Ore Deposits

This page was last verified for Vintage Story version 1.20.7.

Typical example of ore distribution.

See Mining for more information on the prospecting pick and how to prospect to detect ores.

Finding ore can be quite challenging. In Vintage Story, ores are deposited in specific rock layers , broadly classified as sedimentary, metamorphic or igneous, at random heights, in disc-shaped deposits at various angles based on the surface terrain, with varying radii and thicknesses, and with differing ore qualities dependent on the type of rock the deposit spawns in.

By using a prospecting pick as well as the information in this guide, players can more reliably find ores by understanding how they spawn.

Ore generation

The coordinates system in Vintage Story. Y=0 down at the mantle level. X=0 and Z=0 at the player's spawn point.

As of version 1.9, ores only appear in certain rock types. Many ores are only found in some host rocks, and different rocks can have different ore qualities. Examining a rock while holding Sneak + H, will provide information about which ores can appear in that rock type.

Rock layers

See Rock for more information on how rock layers generate

While there are many types of stone in Vintage Story, some of them can spawn in specific layers. These form a sort of rock "biome", and the rock layer in an area dictates what types of ores can spawn there. There are three main types of rock layer, sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous, with a fourth type of volcanic rock (in reality a subset of igneous rock) that has different spawning rules.

Rock layers are always found in a certain order: from top (surface) to bottom, they go Basalt > Sedimentary > Metamorphic > Igneous > Kimberlite.

Rock layer types

Sedimentary	Metamorphic	Igneous
Bauxite1	Slate	Andesite
Claystone	Phyllite	Basalt3
Chalk	Marble2	Peridotite
Chert		Granite
Conglomerate		Kimberlite
Limestone
Sandstone
Shale

¹No ores spawn in bauxite.
²Marble spawns within slate or phyllite layers.
³Basalt uniquely can spawn above all other rock types.

Additionally, ores can be found in suevite rock, which is always an indication of a meteor impact and found on the surface.

Ore Deposit Shape

Ores always generate in disc-shaped deposits, except for child deposits such as sylvite, gold and silver. Some ores have wider or thicker discs than others. Most discs average 5.5 blocks wide, though quartz discs are larger.

The overall shape of the ore disc reflects the surface above and will always cover the same horizontal area. This means that regions with flat ground will have flat ore discs, and where the surface is jagged, the discs will be tilted and distorted. Thus, in flat areas, mining horizontally reduces the chances of finding an ore disc. This continues to be true until the surface is jagged enough that its slope is greater than the width of the ore disc.

Ore Grades

See Casting#Preparing metal for more information on the number of nuggets each ore grade drops.

Ores can be found in four different grades. From best to worst, they are Bountiful, Rich, Medium and Poor. The better the grade, the more nuggets are dropped per block.

Certain ores can only be found in certain host rocks, and the maximum grade of the ore may be higher or lower depending on the rock type. By default, the chance for a bountiful deposit to generate is the same as the chance for a poor deposit.

Some ores additionally benefit from a "depth bonus" and have a better chance to generate with a higher grade the deeper the deposit spawns, however, the ore deposit cannot generate with a higher grade than its maximum grade for the host rock. For these ores, the chance to generate with one higher grade than the default is 100% if the ore generates at Y = 0, and 0% if it generates at Y = 1, where the Y values are relative to the ores specific generator. If a deposit uses the sea level generator, then 0.5 is half the world's sea level, and 1 is one block above sea level.

Deposit Generators

See Deposits for more information on deposit generation.

Ore deposits are generated with specific generators. These generators control what the minimum and maximum Y level of ores are based on and how blocks in the deposit are placed. There are 5 generators as of v1.14:

• Surface: Called FollowSurface, the depth is in percent. Deposits will generate between the mantle and the height the surface. The surface is defined as the height of the highest block in a column, where rain will fall. This means a Y min of 0 will generate the ore above the mantle. A Y max of 1 will be below the highest block where rain falls.
• Surface below: Called FollowSurfaceBelow, the depth is in absolute blocks below the surface. This is specified by providing a generator of depth values. For example halite uses it to guarantee that salt lake bed deposits in deserts always spawn exactly 2 blocks below the surface, and alum uses it to guarantee that alum deposits always spawn between 2 and 4 blocks below the surface.
• Sea level: Called FollowSeaLevel, the depth is in percent. Deposits will generate between the mantle and the height of the sea level of the world. This means a Y min of 0 will generate the ore above the mantle and a Y max of 1 will generate the ore below the level of the global ocean height. Sea level in the world can be determined by the Y of the surface of a big lake or by multiplying the height of the world by 0.4313725490196078 and rounding down.
• Anywhere: Called Anywhere, the depth is in percent. Deposits will generate between the mantle and the height of the world. This means a Y min of 0 will generate the ore above the mantle and a Y max of 1 will generate the ore below the height of the world. For example, it is used by quartz to make deposits generate anywhere in the world, but only within rock.
• Child : Called ChildDeposit, deposits using this generator will only generate inside deposits of the given ore. For example, this is used by gold and silver to only spawn inside quartz deposits (silver can also spawn in galena), and used by sylvite to only spawn inside halite.

Generation stats

Ores are found in shallow deposits and deep deposits. The tables below provide information about disc generation for each ore type.

• Required tool tier: The tool tier required to mine the ore. Different ores can only be mined by pickaxes of a certain tier or above.
• Y min and Y max: Ores are distributed throughout the range given by these values, where 0 is the base of the world and 1 is the highest possible block. The Y values reflect proportions of the ore's specific generator, i.e. if a deposit uses the sea level generator, then 0.5 is half the world's sea level and 1 is one block above sea level. If the deposit uses the Surface Below generator, the depth is in absolute blocks below the surface.
  • For example, on a default 256-block high world, an ore with a Y range of 0 - 0.85 using the "sea level" disc generator can spawn anywhere between 0 - 96 blocks up (rounding to the nearest whole block). Therefore, a player would have to dig down around 14 blocks from sea level before getting a chance of finding that ore.
• Y max of 256: The maximum height the ore can spawn at, given in number of blocks, assuming a default world height of 256. The heights of ores with the "surface" and "surface below" generators depend on the height of the surface, therefore these values are estimated based on the average surface height of 120.
• Average radius: The average width of the deposit along the X and Z coordinates. The variation is included with the ± symbol. An ore with an average radius of 8 ± 2 means that it can have a radius of 6 - 10 blocks.
• Thickness: The average height of the deposit along the Y coordinate.
• Disc Generator: The generator type the deposit uses.
• Tries per chunk: How many times the game tries to generate a deposit in each map chunk. More tries per chunk means that ore is more likely to be generated in that chunk.
• Depth Bonus: Some ores benefit from a "depth bonus" and have a better chance to generate with a higher grade the deeper the deposit spawns, however, the ore deposit cannot generate with a higher grade than its maximum grade for the host rock.
  • For these ores, the chance to generate with one higher grade than the default is 100% if the ore generates at Y = 0, and 0% if it generates at Y = 1, where the Y values are relative to the ores specific generator.

Shallow ores

Shallow deposits can sometimes (but not always) be indicated by the presence of loose stones containing ore on the surface of the world. To craft metal tools, copper is the first metal ore players need to find. Surface native copper deposits are readily available sources of material available to players during early game stages, except for areas where the top stone layer is bauxite. In limestone areas, surface malachite deposits can be found, which is another type of copper ore.

For the purposes of this guide, shallow ores are those that have a chance of spawning as a surface block with accompanying loose stones. They also have a chance to spawn quite close to the surface or sea level.

Mineral ores are marked with a ✓ symbol, as they do not have different ore qualities.

Generation stats

Ore	Required tool tier	Y min	Y max	Y max of 256	Average radius	Thickness	Disc Generator	Tries per chunk	Depth Bonus
										Lignite	2	0.48	0.92	~110	10 ± 5	2	Surface	8	❌
Bituminous coal	3	0.1	0.9	99	10 ± 5	2	Sea level	7	❌
Anthracite	3	0	0.8	88	8 ± 5	1.5	Sea level	6	❌
Native copper	2	0.935	0.995	~119	4.25 ± 1	1	Surface	0.2	❌
Malachite	2	0	0.94	~113	7 ± 3	1	Surface	10	✔️
Cassiterite	2	0.92	0.98	~118	3 ± 0.5	1	Surface	0.007	❌
Galena	2	0	1	~120	4 ± 4	1	Surface	40	✔️
Sulfur	2	0.3	0.9	99	8 ± 2	1	Sea level	15	❌
Borax	3	0.4	1	110	8 ± 2	1	Sea level	6	❌
Alum	2	4SB	2SB	118	10 ± 8	3.3 ± 1	SurfaceBelow	0.2	❌
Cinnabar	3	0	0.4	44	8 ± 2	1	Sea level	1	❌
Lapis lazuli	2	0.05	0.85	~102	2 ± 10	1	Surface	5	❌
Olivine	3	0	1	256	32 ± 32	1.2	Anywhere	0.5	❌
Quartz	3	0	1	256	32 ± 32	1.2 ± 3	Anywhere	0.5	❌
Gold	3	In Quartz	In Quartz	In Quartz	2 ± 2	2 ± 1	Child	6	❌
Silver	3	In Quartz	In Quartz	In Quartz	2 ± 2	2 ± 1	Child	20	❌
Silver 1	2	In Galena	In Galena	In Galena	2 ± 2	1.2 ± 3	Child	4	❌
Fluorite 2	3	0.2	0.6	66	8 ± 2	1	Sea level	2	❌
Graphite 2	3	0.05	0.85	~94	8 ± 2	1	Sea level	6	❌
Kernite 2	3	0.2	0.6	66	8 ± 2	1	Sea level	2	❌
Phosphorite 2	3	0.2	0.6	66	8 ± 2	1	Sea level	2	❌

Possible host rocks and highest ore quality

Ore	Sedimentary							Metamorphic		Special	Igneous				Special		Ore (again)
	Chalk	Chert	Claystone	Conglomerate	Limestone	Sandstone	Shale	Phyllite	Slate	Marble	Andesite	Basalt	Granite	Peridotite	Kimberlite	Suevite
Lignite	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓										Lignite
Bituminous coal	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓										Bituminous coal
Anthracite	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓										Anthracite
Native copper	Medium	Medium	Medium	Medium		Medium	Medium	Medium	Medium		Medium	Rich	Medium	Medium			Native copper
Malachite					Bountiful					Rich3							Malachite
Cassiterite								Poor	Poor		Poor	Poor	Poor	Poor			Cassiterite
Galena	Medium	Bountiful	Rich	Medium	Medium	Rich	Bountiful										Galena
Sulfur	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓										Sulfur
Borax	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓										Borax
Alum	Spawns in the same manner as halite salt beds, see Mining - In deserts for details.																Alum
Cinnabar								✓	✓		✓	✓	✓	✓			Cinnabar
Lapis lazuli					✓					✓3							Lapis lazuli
Olivine														✓			Olivine
Quartz	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓	✓			Quartz
Gold	Spawns within Quartz up to Bountiful quality.																Gold
Silver	Spawns within Quartz up to Bountiful quality.																Silver
Silver 1	Spawns within Galena up to Medium quality.																Silver 1
Fluorite 2	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓										Fluorite 2
Graphite 2								✓	✓	✓3							Graphite 2
Kernite 2	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓										Graphite 2
Phosphorite 2	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓										Phosphorite 2

¹ Silver in galena does not spawn surface bits. Both silver and gold in quartz can spawn surface bits.
²Currently has no uses in the game.
³Only in red, green or white marble.

Deep ores

Deep ores are not indicated by surface deposits in loose stones. Most deep ores can only be found by luck or by exploratory mining guided by a prospecting pick . Some minerals, such as saltpeter, cannot be detected by the prospecting pick and must be found while exploring caverns. Gemstones do not have ore grades, but have low, medium or high potential blocks instead.

Generation stats

Ore	Required tool tier	Y min	Y max	Y max of 256	Average radius	Thickness	Disc Generator	Tries per chunk	Depth Bonus
										Deep native copper	2	0	0.6	~72	7 ± 3	1 ± 2	Surface	25	❌
Cassiterite	2	0.4	0.75	~90	5 ± 3	1	Surface	7	❌
Cassiterite (massive)	2	0	0.6	~72	12 ± 3	1	Surface	0.1	❌
Sphalerite	2	0	0.95	~114	4 ± 3	1	Surface	12.5	✔️
Bismuthinite	2	0.05	0.85	~102	4 ± 3	1	Surface	16	✔️
Hematite	3	0.05	0.85	94	26 ± 10	1	Sea level	0.5	✔️
Limonite	3	0.05	0.85	94	26 ± 10	1	Sea level	0.8	✔️
Magnetite	3	0.05	0.85	94	26 ± 10	1	Sea level	0.3	✔️
Ilmenite	5	0.05	0.85	94	6 ± 10	1	Sea level	2	✔️
Pentlandite	4	0.0	0.4	~48	9 ± 3	1 ± 2	Surface	5	❌
Rhodochrosite	4	0.0	0.4	44	3 ± 10	1	Sea level	5	❌
Diamond	4	0	0.2	22	2 ± 1	1	Sea level	18	❌
Emerald	4	0	0.26	29	1 ± 0.5	1	Sea level	64	❌
Peridot	3	0	0.26	29	1 ± 0.5	1	Sea level	64	❌
Chromite	5	0	0.4	44	5 ± 10	1 ± 0	Sea level	3	❌
Saltpeter	By hand	0	0.8	88	10 ± 10	7 ± 3	Sea level	7	❌
Halite, salt dome	2	0.45	0.85	~102	10 ± 8	150 ± 1	Surface	0.3	❌
Halite, lake bed	2	2SB	2SB	~118	10 ± 8	3.3 ± 1	SurfaceBelow	0.2	❌
Sylvite	2	Spawns within halite domes.	N/A	~102	2	2 ± 1	Child	0.3	❌
Sylvite	2	Spawns within halite lake beds.	N/A	~118	3 ± 2	2 ± 1	Child	1	❌

Possible host rocks and highest ore quality

Ore	Sedimentary							Metamorphic		Special	Igneous				Special		Ore (again)
	Chalk	Chert	Claystone	Conglomerate	Limestone	Sandstone	Shale	Phyllite	Slate	Marble	Andesite	Basalt	Granite	Peridotite	Kimberlite	Suevite
Deep native copper	Medium	Medium	Medium	Medium		Medium	Medium	Rich	Rich		Rich	Bountiful*	Rich	Rich			Deep native copper
Cassiterite								Medium	Medium		Medium	Medium	Bountiful	Medium			Cassiterite
Cassiterite (massive)								Medium	Medium		Medium	Medium	Bountiful	Medium			Cassiterite (massive)
Sphalerite	Rich	Rich	Rich	Rich	Rich	Rich	Rich	Bountiful	Bountiful		Medium	Medium	Medium	Bountiful			Sphalerite
Bismuthinite								Medium	Medium		Rich	Bountiful	Rich	Rich			Bismuthinite
Hematite					Rich			Medium					Bountiful	Bountiful			Hematite
Limonite		Bountiful					Bountiful					Medium					Limonite
Magnetite	Medium		Medium	Medium					Medium		Rich						Magnetite
Ilmenite								Rich	Rich		Medium	Rich	Medium	Medium	Bountiful		Ilmenite
Pentlandite											Medium	Medium	Medium	Bountiful			Pentlandite
Rhodochrosite	Medium	Medium	Rich	Rich	Medium	Rich	Rich	Bountiful	Bountiful								Rhodochrosite
Diamond															High	Low	Diamond
Emerald					High		High	High	High			High		High			Emerald
Peridot														High†			Peridot
Chromite											Medium	Rich	Medium	Rich	Bountiful		Chromite
Saltpeter	Can spawn on exposed faces in any rock layer.																Saltpeter
Halite, salt dome	See Mining - Obtaining Halite for spawning details.																Halite, salt dome
Halite, lake bed	See Mining - Obtaining Halite for spawning details.																Halite, lake bed
Sylvite	Spawns within halite domes.																Sylvite
Sylvite	Spawns within halite lake beds.																Sylvite

* Does not spawn as a "rich" deposit.
† Only within olivine, found inside peridotite.

Ore specifics

Halite

This section was last verified for Vintage Story version 1.17pre1.

Halite spawns in one of two ways, as a salt dome or as a dry salt lake.

Salt domes can spawn anywhere, but their top must originate in a sedimentary layer. An area with no sedimentary layer cannot have a halite dome. The halite readings that the prospecting pick detects in Density Search mode are for salt domes.

Dry salt lakes can only spawn in sedimentary stone top layers in deserts. In a typical temperate spawn location, with a "realistic" banded climate, you'll need to travel 13k+ blocks south to find true deserts. Gravel barrens, which you can find in temperate climates, are not hot enough. The dry salt lake will spawn directly on top of the stone in the region, but below the sand or gravel top layers. So it will take some shallow exploratory digging to find them. These dry salt lakes, while much easier to access than salt domes, will not give halite readings on the prospecting pick in Density Search mode, unlike salt domes. They are easier to find exposed in cliff faces, due to geologic upheaval. However, dry salt lakes only spawn in relatively flat and smooth areas.

Sylvite

Sylvite is used to make potash , a fertilizer that not only restores K nutrients but can permanently increase a farm block's maximum K nutrients. Sylvite can only be found inside halite.

Video Tutorials

Detailed guide of the ore deposits English	Detaillierte Erklärung der Erzverteilung Deutsch