects a portion of melee damage back to attackers. It does consume extra durability, so it is more viable with Mending in place.

Blast Protection IV (One Piece)

If you fight the Wither or spend time near Creepers, Blast Protection on one piece (instead of Protection) significantly reduces explosion damage. You can mix Protection on three pieces and Blast Protection on one.

Enchantments to avoid:

• Curse of Binding — prevents you from removing the armor piece. Never put this on Netherite.
• Curse of Vanishing — makes the piece disappear on death. Never apply this to your best gear.

How to Repair Netherite Armor

Even with Mending, knowing repair options is useful.

With an Anvil and Netherite Ingots: Place the armor piece and a Netherite Ingot in the anvil. Each ingot restores 25% of max durability. Enchantments are preserved. Note that every anvil repair increases the prior work penalty.

Combining two pieces: Two damaged pieces of the same Netherite armor can be combined in an anvil or crafting grid to merge their durability. Enchantments on both pieces attempt to combine (higher levels win, compatible enchantments stack).

With Mending: The easiest long-term solution. Just play the game. XP from mining, mob killing, smelting, and trading all feed into Mending repairs automatically.

Armor Trims — Making Your Set Look Unique

Since Minecraft 1.20, you can apply decorative armor trims to any armor piece at a Smithing Table. Trims change the visual pattern and colour of your armor. They do not affect stats at all — purely cosmetic.

There are 18 trim patterns and 10 colour materials. A few highlights:

• Ward Trim — found in Ancient Cities. Intricate angular pattern.
• Silence Trim — also from Ancient Cities. The rarest trim in the game.
• Sentry Trim — from Pillager Outposts. One of the most accessible early trims.

To apply a trim: use a Smithing Table with the armor piece, the trim template, and any of the 10 material items (diamond, gold, emerald, amethyst, quartz, iron, copper, lapis, redstone, or netherite itself). Each material produces a different colour.

Trims are a great way to make your fully enchanted Netherite set visually distinct on multiplayer servers.

Full Netherite Armor Set — Resource Summary

Here is every resource you need, totalled up, assuming you find only one Smithing Template and duplicate the rest:

Common Questions and Problems

Can I upgrade tools to Netherite too? Yes. The same process works for diamond pickaxes, swords, axes, shovels, and hoes. Each tool piece needs its own Netherite Ingot and Smithing Template. A diamond pickaxe upgraded to Netherite mines faster and lasts longer.

Fortune doesn’t work on Ancient Debris — does anything increase the drop rate? No. Each block always drops exactly one Ancient Debris. The only way to get more is to mine more blocks.

My Smithing Template is consumed after one use — now what? Duplicate it before you run out. You need 7 diamonds and 1 Netherrack per duplication to get 2 templates from 1.

Do enchantments cost more XP on Netherite items? Netherite has slightly higher enchantability than diamond, meaning it can receive slightly better enchantments from an enchanting table. However, most players enchant diamond first (since it works identically) and then upgrade.

I keep dying in the Bastion — how do I survive? Wear gold boots as your gold armour piece so Piglins ignore you. Kill Piglin Brutes from range first before going near chests. Use a shield to block their melee hits. Bring plenty of golden apples or a Totem of Undying if you have one.

Can I get Netherite from a Bastion without mining? Yes — Bastion chests can contain Ancient Debris, Netherite Scraps, and even Netherite Ingots directly. It is not guaranteed but a well-looted Treasure Room Bastion can cut your mining time significantly.

What to Do After Getting Netherite Armor

A full Netherite set with Protection IV, Unbreaking III, and Mending is essentially the gear ceiling for armor in Minecraft. Here is what to work toward next:

• Get Elytra — the only upgrade left for mobility. A full Netherite set plus Elytra makes you nearly unstoppable in any situation.
• Set up a shield — Netherite armor does not block everything. A shield with Unbreaking III blocks 100% of melee damage and most ranged damage when held up.
• Fight the Warden — the toughest mob encounter in the game. Our Warden spawn guide covers what to expect. Even full Netherite struggles here — preparation matters.
• Explore Ancient Cities — now that you have the best armor, Ancient Cities become accessible. They have the best loot in the game including the rarest trim patterns.
• Build an Iron Golem farm — Netherite armor means you do not need to worry as much about defensive structures, but an iron golem farm keeps your base protected and produces a steady stream of iron for other projects.

Netherite armor is the endpoint of Minecraft’s gear progression. The grind to get there — mining in the Nether, raiding a Bastion, smelting and crafting — takes a few hours in a fresh world. But once you have it fully enchanted, you have gear that will carry you through every challenge the game can throw at you. Get your diamond set ready, head into the Nether, and start mining.